Chapter 1 - The Ancient Near East: The First Civilizations
Known as Australopithecines, they flourished in East and South Africa and were the first hominids to make simple stone tools.
Another stage in early human development occurred around 1.5 million years ago when Homo erectus emerged. Homo erectus made use of larger and more varied tools and was the first hominid to leave Africa and move into both Europe and Asia.
The Emergence of Homo sapiens Around 250,000 years ago, a crucial stage in human development began with the emergence of Homo sapiens.
The first anatomically modern humans, known as Homo sapiens sapiens, appeared in Africa between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago. Recent evidence indicates that they began to spread outside Africa around 70,000 years ago.
Men hunted wild animals, an activity that often took them far from camp.
Because both men and women played important roles in providing for the band’s survival, many scientists believe that rough equality existed between men and women.
Indeed, some speculate that both men and women made the decisions that affected the activities of the Paleolithic band. Some groups of Paleolithic people found shelter in caves, but over time, they also created new types of shelter.
Men hunted wild animals, an activity that often took them far from camp.
Because both men and women played important roles in providing for the band’s survival, many scientists believe that rough equality existed between men and women.
Indeed, some speculate that both men and women made the decisions that affected the activities of the Paleolithic band. Some groups of Paleolithic people found shelter in caves, but over time, they also created new types of shelter.
The biggest change was the shift from gathering plants and hunting animals for sustenance to producing food by systematic agriculture.
The planting of grains and vegetables provided a regular supply of food, while the domestication of animals, such as goats, cattle, pigs, and sheep, provided a steady source of meat, milk, and fibers such as wool for clothing.
Larger animals could also be used as beasts of burden. The growing of crops and the taming of food-producing animals created a new relationship between humans and nature.
The growing of crops on a regular basis gave rise to more permanent settlements, which historians refer to as Neolithic farming villages or towns.
One of the oldest and most extensive agricultural villages was Çatal Hu ̈yu ̈k, located in modern-day Turkey.
Once people settled in villages or towns, they built houses for protection and other structures for the storage of goods. As organized communities stored food and accumulated material goods, they began to engage in trade. In the course of the Neolithic Age, many of the food plants still in use today began to be cultivated. The change to systematic agriculture in the Neolithic Age also had consequences for the relationship between men and women.
Men assumed the primary responsibility for working in the fields and herding animals, jobs that kept them away from the home.
Although women also worked in the fields, many remained close to home, caring for the children, weaving cloth, and performing other household tasks.
As we have seen, early human beings formed small groups that developed a simple culture that enabled them to survive. A civilization is a complex culture in which large numbers of human beings share a variety of common elements. Historians have identified a number of basic characteristics of civilization. The civilizations that developed in Southwest Asia and Egypt, the forerunners of Western civilization, will be examined in detail in this chapter.
But civilization also developed independently in other parts of the world. , the valleys of the Indus River in India supported a flourishing civilization that extended hundreds of miles from the Himalayas to the coast of the Arabian Sea. This Indus valley civilization carried on extensive trade with city-states in Southwest Asia. Another river valley civilization emerged along the Yellow River in northern China about 4,000 years ago.
Under the Shang dynasty of kings, which ruled from 1570 to 1045 B., this civilization contained impressive cities with huge outer walls, royal palaces, and large royal tombs. A system of irrigation enabled early Chinese civilization to maintain a prosperous farming society ruled by an aristocratic class whose major concern was war.
The Greeks spoke of the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Southwest Asia as Mesopotamia, the land ‘‘between the rivers.
’’The region receives little rain, but the soil of the plain of southern Mesopotamia was enlarged and enriched over the years by layers of silt deposited by the two rivers. In late spring, the Tigris and Euphrates overflow their banks and deposit their fertile silt, but since this flooding depends on the melting of snows in the upland mountains where the rivers begin, it is unpredictable and sometimes catastrophic.
In such circumstances, people could raise crops only by building a complex system of irrigation and drainage ditches to control the flow of the rivers.
The Nile is a unique river, beginning in the heart of Africa and coursing northward for thousands of miles. Thanks to the Nile, an area several miles wide on both banks of the river was capable of producing abundant harvests. The ‘‘miracle’’ of the Nile was its annual flooding.
Unlike the floods of Mesopotamia’s rivers, the flooding of the Nile was gradual and usually predictable, and the river itself was seen as life-enhancing, not life-threatening.
Although a system of organized irrigation was still necessary, the small villages along the Nile could make the effort without the massive state intervention that was required in Mesopotamia.
Egyptian civilization consequently tended to remain more rural, with many small population centers congregated along a narrow band on both sides of the Nile. Even today, most of Egypt’s people are crowded along the banks of the Nile River.
The surpluses of food that Egyptian farmers grew in the fertile Nile valley made Egypt prosperous.
But the Nile also served as a unifying factor in Egyptian history. In ancient times, the Nile was the fastest way to travel through the land, making both transportation and communication easier.
Winds from the north pushed sailboats south, and the current of the Nile carried them north.
Farming had spread into the Balkan peninsula of Europe by 6500 B. it was well established in southern France, central Europe, and the coastal regions of the Mediterranean. Although migrating farmers from the Near East may have brought some farming techniques into Europe, historians now believe that the Neolithic peoples of Europe domesticated animals and began to farm largely on their own.
One outstanding feature of late Neolithic Europe was the building of megalithic structures. ’’ Radiocarbon dating, a technique that allows scientists to determine the age of objects, shows that the first megalithic structures were built around 4000 B. By far the most famous of these megalithic constructions is Stonehenge in England.
Stonehenge consists of a series of concentric rings of standing stones.
The eighty bluestones used at Stonehenge weigh 4 tons each and were transported to the site from their original source 135 miles away.
Like other megalithic structures, Stonehenge indicates a remarkable awareness of astronomy on the part of its builders, as well as impressive coordination of workers.
Known as Australopithecines, they flourished in East and South Africa and were the first hominids to make simple stone tools.
Another stage in early human development occurred around 1.5 million years ago when Homo erectus emerged. Homo erectus made use of larger and more varied tools and was the first hominid to leave Africa and move into both Europe and Asia.
The Emergence of Homo sapiens Around 250,000 years ago, a crucial stage in human development began with the emergence of Homo sapiens.
The first anatomically modern humans, known as Homo sapiens sapiens, appeared in Africa between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago. Recent evidence indicates that they began to spread outside Africa around 70,000 years ago.
Men hunted wild animals, an activity that often took them far from camp.
Because both men and women played important roles in providing for the band’s survival, many scientists believe that rough equality existed between men and women.
Indeed, some speculate that both men and women made the decisions that affected the activities of the Paleolithic band. Some groups of Paleolithic people found shelter in caves, but over time, they also created new types of shelter.
Men hunted wild animals, an activity that often took them far from camp.
Because both men and women played important roles in providing for the band’s survival, many scientists believe that rough equality existed between men and women.
Indeed, some speculate that both men and women made the decisions that affected the activities of the Paleolithic band. Some groups of Paleolithic people found shelter in caves, but over time, they also created new types of shelter.
The biggest change was the shift from gathering plants and hunting animals for sustenance to producing food by systematic agriculture.
The planting of grains and vegetables provided a regular supply of food, while the domestication of animals, such as goats, cattle, pigs, and sheep, provided a steady source of meat, milk, and fibers such as wool for clothing.
Larger animals could also be used as beasts of burden. The growing of crops and the taming of food-producing animals created a new relationship between humans and nature.
The growing of crops on a regular basis gave rise to more permanent settlements, which historians refer to as Neolithic farming villages or towns.
One of the oldest and most extensive agricultural villages was Çatal Hu ̈yu ̈k, located in modern-day Turkey.
Once people settled in villages or towns, they built houses for protection and other structures for the storage of goods. As organized communities stored food and accumulated material goods, they began to engage in trade. In the course of the Neolithic Age, many of the food plants still in use today began to be cultivated. The change to systematic agriculture in the Neolithic Age also had consequences for the relationship between men and women.
Men assumed the primary responsibility for working in the fields and herding animals, jobs that kept them away from the home.
Although women also worked in the fields, many remained close to home, caring for the children, weaving cloth, and performing other household tasks.
As we have seen, early human beings formed small groups that developed a simple culture that enabled them to survive. A civilization is a complex culture in which large numbers of human beings share a variety of common elements. Historians have identified a number of basic characteristics of civilization. The civilizations that developed in Southwest Asia and Egypt, the forerunners of Western civilization, will be examined in detail in this chapter.
But civilization also developed independently in other parts of the world. , the valleys of the Indus River in India supported a flourishing civilization that extended hundreds of miles from the Himalayas to the coast of the Arabian Sea. This Indus valley civilization carried on extensive trade with city-states in Southwest Asia. Another river valley civilization emerged along the Yellow River in northern China about 4,000 years ago.
Under the Shang dynasty of kings, which ruled from 1570 to 1045 B., this civilization contained impressive cities with huge outer walls, royal palaces, and large royal tombs. A system of irrigation enabled early Chinese civilization to maintain a prosperous farming society ruled by an aristocratic class whose major concern was war.
The Greeks spoke of the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Southwest Asia as Mesopotamia, the land ‘‘between the rivers.
’’The region receives little rain, but the soil of the plain of southern Mesopotamia was enlarged and enriched over the years by layers of silt deposited by the two rivers. In late spring, the Tigris and Euphrates overflow their banks and deposit their fertile silt, but since this flooding depends on the melting of snows in the upland mountains where the rivers begin, it is unpredictable and sometimes catastrophic.
In such circumstances, people could raise crops only by building a complex system of irrigation and drainage ditches to control the flow of the rivers.
The Nile is a unique river, beginning in the heart of Africa and coursing northward for thousands of miles. Thanks to the Nile, an area several miles wide on both banks of the river was capable of producing abundant harvests. The ‘‘miracle’’ of the Nile was its annual flooding.
Unlike the floods of Mesopotamia’s rivers, the flooding of the Nile was gradual and usually predictable, and the river itself was seen as life-enhancing, not life-threatening.
Although a system of organized irrigation was still necessary, the small villages along the Nile could make the effort without the massive state intervention that was required in Mesopotamia.
Egyptian civilization consequently tended to remain more rural, with many small population centers congregated along a narrow band on both sides of the Nile. Even today, most of Egypt’s people are crowded along the banks of the Nile River.
The surpluses of food that Egyptian farmers grew in the fertile Nile valley made Egypt prosperous.
But the Nile also served as a unifying factor in Egyptian history. In ancient times, the Nile was the fastest way to travel through the land, making both transportation and communication easier.
Winds from the north pushed sailboats south, and the current of the Nile carried them north.
Farming had spread into the Balkan peninsula of Europe by 6500 B. it was well established in southern France, central Europe, and the coastal regions of the Mediterranean. Although migrating farmers from the Near East may have brought some farming techniques into Europe, historians now believe that the Neolithic peoples of Europe domesticated animals and began to farm largely on their own.
One outstanding feature of late Neolithic Europe was the building of megalithic structures. ’’ Radiocarbon dating, a technique that allows scientists to determine the age of objects, shows that the first megalithic structures were built around 4000 B. By far the most famous of these megalithic constructions is Stonehenge in England.
Stonehenge consists of a series of concentric rings of standing stones.
The eighty bluestones used at Stonehenge weigh 4 tons each and were transported to the site from their original source 135 miles away.
Like other megalithic structures, Stonehenge indicates a remarkable awareness of astronomy on the part of its builders, as well as impressive coordination of workers.
