peoples such as the Bushmen of
Southwest Africa still follow them today. But between about 8000 and 3500
B.C., increasing numbers of humans shifted to dependence on cultivated crops
and domesticated animals for their subsistence. By about 7000 B.C., their
tools and skills had advanced sufficiently for cultivating peoples to support
towns with over one thousand people, such as Jericho in the valley of the
Jordan River and Catal Huyuk in present-day Turkey. By 3500 B.C., agricultural
peoples in the Middle East could support sufficient numbers of non-cultivating
specialists to give rise to the first civilizations. As this pattern spread to
or developed independently in other centers across the globe, the character of
most human lives and the history of the species as a whole were fundamentally
transformed.Because there are no written records of the transition period between
8000 and 5000 B.C. when many animals were first domesticated and plants were
cultivated on a regular basis, we cannot be certain why and how some peoples
adopted these new ways of producing food and other necessities of life.
Climatic changes associated with the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the
last Ice Age (about 12,000 B.C.), may have played an important role. These
climatic shifts prompted the migration of many big game animals to new
pasturelands in northern areas. They also left a dwindling supply of game for
human hunters in areas such as the Middle East, where agriculture first arose
and many animals were first domesticated. Climatic shifts also led to changes
in the distribution and growing patterns of wild grains and other crops on
which hunters and gatherers depended. In addition, it is likely that the shift
to sedentary farming was prompted in part by an increase in human populations
in certain areas. It is possible that the population growth was caused by
changes in the climate and plant and animal life, forcing hunting bands to
move into the territories where these shifts had been minimal. It is also
possible that population growth occurred within these unaffected regions,
==========================
because the hunting-and-gathering pattern reached higher levels of
productivity. Peoples like the Natufians found their human communities could
grow significantly by intensively harvesting grains that grew in the wild. As
the population grew, more and more attention was given to the grain harvest,
which eventually led to the conscious and systematic cultivation of plants and
thus the agrarian revolution.
The Domestication Of Plants And Animals
The peoples who first cultivated cereal grains had long observed them
growing in the wild and gleaned their seeds as they gathered other plants for
their leaves and roots. In Late Paleolithic times both wild barley and wheat
grew over large areas in present-day Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and
Israel. Hunting-and-gathering bands in these areas may have consciously
experimented with planting and nurturing seeds taken from the wilds or they
may have accidentally discovered the principles of domestication by observing
the growth of seeds dropped near their campsites. However it began, the
practice of agriculture caught on only gradually. Archeological evidence
suggests that the first agriculturists retained their hunting-and-gathering
activities as a hedge against the ever-present threat of starvation. But as
Stone Age peoples became more adept at cultivating a growing range of crops,
including protein-rich legumes such as peas and beans, various fruits, and
olives, the effort they expended on activities outside agriculture diminished.
It is probable that the earliest farmers broadcast wild seeds, a practice
that cut down on labor but sharply reduced the potential yield. Over the
centuries, more and more care was taken to select the best grain for seed and
to mix different strains in ways that improved both crop yields and resistance
to plant diseases. As the time required to tend growing plants and the
dependence on agricultural production for subsistence increased, some roving
bands chose to settle down while others practiced a mix of hunting and
shifting cultivation that allowed them to continue to move about.
Though several animals may have been domesticated before the discovery of
agriculture, the two processes combined to make up the critical transformation
in human culture called the Neolithic (New Stone Age) revolution. Different
animal species were tamed in different ways that reflected both their own
natures and the ways in which they interacted with humans. Dogs, for example,
were originally wolves that hunted humans or scavenged at their campsites. As
early as 12,000 B.C., Stone Age peoples found that wolf pups could be tamed
and trained to track and corner game. The strains of dogs that gradually
developed proved adept at controlling herd animals like sheep. Relatively
docile and defenseless herds of sheep could be controlled once their leaders
had been captured and tamed. Sheep, goats, and pigs (which also were
scavengers at human campsites) were first domesticated in the Middle East
between 8500 and 7000 B.C. Horned cattle, which were faster and better able to
defend themselves than wild sheep, were not tamed until about 6500 B.C. The
central place of bull and cattle symbolism in the sacrificial and fertility
cults of many early peoples has led some archeologists to argue that their
domestication was originally motivated by religious sentiments rather than a
desire for new sources of food and clothing.
Domesticated animals such as cattle and sheep provided New Stone Age
humans with additional sources of protein-rich meat and in some cases milk.
Animal hides and wool greatly expanded the materials from which clothes,
containers, shelters, and crude boats could be crafted. Animal horns and bones
could be carved or used for needles and other utensils. Because plows and
wheels did not come into use until the Bronze Age (c. 4000-3500 B.C.), most
Neolithic peoples made little use of animal power for farming, transportation,
or travel. There is evidence, however, that peoples in northern areas used
tamed reindeer to pull sledges, and those farther South used camels for
transporting goods. More importantly, the Neolithic peoples used domesticated
herd animals as a steady source of manure to enrich the soil and thus improve
the yield of the crops that were gradually becoming the basis of their
livelihood.
The Spread Of The Neolithic Revolution
The greater labor involved in cultivation and the fact that it did not at
first greatly enhance the peoples' security or living standards caused many
bands to stay with long-tested subsistence strategies. Through most of the
Neolithic period, sedentary agricultural communities coexisted with more
numerous bands of hunters and gatherers, migratory cultivators, and hunters
and fishers. Even after sedentary agriculture became the basis for the
livelihood of the majority of humans, hunters and gatherers and shifting
cultivators held out in many areas of the globe. For example, due to the
absence of the horse and most herd animals in the Americas, nomadic hunting
cultures became the main alternatives there.
The domestication of animals gave rise to pastoralism which has proven
the strongest competitor to sedentary agriculture throughout most of the
world. Pastoralism has thrived in semiarid areas such as central Asia, the
Sudanic belt south of the Sahara desert in Africa, and the savanna zone of
East and South Africa. These areas were incapable of supporting dense or large
populations. The nomadic, herding way of life has tended to produce
independent and hardy peoples, well-versed in the military skills needed not
only for their survival but also to challenge more heavily populated agrarian
societies. Horse-riding nomads who herd sheep or cattle have destroyed
powerful kingdoms and laid the foundations for vast empires. The camel nomads
of Arabia played critical roles in the rise of Islamic civilization. The
cattle-herding peoples of central, East, and South Africa produced some of the
most formidable pre-industrial military organizations. Only with the rather
recent period of the Industrial Revolution has the power of nomadic peoples
been irreparably broken and the continuation of their cultures threatened by
the steady encroachment of sedentary peoples.
In the era of the Neolithic revolution (roughly 8000-5000 B.C.),
agriculture was far from the dominant mode of support for human societies. But
those who adopted it survived and increased, and passed their techniques of
production to other peoples. The cultivation of wheat and barley spread
throughout the Middle East and eastward to India. These crops also spread
northward to Europe, where oats and rye were added later. From Egypt, the
cultivation of grain crops and fibers, such as flax and cotton that were used
for clothing, spread to peoples along the Nile in the interior of Africa,
along the North African coast, and across the vast savanna zone south of the
Sahara desert.
Agriculture in the African rain forest zone farther south evolved
independently in the 2d millennium B.C., and was based on root crops such as
cassava and tree crops such as bananas and palm nuts. In northern China during
the Neolithic period, a millet-based agricultural system developed along the
Huanghe or Yellow River basin. From this core region, it spread in the last
millennia B.C. east toward the North China Sea and southward toward the
Yangtze basin. A later, but independent, agricultural revolution based on rice
began in mainland Southeast Asia sometime before 5000 B.C. and slowly spread
into South China and India and to the islands of Southeast Asia. In the
Americas maize- (or corn), manioc-, and sweet potato-based agrarian systems
arose in Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America today) and present-day Peru.
Long before the arrival of Columbus in the Americas in A.D. 1492, these and
other crops had spread through large portions of the continents of the Western
Hemisphere, from the temperate woodlands of the North Atlantic coast to the
rain forests of the Amazon region. Thus, varying patterns of agricultural
production were disseminated on all the inhabited continents except Australia,
to virtually all the regions of the globe where there were sufficient rain
ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
the requirements and patterns to development
Edited By: Robert Guisepi
The term civilization basically means the level of development at which people live together peacefully in communities. Ancient civilization refers specifically to the first settled and stable communities that became the basis for later states, nations, and empires.
The study of ancient civilization is concerned with the earliest segments of the much broader subject called ancient history. The span of ancient history began with the invention of writing in about 3100 BC and lasted for more than 35 centuries. Mankind existed long before the written word, but writing made the keeping of a historical record possible.The first ancient societies arose in Mesopotamia and Egypt in the Middle East, in the Indus Valley region of modern Pakistan, in the Huang He (Yellow River) valley of China, on the island of Crete in the Aegean Sea, and in Central America. All of these civilizations had certain features in common. They built cities, invented forms of writing, learned to make pottery and use metals, domesticated animals, and created fairly complex social structures with class systems. Apart from written records and carved inscriptions, the knowledge about ancient peoples is derived from the work of archaeologists. Most of the significant archaeological findings have been made in the past 200 years. The Sumerian culture of Mesopotamia was discovered in the 1890s, and some of the most important archaeological digs in China were made after the late 1970s. Agriculture--The Basis of Civilization The single, decisive factor that made it possible for mankind to settle in permanent communities was agriculture. After farming was developed in the Middle East in about 6500 BC, people living in tribes or family units did not have to be on the move continually searching for food or herding their animals. Once people could control the production of food and be assured of a reliable annual supply of it, their lives changed completely. People began to found permanent communities in fertile river valleys. Settlers learned to use the water supply to irrigate the land. Being settled in one place made it possible to domesticate animals in order to provide other sources of food and clothing. Farming was a revolutionary discovery. It not only made settlements possible--and ultimately the building of cities--but it also made available a reliable food supply. With more food available, more people could be fed. Populations therefore increased. The growing number of people available for more kinds of work led to the development of more complex social structures. With a food surplus, a community could support a variety of workers who were not farmers. Farming the world over has always relied upon a dependable water supply. For the earliest societies this meant rivers and streams or regular rainfall. The first great civilizations grew up along rivers. Later communities were able to develop by taking advantage of the rainy seasons. All of the ancient civilizations probably developed in much the same way, in spite of regional and climatic differences. As villages grew, the accumulation of more numerous and substantial goods became possible. Heavier pottery replaced animal-skin gourds as containers for food and liquids. Cloth could be woven from wool and flax. Permanent structures made of wood, brick, and stone could be erected. The science of mathematics was an early outgrowth of agriculture. People studied the movements of the moon, sun, and planets to calculate seasons. In so doing they created the first calendars. With a calendar it was possible to calculate the arrival of each growing season. Measurement of land areas was necessary if property was to be divided accurately. Measurements of amounts--for example, of seeds or grains--was also a factor in farming and housekeeping. Later came measures of value as commodity and money exchange became common. The use of various ways of measuring led naturally to record keeping, and for this some form of writing was necessary. The earliest civilizations all seem to have used picture-writing--pictures representing both sounds and objects to the reader. The best known of the ancient writing systems is probably Egyptian hieroglyphics, a term meaning "sacred carvings," since many of the earliest writings were inscribed on stone. All of the major ancient civilizations--in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China-- emerged in the 4th millennium BC. Historians still debate over which one emerged first. It may well have been the Middle East, in an area called the Fertile Crescent. This region stretches from the Nile River in Egypt northward along the coast of former Palestine, then eastward into Asia to include Mesopotamia. In this area people settled along the riverbanks and practiced field agriculture. This kind of farming depended on the reproduction of seed, normally from grain crops. Mesopotamia Mesopotamia (from a Greek term meaning "between rivers") lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a region that is part of modern Iraq. By about 5000 BC, small tribes of farmers had made their way to the river valleys. On the floodplains they raised wheat, barley, and peas. They cut through the riverbanks so that water for their crops could flow to lower lying soil. These early irrigation systems were more fully developed by the Sumerians in Mesopotamia, who drained marshes and dug canals, dikes, and ditches. The need for cooperation on these large irrigation projects led to the growth of government and law. The Sumerians are thus credited with forming the earliest of the ancient civilizations. The land of the Sumerians was called Sumer (Shinar in the Bible). Their origins are shrouded in the past. They were not Semites, like most of the peoples of the region; they spoke a language unrelated to other known tongues. They may have come to southern Mesopotamia from Persia before 4000 BC. Sumerian towns and cities included Eridu, Nippur, Lagash, Kish, and Ur. The cities differed from primitive farming settlements. They were not composed of family-owned farms, but were ringed by large tracts of land. These tracts were thought to be "owned" by a local god. A priest organized work groups of farmers to tend the land and provide barley, beans, wheat, olives, grapes, and flax for the community. These early cities, which existed by 3500 BC, were called temple towns because they were built around the temple of the local god. The temples were eventually built up on towers called ziggurats (holy mountains), which had ramps or staircases winding up around the exterior. Public buildings and marketplaces were built around these shrines. The temple towns grew into city-states, which are considered the basis of the first true civilizations. At a time when only the most rudimentary forms of transportation and communication were available, the city-state was the most governable type of human settlement. City-states were ruled by leaders, called ensis, who were probably authorized to control the local irrigation systems. The food surplus provided by the farmers supported these leaders, as well as priests, artists, craftsmen, and others. The Sumerians contributed to the development of metalworking, wheeled carts, and potter's wheels. They may have invented the first form of writing. They engraved pictures on clay tablets in a form of writing known as cuneiform (wedge-shaped). The tablets were used to keep the accounts of the temple food storehouses. By about 2500 BCthese picture-signs were being refined into an alphabet. The Sumerians developed the first calendar, which they adjusted to the phases of the moon. The lunar calendar was adopted by the Semites, Egyptians, and Greeks. An increase in trade between Sumerian cities and between Sumeria and other, more distant regions led to the growth of a merchant class. The Sumerians organized a complex mythology based on the relationships among the various local gods of the temple towns. In Sumerian religion, the most important gods were seen as human forms of natural forces--sky, sun, earth, water, and storm. These gods, each originally associated with a particular city, were worshiped not only in the great temples but also in small shrines in family homes. Warfare between cities eventually led to the rise of kings, called lugals, whose authority replaced that of city-state rulers. Sumeria became a more unified state, with a common culture and a centralized government. This led to the establishment of a bureaucracy and an army. By 2375 BC, most of Sumer was united under one king, Lugalzaggisi of Umma. Babylon The Sumerians were conquered by their Semitic neighbors. But their civilization was carried on by their successors--the Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans. The Babylonians made distinct contributions to the growth of civilization. They added to the knowledge of astronomy, advanced the knowledge of mathematics, and built the first great capital city, Babylon. The Babylonian King Hammurabi set forth the Code of Hammurabi in about 1800 BC. (This was the most complete compilation of Babylonian law and one of the first great law codes in the world (see Hammurabi; Law). Egypt Egyptian farmers had settled in the long and narrow valley of the Nile River by 5000 BC. Within 2,000 years they had invented writing, built massive irrigation works, and established a culture that bequeathed the pyramids and other magnificent monuments to posterity. The primitive farming settlements of Egypt were concerned with the raising of vegetables, grains, and animals. These settlements slowly gave way to larger groupings of people. Probably the need to control the Nile floodwaters through dams and canals eventually led to the rise of government in the region. By the end of the prehistoric period before 3100 BC, Egypt was divided into two kingdoms. Lower Egypt had its capital at Buto, while Upper Egypt was centered at Hierakonpolis. In this period travelers brought in ideas from Sumeria, including the concepts of writing and the pottery wheel. Egyptian civilization began with the unification in 3100 BCof the upper and lower regions by King Menes. He established a new capital at Memphis. In this era the Egyptians developed the first 365-day calendar, discovered the plow, made use of copper, developed hieroglyphic writing, and began to build with stone. Trade and exploration flourished. The Egyptians were ruled by kings known as pharaohs who claimed to be descended from the god Horus. These kings, supported by a priestly class, lived in splendor; and they saw to it that after their deaths they would be buried in splendor. The tombs built for them were designed as storehouses to hold all the things that the kings would need in the afterlife. The earliest royal tombs foreshadowed the later great monuments, the pyramids. By about 2700 BCthe first pyramid was built, in Saqqara. The three great pyramids still standing near Cairo were built between 2650 and 2500 BC. Early Egyptian history is divided into three major eras: the Old Kingdom (2700-2200 BC), the Middle Kingdom (2050-1800 BC), and the New Kingdom (1570-1090 BC). By the dawn of the Old Kingdom, the characteristics of Egyptian civilization had already been firmly established. The periods not accounted for by the dates are believed to be times of decline known as the Intermediate Periods. India The valley of the Indus River is considered to be the birthplace of Indian civilization. Located on the Indian subcontinent in modern Pakistan, the Indus civilization was not discovered by archaeologists until 1924. The ancient history of this region is obscured by legend. It appears, however, that by 4000 BCprimitive farmers were raising vegetables, grains, and animals along the riverbank. By 2700 BCtwo major cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, and numerous smaller towns had emerged. There is some evidence that Mesopotamian traders reached the early Indian people by sailing from Sumeria to the Indus Valley. While the Indians shared some developments--such as complex irrigation and drainage systems and the art of writing--with the people of Sumeria, they also developed a unique cultural style of their own. What little is known of the Indus civilization suggests that it had large cities that were well laid-out and well fortified. There were public buildings, palaces, baths, and large granaries to hold agricultural produce. The many artifacts and artworks found by archaeologists indicate that the residents of the Indus had reached a fairly high level of culture before their civilization was destroyed. According to the Rig Veda, the ancient Hindu scriptures written after about 1500 BC, Aryan invaders conquered the earliest Indian civilization. The Aryans, who were a nomadic people from the Eurasian steppes, imposed on Indian society a caste system, which persists to the present day in Hindu law. The caste system, which divides all people into social classes with differing rights and obligations, was a formal expression of the interdependent labor division seen in all civilizations. By the 6th century BCat least 16 Aryan states had been established on the Indian subcontinent and Brahmanism was flourishing. Crete By about 2500 BCa civilization had emerged on the island of Crete in the Aegean Sea. Excavations in 1900 at the site of Knossos revealed the existence of a culture named by archaeologists as Minoan after a mythical king, Minos. Minoans probably settled in Crete before 3000 BC. There is evidence of outside influence in Crete; apparently Egyptian traders reached the Aegean Sea soon after the Minoans did. Nevertheless, Minoan civilization developed its own unique features, and by about 2000 BC, great cities with elaborate and luxurious palaces were built, and sea trade was flourishing. The Minoans had a picture-writing system, as had other ancient peoples. The Minoan religion seems to have centered on a mother goddess and on the figures of the bull and the snake. The Minoans are known for their beautiful and colorful wall paintings and their fine pottery. In about 1400 BCMinoan civilization began to decline. The end was hastened by invasions from mainland Greece. China The Chinese had settled in the Huang He, or Yellow River, valley of northern China by 3000 BC. By then they had pottery, wheels, farms, and silk, but they had not yet discovered writing or the uses of metals. The Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BC) is the first documented era of ancient China. The highly developed hierarchy consisted of a king, nobles, commoners, and slaves. The capital city was Anyang, in north Henan Province. Some scholars have suggested that travelers from Mesopotamia and from Southeast Asia brought agricultural methods to China, which stimulated the growth of ancient Chinese civilization. The Shang peoples were known for their use of jade, bronze, horse-drawn chariots, ancestor worship, and highly organized armies. Like other ancient peoples, the Chinese developed unique attributes. Their form of writing, developed by 2000 BC, was a complex system of picture writing using forms called ideograms, pictograms, and phonograms. Such early forms of Chinese became known through the discovery by archaeologists of oracle bones, which were bones with writings inscribed on them. They were used for fortune-telling and record keeping in ancient China. The Chou Dynasty (1122-221 BC) saw the full flowering of ancient civilization in China. During this period the empire was unified, a middle class arose, and iron was introduced. The sage Confucius (551-479 BC) developed the code of ethics that dominated Chinese thought and culture for the next 25 centuries. Meso-America Meso-America is the term used to describe the ancient settlements of Mexico and Central America. Civilization arose in the Americas much later than in the Middle East. Whether Native Americans reinvented the tools of civilization, such as farming and writing, or whether they were brought from older societies is a topic of debate among scholars. The earliest elaborate civilization known in the Americas is that of the Olmec of central Mexico. The Olmec lived in the lowlands of present Veracruz and Tabasco states from about 1200 BC. They left artifacts ranging from tiny jade carvings to huge monuments such as the volcanic rock statues at San Lorenzo. These monuments suggest the existence of an organized and diverse society with leaders who could command the work of artisans and laborers. Other early civilizations in the Americas include the Chavin of Peru, the Chono of Chile, the Tehuelche of Argentina, the Tupians of Brazil, the Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula, and the Inca of Peru. Only four ancient civilizations--Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China--provided the basis for continuous cultural developments in the same location. After the Minoan society on Crete was destroyed, its cultural traditions and legends passed into the life of mainland Greece. As for Meso-America, its cultures were submerged by the Spanish conquerors of the 16th century. |
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