Jeremy Dessert

Due: 9/7/16

1.) What enabled civilizations to develop~

As humans became more advanced, they developed more organized religion and culture, and arts

like monuments, which ushered in civilizations by promoting communal cooperation and unity. Also, with

the end of the ice age, the agricultural revolution began as humans gained increasing knowledge and

adapted to the environment, which is one factor that was responsible for the development of civilizations.

More reliable food sources and domesticated animals from agriculture not only reduced migration but also

increased populations and led to stable communities, as opposed to smaller tribal bands. These agricultural

surpluses increased social stratification and led to specialization, while irrigational needs increased political

organization. Moreover, this specialization allowed for the emergence of social classes and different jobs

that provided a variety of services for the people, which is key for civilizations. Technology associated with

agriculture like the invention of the wheel or metal hand tools, along with writing, permitted civilizations to

develop because they caused greater productivity, formed specialized manufacturing or artisan groups, and

increased human intellect. Wealthy urban centers were also directly connected to civilizations because they

caused the rapid exchange of ideas, while also supporting population growth by directing surpluses, and

forming basic bureaucracy and governing rules. Finally, trading contacts were a factor because new

techniques were exchanged and thus new sources of knowledge were gained, which allowed cultures to

grow.

2.) Identify the characteristics that are critical for society to become a civilization~

One characteristic includes formal political organizations or bureaucracy that can provide for

defense, promote stability, and expand its rule over large territories, rather than loosely organized societies.

Writing is also significant because it not only contributes to advanced political structures like city-states ,

but it allowed individuals to archive information and improve human intellect. Most civilizations rely on

agriculture and food surpluses in order to support larger populations, which reduced migrations and

contributed to labor specialization. This specialization is needed because it led to the emergence of

distinctive social classes based on wealth with greater gender inequality and separation between the
monarchs and commoners. Civilizations must also have advanced technology like metal tools and weapons

that promote specialization for artisans and manufacturers, while also allowing humans to essentially

transform the environment. Having organized religion and culture, along with architecture like monuments,

is important because it creates a sense of unity among the people living together and expressed a

civilizations values, which helped with social and political stability. In addition, you need to have strong

cities that can direct agricultural surpluses, but also develop trade for a larger area, create different jobs, and

form basic political bureaucracy. Finally, a key factor is having public works like irrigation and defense

walls, while also being located near a water supply that can aid in trade and stimulate economic growth.

3.) Compare the drawbacks of non-civilized societies with civilized societies.

One drawback is that non-civilized societies had precarious food supplies, in comparison to an

agricultural civilization that could produce surpluses and have stable food sources and communities. Also,

with frequent migrations, uncivilized societies placed less of an emphasis on diverse monumental artwork,

and their religion or culture was not as extensive as civilizations. Also, some uncivilized societies faced the

dangers of consistently migrating, and had informal governing methods and not as much law enforcement,

whereas a civilized society has political organizations and codes of laws like Hammurabi's code. Non-

civilized society's also lack many of the public works like irrigation or defense walls, and lacked resistance

to contagious diseases that were carried by agriculturists, while civilizations had better immunity and

institutions to provide protection. And, they lacked labor specialization that was needed for productivity

and economic growth, and their human capacity for political and technological organizations was not as

advanced as civilized societies. Finally, uncivilized societies lacked writing and urban centers, while those

civilized could build on the past through records and had cities to gain knowledge.

Civilizations also have its downfalls, such as how there is a greater separation between the

monarchs and the commoners and firmer class divisions, while non-civilized societies dont have such a

rigid hierarchy. Moreover, social classes based on wealth had its downfalls because it led to greater

inequality between men and women, and it also led to the exploitation of people such as slaves by powerful
rulers. Civilizations lead to environmental degradation, and their large populations permits disease to

spread rapidly in comparison to the smaller populations of a non civilized society. Also, civilizations

resulted in more serious warfare, while non civilized societies had conflicts that involved limited fighting.

Another downfall is that most civilizations do not enhance a humans capacity for restrained and polite

behavior which resulted in less veneration for the elderly, while the uncivilized often treated the elderly

with more respect. A civilized society can sometimes bring with it a host of restraints, laws, or taxes in

order to keep a complex social organization that decrease local autonomy, whereas non civilizations often

lack all of these vigorous constraints.

4. Compare the advantages of an agriculturally based society with a hunter-gatherer society.

An advantage of agriculture is that surpluses or more reliable food sources can support larger

populations and more stable communities in comparison to a hunter-gatherers precarious food supplies.

Moreover, this stability led to the emergence of towns and villages, which in turn caused better protection

from invaders, while hunter gatherers are constantly migrating. Agriculture allows humans to essentially

transform the environment and create public works like irrigation, while hunter-gatherers move around

often and are deficient in public works. Also, more children can be supported in comparison to that of a

hunter-gatherer society, and agriculture allowed the people to remain in one spot to prioritize on religious

and cultural goals. So, you saw a growth in formal arts and monuments, and technological advancements

were more possible for agriculturists, like pottery making. There was far more specialization and wealth in

agricultural societies than in hunter-gatherer societies, which led to greater productivity. Finally,

agricultural societies had writing and cities, which led to new innovations, knowledge , and maximum

economic efficiency, while hunter-gatherers lacked cities and extensive trade.

One advantage of a hunter-gatherer society is that their small tribal bands prevented disease from

spreading rapidly and they tended to live more sustainably, while the agricultural societies large

populations depleted the environment. Another advantage is a hunter-gatherer societies have limited

warfare and shorter work days that leave time for leisure and ritual as compared to agricultural societies
that required more physical work and involved serious conflicts. Also, hunter-gatherer societies are more

egalitarian structured than that of an agricultural one, and often times there is more gender equality and

slavery is nonexistent. Unlike an agricultural society, hunter-gatherers are more independent and do not rely

on others for food, and their more varied diet provides better nutrients. In addition, hunting for your family

gives you a sense of purpose and some of these societies even treated the elderly with more veneration,

while agricultural society often treated the elderly with less respect. Although they did not have writing like

agricultural societies, spoken language allowed many hunter-gatherer societies to be well-regulated, and

some had great creativity in technology, culture, social relations, and global contacts.

5. Compare the main features of Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations.

One similarity between Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilization is that they manipulated their

environment in order to serve their economic needs, such as how they built irrigation systems, dams and

canals, which brought formal political organization to regulate their complex social systems. In addition,

both civilizations were established along fertile river valley lands in order to have successful agriculture,

and they also developed adequate transportation, whether it be the horse and chariot or the wheel. Although

Egypt and Mesopotamia had different economies, both relied on trade for a source of knowledge. Religion

varied between both civilizations but overall, they believed in polytheism and an afterlife, and religion was

reflected in monuments like ziggurats or pyramids. At the same time, specialization and a patriarchal

society resulted in an elaborate social hierarchy, where a powerful ruler was at the top, and the commoners

peasants and slaves were at the bottom. While their specific advancements differed, both also put an

emphasis on studies related to astronomy, mathematics, and art. Finally, Mesopotamia and Egypt depended

on urban areas in order to exchange goods and ideas and they both had a form of writing.

One difference is that Mesopotamia was developed without a model and was much less unified,

while Egypt was based off of previous civilizations, and was much more united. Furthermore,

Mesopotamia had few natural barriers to prevent invasion, while Egypt was more isolated, had fewer large-

scale cities and traded less extensively. Also, the Pharaohs of Egypt were considered a god and they gave

great preparation for the afterlife, while Mesopotamian rulers were considered intermediaries between the
gods and the people and portrayed the afterlife as being dark. In terms of government, Mesopotamia was

ruled by many different kings and nobles due to their numerous city-states, while Egypt was organized into

kingdoms and had one major king or pharaoh that operated many different bureaucracies around it. So,

Egypt was more government-directed with a strong central authority in comparison to the independent

business class in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia created wedge shaped figures known as cuneiform, while

Egypt had developed writing that was more pictographic, and even though both civilizations had a

patriarchal structure, women had greater status in Egypt. Moreover, their art styles differed considerably,

and Egypt was often more advanced in mathematics than Mesopotamia. And, because Mesopotamia was

more experienced in bronze, while Egypt produced more iron, it had far better supplies.