Preview

World Civilization Chapter Summaries

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
339 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
World Civilization Chapter Summaries
As we were introduced to the beginning of hominids in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 continues to introduce us to world civilization starting with the areas of southwest Asian and the Indo-European regions. It was said that the first complex societies developed in southwest Asia (Mesopotamia). The existence of politics and social order can only be explained by how, through the adaptation of an organization, the government came to be. Mesopotamia, known as “the land between the rivers” (Tigris and Euphrates), began the irrigation process. The people, known as Sumerians, used their surrounding resources and were able to build structures to assist them in transporting water over to the crops. This was obviously helpful to increase their harvest, and allowed

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Mesopotamia was the first great civilization and was built along the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers and is now located in present day Iraq. This is the area that is called the Fertile Crescent because its geography and layout caused farming and urban areas. The people in this region were either considered Sumerians or Semitics which led to religion in which the people worshipped gods of nature and also imagined gods as anthropomorphic. The social structure of Mesopotamia was organized in social divisions which gave certain economic and political advantages to some and condemned others. Social structure was very much controlled by The Law Code of Hammurabi which gave the society three classes; the free landowning class, the class of dependant farmers, and the class of slaves. The economy of Mesopotamia was based on slaves and trade. The trading was kept track with a system of tokens which gave ownership of different items and also property. Much of the trade there was done by boat and includes the trading of bronze, clay, and cattle. This is very much how Mesopotamia lasted so long and is known as the first great civilization.…

    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first civilizations emerged thousands of years ago in a region in the Middle East called Mesopotamia. Around 4000 B.C.E, a group called the Sumerians invaded Mesopotamia and organized their civilization, Sumer, into many city-states. A city-state is a self-governing state that consists of a city and its surrounding territory. Some Sumerian city-states include Kish, Uruk, Lagash, and Ur. In these city-states, the Sumerians would develop a sense of culture and create new systems of writing, government, art, and religion that would impact future civilizations. The Sumerian city-states would soon be conquered by larger empires that wanted more land and wealth. An empire was more advantageous to the people of Mesopotamia because it was easier to defend from invasions, there was a stronger central government, and different products and technology were shared throughout the region.…

    • 751 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Social Class and Sumerians

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The civilization known as the Sumerians, developed in the Mesopotamia era, are considered to be the first culture to become civilized. As the Sumerians settled in Mesopotamia, a class structure gradually took shape which allowed them to progress their society. The second characteristic which shows the civilization of the Sumerians was their ability to create progress in agricultural skills and techniques. The final characteristic representative in the first culture of Mesopotamia is their contribution to the development of science and writing. Based on the characteristics that the Sumerians demonstrated we can come to the conclusion that the Mesopotamia era was civilized.…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    18. They rode into battles that hinged on the duels of champions, represented heroic warfare…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The different civilizations in Mesopotamia were not united by a single language or government; they did however have a common world view and a common belief system of polytheism. Mesopotamia’s gods and goddesses were associated with the forces of nature. The gods and goddesses of Mesopotamia shared characteristics with the climate such as fierce and capricious. With the division of labor came the development of social order. The social order prevailed around 2700 BCE. In the first civilizations each different class had certain responsibilities that contributed to the society. There is a theme of searching for immortality in Mesopotamian literature. This shows how the Mesopotamian people were on a journey to find the physical limits of human beings. The people could be described as insecure of their vulnerability.…

    • 1446 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mesopotamia is often referred to as the first civilization in history. Named after it’s geographical location, “land between two rivers,” Mesopotamia was settled between the…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    AP World essay prompts

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages

    1. Analyze the continuities and changes in political structure from the time of the river valley societies (circa 3500…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    State Level Society

    • 2584 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Complex societies are a relatively recent socio-political development. For the vast majority of its history, the human race has lived in hunter-gatherer groups and not in state-level civilizations. In order for a civilization to be recognized as a state level society, it must meet certain criteria. There must be centralized political power, social classes based on access to resources, occupational specialization, coercive military or police force, multiple levels of decision making, writing or complex record keeping, and urban centers controlling periphery.1 There are a variety of competing theories of the origins of state level societies. In “A Theory of the Origin of the State,” Robert Carneiro argues that warfare is the prime mechanism for the development of the state level society while it must take place under certain conditions. In “Generalized Coercion and Inequality: The Basis of State Power in the Early Civilization,” on the other hand, Bruce Trigger argues for generalized coercion where people give up their autonomy to adopt and obey a hierarchical structure. Lastly, in “Hydraulic Civilization,” Karl Wittfogel proposes a voluntaristic theory where leaders coordinate projects for obtaining water and people have to give up their individual sovereignty so that the large-scale irrigation system can be carried out. I will argue in this essay that Robert Carneiro’s warfare theory is the most applicable and fits the most evidence of the archeological and historical records of early civilizations. Let us now turn to Robert Carneiro’s ideas of environmental circumscription, social circumscription and resource concentration.…

    • 2584 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    When beginning a study in history one must approach it in a broader view. It is simply insufficient to look at one aspect of a society and claim that the society is now understood. Instead an in depth approach must be taken to determine not only the cultural pieces that identify a society but also the environmental impacts that molded the society into what we know it as today. In the following paragraphs I will be explaining how the different environments of Mesopotamia and Egypt shaped their cultural traits.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    GKE1 Task 1

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages

    There are many significant environmental and or physical geographic factors that contribute to the development of early human society in Mesopotamia. The Flat Mesopotamian land was built up from mud and clay deposited by two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. These twin rivers come down from the mountains in the north, cut southeastward through hilly grasslands, and finally cross the plain they created to reach the Persian Gulf. (Levy & Hanson-Harding, 2012, p. 12) The human society grew beginning with the Sumerians, who lived near the mouths of these rivers. This gave them access to the land. The rich and fertile land produced copious crops of flax, wheat, beans, olives, and grapes. This commodity drew people together and a society civilization began.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout history, civilizations have contributed to the cultural and intellectual life of humanity. These civilizations had developed about 5000 years ago. These civilizations had been defined as based on agriculture and urban settlements. At that period had been developed many cultural and intellectual achievements, but also stable government and a strong economy. The ancient River Valley civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia all made key contributions to future societies. For thousands of years, people all over the world have developed, progressed, and eventually formed civilizations. The area between the Tigris and Euphrates River was called Fertile Crescent because its rich soil and crescent shape (document 1).This region was where Mesopotamia one of the first civilization on earth grew. Sumer was an ancient civilization in Mesopotamia they created cuneiforms. Cuneiforms were the world’s first written language; Sumerians invented this writing system to keep track of business dealing (document 2). Mesopotamia developed between the Euphrates and Tigris River. Geographically, Mesopotamia occurred near major rivers since water was easily available and agriculture flourished. The most important invention that was created in the ancient times by Sumer in Mesopotamia was the wheel .it had a major impact in the world because it makes it easier for people to get to places faster and without the wheel the world would not have been the same. Egypt civilization was located in northeast Africa near on the border of the Nile River. Hieroglyphics was a system of writing that was based on pictures; it was created by the Egyptians to keep the records (document 6).pharaoh was the name of the king or god king of Egypt. Pharaoh built pyramids to serve as houses or tombs and specialized skill such as mathematics, geometry, engineering and architecture were need to built the pyramids (document 5). Life in ancient Egypt was centered…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The postclassical period in the West is referred to as the Middle Ages. After recovering from the fall of Rome's ancient empire, civilization gradually spread beyond the Mediterranean to the rest of western Europe. Most of the West was converted to Christianity. During the Middle Ages, Europe began to establish stronger ties with other Eurasian civilizations and with Africa. As a result of these connections, Europe learned new technologies.…

    • 2198 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sumerian Civilization

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Asia is the cradle of the earliest civilizations. Many early civilizations emerged here because of the fact that water was, and still is, abundant in the area. The Sumerian Civilization, the world’s earliest civilization in the world, emerged in Mesopotamia. They were the first people to invent a system of writing. This was cuneiform. Writing was made possible with the use of a stylus which was made of reed and with the use of this, Sumerians were able to write on clay tablets. Although cuneiform was used only by the ancient Mesopotamians, this led to the subsequent development of the modern writing system. Aside from cuneiform, the early settlers of Mesopotamia also invented the wheel which revolutionized transportation in the modern world. The Sumerians gave the world the ziggurats which served as the home and temple of the city-state’s patron god or goddess. The utilization of wind power by sea vessels was pretty evident in the discovery of sails. As previously stated, farming was the major way of living of the people then which is why with the invention of the plow, agricultural activities were made easier. Other inventions of the Mesopotamians are the water clock, the twelve-month calendar, the use of the principles of geometry, the sexagesimal system or counting by 60s which paved the way for the systematic division of time and the circle, and astrology and the 12 zodiac signs. They were also first ones to utilize bronze in making tools. Furthermore, the world’s first written law was drafted by Ur-Nammu. With the decline of Mesopotamia, other civilizations emerged in the Mediterranean. The Hitties first used Iron, which is more durable compared to bronze. Coins as a form of exchange was developed by the Lydians. The phonetic alphabet that we use now was made by the Phoenicians. (Boncan et al, 2010, pp.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Early Civilization DBQ

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The role of the physical environment in the development of early civilization in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley led to societies flourishing, construction of complex buildings, and the development of a set of belief systems.…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Early civilizations often had many similarities in their politics, economies, and social norms. The civilizations of Mesopotamia, or the Fertile Crescent (3000 BCE), and the Nile River Valley (3000 BCE) are prime examples of this, but with different geography, leaders, and resources many differences divided the two nations. Both the Nile River Valley and the Fertile Crescent had authoritarian governments and mainly agricultural economies, but the Nile River Valley was much more unified, while Mesopotamia’s city-states were constantly battling. Even though both nations were dynasties, they found their leaders in different ways.…

    • 334 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays