The earliest remains of modern human beings go back over 300,000 years in the past. Human evolution has been a long-drawn process that continues to this day; however, the dawn of civilization was a watershed moment that permanently altered the course of human history and, by extension, the history of our planet. As humans progressed in mental, physical, and social development, the definition of society has been subject to change, with the extent of what is contained within its ambit being dynamic. However, with the advent of agriculture and the transition of human social groups from nomadic tribes to settled societies, advancement in technology, human thought, and the overall functioning of society has been one with a structure that existed only loosely in the hunter-gatherer periods.
The oldest civilizations witnessed progressive development of everything that defines humans today. This includes written language, abstract thought, philosophy, and structured societies. Understanding civilization’s definition and how it came about will lift the often confounding mist that surrounds early human history. It also sheds light on factors that contributed to the organization of humans in ordered units and societies from tribal cultures that comprised only small groups and clans. The further sections discuss the antiquity of human civilization, the famed civilizations that came about in various parts of the world, their attributes, and other interesting aspects of humanity’s social evolution.
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Civilization Definition
Civilization is defined as an advanced human society that has established social norms, government, institutions, urban centers, division of labor, and law. Civilizations also tend to have fully developed writing systems to communicate and place a keen focus on art, philosophy, and science. With the surplus of food stemming from the advent of agriculture, humans found food security and chose to settle down. With food security came a shift, where humans’ energies became more focused on areas other than survival. This led to the blossoming of various aspects of humanity as we know it today. This includes formalized abstract thinking, culture, religion, and scientific exploration.
The term “civilization” appears from the Latin word civilis, which means to be civil. Nomadic human tribes in the prehistoric periods were mainly small groups and clans of people that consistently shifted their spaces of residence based on the availability of food. Their primary tasks were focused on hunting and foraging. Modern humans unequivocally understood the control of fire at least 125,000 years ago; despite this, farming would remain elusive. Humans would begin growing their own food only about 10,000 to 12,000 years in the past. This emphasizes the fact that modern human life was made possible only by settling down and creating tangible food security, which marked the core attributes of civilization.
Civilization is an advanced human society with social norms, government, institutions, urban centers, division of labor, and law to ensure ordered existence.
Most ancient civilizations developed along rivers due to the proximity to a freshwater source and easy access to irrigation. The dawn of civilization was marked by the development of several urban centers and associated communities. Humans were not merely focused on growing food, hunting, or foraging. The division of labor brought about by lasting food stores allowed for the development of various tasks in society. This essentially paved the way for advanced civilizations to begin taking root. Eventually, the definition of a society became associated with the cultures that developed from the civilization that influenced it. With numerous tasks being performed by humans in these early settlements, trading began, and settlements exchanged goods with one another.
Trade kickstarted the ancient economy, allowing for novel techniques and methods to be developed for the further perpetuation of trade and business. While historians and anthropologists have devised set criteria and frameworks to identify and categorize civilizations, there always exist exceptions. Civilization’s definition in general might include important attributes such as written language; however, advanced and well-developed civilizations like the Incas had no script for their language despite having built the Americas’ largest empire in history. Anthropologists and historians use nuance though a general framework for describing civilizations exists already.
How Old is Human Civilization?
The oldest “civilized” human settlements began appearing between 4000 BCE and 3000 BCE in what is now modern-day Iraq. The region falls between the fertile areas of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and is situated in the northern portion of the Fertile Crescent. These settlements eventually would come to be known as the Mesopotamian civilizations, which saw the development of the world’s first cities and urban agglomerations. Though Mesopotamia was among the earliest regions that saw the appearance of urban populations, other parts of the world also saw near-parallel developments in ancient Egypt, India, and China. Civilizations also developed in Peru and Mexico in and around the same era, totaling six cradles of civilization across the world, which gave rise to urban settlements and advancements in human life.
The initial developments of civilized society came about in the ancient city of Sumer in Mesopotamia, which led to the civilization being named after the city. However, the oldest relics and remnants from the Sumerian people were found in excavations belonging to another Mesopotamian city called Uruk—a contender for the title of the world’s first city. The Sumerians had the core attributes of what qualifies as a civilization in conventional terms—written language, irrigation, and urban centers. While Mesopotamia does hold the credit for having influenced some of humanity’s most crucial developments such as the invention of the wheel, mathematics, astronomy, and irrigation, evidence of written language belonging to the same era has also been found in Egypt in recent times. This pushes the boundaries of current knowledge, bringing up more questions surrounding the antiquity of civilization in some of the world’s most ancient centers of human settlement.
The progression of rural and nomadic human populations into urban centers and agglomerations have been gradual. Transitions of human society likely took several thousands of years. Subsequently, the study of history also constantly witnessed a dynamic change. This was also influenced by the fact that human inventions improved the quality of life and secured settlements against threats from nature as well as competing human congregations. The concept of classes, government, and administration slowly came about as civilizations became more structured. This subsequently caused the rise of the world’s first kingdoms in the same regions, making the Mesopotamian civilization among the first to have a ruling monarchy that governed people. Similarly, ancient Egypt too saw the advent of monarchic rulers and structured governments around the same period, with the first and second dynasties of Egypt ruling the fertile Nile valley from around 3100 BCE until the early 2600s BCE. Similar developments occurred across other civilizations such as the Yellow River & Indus Valley Civilizations in ancient China and India, respectively.
The Oldest Civilizations
The world’s oldest civilizations paved the way for future dynasties, republics, city-states, and even democratic nations that would take over as the tides of time rolled over. Understanding the earliest civilizations brings to the fore what exactly allowed historians to gain consensus on civilization’s definition and the impact of geography and weather on human settlements and societies. Below are some of the earliest civilizations and their general characteristics:
Mesopotamian Civilization
What is known today as the Mesopotamian civilization comprises numerous human settlements and individual cultures that arose in the ancient region of Mesopotamia. The area saw the advent of the Sumerian culture and civilization, which was among the earliest in the world to witness clear attributes of a structured society. Mesopotamia subsequently witnessed the rise of the world’s first empire—the Akkadian empire. The Akkadians subdued what was left of the declining Sumerians and went on to cover vast swathes of territory in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia also witnessed the rise of two other important and powerful civilizations such as those of the Hurrians and Babylonians. Another group—the Hittites and their unique beliefs, primarily belonging to the region of Anatolia in what is now Turkey—would also come to play an important role in ancient Mesopotamia. The civilizations and empires of Mesopotamia would remain powerful and with great influence until the Fall of Babylon in 539 BCE, ending a long period spanning nearly 3000–3500 years of crucial developments in both global history and regional advancements.
The Mesopotamian civilizations and kingdoms were among the earliest to write epics and legal documents, with the Code of Hammurabi and the Epic of Gilgamesh being some of the earliest works in law and literature. Mathematics and science, too, were advanced and developed with great vigor in the civilizations and kingdoms of the fertile crescent. Early valuations of Pi, along with rudimentary algebra and trigonometry, were used extensively for various applications including astronomy. The Mesopotamians were able to accurately predict the timescales of eclipses and other important astronomical events. Moreover, their knowledge of both mathematics and astronomy was crucial in helping these civilizations draw up some of the world’s first maps and became the basis for some of the other civilizations in the classical world for further development and contribution. Some of the oldest compendiums of medicine and diagnosis, too, came from these civilizations. This would shed light on the rather technical approach of ancient physicians in the treatment of various diseases. As far as religion goes, the Mesopotamians of antiquity practiced polytheism with various interweaved streams of philosophy. The thinkers of Babylon and other important kingdoms developed advanced streams of logic that would have lasting effects on Greek culture in the subsequent centuries.
Egyptian Civilization
The ancient Egyptian civilization was another global power in the ancient world that had a complex society with a rich history of art, architecture, engineering, the sciences, and culture. Egyptian civilization developed under a series of numerous kingdoms that saw a variety of dynasties take on the mantle of governing ancient Egypt. The Pharaohs of ancient Egypt were seen as living Gods and controlled all power in the state. The ancient Egyptian civilization saw the construction of the Great Pyramids at Giza and many other ancient monuments such as the Sphinx. It also produced Pharaohs that are spoken of to this date such as Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun, and Rameses II. Ancient Egyptians settled around the highly fertile Nile river valley, which often allowed for a surplus of crops due to predictable flooding patterns in the region. The people of ancient Egypt contributed to numerous achievements of the ancient world with complex sciences, abstract thought, religion, structured bureaucracy, detailed writing systems, and architectural marvels to name a few.
In the early days of civilization, the region had seen far lower desertification and was a tapestry for many lush landscapes. Early cultures that developed in the Nile river valley before the advent of dynastic rule in ancient Egypt made extensive use of pottery and collated specific symbols for communication—this would eventually develop into what we know today as Hieroglyphics. The predynastic Egyptian civilization also saw trade with what is now Ethiopia and ancient Mesopotamia, indicating links between two of the world’s oldest civilizations. The dynastic period is supposed to have begun around 3000 BCE when the first Egyptian kings seem to have unified the lands under a single system of rule and brought much of what was ancient Egypt under their control. With their capital situated at Memphis, the first dynasties cemented their hold over ancient trade routes that lead to the prosperous regions in Mesopotamia, ancient Syria, and the Levantine kingdoms. The early dynastic period would last until the early 2600s BCE, following which the Old Kingdom era began in ancient Egyptian civilization. This period witnessed increasing centralization of power and efficient structuring of both the religious clergy and governing bureaucracy. The Sphinx and the Great Pyramids at Giza would be built during the Old Kingdom regime. The Pharaohs often made grants to temples and priests. However, the economy would eventually buckle under the demanding requirements of a centralized government, leading to the loss of faith in the institution of the Pharaoh by local rulers and governors. This drastically diminished the power attributed to the head of state. Eventually, the droughts and famines in the later 2000s BCE brought about the end of the Old Kingdom era by 2181 BCE.
The gaps between the dynasties and kingdoms that ruled ancient Egypt were called intermediate periods and were often filled with strife and difficult transitions. The First Intermediate Period lasted until 2055 BCE and witnessed the rise of the Middle Kingdom, whose kings established stability over ancient Egypt once more. Egypt would witness another intermediate period following the Middle Kingdom’s decline by 1690 BCE caused by natural calamities and economic insufficiencies. Eventually following a competition between local nobles and governors, the New Kingdom saw establishment in around 1549 BCE. Some of the ancient Egyptian Civilization’s most popular Pharaohs came in the dynastic succession of the New Kingdom. Following another instability-filled Third Intermediate Period which saw the decline in ancient Egypt’s powers and an invasion by the Assyrians, Egypt subsequently transitioned into a late period. Future conquests by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE and the Roman empire in the last few decades BCE would see Egypt under Greek and Roman rule for several centuries.
Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilization was one of the earliest civilizations to appear along with the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. It cropped up as a bunch of urban settlements in the rich and fertile Indus river basin situated in what is now Northwestern India and Eastern Pakistan. With its beginnings in the alluvial regions of the Indus flood basin, the civilization extended also into the perennial river systems along Northwestern India and neighboring Pakistan. With extensive settlements and urban agglomerations, the Indus Valley civilization covered the maximum area when compared to the others at the time. Lasting for over 2000 years, the civilization took root in the region around 3300 BCE. It witnessed the development of large cities such as Harappa, Dholavira, and Mohenjo-Daro. The inhabitants were advanced; they deployed urban planning, developed a structured society, and codified written language. By 2600 BCE, the small villages on the alluvial plains eventually grew to become large cities that witnessed the creation of various daily objects and engineering marvels. The Indus civilization also indulged in extensive trade through both land and maritime routes with fellow early civilizations in Mesopotamia. The definition of society in the Indus civilization surrounded the establishment of city-states, which had individual rulers for each of the cities present across the civilization.
A fully-developed measuring system was also created in these city-states, helping them achieve accuracy in measuring mass, time periods, lengths, and distances. Development of the arts was not ignored either, with a wealth of figurines, seals, trinkets, toys, and jewelry being found across excavation sites in the region. Large structures such as the Great Bath have also been found, indicating the seamless engineering and plumbing systems developed in the Indus Valley civilization. As far as language goes, the Indus language script, however, still remains undeciphered. The symbolic representations in the language divide the consensus between historians as to whether it was coded for non-linguistic or linguistic purposes. Religion and culture also garnered extensive focus in the civilization with figurines, seals, and statuettes of priests & deities being recovered from Indus valley sites. Burial sites have also been studied and uncovered in the area.
By the start of the 2nd millennium BCE, the Indus Valley civilization began entering a phase of gradual decline. This was brought about by numerous natural causes that forced the various cities’ inhabitants to abandon their settlements and move to regions with better resources. Frequent droughts and the weakening of monsoons led to crop failure and a lack of food security in the region. The Ghaggar-Hakra river systems had turned into seasonal rivers due to the weakening of monsoons and flowed only until the Himalayan areas instead of trickling down into the Indus valley and river basin areas. Following these developments, the Indus valley saw large-scale cooling in general temperatures and also became considerably less fertile. These developments were coupled with the appearance of different civilizational cultures spread across the Indian subcontinent, possibly indicating migration away from the Indus valley area.
Ancient Chinese Civilizations
The Old World witnessed four major civilizations in the past, in which Ancient China saw the rise of three distinct cultures in its vast landmass containing several fertile river basins. Civilizations in ancient China cropped up along the Yellow, Yangtze, and Liao river basins. Cultivation of millets and other crops began in these regions around the middle 6000s BCE with a gradual development of society and the appearance of buildings and structures. Eventually, these would denote a defined civilization along the areas with populations that used advanced tools alongside an ordered structure to society. Though the early phases of these Chinese civilizations saw a rather egalitarian flavor in their communities, they eventually transitioned to monarchic forms of government with time. Walled cities and practices of silkworm farming also evolved in the Yangshao culture that lasted roughly from 5000 BCE to 3000 BCE. Concrete urbanization and the development of state-like entities began in China after 1900 BCE with the dawn of the Erlitou period.
The early cultures appearing in the Chinese civilization developed symbolic communication patterns that subsequently developed into written scripts coded for language. The earliest evidence of writing in the ancient Chinese civilization comes from the Shang Dynasty which lasted from around 1600 BCE until about the start of the 1st millennium BCE. Urbanization and social structuring saw rapid increases in this period, with advanced forms of metallurgy coming to the fore in ancient Chinese society. The urban centers also saw the building of numerous palaces and large structures. Despite the Erlitou culture being considered the predecessor to the Shang dynasty, the lack of empirical evidence to corroborate these facts casts a certain amount of doubt over the claim.
Civilizations across the world rose around or near the same time in history, signaling the movement of humans from tribalistic nomadic societies to urban cultures with structured societies and institutions. Defined civilizations allowed humans to harness their true potential and paved the path for consistent evolution across the ages, thanks to the security in sustenance and subsistence brought about by understanding the methods of farming.
