Hello students and welcome to Global History and Geography video lecture number two, in which we will discuss the first wave of civilizations which occurred roughly between 3500 BCE and 600 BCE. You should recall that during the last video lecture we learned about how human societies developed from the Paleolithic era to the Neolithic era. During the Paleolithic age, humans mostly lived in small bands as hunter-gatherers. After the adoption of farming, humans moved into the Neolithic era and began to settle into larger communities.
Around the year 3500 BCE, we see the first evidence of human societies organizing themselves into larger civilizations. Before we continue, we need to take a longer look at the word civilization. What is a civilization and how is it different from other forms of organizing society? To understand that, Let's take a look at the criteria or characteristics of civilizations.
In advanced civilizations, there is a surplus of food due to agriculture. Therefore, not everyone is needed to produce or gather food. This allows some people to focus on doing other specific jobs like making tools or blacksmithing.
This allows for job specialization. Perhaps because of job specialization, often advanced civilizations are characterized by social hierarchy. Whereas earlier Paleolithic societies were more egalitarian or equal, advanced civilizations had more social classes based on wealth, power, and gender.
Advanced civilizations also had some form of organized government and systems of law. Early civilizations often had some form of monarchy or king. These governments organized society under a system of rules and regulations and enforced rule with the threat of punishment and the use of force.
Advanced civilizations usually have some form of organized religion. In early advanced civilizations, organized religion and government were often mixed together. Most advanced civilizations also had areas of higher population density, which leads to the development of urban areas or cities.
Governments in advanced civilizations also made it possible to finance and organize large-scale public works projects. such as irrigation projects, and monumental architecture, such as the ziggurats of Mesopotamia or the pyramids of ancient Egypt. It makes sense that because water is a necessity for life and agriculture, that the early civilizations all began near major rivers. The early first wave civilizations all had some or all of these characteristics.
This video lecture will take a brief look at four of them. Around 3500 BCE, Mesopotamian civilization began near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle East. The term Mesopotamia literally means land between two rivers.
The region was also referred to as the Fertile Crescent. Several kingdoms ruled during this era, beginning with the Sumerians. A notable achievement of the Sumerians was the development of a system of writing known as cuneiform. After the Sumerians came the Akkadian Empire, during which one of the earliest examples of literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh, a poem about an ancient Sumerian king, was produced.
Following the Akkadians were the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. The most well-known Babylonian king, King Hammurabi, developed one of the earliest sets of written laws, known as Hammurabi's Code. Another first wave civilization during this time, around 3000 BCE was ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptian civilization arose along the Nile River in northern Africa. Like the Mesopotamians, they also developed a writing system known as hieroglyphics.
They also had a strict social hierarchy and organized religion. At the top of this social pyramid were the pharaohs or kings, followed by priests, scribes, or record keepers, and at the bottom of the hierarchy were peasants. Egyptians Pharaohs organized the construction of pyramids and large-scale irrigation systems.
Heading east into present-day Pakistan along the Indus River, the Indus River civilization arose between 3300 BCE and 1800 BCE. Not a lot is known about the Indus Valley civilization, but archaeologists have discovered the remains of two major urban areas, the ancient cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. These cities showed evidence of extensive urban planning, even including indoor plumbing. Mysteriously, the civilization appears to have abruptly disappeared around the year 1800 BCE.
The cultural and religious practice of Hinduism began to emerge in this region during this period. Hinduism has continued to be a part of life in the region of South Asia even to this day. Hinduism will be discussed in more detail in a later lecture.
The last of the first wave river valley civilizations we will discuss is ancient China. Civilizations began to emerge along the Yellow or Huangha River and the Yangtze Rivers around 2000 BCE. Three kingdoms, the Jia, Shang, and Zhou, established ruling dynasties.
These civilizations established long-standing traditions in Chinese society. One of these was the Mandate of Heaven. Chinese kings stayed in power as long as they had the approval of the gods. A famine, natural disaster, or other problems indicated that the ruler lost favor with the gods, which justified his overthrow and replacement. Chinese civilization had a strict social hierarchy.
Bones, with writing called oracle bones, indicated that they developed writing systems as well, and they developed advanced bronze tools and weapons. In summary, each of these civilizations, Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Indus, and Ancient China, developed along major rivers and demonstrated various characteristics of advanced civilization, including organized governments and religions, urbanization, advanced tools and knowledge, large construction projects, and systems of writing. Thanks for your time. I hope you learn a little bit more today.
Enjoy yourself