biological, cultural, and sociopolitical

processes in human evolution (week 6-7)

(Part 2)
 Fertile Crescent:
A Cradle of
Civilization

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✣ The Fertile Crescent is the region in the
Middle East which curves, like a
quarter moon shape, from the Persian
Gulf, through modern day Southern
Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel
and Northern Egypt. It contains a
comparatively moist and fertile land.
The region is often called the Cradle of
Civilization which saw the development
of some of the earliest human
civilizations.

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 The Cradle of Civilization
It is a term that refers to civilization that emerged independently. All of
these civilizations developed around rivers. Rivers provided enough
water for large-scale agriculture, enabling people abandon a hunter
gatherer lifestyle and grow and store surplus food. This in turn,
permitted the development of a hierarchical society with a division of
labor, and led to the growth of cities.

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The Four Cradles of Civilization
 Tigris-Euphrates River
Civilization of Mesopotamia

✣ The most ancient known civilization.

Mesopotamia is a region which lies
primarily in modern Iraq.
Mesopotamia Greek for “between two
rivers” is sometimes called Fertile
Crescent because it is a crescent-
shaped area between the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers

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 The Nile Valley Civilization of Egypt
✣ Egypt was known as the
Gift of the Nile because
the annual flooding of
the Nile River made
possible the agriculture.

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 The Yellow River Civilization of
China
✣ The Yellow River Civilization of
China – By 3000 B.C, the Yellow
River Valley was settled by
farmers. Chinese legends hold that
the Xia dynasty aroused and
flourished during the Pre-historic
period.

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 Indus Valley Civilization of India
✣ The ancient civilization of the Indus
Valley, located in modern Pakistan, is
unique because unlike the
continuously existing civilizations of
Mesopotamia, Egypt and China, it
rose and then fell, leaving only
mysterious ruins to testify to its
existence.

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 Features of Civilization
✣ Cities – are civilized urban societies developed in cities. Cities were larger and
more complex than the villages. They had palaces, temples, workshops, and
homes.
✣ Writing – written language enabled people to preserve, organize and expand
their knowledge. It made it easier for government officials, priests and
merchants to carry out their duties.
✣ Specialization – people in civilized societies were specialist-artisan,
merchants, priest, record–keepers, government officials, farmers.
✣ Government – in civilized societies, become more organized. There were
rulers who issue laws and officials to carry them out.
✣ Religion – was organized with a powerful,
10 trained, and wealthy priesthood.
RISE AND CIVILIZATION AND
STATE
 The Sumerian Civilization
✣ The Sumerians made impressive
achievements. They built houses;
their artisans made fine pottery
and wove textiles for clothing. On
clay-tablets they carved wedge-
shaped symbols called cuneiform.
Cuneiform writing made it possible
for the first time to keep record of
business deals, religious beliefs,
laws and wars.

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 The Egyptian Civilization
✣ The country of Egypt had existed for
thousands of years. The Nile River gave
Egypt more than life. Without this river,
Egypt would be all dessert. The ruler of
Egypt, the Pharaoh was looked on both as
God and a king and was all-powerful. The
Egyptians expected to journey to “another
world” after they died. They saw death as a
continuation of life that’s why their
embalmers are so skillful to preserve their
dead body.

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 The Greece City-States
✣ The Greeks lived in small-city state of
Sparta. Sparta conquered nearby regions
and made some of inhabitants into state
slaves. For generations, the Spartans’ only
purpose in life is to produce and train
strong bodied, fearless warriors. At age
seven, a Spartan boy was sent to military
camp. He lived there until he was thirty,
toughening his body, learning discipline
and training for war. The word
democracy comes from the Greek word
that means rule by people.

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 Roman Republic
✣ Rome began a small town near the coast of Central Italy. Early in
their history Romans were influenced by two people – the Greek and
Etruscans. Later the Romans drove out their Etruscan ruler and
established a Republic, a government without a king. The Roman
Republic was led by two consuls, nobles who directed the daily
affairs of the government. Since they were elected only in a year
term, the consuls were prevented from gaining too much power. An
assembly of soldiers-citizens made laws, elected officials, and
decided on issues of war and peace. The assembly included wealth,
land owners called Patricians, and common people known as
Plebians. The advisory council, called the senate, was the most
powerful arm of the government. To be appointed a senator – a
position open only to patricians – was considered an honor.

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democratization
✣ Democratization is a process by which democracy expands within a state or across the world. It may
be readily understood as a concept that encapsulates the expansion of a set of related political ideals
with different intellectual vintages than gain public prominence during the emergence of capitalist
modernity.

✣ Democracy is a state in which all fully qualified citizens vote at regular intervals to choose, among the
alternative candidates – the people who will be in-charge of setting the state policies. Democracy is
the government of the people. A democratic government is legitimized by the electoral process that
produced it. The Philippines is a good example of a democratic country as stated in our Philippine
Constitution.

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 Essential Ingredients of
Democracy
1. Popular support of the 2. Political Competition
government
✣ The people’s right to reject unsatisfactory
✣ It is the crucial test of modern democratic officials at the polls is bolstered when a
government; for in democracy the policy choice of policies is offered on the ballot.
makers legitimacy usually depends on the
support they receive in the form of majority
on the plurality of vote cast.

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 Essential Ingredients of
Democracy
3. Alternation in Power 4. Popular Representation

✣ The reins of power will occasionally
alternate both in terms of actual office
holders and in terms of prevailing ideas.
The party that is in the majority then
becomes minority.
✣ The voters elect representatives to act as
legislators and as such, to voice and
protect their general interest. Each
legislator usually acts for a given district
or group of people

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 Essential Ingredients of
Democracy
5. Majority Rule

In any government decision involving important policy-making, there is

rarely complete agreement. Usually one group of citizens will favor an
issue and another group will be against it. If the government is to be the
instrument of popular will, but there is disagreement on issues, then the
majority should decide.

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Thank you

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