1. Chapter 2 From Village Community to City State
AP World History
Chapter 2
From Village Community to City State

2. From Foragers to Villagers
Introduction
The first settlements began about 10,000 BCE
Why? Population pressures, climate change
Villages promoted agricultural productivity and cultural creativity
The Citadel of Hewler in Kurdistan

3. From Foragers to Villagers
The Agricultural Village
First began in the Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia)
Villages were based on the domestication of plants and animals.
- different regions focused on specific plants
- this was during the Neolithic (New Stone) Age.
- Farming required a different toolkit
- Pottery, ceramics, become important
Ancient plows

4. From Foragers to Villagers
The Agricultural Village
Tools for cutting, chopping, grinding, digging, fishing, transport, ect..
What were the uses for pottery
Pottery design and decoration identify the people in villages

5. Mesopotamia – The Fertile Crescent

6. Origins of Agriculture and Farm Animals

7. From Village to Cities The First Cities
Appeared on sites of early villages
Were the result of innovation rather than diffusion
Appeared in Seven separate places on the globe
Mesopotamia was the earliest
Flood season in Mesopotamia
Gold cup - Mesopotamia

8. From Village to City The First Cities
New Innovations transform human life
Irrigation
Walled enclosures
The Wheel
Metal Work
Temples
Trade
Ziggurat at Ur
City walls of Kush

9. From Village to City The First Cities Innovations
New Ideas v. Diffusion
How do we run the City? (Bureaucracy)
Armies, Diplomats
Specialized Organizations, centralized rule. Powerful armies

10. From Village to City The First Cities
The first writing develops for record keeping
Religion becomes very important
Class Structures
Occupational Specialization
Monumental structures are started
Cuneiform stamp

11. The City-State Sumer: The First Big City
The Sumerians created civilization in S. Mesopotamia around 5000 BCE
They spoke a Semitic language
They were not the first people to live there

12. The City-State The Growth of the City-State
City-State: A small independent state consisting of several cities.
urban center and surrounding agricultural farms.
Populations from 5, ,000 .
Size of population and farms led to gov’t controls

13. The City-State Growth of the City-State Religion
Religious leaders supported city leaders
Temples were built at great expense to reflect power and to impress the people
Temple community was large (as many as 1,200 people)
Rituals and public ceremonies reaffirmed power
Sumerian Religious statue

14. The City-State Religion Being a priest was a good job.
It had privileges
Religion conferred Divine power to the King.
Royal burials were major events with huge displays of wealth.

15. Growth of the City-State
Occupational Specialization and Class Structure
Artisans flourished in pottery and stamp seals
Astronomers created an accurate calendar
Gang labor created irrigation canals and temples
The wagon wheel for transport and trade

16. Natural Resources

17. Growth of the City-State
Trade & Markets
Sumer had lots of food but few other resources
Traded as far as Indus R.
Women sold cheese, bread, ale, at local markets.
Trade & artisans work show specialization of labor

18. Growth of the City-State
Monumental Architecture
Sumerians took great pride in the size and beauty of the city and it’s monuments
Artwork such statues, bas-reliefs, and pottery reinforce the power of the leaders
Monuments help tell the history of the city.

19. Growth of the City-State
Literature and Law
Epic of Gilgamesh is the best example of Sumerian literature.
Themes
The lure of the city
Friendship & physical strength
Ambition, courage, glory
Importance of metallurgy
Use of natural resources into objects for trade

20. Growth of the City-State
Law
Code of Hammurabi (1750) pg 59
Invented by Babylonian King Hammurabi
Property laws
Criminal punishment
Marriage laws

21. City State The First Cities: What difference do they make?
Cities started important accomplishments in human culture.
Economic growth, trade
Organized life & city admin (gov’t)
Fostered new tech
Legal codes, law. Literature, art
NOT ALL CITIES SUCCEEDED.