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Chapter 2
First Civilizations

Where the first cities and states appeared, how inequality and patriarchy took hold, and how Mesopotamia and Egypt compare.

3500 to 600 BCE. Book pages 57 to 103.

Notes summary

The chapter in plain words, section by section. Highlighted words are the book's key terms.

Introducing the First Civilizations 2.1
  • First Civilizations had cities, states with rulers, specialized jobs, big differences in wealth, and often writing.
  • The earliest appeared about 3500 to 3000 BCE in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Norte Chico / Caral in Peru.
  • Others followed: the Indus Valley civilization , China under the Shang, the Central Asian / Oxus civilization , and the Olmec civilization in Mexico.
  • These civilizations arose separately, but they were still a small part of the world, which remained mostly villages, chiefdoms, and foragers.
The Question of Origins and the Urban Revolution 2.2
  • Farming surpluses and growing populations made civilization possible, but historians still debate the exact trigger.
  • Climate change, the need to manage water and trade, and ambitious leaders all likely played a role.
  • Cities were the heart of civilization. Uruk had huge walls, a temple ziggurat, and about 50,000 people.
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh celebrates city life. Indus cities like Mohenjo Daro / Harappa were carefully planned.
The Erosion of Equality 2.3
  • Society split into ranked classes: rulers, priests, officials, merchants, artisans, peasants, and slaves.
  • Laws like the Code of Hammurabi gave different punishments depending on social class.
  • Patriarchy grew stronger. Historians link it to plow farming, private property, bigger families, and war.
  • Mesopotamian law tightly controlled women and required respectable women to veil. Egyptian women had more rights, and a few, like Hatshepsut, ruled.
The Rise of the State 2.4
  • The rise of the state meant rulers, officials, armies, and taxes with authority over a territory.
  • States relied on force, but also on religion, since rulers claimed divine support, and on services like protection and irrigation.
  • Writing grew out of record keeping for trade, taxes, and property, then expanded into literature and history.
  • Kings showed their power with palaces, tombs, and monuments like the Egyptian pyramids.
Comparing Mesopotamia and Egypt 2.5
  • Mesopotamia faced unpredictable floods and open borders, which fed a gloomy view of the gods and the afterlife.
  • Mesopotamia had many rival city-states in Sumer before being united by empires like the Akkadians and Babylonians.
  • Egypt had a regular Nile flood and desert barriers. It was unified under a god-king pharaoh and had a hopeful view of the afterlife.
  • The story of Paneb , a corrupt tomb-workers' foreman, shows everyday life and crime in Egypt.
  • Both traded widely. Egypt interacted closely with Nubia to the south, and Mesopotamian writing and gods spread to neighbors.