Chapter 3. The First Civilizations

Features of civilizations commonly include cities, organized government, specialized labour, social classes, monumental building, writing and trade [4][5].

Mesopotamia (“land between the rivers” Tigris and Euphrates). Sumerian city-states such as Ur and Uruk arose around 3500–3000 BCE. Cuneiform writing appeared by about 3200 BCE. Hammurabi of Babylon issued a famous law code around 1754 BCE. Mesopotamians developed irrigation, the wheel in practical use and a base-60 system for counting time [8].

Egypt. Unified under a pharaoh around 3100 BCE, Egypt depended on the annual flood of the Nile. Egyptians built pyramids (the Great Pyramid of Giza dates to about 2560 BCE), developed hieroglyphic writing, and had a strong belief in the afterlife [9].

Indus Valley (Harappan) civilization flourished roughly 2600–1900 BCE in present-day Pakistan and northwest India, with planned cities such as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. Its script has not been deciphered [12].

Early China. Civilization developed along the Yellow River. The Shang dynasty (about 1600–1046 BCE) left oracle-bone inscriptions, the earliest well-attested Chinese writing, and bronze work [13].

Other early centres include Nubia (Kush) along the Nile, the Minoans of Crete, and, in the Americas, the Norte Chico (Caral-Supe) of Peru and the Olmec of Mesoamerica.

Review: Which river supported Egyptian civilization, and why was it important? (Answer: the Nile; its yearly flood deposited fertile soil.)