Chapter 2 Summary: From Village Community to City-State

Learning Objectives

  • Describe the first villages of the world.

  • Discuss the creation and contributions of the earliest cities.

  • Understand the world’s first urban revolution.

  • Differentiate between cities and villages in size and organization.

The Agricultural Village

  • First villages arose in the Fertile Crescent.

  • Early inhabitants domesticated goats, sheep, and cultivated crops.

  • Other regions: American Indians domesticated llamas and potatoes.

  • Neolithic period marks the formation of villages.

The First Cities

  • Emerged from sedentary agricultural communities for economic reasons.

  • Innovation vs. Diffusion: Independent invention of cultural traits versus spread of culture.

  • Cities require organization and administration.

  • First writing system developed in 3300 B.C.E. in Sumer.

Sumer: The Birth of the City

  • Mesopotamia is located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

  • Sumerians initiated the first urban revolution.

  • Preceding inhabitants were the Ubaidians.

  • Sumerians organized into city-states.

Growth of the City-State

  • Population growth influenced urban expansion and irrigation.

  • Religion influenced governance and daily life with powerful priests.

  • Polytheistic beliefs; ziggurats served as religious temples.

Occupational Specialization and Class Structure

  • Priests held the highest power, followed by various professionals.

  • Complex class structures distinguished cities from villages.

Arts and Invention

  • Sedentary lifestyle boosted creativity and artisan production.

  • Innovations: wheel, calendar, tools (arrows, axes).

Trade and Markets

  • Trade (both land and sea) was essential for urban life.

  • Cities featured a hierarchical and complex social/economic structure.

Monumental Architecture

  • Cultural pride reflected in monuments and artwork.

  • Gilgamesh as a significant literary figure.

Writing

  • Sumerians invented writing, crucial for communication and commerce.

  • Developed pictograms and cuneiform.

Achievements in Literature and Law

  • "The Epic of Gilgamesh": first major literary work, highlights multiple gods and human experiences.

  • The Code of Hammurabi: comprehensive legal framework established in Mesopotamia.