Sumer's Eight Attributes Of Civilization

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What makes a civilization a civilization? A civilization is a complex and highly organized social order, and it must have certain characteristics in order to be considered a civilization. There are eight features of civilization, all of which work together to build a civilization. Initially, there are eight attributes that all civilizations possess. The first feature of all civilizations is cities. Next, all civilizations had organized governments. In early civilizations, the government dealt with flooding of the rivers and maintaining a steady food supply. When governments became too big, bureaucracies were created so rulers could know what was happening in their civilization. This increased efficiency. The government also oversaw construction projects that would …show more content…

An example of this is Sumer. To begin, Sumer had city-states, and within those city-states were governments. These governments oversaw public works. The governments were also ruled by priests, meaning government and religion were incorporated with one another. In addition, religion developed civilization because it affected things such as rituals and offerings they would give to their Gods and the sort of buildings they would build to pray and honor their Gods. Those buildings also show the art and architecture of the civilization. For instance, the Sumerians’ ziggurats demonstrated their religion and architecture. Moreover, job specialization and social hierarchy relate to each other, for people in a civilization were ranked based on their importance, which was determined by their jobs. Lastly, the writing system is an important part of a civilization. It was used to keep track of specific information, and was significant in the government because scribes would keep records for rulers and priests. Therefore, all eight features of civilization are significant, as they all work together to develop a

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