Civilization

The ingredients of civilization

Many different elements must come together before a human community develops to the level of sophistication commonly referred to as civilization. The first is the existence of settlements classifiable as towns or cities. This requires food production to be efficient enough for a large minority of the community to be engaged in more specialized activities - such as the creation of imposing buildings or works of art, the practice of skilled warfare, and above all the administration of a centralized bureaucracy capable of running the machinery of state.

Civilization requires at least a rudimentary civil service.

In the organization of a civil service, a system of writing is an almost indispensable aid. This is not invariably the case because at least one civilization, that of the Incas in Peru, will thrive withoutwriting. But the development of writing greatly enhances civilization. And with a script comes history.

Our knowledge of prehistory derives from surviving objects - the evidence of archaeology. History, by contrast, is based on documents. These various interconnections mean that history, civilization and writing all begin at the same time. That time is about 3100 BC.

Mesopotamia and Egypt: 3100 BC

In about 3200 BC the two earliest civilizations develop in the region where southwest Asia joins northeast Africa. Great rivers are a crucial part of the story. TheSumerianssettle in what is now southern Iraq, between the mouths of the Euphrates and the Tigris.Egypt develops in the long narrow strip of the Nile valley.

Rivers offer two main advantages to a developing civilization. They provide water to irrigate the fields, and they offer the easiest method of transport for a society without paved roads. Rivers will play an equally important role in two other early civilizations - those of theIndus and of northernChina.

Read more:http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab25#1495#ixzz3qjkY0dZa