1. Section 2.2- Cities & Civilizations

2. Key Terms
Economy: the system a community uses to produce and distribute goods and services.
Civilization: A complex society that has cities, a well-organized government, and workers with specialized job skills.
Resource: A supply of something that can be used as needed.
Religion: A set of shared beliefs about supernatural powers that created and rule the world.
Social Class: groups of people that occupy different ranks or levels in society.

3. The First Cities
Began in the Middle East because of increased farming and trade
Uruk- the world’s first city
Founded 6, ,000 y.a.
Much bigger than Catalhoyuk- 40,000 inhabitants, 1,000 acres
Complex government: temple priests, then military leaders
Complex economy
Protective walls
Why did Uruk need a bigger and more organized govt than Catalhoyuk?
Why did people move to Uruk?

4. The First Cities Centers of Wealth Uruk had an economy
Economies are defined by:
What goods and services should be produced?
How should goods and services be produced?
Who should get and use goods and services?
Bands of hunter-gatherers got what they needed to survive, then shared
Catalhoyuk was based on farming
Uruk was based on farming and trade.
What does the wall tell us about Uruk?
What does distribute mean?

5. The Rise of Civilizations
Depended on making a food surplus, and managing these resources well
Resources needed: fertile soil, fresh water, seeds, etc
Planning, organization, labor, and tools required to utilize resources
Why was resource management important to create food surpluses?
How did geography help civilizations emerge?
Why was art valued in these societies?

6. The Rise of Civilizations
Many civilizations began in fertile river valleys
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers - Mesopotamia
Nile River - Egypt
Indus River - South Asia
Huang River - China
What is a civilization?
Which civilizations are shown on the map on page 92?
What is a river valley?

7. Eight Features of Civilizations
Abbreviation Note
Gov’t = government
Eight Features of Civilizations
8 features of civilizations
Cities
Emerged near farming centers
Food surplus= villages turn into cities
Higher population
Center of religion, gov’t, & culture
Organized Governments
Manages resources
Form & train army to defend
Eventually, public officials for specific tasks
Why are we studying these 8 features?
How did food surpluses affect a society?
Why is it helpful to have a govt to manage a society’s resources?

8. Features of Civilizations
Established Religion
Right to rule came from gods
Gods /goddesses controlled much of their lives
Fear & hope, sacrifice & prayer
Life after death, rules for how to treat each other
Job Specialization
Most people were farmers, they supported the society
Specialized workers: priests, rulers, soldiers, craftworkers, merchants
How might have religion unified early communities?
What is the main idea in the prayer quoted on page 94?
Why was it important that there were specialized workers?

9. Features of Civilizations
Social Classes
Resemble pyramid- most people on the bottom rank
Priests/ rulers- top
Farmers, Merchants, Skilled Workers- middle
Slaves/Peasants- bottom
Public Works
Large-scale projects- roads, water systems, walls, granaries
Costly, time consuming, often dangerous
Why do you think govts risked people’s lives to build these public works?

10. Features of Civilizations
Arts and Architecture
Built beautiful temples, tombs, and palaces
Statues, paintings, jewelry, perfume boxes
Music & literature
System of Writings
Started with numbers, to record food stores
Eventually, recorded laws, prayers, stories, etc
Difference between prehistory and history
Why isn’t architecture grouped with public works?
Why do you think art increased as civilizations grew?
Why is the development of writing so important in history?
How do these eight features interact?