Chapter 1 Section 2

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Chapter 1 Section 2

• The Foundations of Civilization

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• The Story Continues
• By the end of the New Stone Age, people
• had learned to make tools and weapons,
• use fire, create works of art, tame animals,
• and grow food. Many had established
• permanent settlements. The stage was set
• for the next level of development.

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I. Characteristics of a Civilization

• Civilizations are complex cultures with several
• common characteristics

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I. Characteristics of a Civilization

• Improved agriculture with irrigation meant
• food surpluses and increases in population

Shadouf Irrigation
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I. Characteristics of a Civilization

• People living together required leadership and
• rules governments and laws emerged

Reconstruction of Harappa, Indus River
Valley
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I. Characteristics of a Civilization

• Improved agriculture meant fewer people
• were needed in the fields others performed
• different jobs

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I. Characteristics of a Civilization

• The division of labor meant the emergence of
• artisans, merchants, traders, etc.

Sumerian Pottery
Cloth Merchant
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I. Characteristics of a Civilization

• Job Specialization - Individuals could not
• master all skills and began to specialize

Egyptians artisans smelted copper and gold for
artistic, architectural, and military purposes.
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I. Characteristics of a Civilization

• People became ranked according to their
• jobs, leading to the growth of social classes

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I. Characteristics of a Civilization

• Arts and architecture expressed the beliefs,
• values, strength and power of a people

Mesopotamian Ziggurat
Temple of Hephaistos
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I. Characteristics of a Civilization

• Public works benefitted the city, protected
• from attack, and ensured the food supply

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I. Characteristics of a Civilization

• Writing was developed to record and pass on
• information. Calendars keep track of yearly
• events

Cuneiform tablet
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II. Spread of Civilization

• Migration, trade, and warfare meant cultural
• diffusion - the spread of ideas, customs,
  culture,
• and technology

Traders approaching Timbuktu in Mali
Diffusion of language
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II. Spread of Civilization

• Warfare brought change victors forced their
• way of life upon the people they defeated

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III. The River Valley Civilizations

• Four Cradles of Civilization
• - Nile River Valley
• - Tigris and Euphrates
• River Valley
• - Indus River Valley
• - Huang He River Valley

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III. The River Valley Civilizations

• Climate and flooding influenced the
• development of civilizations

Nile River Floodplain
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A. The Use of Metals

• 6,000 years ago, people were using copper
• 5,000 years ago the Bronze Age began

Bronze Age Metalworking
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A. The Use of Metals

• About 3,200 years ago people in SW Asia
• learned to make iron - the Iron Age

Blacksmith in Ancient Greece (ca. 530 BC)
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B. Family and Religion

• Women managed the family, grew the crops,
• prepared the food, and had authority and
• independence

Mother goddess seated between two leopards. Catal
Huyuk, Turkey c.7250-6700 BC
The Venus of Willendorf carved between 24,000 -
22,000 BC
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B. Family and Religion

• When the plow was invented, men became
• the primary food providers and the authority in
• society

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B. Family and Religion

• Religion was animistic - the world was full of
• spirits and forces residing in animals or
• objects

Animism is the name given by anthropologists to
the experience or the belief that all nature is
alive, animated and animating. The Goddess
equated with Sacred Nature was embodied in myriad
forms and worshipped in her manifest guises, such
as trees. (Clay impression, Indus Valley, c. 2000
BC)
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B. Family and Religion

• Most ancient people were polytheistic, had
• complex rituals, built temples and offered
• sacrifices

Egyptian Gods Amon - The creator god. Anubis -
God of mummification. Isis - Mistress of Magic.
Also the wife of Osiris and mother of
Horus. Osiris - God of farming and ruler of the
underworld. Horus - The sky god. Son of Osiris
and Isis. Set - God of disorder. An enemy of
Horus. Sobek - The crocodile god. Ra - The sun
god.