| ||||
|
EARLY CIVILIZATIONS DATABASE | |
Number of Cards | 32 |
Card Description | One card each on 3 civilizations of Mesopotamia; One
card each on 7 civilizations of the Mediterranean; One card each on 6
civilizations of Asia; One card each on 3 civilizations of Africa; One
card each on 3 civilizations of Europe; One card each on 8 civilizations
of the Americas; One card each on 2 of the first cities |
EARLY CIVILIZATIONS
An Introduction
Long ago, people wandered the earth, gathering nuts and
berries and hunting wild animals. In
time, some groups of people stopped wandering and settled down in one place.
They discovered that if they planted and tended crops, they would not
have to travel to find food. They also began to domesticate animals such
as sheep and goats and raise them for food.
The beginning of farming meant that everyone did not have
to spend all of their time searching for food.
Since they stayed in one place, people began to build more permanent
houses, and some people may have become professional house builders. Others became artisans or merchants. A form of trade developed so that these specialized
workers could pay the farmers for food.
As society became more complex, some system of government
was necessary to maintain order. Rulers
were chosen and sometimes laws were developed.
A system of writing was often invented for use in trade and business.
People also had more time to devote to leisure activities such as arts,
music and literature.
Thus, civilizations were born. They were characterized by complexity, by specialization
of labor, by permanent settlements, and by leisure activities.
THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS
The very first civilizations began in the area known as
Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq. This area is called the Cradle (or Birthplace)
of Civilization. People sometimes think
that because these were the first civilizations, they were the forerunners of
all civilizations. This is not true.
Civilizations developed at different times in many parts of the world.
Some had contact with one another, some grew on their own.
Early Civilizations Fact Cards tell about the earliest civilizations
in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Those in the Cradle of Civilization came into
being as long as 5000 years ago. Civilizations
in the Americas began about 3000 years ago (still long before Europeans came
to the Americas). Some African civilizations
came into being about 2000 years ago, although Egypt, in the northern part of
Africa, was one of the earliest civilizations after those in Mesopotamia.
HOW DO WE LEARN ABOUT EARLY CIVILIZATIONS?
People in some early civilizations invented methods
of writing to keep records and to write down stories and histories.
Many of these writings have been destroyed over time, but some still
exist. They are all in languages that
no one speaks today, so scholars have to study and compare the languages to
learn how to decipher them. Then they can read what these people said about
themselves and learn about the records that they kept of their business trades,
their conquests in war, their religion, and their stories.
We can also learn about early people through archaeology.
Archaeologists learn about the lives of ancient people by going to the
places where they lived and looking through what they left behind.
Many times a city has been covered over by layers of dirt; often other
cities have been built on top of old ones. Archaeologists
must carefully dig through these layers, making notes of everything they find.
They discover many things such as buildings, artwork, pottery, jewelry,
and gravesites. They use all these to understand how people
lived, what they looked like, what they wore, what they ate, what their religion
was like, and what they believed about death.
Archaeologists have been working seriously at this
study for less than 200 years, and there is still much to learn. Even today, archaeologists are learning new
things about people who lived long ago. They
are still discovering cities that have been buried for thousands of years, and
that may teach us about civilizations that have been forgotten. The known history of early civilizations continues
to be rewritten as new evidence is uncovered about the past.
MEASURING TIME
Ancient people developed different ways of keeping
track of time, using the movements of the sun and the moon. Today, most people use the Gregorian calendar
which was set up in AD 1582 by Pope Gregory VIII. It was originally a Christian calendar and uses
the birth of Christ as a starting point. The
year 0 was assigned as the year Christ was born. Years after that time area designated by the
abbreviation "AD," which stands for the Latin words anno domini
or year of the Lord. Years before
the birth of Christ are counted backwards, beginning at 0, and are designated
by the abbreviation "BC," before Christ. So the year 300 BC was 100 years before
the year 200 BC.
Since some ancient people used a different calendar
and others did not leave a written record of their calendar, we do not always
have a way to determine the exact dates for ancient events. Scientists use archaeological discoveries and
whatever written records they find to make a close guess, but they do not always
agree on the results. Many of the dates
for early civilizations are only approximate.
WHAT DO CIVILIZATIONS HAVE IN COMMON?
All-Important Water
Four great river valleys in four parts of the world
were important centers of early civilizations: the Tigris and Euphrates river valley in Mesopotamia,
the Indus River Valley in India, the Nile River valley in Africa, and the Huang
He River valley in China.
Arts & Architecture
Bronze & Iron
Sometime after they had been using bronze, people
also discovered that iron, found as iron ore in its natural state, became flexible
when it was heated. It could be bent
or pounded into any shape and would hold that shape when it cooled. Iron was even stronger than bronze and made
even better tools and weapons. When people
discovered iron, we say that they entered the Iron Age.
Bronze and iron were discovered at different times
in different parts of the world. Both
made the work of obtaining food much easier, and therefore allowed more time
for other activities. People who possessed
bronze or iron weapons were better able to defend themselves and expand their
territory.
The Desire to Reach the Sky
HOW WERE THEY DIFFERENT?
Even though ancient civilizations had many things
in common, each group was also individual and unique, and each contributed something
special to the world. Some were skilled
in the arts and left behind beautiful pottery, textiles, paintings, and sculptures.
Some invented alphabets and methods of writing.
Some studied the movements of the stars and planets and used them to
make calendars. Some were good at business,
and helped goods to travel around the world.
Some gave us stories, ideas, and religious beliefs. Some were skilled architects and builders.
None of them knew, of course, how much they were
giving to those who came after them. They
did not know that thousands of years later people would be studying their lives
to learn about them and how they lived.