Start of Civilization

Neolithic Revolution (~12,000 BC)

The Neolithic (New Stone) Revolution occurred about 10,000 years ago and dramatically changed the way that early humans lived. Two important factors come out of the Neolithic Revolution:

	The development of agriculture and
	The domestication of animals.

These two changes allowed people to stay in one spot instead of wandering from place to place following their main food source (animals). Somehow Neolithic people learned how to plant and raise crops and keep and raise livestock for food. Now people were put in the situation of living together permanently and as a result much cooperation was needed for survival and civilizations started to arise.

Characteristics of a Civilization

With the Neolithic Revolution civilizations now began popping up in unsurprising locations - river valleys. These river valleys provided people with fertile soil due to their floods. These floods, combined with the new-found knowledge of farming and animal domestication, allowed for a stable food supply and so the Neolithic people settled down around these rivers. As these people lived together in one spot civilizations arose, which often shared theses common characteristics:

	Advanced technical skills - Sometime around 3000 BC, the Neolithic peoples around these river valleys learned how to make and use bronze tools and weapons. This in part allowed these peoples to construct permanent shelters and homes since they no longer were nomads, following their food source and looking for caves as shelter.
	A form of government - The floods that helped to provide the fertile soil for survival also posed a problem. The floods were sometimes massive and could wipe out an entire village if uncontrolled and farmers needed to get water to their fields during the dry season. As a result an irrigation system (dikes and canals) was necessary to control these waters. The construction of these projects required organization and cooperation among the Neolithic people on a massive scaled. So governments probably developed to direct these projects and to provide rules by which to live.
	A division of labor - As agricultural productivity increased, fewer people were needed to work in the fields producing food (much like the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century in England). These "extra" people who weren't needed to farm could then become artisans, or merchants or traders and production of all sorts was able to increase thereby providing a better standard of living for all.
	A calendar - Calendars were created out of the need to predict and know when the floods would arrive. Most of these early calendars were based on the cycle of the moon.
	A form of writing - Writing systems developed to keep records, put down rules, and to pass on complex instructions (maybe for irrigation) to future generations. For example the Egyptians developed a system of writing called hieroglyphics and the Sumerians developed cuneiform.

Four Early River Valley Civilizations (~3000 BC)

Civilization

Geographical Factors

Accomplishments

Miscellaneous

Nile River Valley
(present-day Egypt)

	The Nile River provided predictable floods and a stable food source
	The River flows northward and empties into the Mediterranean but the winds blow south
	This enabled river travelers to move north or south along the river, which promoted trade and unity in Ancient Egypt
	Deserts and seas surround the valley and offered some protection from invasion

	Hieroglyphics
	Wrote on sheets of dried papyrus plant
	Used geometry to survey fields and build canals as well as pyramids as tombs for the pharaoh
	Knew astronomy and produced a calendar of 365 days

	Rigid class structure with the pharaoh at the top followed by priests, artisans, farmers. and slaves
	Polytheistic religion - believed in life after death

Tigris-Euphrates River Valley
(present-day Iraq)

	The floods provided fertile soil and a stable food supply
	The floods of the Tigris-Euphrates rivers were unpredictable and as a result the Sumerians believed that their gods were angry gods
	The valley was surrounded by deserts & hills but they were relatively easy to cross and so the peoples of this region were constantly conquered and re-conquered

	Developed a system of writing called Cuneiform, which were wedge-shaped characters pressed into a clay tablet
	Built ziggurats and arches with sun-dried clay bricks
	Developed the wheel and algebra
	Hammurabi's Code was constructed by the Babylonians and was an early form of written laws (an eye for an eye)

	Practiced polytheism
	Had no conception of a heaven or salvation for the deceased

Yellow River Valley
(present-day China)

	Flooding of the Yellow River provided fertile, yellow soil and a stable food supply
	The Chinese were surrounded by mountains and the Gobi desert and as a result were very isolated from other civilizations and cultures
	As a result of this isolation the Chinese developed an ethnocentric mode of thinking

	Developed a 360-day calendar based on the moon (priests added days when needed)
	Predicted eclipses and kept a written history
	Early written language consisted of pictograms

Dynastic cycle and Mandate of Heaven

Indus River Valley
(present-day India)

	The Indus River and monsoons provided a food supply
	Monsoons were unpredictable and led to famine or floods and destruction
	Valley is bordered by the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush to the north, however the Khyber pass allowed for entry into the region and invasion

	Developed a written language of pictograms
	Constructed a water system, public baths, hospitals

	Practiced animism before Hinduism and Buddhism take hold
	The Aryans conquer the valley
	They bring the Vedic religion and the beginnings of the caste system