Paleolithic Civilizations

Written language was a major development because it started to create a language. The text states, “writing also gave weight to and specificity to orders, regulations, and laws.”(page 78). The text shows that writing was being invented and proved to be worthwhile with laws for the government during the new society, whereas in earlier Paleolithic and Neolithic societies, there was no written language which might have led to chaos. As well as written language, another critical development was complex calendars. According to the text, it states, “complex calendars indicated precisely when certain rituals should be performed”(page 78). The textbook portrays that complex calendars helped civilians display when religion rituals should be held. This is an important development for civilization because complex calendars provided a certain date to perform certain rituals. All in all, hierarchies in class and gender, as well as written language and complex calendars proved to be an important development that distinguish

The economies of these civilizations all started with agriculture. From there they developed industries and began to trade.

One geographical area in which civilization first developed would be Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia in Greek means between two rivers. Mesopotamia was located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Fertile Crescent region. I think that a complex society emerged in Mesopotamia because Mesopotamia is between two rivers. That would provide the civilization with food, transportation and trade. According to the World History volume I, the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers supplied water and food because of the violent floods (Wallech et al., 2013, p. 33). The rivers provided food because there are some animals that stays in the water and many animals on land would go to the rivers for water. The rivers provided fresh water for farming and irrigation.

Civilization. The word “civilization” comes from the Latin term for “city.” The first civilizations were the river-valley civilizations, so-called because they all developed alongside major rivers to secure an adequate water supply for agricultural production. 2 of the greatest river-valley civilizations were Mesopotamia and Egypt. All though they both supported having a patriarchal leader or king, Egypt had a strong, centralized government, whereas Mesopotamia was decentralized, and built based on small city-states operating independently.

These three civilizations created cultures that built societies and people for future generations. Starting around 3100 BC they began. The rule of King Menes began the Egyptian civilization by unifying the Upper and Lower Egypt into one kingdom (Duiker and Speilvogel 17). The Mesopotamian civilization located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, began with the Sumerians people (Duiker and Speilvogel 9). Also, in now what is modern day India, another civilization began. It was located in the Indus River Valley with the Harappan people (Duiker and Speilvogel 38). Three early civilizations laid the foundation for what would be the progression of future civilizations, all of which would greatly influenced the world.

The civilization that flourished in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine were located in river valleys or along the Mediterranean coast. These civilizations developed highly complex cultures that shared many common characteristics. Some of the characteristics that they shared were justice, cultural diffusion, architecture and inventions. Because of these characteristic they achieved and contributed a lot to society as well as to future civilizations.

Ancient river valley civilizations are one of the earliest societies in the world. The rises of these ancient river valley civilizations started the first cradle of civilization. The Indus Valley Civilization, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Mesopotamia, and Ancient China are the earliest civilizations that were successful enough to make enough food for everybody. Every one of these civilizations had three things in common: they all had a special relationship with the river, they created their own writing system, and they all relied on trade.

1B: The first civilizations formed at around 10,000 BCE, when humans settled around the Fertile Crescent to plant crops like wheat, barley and cereal. Cereal’s property of sweetening when soaked in water, and fermenting over time were discovered, making it a significant grain that led to permanent settlements, and eventually, the development of civilizations.

Early civilizations and empires of the Middle East and Egypt developed several distinct characteristics. Babylon, Ancient Israelites, and Egypt developed characteristics that included governmental, social, and economic structures as well as distinct religions and innovations. These civilizations and empires existed between 2,575 B.C. - 323 B.C. and most of them had notable rulers.

The earliest societies, such as Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt exhibiting indicator traits of civilization developed along the floodplains of great rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq, and the Nile in Egypt. People had settled in Mesopotamia by 7000 B.C. and the First Dynasty of Egyptian

Many of the early world civilizations had similar experiences when evolving to become the influential societies that affected other societies. They were called the first civilizations because they were able to form the first functional communities, successful systems of organized laws over people, the distinction of social classes, economic income, and development of arts and educations. Two of histories well-known civilizations, Mesopotamia and Ancient China had similar experiences in the beginnings of their histories, they still have a different cultural and political views.

The first civilizations and the rise of empires began with small groups or villages existing with the use of hunting, fishing, and foraging. (William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel, World History, vol. 1, 1) Within a few thousand years, people learned how to cultivate food crops and this led to an increase in population. Increased food production resulted in larger communities. The cities began to expand their cultural and religious developments leading to the beginnings of civilization. (Duiker, World History, 1) The first civilizations emerged in Mesopotamia and Egypt during the fourth and third millennia B.C.E and had various components in common. Each of these civilizations was established in a river valley so they were able to provide and produce the agricultural resources needed to survive and uphold the population. (Duiker, World History, 1) Mesopotamia developed in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates River known as “the land between the rivers.” These rivers provided irregular and catastrophic flooding for the city-state. They created an intensive irrigation system to improve their agriculture. The first people to create Mesopotamian civilization were known as the Sumerians. These people were the first city builders and created the major city’s named Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Umma, and Lagash. These cities were built with surrounding walls and defense towers. A six-mile-long wall enclosed the city of Uruk. Mesopotamia lacked

The people of the Paleolithic Era were hunting-foraging bands that migrated from East Africa to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americans, adapting their technology and cultures to new climate regions.

During the pre-agricultural, paleolithic era, population density was lower than in the post agricultural ,Neolithic era despite their healthy diets and slow pace lifestyles. The nutritious diet allowed these people to avoid chronic health issues such as heart disease and diabetes. In the paleolithic era people had a slow pace of life because they typically only required approximately ten to twenty hours a week dedicated for survival task. These survival task included gathering food, finding drinking water, and building shelters. The people in the paleolithic era still died frequently causing the population density to run low. They typically died younger than normal from infections, injuries, violence between each other, and animal attacks.

According to National Geographic a civilization is a “society with highly developed culture and technology.”Every civilization has distinct characteristics in a common. For example, they have organized Central Government /Complex Institution, Job Specialization,Cities, Art and Architecture Technology , and Writing / Recording Keeping. Historians do not agree on how many characteristics are essential to success of a civilization. After analyzing all the characteristics, I believe that Organized Central Government / Complex Institution,Job Specialization,and Art and Architecture / Technology.