The First Civilization in History - Essay Example

Civilization Discovering that combining copper and tin to make a stronger material - Bronze has witnessed the emergence of the earliest civilization.Civilization is the human culture that is defined by the attributes of urbanism, industrial, symbolic communication, social change, long-range trade, and technology. By that time in 3100 B.C.E. towns and urban centers (or cities) started to grow in the plains of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, then later in the valley of the Nile River in Egypt, and the Yellow River basin in China. Cities had monumental buildings such as temples and fortifications built by sustainable efforts of thousands of people over many years. Industrialization started with the mass production of pottery, textiles and metal tools. Writing emerged as a means of communication invented mainly to deal with urban problems of management and book keeping. On the social front, people were grouped into classes based on control of resources, wealth, political authority, family, or religion. The First Civilization in History By 3000 B.C.E., the Sumerians in south Babylonia (Southern Mesopotamia) founded the oldest cities of Ur, Nippur, and Uruk; the largest city in the world. Quarrels over water and agricultural land led to increased warfare to create kingdoms ruling several city states. The city of Kish in north Babylonia had the first king in history. In the far east of Babylonia, the Akkadians established the first empire in history in the city of Akkade. Sargon, their first king who was the servant of the king of Kish became the first conqueror of history. His grandson, Naram-Sin developed unheard-of wealth and power that he declared himself god and built temples to himself. In 2125 B.C.E., the Sumerians established the third dynasty empire on the foundation of the Akkadian empire. In 1792 B.C.E. King Hammurabi created a kingdom to embrace most of Mesopotamia. At 1600 B.C.E., the Babylonian kingdom fell apart by invasions from the Hittites, Hurrians, and Kassites. Ingredients of Civilization in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia Ingredients of civilization were found in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Considering the utilization of symbolic communication, in Mesopotamia, the Sumerians invented the cuneiform writing system. This system used a cut reed stylus to write on clay tables. Their language consisted of thousands of characters that represented words and some sounds. In ancient Egypt, the hieroglyphics language was invented to involve hundreds of picture signs, each representing one, two or three sounds to mean a word or category. Text was written horizontally from right to left or left to right, or vertically from top to bottom in both horizontal directions. Another ingredient of culture is social change. In ancient Egypt, black Africans from Nubia and Asians from the east were captured in war and brought back to Egypt as slaves. Sometimes entire people were slaved as the Hebrews according to the Bible. Slaves performed domestic services, labored in fields with the peasants, worked as policemen or soldiers as they also labored to erect the great temples and monuments of Egypt. They could be freed by in most occasions they were not. In Mesopotamia there were two main types of slavery: chattel and debt slavery. Chattel slaves were bought like property and had no legal rights as they were easily recognized by their hair style or tattoo on their arm. They were non-Mesopotamians bought from slave merchants or imprisoned during war. Chattel slaves were mainly used in domestic services rather than fieldwork. Debt slave were more common than chattel slaves. They were declared slaves when members of family were declared as surety of a loan where they have to labor to pay the interest on the loan. They could not be sold and they are redeemed free once the debt is paid off. However slaves had little legal protection and could buy his or her freedom. Hammurabi's Law Code revealed the classes of people of nobles, commoners, and slaves, who were not treated equally. Women in Mesopotamia could posses their own property and do business on their own. A married woman place was thought to be the home. A single woman could setup her own business or work as midwives, nurse, or take care of orphaned children. In ancient Egypt, women's prime role was the management of the household. They were not allowed to go to school or hold office. Women enjoyed equal legal protection and the right to own and control property. Royal women, with their husbands they attended banquets, boat in the papyrus marshes, make and receive offerings, and supervise the live of the myriad. Religion is another ingredient of civilization. In Mesopotamia, the Sumerians worshiped many gods and goddesses. They were visualized in human beings and had human needs and weaknesses. Each city had one or two gods who located in a temple and were fed lavish meals, entertained and honored with devotion, then retire to their bedrooms at night. However they were conceived to be immortal and had great power. Each god was related to natural phenomenon such as the sky, water, or storm. Public festivals of the gods were important holidays with ceremonies and parades where people wore their best clothes. Egyptian gods had human bodies or animal heads and wore crowns or thorns. At Memphis, it was thought that god Ptah created the other gods by uttering their names. Gods were also thought to reside in their temples. The great Karnak temple dedicated to Amun was successively enlarged for over 2000 years. Hammurabi's Law Code: Article Information: Title of the article : "Hammurabi's Law Code." Author : James Pritchard Date : 1958 Type : Law Introduction Hammurabi was one of the great Babylonian rulers. His kingdom stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. He compiled one of the great ancient codes of law that gathered the Babylonian laws at that time. Hammurabi's code of law was inscribed in the Semitic Akkadian language and placed in the temple of Marduk. It is comprised of 282 law case dealing with economic (prices, trade, tariffs, and commerce), family law (such as marriage and divorce), criminal law (such as assault and theft) and civil law (such as slavery and debt). As early as the third dynasty of Babylonians, laws were collected. Hammurabi's code of law was based on earlier models and different legal traditions. Punishments were harsh and based on the principle of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." These laws existed as a result of the disputes over property and complaints in city assemblies of leading citizens and heads of families. For a fee, professional judges heard cases based on evidence and witnesses to issue a written verdict. False testimony was punishable by death. When evidence or oath could be established, an ordeal was offered to the contesting parties such as being thrown in the river for the gods to decide who is telling the truth. Appeal could be raised to the king as Hammurabi was concerned with details of his kingdom. Hammurabi's code of law was the first attempt in history to write down a set of rules that provide a consistent means to organize relationships within a society. Hammurabi's love for justice urged him to put a set of rules that would limit his absolute power of being the only judge as king of the empire. Judgment in different cases for the first time in history was not a matter of personal preference for the king but it was in accordance with a written set of rules. The effect of compiling these laws encouraged businessmen to operate more freely under the umbrella of the consistent set of laws. These set of laws posed the questions about the relationship between trade and law and similarly the relationship between law and religion. An Assyrian Woman Writes to Her Husband, ca. 1800 B.C.E. Article Information: Title of the article : "An Assyrian Woman Writes to Her Husband, ca 1800 B.C.E" Author : Benjamin R. Foster Date : 1999 Type : Translation Introduction Wives of Assyrian men were active in their husband's business by having slave girls weaving textile that their husbands' sold during their business trips. A large number of letters were found of wives writing to their husband. This translation contained the letter of Taram Kubi who was complaining of her husband selfishness and highlighted the matters of her business during his absence. Women were usually married during this period of time as a result of their parent's arrangement by signing a marriage contract. The husband paid a dowry to the father of the pride for his daughter in money, land or objects. Women divorced by their husbands without good cause could get their dowry back. Assyrian women were thought to be best at their homes even though they were legally equal to their husbands. They could possess property and take care of their own business. They usually handled a number of jobs such as midwives and nurses. There was an enormous gap between the rights of high and low status women. High class women were allowed to learn to read and write and be given considerable administrative authority. Numerous powerful goddesses were worshiped and in some cities they were the primary deities. However their position changed over time. This period also witnessed the first evidence of laws requiring the public veiling of women. Read More