The Development of Early Civilization

The Worst Mistake in Human History - An Essay, by Jared Diamond

The Worst Mistake in Human History - An Essay, by Jared Diamond

The Worst Mistake in Human History - An Essay, by Jared Diamond

Subsistence farming creating a surplus of food Groups either adopt agricultural methods or attempt to gain control over the production of food Increased specialization (by gender), Increased organization and further specialization for building projects, food storage/transport/distribution/trade of surplus grains, record keeping Importance of overseeing the grain storehouse! Storehouses the first temples! Overseers the first priests! Specialization and accumulation (private property) lead to the development of class and social hierarchy Patrician vs. plebian status, artisans, slaves Growth of trading villageslater cities Development of institutions that legitimize the forming class system Theocratic government (Priest-Kings), mythology, eventually codified law Education/literature The Marketplace

What happens as a Result of the Neolithic Revolution?

Guns, Germs & Steel

Jared Diamond

Q: Why does advanced human civilization arise where/ when it does?

Guns, Germs & Steel

Jared Diamond Q: Why does advanced human civilization arise where/when it does? (Middle East/Mesopotamia)
1. Availability of protein-rich cereal grasses used for farming EXAMPLE Wheat, Barley (RiceChina 2. Availability of large, easy-to-domesticate, planteating mammals 3. Similar latitudes influences the spread of valuable crops & livestock AND innovations (technology, political/economic/social systems, trade) - - climate/adaptability, less natural barriers - Eurasia EW orientation 4. Harsh conditions innovations (Europe)

A:

II. Beginning of Agriculture

Lived in bands of 25-70 people Men hunt/women gather 10,000 yrs ago scattered seeds Discovery ushered Neolithlic Revolution
Agricultural revolution

Shift to producing

A. Causes of the Agricultural Revolution

Change in climate led to revolution

Warmer-longer growing seasons

Population boom Farming had steady supply

B. Early Farming Methods

Slash and burn: cut trees or grasses burn them to clear a field
Ashes worked as a fertilizer Plant a year or two then move

C. Domestication of Animals
Domestication: taming of animals
Dogs, horses, goats, pigs Keep animals as food source Pastoral nomads-tend sheep, goats, camels

D. Agriculture in Jarmo
Northeastern Iraq
Birthplace of agriculture Wild barley and wheat Wild goats, pigs, sheep, and horses

E. Farming Develops in Many Places

Fertile river valleys N. Africa-Nile River China-Yellow River India Indus River

Mexico/Central America
Peru-Andes Mountains

III. Development of Civilization: Ur in Sumer

Greater production capacity fosters the growth of cities

Specialization (craftwork)
Surplus of food Efficiencies/ innovations in farming (tools, irrigation)

Trading innovations (wheel, sail)

Early Agricultural Villages

Ur, Continued
Class system, inequality develops Organized religion develops around central activities (natural phenomenon related to agriculture) Traditions, institutions develop

IV. Catal Huyuk

S/C Turkey Settlement-agriculture and domestication
5,000-6,000 people

Evidence of extensive culture

Great Goddess and Her Son (30K figurines) Equality between sexes Matrilineal property passed through mother

Great Goddess of Catal Huyuk

Religion: Then and Now

Neolithic: Large clay figure of goddess giving birth to child found in a grain bin in Catal Huyuk (celebrates life-brearing goddess fertility cult?)

*Crucifixion Gruenwald* Modern: Man dying from state-inflicted torture emphasis on his agony (passion) --- (Death cult?)

A Progression of Shared Religious Stories

Twin goddesses (Catal Huyuk)

Demeter (goddess of grain/seasonal change) and Persephone (Roman: Kore). Persephone here anoints Triptolemus (primordial man) with agriculture.
Paul the Evangelist

Demeter and Kore (Ancient Greece) 2 aspects think holy trinity same goddess: Mother and maid *symbolic of regeneration in nature*

Stories in goddess cults connected to themes of birth, death resurrection

Over time, other mythological figures take on aspects of Triptolemuss charateristics, EX: Adonis, Tammutz, Attis .And Jesus Christ

Attis Jesus Christ (god of vegetation) endured self-mutilation, death, and resurrection and represents the fruits of the earth, which die in winter only to rise again in the spring

Roots of Modern Religion Eisler, Riane. The Chalice and the Blade. 1988.

5 Characteristics of Civilization
Advanced Cities (30,000) Trade Merchant/trading class Specialization (& Class) Artisans, metal workers, traders, priests/priestesses, potters, weapon-making, teachers, scribes, bureaucracy, weavers Wealth (housing status) Complex Institutions Governments/legal systems to enact public works & legitimize wealthy class rule Religion/Temples polytheistic (ties to government/economy), ziggurats, animal sacrifices, elaborate burials, concept of afterlife, defined mythology Economy bazar (no currency but established exchanges, use of scribes) Record Keeping Tax collection, law making, calendar, theology, budgeting *scribes --- cuneiform --clay tablets* Technology Farming (use of oxen, plow, irrigation systems Pottery (potters wheel) Sailboat Metallurgy --- Bronze Age (3000 BCE)