What is a civilization?

The term civilization is difficult to define.

What makes one group civilized and another not?

man settles & organizes into communities for protection

communities develop into towns & later independent city-states

city-states have a hinterland that provides the food and resources necessary to sustain it

city-states build mutual protection alliances & civilization

There are certain elements that are generally agreed upon as being

fundamental to a civilization.

First of these is permanencepermanence.

Secondly, there must

be an organized system of

government & law that unites the people and a system of writing by which

laws can be recorded and knowledge

passed on.

Civilizations are also characterized by the existence

of specialized tradespeople and a system through

which goods & services can be exchanged.

Although there are several other elements that can be argued as essential to a civilization, these five are

vital to any civilization.

complex & highly organized religion

refined art & music

advanced architecture

system of education

Several elements are considered to be by-products of a highly organized

and specialized society:

In addition, every civilization has In addition, every civilization has elements of the elements of the

following four sub-headings.following four sub-headings.

Political

leadership

laws

organized government

military - conflicts/wars

diplomacy

trade

currency

banking/finance

specialization of labour

agriculture

Economic

Ideological

religion

philosophy

literature

art/architecture

technology

math/science/medicine

concept of time

education

language

Social

social practices: - family/roles

customs/ceremonies

class system

immigration/movement

leisure activities/sports

history

The First Civilizations

Early civilizations tended to be located in river valleys. The Sumerian civilization was the oldest. It began around 3500 BCE in Mesopotamia. (The Land Between the Rivers) {modern Iraq}

Soon afterwards another civilization began in the Near East. The Egyptian civilization began about 3200 BCE. along the Nile.

Where were they located?

Another flourished in India around 2500 BCE. along the Indus River.

China had her first civilization by about 1500 BCE along the Yellow River.

Why?

The river valleys had rich, easily worked soils. Agriculture was relatively easy and the populations

of these civilizations tended to grow very rapidly.Transportation was also relatively easy.

The two exceptions to early civilizations being located in river valleys were:The Minoan Civilization began on the island of Crete around 2000 BCE. - the Minoans had a fine central position in a sea of islands with access to the great civilizations of the Near East and Egypt.

The Aztecs and Mayan Civilizations that first appeared around 800 BCE. - they multiplied on the rich soil of their semi-tropical forests of Central & South America.

What is a Civilization?? Remember:

• PERSIAT & G

PERSIAT & G• P – Political• E – Economic• R – Religion• S – Social• I – Ideological (Ideas)• A – Arts & literature• T – Technology• G - Geography