Key Concept 1.3
The appearance of the first urban societies laid the foundation for for the first civilizations and empires. The surplus of food due to agriculture led to specialization of labor along with population increase. Societies had the ability to expand borders which required advanced governing methods such as the creation of states. Culture and religion also played a major role in uniting early civilizations through similarities allowing the spread and development of new ideas and innovations.
Primary Documents
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- Pastoralism- branch of agriculture related to raising livestock
- Agrarian- cultivation of land
- Neolithic Revolution- shift from nomads hunting for food to cultivating the land and settling down to grow food
- Aristocracy- highest class in societies
- Nomads- hunter-gatherer communities that do not live in a certain area for a long period of time
- Egalitarian- believing that all people are equal
- Cultivation- farming of land
- Urbanization- the increase and growth of a civilization
- Civilization- the process in which a society develops political and imperial structure
1.3 I
- 1.3 I: Around 5,000 years ago the first urban societies began to arise in diverse geographical settings across the globe. Due to the diversity of environmental surroundings, wildlife and access to natural resources, newly formed civilizations developed very diversely while still sharing a few amount of significant social, political and economic characteristics.
Evidence
1.3 II
- 1.3 II: As developing and diverse societies become more adjust to their environments they are able to expand their borders and culture into different lands. To maintain control over growing empires, new forms of governance had to be created such as the creation of states in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. These states encouraged the political stability of growing empires allowing territorial expansion along with population growth, surplus of food, accessibility to resources, etc. Specialization of labor became more prominent coinciding with the appearance of patriarchies and social hierarchies.
Evidence
1.3 III
- 1.3 III: Due to a variety of different environmental and geographical interactions between people native of different regions, early civilizations began to develop distinct cultural characteristics. Monumental architecture and religious writings help show the social and cultural aspects that arose in different civilizations. Not only do these developments distinguish societies, they encouraged the unification of states due to sharing similar ideas, religion, culture and language.