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Characteristics Of A Civilization

            The urban revolution of the building of the first cities took place in 3100-2900 BC, the Jemdet Nasr Period. The changes in human settlement patterns from isolated settlements to larger village communities continued. The first civilization appears in the Great Plains to the south of Mesopotamia in the area later called Sumer. Scientist say that this is the first sign of civilization because of four main characteristics that first appear at this time. In this paper I will discuss these characteristics of a civilization. I will also talk about a civilization, once considered "barbaric" by the Greeks, rise to power under the influence of King Philip II. How he transformed a rickety, ramshackle, backward kingdom into to the most powerful state in the Greek world.
             The first characteristic of a civilization is the appearance of cities. Without cities there is no civilization. There are several factors that distinguish between a city and other populated areas. One is that there must be a significant number of people in a defined area of land; this is referred to as size. Next there must be specializations for the development of a city. The majority of people in a city do not work in food production instead they have a specialty, such as a shoemaker. The complexity within the specialties is a factor in deeming a city. Social stratification, or social classes, is also needed for the development of a city. Lastly the appearance of monumental architecture: such as temples, and palaces. All of these factors must be apparent for the category of city.
             Technology is needed for a civilization classification. The first appearance of bronze occurs about the same time as the first civilization. This mixture of tin and copper enables the development of better tools that stimulates the economy. Also the specialty of killing other human beings and advanced organized armies is under the category of technology. .
             Another characteristic of a civilization is a bureaucracy: some sort of government or administrative policy-making group.


Essays Related to Characteristics Of A Civilization

1. Analysis of George Orwell's 1984

... and views her as a symbol of the best chance there is for the Party to be defeated by the proles rising up and fighting against the Party. This creates a compelling dynamic where the proles are living in as if they were in an epoch of habitation, with a bunch of characteristics of an epoch of homelessness, despite being the castoff part of the civilization, while the regular citizens are ... inside of a forced epoch of habitation with several characteristics of an epoch of homelessness. The proles have a tight knit community and feel much more trusting towards one another than the ... ...

  • Word Count: 3080
  • Approx Pages: 12
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2. The Rise of River Civilizations

... came in June September. As has been said, the geography of the Indus River valley, such as the mountains, river, and monsoons, had a great impact on the civilizations level of prosperity, whether it be positive or negative. Due to the Indus ability to develop and adapt to its geography, many characteristics of the civilization made it unique to others, such as its city structure ... and architecture, strong central government, and artesian items. Because the civilization was isolated, it gave the Indus people time to focus ... on building well-planned cities instead of worrying about in...

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3. Future of an Illusion

... terrified off, and whom we look up for protection at the same time. Freud's book starts out with some background of human civilization. He focuses his introduction with the characteristics of a human civilization, or the way culture and civilization influences our life and our views of what is important in life. He explains our focus on gaining the knowledge and capacity in order to control the forces ... of nature and take from it the wealth to satisfy their needs. On the other hand, he also mentions our focus of ... adjusting relations of men to ... ...

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4. Civilization

... transported them back to the building site. Without the technology of the wheel, this process took a lot of time and required many man hours (Sharer! , 1994:642-48). . Childe's ten characteristics are each good indications of a civilization, but cannot all be used together to determine whether or not a society is a civilization. It should be used as more of a model than a standard. It has been shown that both ... the Incas and the Maya civilizations fulfill two of Childe's characteristics, in that they both are perfect examples of societies that demonstrate a clear social stratification...

  • Word Count: 1182
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5. Clash of Civilizations in Antony and Cleopatra

... Shakespeare's world ,in this play, stretches from Alexandria to Rome, encompasses Messina, Athens, Actium4 and Syria. Roman civilization has long history and it was derivative of Greek culture. Greek culture was scientific and pragmatics and thus Romans had inherited these characteristics from Greeks. Rome is situated in the central Mediterranean sea . The villages adjacent to Tiber river became a powerful ... satisfies." (2.2.244) However one cannot deny the fact West has attained success in every field of life and invented modernity. Liberty , political awareness , rule of law, cultur...

  • Word Count: 2903
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6. Civilization

... knowledge. For knowledge is power and the quantity and quality of knowledge or information has fueled the growth of civilizations since the beginning of history. Knowledge leads to the advancement of civilizations, which in turn leads to the gaining of even more knowledge. The development of civilization is linked to information because civilization is information. The characteristics of a civilization include its ethics, laws, technology, philosophy, religion, literature, and art, which are ... all forms of knowledge. The article by Gerda Lerner discusses many aspects ... ...

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7. How the Irish Saved Civilization

... it was absurd. During the rise of medieval Europe, Ireland was a country that was looked down upon by the rest of the world. No one would ever say the words Ireland and civilization in the same sentence, because they definitely did not possess the characteristics of a "normal" civilization. This small island on the edge of Europe was filled with wild, corrupt ... citizens, who enjoyed excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages. They were a country who never actually ... saw a time of enlightenment like many other countries during this time have. A lot of neighboring lands were experi...

  • Word Count: 1140
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8. Asian Civilization

... Asia. This unfair assessment has adversely affected the world wide perception of the West when directed towards Asia. Contrary to the hubris and conceit of the West, Asia really is the cradle of civilization. I then ask why Asia has been the subject of much misconception, bias and prejudice. Some of them include one Western saying, "Europe's most commonly stated defining ... fact, there never has been a single Asian civilization because the continent's vast size caused several and different civilizations arise, each independent of the others. The earliest known civilizations arose in t...

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9. Lord of the Flies

... the barbaric nature to spread through civilization. When the boys first arrive on the island, everything seems to be ok. They are of course shaken up because of the drastic scenery change as well as no adults to be found. Ralph seems to be appointed the leader; because he found the conch and appears to possesses the characteristics, which make the boys, look up ... power. It is when Jack starts gaining power when the civilization or lack there of, starts to take a downward spiral. The characters in the novel behave and have the characteristics they do for the purpose of symbolizing a gr...

  • Word Count: 523
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