Chapter One
Rise of Civilization
Prehistory: 2300 B.C.
Prehistory: 2300 B.C.
Who were the first people to civilize the earth?
Summary:
Hominids were found around 3.5 million years ago in Africa. Homo sapiens sapiens, or modern humans, who are about 200,000 years old, migrated out of Africa and populated Europe and Asia. These early humans were mainly nomadic hunter-gatherers who developed the first tools, including spears and the bow + arrow, and made use of fire. Between 8000 and 4000 B.C., these peoples developed methods of systematic farming and domesticating animals. Because early humans no longer needed to follow migrating herds of animals, they caused a shift, the Neolithic Revolution, to settle down and eventually form communities along fertile river valleys. These communities, such as those of the Sumerians in Mesopotamia, slowly grew into civilizations with their own cities, governments, religions, social structures, writing, and art. Mesopotamia included a polytheistic religion, the invention of cuneiform, wedge-shaped system of writing, and new technology inventions such as a wheel, an ark, and sundial.
6 Characteristics:
- Art: invention, or founding, that made the civilization unique. Examples: cave carvings, creating the wheel, making fire, ...
- Government: the kind of ruling empire. Examples: monarchy, king, dictator, ...
- Religion: either monotheistic or polytheistic.
- Social Structure: how people were separated into upper, lower, and middle class.
- Writing: language.
- City: where civilizations would have their religious rituals, trading routes, empires, ...
The early hominid civilization and it's spread.
Sumerians' location.
Mesopotamia was one of the early civilizations that grew into having their own cities, government, religion, social structure, writing, and art.