Civilization

Main thing

A civilization is an advanced stage of human cultural and social development. The core idea is that a civilization is a complex society with certain key features that distinguish it from simpler cultures that came before. These essential features include:

1. Cities: Civilizations have urban centers with dense populations, like Uruk in ancient Mesopotamia or Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley.

2. Specialized labor: People take on specific roles and professions, like farmers, artisans, priests, and rulers, instead of everyone doing a bit of everything.

3. Complex institutions: Civilizations have governments, religions, social classes, and economic systems that organize society, like the pharaohs and priests of ancient Egypt.

4. Advanced technology: Civilizations develop new tools and techniques, often to support large populations, like the complex irrigation systems of the Aztecs.

5. Shared culture: Art, religion, customs, and values help unify people and give a civilization its identity, like the distinctive styles of ancient Greek art and architecture.

Before civilizations, humans lived in smaller, simpler societies of hunters and gatherers or early farmers. They were more equal and less specialized. The Paleolithic societies of early humans, for example, consisted of small nomadic bands. The Neolithic Revolution, with the beginnings of agriculture and larger permanent settlements, set the stage for the rise of civilizations.

Terms

• Cities: Dense urban settlements that are centers of politics, religion, and trade. Example: Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire.

• Institutions: Systems and organizations that structure society, like governments and religions. Example: The Mayan king and noble class.

• Culture: Shared patterns of behavior and beliefs, as expressed in art, customs, and values. Example: The Confucian philosophy that shaped ancient Chinese civilization.

• Paleolithic: The Old Stone Age (roughly 2.5 million years ago to 10,000 BCE), marked by the use of simple stone tools and a hunter-gatherer way of life.

• Neolithic Revolution: The shift from a nomadic lifestyle to settled agriculture and larger permanent settlements, occurring independently in several parts of the world between roughly 10,000 BCE and 4000 BCE.

An analogy

If a civilization is like a complex machine, pre-civilized societies are like simple tools. A hand axe is useful but limited in what it can do compared to a system of gears and levers. Similarly, a small farming village can support a simpler way of life, but a civilization's interconnected cities, institutions, and technologies can achieve things on a much greater scale.

A main misconception

It's a misconception that all civilizations follow the same path, advancing through set stages until they reach a common end point. In reality, each civilization is unique. The Indus Valley Civilization, for example, did not seem to have powerful rulers like Mesopotamia or Egypt did. Civilizations can also rise, fall, transform, or be absorbed by others. The Mycenaean civilization collapsed, while the Assyrian civilization was conquered by outside powers.

The history

1. 3500-3000 BCE - The first civilizations emerge in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley

2. 2000-1500 BCE - New civilizations like the Minoans and Shang China arise; the Indus Valley Civilization declines

3. 1000-500 BCE - Civilizations expand and interact more, like the Phoenicians around the Mediterranean or the Persian Empire in the Near East

4. 500 BCE-500 CE - Classical civilizations reach their peak, like Greece, Rome, Han China, and the Maya

5. 500-1500 CE - Civilizations rise and fall, with new ones like the Islamic Caliphates and the Mongol Empire making their mark

6. 1500 CE-present - Global interaction increases as European civilizations explore and colonize; industrial civilization emerges and spreads

Three cases how to use it right now

1. When studying a past civilization, analyze how its cities, institutions, technologies, and culture fit together as a system. This can help explain its strengths, weaknesses, and impact.

2. When traveling, look for signs of past civilizations in the ruins, art, and customs you encounter. This can deepen your appreciation for how they shaped the present.

3. When discussing social issues, consider how our civilization's complexity can both cause problems and provide resources for solving them, compared to simpler societies. Poverty looks different in an industrial civilization than in a farming village.

Interesting facts

• The Indus Valley Civilization had sophisticated urban planning with grid-layout streets and advanced drainage systems.

• The ancient Maya had one of the most advanced writing systems in the pre-Columbian Americas, with over 800 hieroglyphs.

• Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted for over 3000 years, making it one of the longest continuous civilizations in world history.

• The ancient Persians established the first true empire, uniting many peoples across a vast territory.

• The Aztec capital Tenochtitlan was one of the largest cities in the world in 1500 CE, with around 200,000 people.