Compare And Contrast Old World Civilizations

Although, archaeologists have heavily debated the definition of civilization, there are still some key elements that are general agreed upon. I will define civilizations, and reflect and compare on two such Old World civilizations. The basic structures and social constructs that outline what a civilization is made up of are a dense population group, a minimizing of hunter of hunter/gather habits in favor of farming and trading habits, political, administrative, and religious centers, as well as some form of notation, usually seen in writing or a number system (Smiley 2015). In addition, city-states and territorial-states are civilizations with some key differences. City-states encompass a large variety of social stratification from political

Ur was located in what is now known as Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq. It once was a city situated “...in the middle of the Euphrates on the edge of the Persian Gulf” (Smiley 2015). The oval city had harbor entrances in several location. The location of the remains of the city of Ur are now located inland, due to changes in climate when the ice. The city was surrounded by a moat, which has since dried up. As with many Sumer cities, Ur was a polytheistic culture. Each family had personal deities, and each city had a deity thought to protect the city as a whole (Smiley

Its height was in 2000 BCE. This area was most conducive for sheep, but also for its array of canals that ran through it (Stone 1995). Since most exchange took place near the city walls in what was assumed to be a marketplace. There were also two gates with roadways and one gate for the waterway. These served as ways to trade, and to communicate. The area in side the walls was uniquely divided by the waterways, in to five districts (Stone 1995). The living quarters were lined along the internal canal system, which indicated the importance of them in relation to daily life (Stone