What is (and is not) a Civilization?

When people gathered to form a civilization, they tended to do so in areas where the land suited their needs. People need three things: water, food, and shelter. Therefore, ancient civilizations formed in areas where nature took care of those needs. In Mesopotamia, that area was located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The term Mesopotamia literally means land between the rivers. In North Africa, that area was along the Nile River. In modern-day India and Pakistan, a civilization emerged along the Indus River. The predecessors of modern-day China formed their civilization along the Yellow (or Huang He) River. We refer to these civilizations as the Ancient River Civilizations. There were four (the numbers below correspond to the map displayed to the right):

Mesopotamia or Sumer (circa 3500 BCE)
Egypt or Nile River Valley Civilization (circa 3100 BCE)
Indus River Valley Civilization (circa 2600 BCE)
Yellow River or Huang He Civilization (circa 1700 BCE)

The Bronze Age

The emergence of these civilizations, those in river valleys and others alike, corresponded with each location's entering the Bronze Age. The Bronze Age started when humans discovered that the mixing of copper and tin resulted in a tougher, harder metal known as bronze. With this new durable metal, people were able to create tools that could hold up to the rigors of an agricultural life. With better tools, they became better food producers. More food allowed for more people to live closer together. With more people living closer together, new social structures developed. With social structure came prosperity and a need for defense. As it turned out, bronze wasn't just good for hoes and spades: it worked very well in weapon technology. Those with the greater weapons conquered neighbors with lesser weapons and settlements grew in size and population, which led to the production of more food, more social structures, and more conquering until there was a civilization.

What Makes a Civilization?

The locations above were not the only places where people gathered to live. Archaeologists determined that Stonehenge, in England, was constructed sometime between 3000 and 2000 BCE, so we know that there were cultures practicing village life elsewhere. Around 4,000 years ago, the Bantu people in Africa had distinct agricultural methods, languages, and cultures. But they did not have city centers, nor did they have government organizations. So not all villages and cultures are deemed early civilizations. While archeologists (who understand the past through artifacts) and historians (who understand the past through written records) have created numerous definitions of civilization, most agree on these four factors being required:

CITY:
- The settlement needs to be an urban environment with a large, concentrated population, governmental organization, and some advances in the technologies that make life easier.
  - For these ancient civilizations, think of irrigation systems or methods of security and public works.
FOOD:
- The settlement must produce a surplus of food.
  - Only in this way will there be people whose hands won't be tied to the land and who will have the time to work in other areas.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE:
- The population has a division of labor based on specialization.
  - Some will grow food to feed the community, some will govern, some will lead the community religiously, some will create the city’s organization system; there will be wealthy and poor, powerful and weak, and so on.
CULTURE:
- The population of a civilization will have created its own unique way of life.
  - They will have forms of religion, writing, government, and economy.
  - They will express themselves through art and architecture, and they will have means of entertainment, etc.

And while most of the ancient civilizations were located along rivers, not all were. However, they were always located near a body of water, whether it be sea or ocean. For example, in this Module we will also learn about the following groups:

Olmec Civilization (circa 1200 BCE on the Gulf of Mexico)
Hebrew Civilization (circa 1200 BCE on the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River)
Jiroft Civilization* (circa 3000 BCE on the Halil River)

*The Jiroft Civilization later becomes the Persian Empire, which is what you will read about later in the module.

Practice Activity

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