History 114 W6

Agriculture in the Neolithic era = dawn of civilisation

1. Change from nomadic to sedentary life

2. Move from experimental plant cultivation - deliberate & calculated framing (legumes + grains)

3. Building houses (for ppl & gods)

4. Burial of dead in cemeteries

5. Invention & growing complexity of pottery

6. Development of specialised crafts & distribution of labour

7. Metal production

River Valley Civilisations

• Tigris & Euphrates = Mesopotamia

• Nile = Ancient Egypt

• Indus = Harappan

• Yellow River = Huánghé

What is ‘Civilisation’?

Complex society, urbanisation, large settlements, social stratification, specialised labour, central organisation, and written communication

Why River Valleys?

• Access to water

• Fertile soil

• Transportation (trade)

• Provide materials 4 craft + building

The Fertile Crescent

• The ‘cradle of civilisation’

• The crossroads of the wrld: access to Asia, Africa & Europe

• Few natural barriers

• Frequent migrations/invasion = organised security

• Fertile soil = excess food production

Mesopotamia

• Floods irregularly: devastating effects on pop but extremely fertile soil, many waves of migrants

• Inventions: wheel, time, maps, irrigation, complex math, writing, beer, mass-produced pottery & bricks

Urban Development

• Successful village attracted the attention of other, less prosperous, tribes who then attached themselves to the successful settlement

• Gives rise to the densely populated centres = cities

Elements of an Ancient City

• Large size & diverse population

• Presence of urban infrastructure

• Effect on the surrounding region presence of authority

Travel & Wealth

Agriculture: grains, vegetables and dates

Domestication of animals: cows, sheep and goats = dairy industry; oxen 4 ploughing; donkeys 4 pulling carts

Textile industry: wool into cloth; flax into linen

Mesopotamian Religion

1. Deities' domains focused on basic needs 4 survival

2. More structure + deified kings

3. Gods associated w/ the commoners became more prevalent

4. Gods became closely associated w/ specific human empires & rulers

• Religion reflecting concerns of human society

Why and how did writing develop?

• Commercial activity needed to be recorded

Cuneiform (after 3,500 BCE)

• Scribes made marks pressed into clay & baked to harden

• Why clay? → papyrus not available, had a direct impact on the shape of writing

• Written laws = centralised org

1st written legal code

Code of Hammurabi: (1790 BC ruler of Babylon)

• Oldest extant example of legal system

• 282 laws based on older Sumerian legal traditions - civil, econ, criminal, etc