THE RISE OF CIVILIZATIONS

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Why did people create the first villages?2. What were some of the first large building

projects? (You will need to think about the videos and readings in order to answer this question!)

3. What economic changes occurred because of the introduction of agriculture?

4. What social changes took place?5. What are the five basic characteristics of a

civilization?

FROM NOMADS TO VILLAGERS

Agriculture changes the way people live People begin to live together in permanent

settlements (villages) New tools (hoes, sickles, plowsticks) make

farming easier and technology (canals) = more food

Domesticated animals share the work and increase food supply

FROM VILLAGES TO CITIES: ECONOMIC CHANGES

Irrigation systems

Increased food supply

Specialization of labor

Trade

FROM VILLAGES TO CITIES: SOCIAL CHANGES

Large Building Projects

Require Cooperati

on

Leaders needed

Specialization

Differences in

wealth and

power

Social classes

form

Lives become

more complex

Religion gets more organized

More gods and more

rituals

WHAT IS CIVILIZATION?

Complex culture with five basic characteristics:

1. Advanced cities2. Specialized workers3. Complex institutions4. Record keeping5. Advanced technology

ADVANCED CITIES

Word “civilization” comes from Latin word “civitas”=city

Key difference between city and village- cities are centers of trade for a larger area

SPECIALIZED WORKERS

Food surpluses lead to specialization- everyone doesn’t have to be getting their own food

Artisans, priests, soldiers can trade their work for food

COMPLEX INSTITUTIONS

Large populations require system for ruling

Governments, religions, economies develop

They create and enforce the rules

RECORD KEEPING

Government, religion and economy gets more complex

Needed a way to keep track of laws, taxes, supplies, important dates, debts and payments

Systems of writing begin to develop Eventually writing used for purposes

other than record keeping

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

New tools need for more complex problems

Farmers need to grow more food =Ox drawn plows, irrigation systems

Artisans experiment to create new products= pottery, bronze