Human Origins & the Emergence of
Human Communities, to 500 BCE
African Genesis: Interpreting the
Evidence
Australopithecus africanus
•First pre-human ancestors
discovered
•it had many features intermediate
between apes & humans
• In 1859, Charles Darwin
published, On the Origin of
Species-species evolve by
natural selection
• African origins suggested by
discovery of Australopithecus
africanus, 1924
• Archaeological evidence,
understanding evolution of
other species & tracing human
genetic code backwards has
helped scientists track
evolution of human beings
over 5 million years
Human Evolution
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Australopithecines & modern humans are
hominids-members of primate family
Distinguished by three characteristics: bipedalism,
large brain & larynx low in neck
Hominids gained advantages during climate
changes
More climate changes 2-3 million years ago caused
evolution of Homo habilis-brain 50 % larger
By 1 million years ago, Homo habilis & all
australopithecines extinct
Replaced by Homo erectus (1.7 million years ago),
then Homo sapiens (400,000 to 100,000 years ago)
Genetic evidence suggests further development
emerged around 50,000 years ago (capacity for
speech)
Migrations from Africa
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Low sea levels associated w/ Ice Age allowed Homo erectus & Homo sapiens to migrate
from Africa to Europe & Asia
Homo sapiens migrated from Africa (40,000 years ago) & crossed land bridge to
Americas during last glacial period (32,000–13,000 years ago)
Low sea levels allowed Homo sapiens to reach Japan & New Guinea/Australia
Minor physical evolutionary changes (skin color)
Humans adapted to new environments through process of technological adaptation
Ice Age:
Food Gathering & Stone Tools
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Stone Age (2 million-4,000
years ago)
– Paleolithic (Old Stone Age—to
10,000 years ago)
– Neolithic (New Stone Age)
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Paleolithic -stone tools used
to scavenge meat from dead
animals & hunt
Homo sapiens very good
hunters –probably caused
extinction of mastodons &
mammoths 11,000 years ago
Stone Agers foraged vegetable
foods more than meat
Human use of fire traced to 1.5
million years ago-conclusive
evidence of cooking (clay pots)
only found 12,500 years ago
Gender Roles & Social Life
• Slow maturation rate of
human infants & ability
of adults to mate any
time are thought to be
causes of development
of two-parent family
(characteristic of
hominids)
• Women gathered food,
cooked, child-care
• Men mainly hunted
• Hunter-gatherers lived
in small groupsmigrated regularly to
follow game animals &
to take advantage of
seasonal variations in
ripening of foraged
foods
Hearths & Cultural Expressions
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Migrating hunter-gatherers
lived in camps; used natural
or temporary shelters
Permanent fishing
communities made more
solid structures
Clothing of animal skins
sewn together w/ vegetable
fiber & rawhide cords
Hunter-gatherers spent 3-5
hrs a day on food, clothing &
shelter- left time for cultural
activities like gathering,
organizing, passing on
information, art & religion
Cave art suggests Ice Age
people had complex religion
Burial sites indicate belief in
afterlife
Neolithic Revolution:
From the Origins of Agriculture to the
First River-Valley Civilizations
Agricultural
Revolution:
Domestication of
Plants & Animals
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Occurred independently worldwide at different rates--Caused by climate change
Transition occurred first in Middle East, but also Eastern Sahara, Nile Valley, Greece, Central Europe
Early farmers practiced swidden agriculture, changed fields when fertility declined
Environments dictated choice of crops.
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Mediterranean = Wheat & barley
Sub-Saharan Africa = Sorghum, millet
-South & SE Asia = Rice
-Equatorial W. Africa = Yams
-Americas = Maize, potatoes, quinoa, manioc
Domesticated Animals & Pastoralism
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Domestication of animals
proceeded at same time as plants
Hunters first domesticated dogs;
sheep & goats were later
domesticated for meat, milk, wool
Animals pulled plows; supplied
manure for fertilizer
Two exceptions to pattern of
– Americas: no animals suitable for
domestication except llamas, guinea
pigs, & some fowl; hunting remained
main source of meat; humans main
source of labor power
– Arid parts of Central Asia & Africa:
environment not appropriate for
settled agriculture; pastoralists
herded cattle or other animals from
one grazing area to another
Agriculture & Ecological Crisis
• Humans transitioned to
agricultural or pastoralist
economies because global
warming (6000-2000
B.C.E.) brought
environmental changesreduced game & wild
foods
• Agricultural revolution
increased world’s human
population—from 10
million in 5000 B.C.E. 100 million in 1000 B.C.E.
Life in Neolithic Communities:
Cultural Expressions
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Early food producers worshiped
ancestral & nature spirits
centered on sacred groves,
springs, wild animals; deities
such as Earth Mother & Sky God
Early societies used megaliths
(big stones) to construct burial
chambers & calendar circles to
aid astronomical observations
Expansion of food-producing
societies reflected in patterns of
language groups dispersed
around Eastern Hemisphere;
Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, &
Afro-Asiatic
Early Towns & Specialists
• Most people lived in villages,
but in some places, the
environment supported
growth of towns; more
elaborate dwellings, facilities
for surplus food storage &
communities of specialized
craftspeople
• Two best-known examples of
Neolithic towns are:
– Jericho-west bank of Jordan
River; walled w/mud-brick
structures; dates to 8000 B.C.E.
– Çatal Hüyük- central Turkey,
dates to 7000–5000 B.C.E.
Catal Huyuk
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Center for obsidian trade;
craftspeople produced pottery,
baskets, woolen cloth, beads,
leather & wood products
No evidence of dominant class
or centralized political
leadership
Art reflects fascination with
hunting, but agriculture was
mainstay of economy
Flourishing religion involved
offerings of food; may have
centered on worship of
goddess & administered by
priestesses
Remains include decorative,
ceremonial objects made of
copper, lead, silver, gold;
tools/weapons continued to
be made from stone
What is significance of Jericho & Catal Huyuk?
• Emerging social organization; food producers
supported nonproducing specialists; priests &
craftspeople
• Labor mobilized for nonproductive projects;
defensive walls, megalithic structures & tombs
• Don’t know if labor was free or coerced
Discussion Questions
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How did the physical and cultural characteristics of hominids
change over time, and how do scientists document and explain
these changes?
How have changes in the environment influenced the physical
development of the human species?
What is culture? Do environmental conditions and changes in the
techniques of production have an effect on culture? If so, how?
What effects did the agricultural revolutions have on Neolithic
societies?
What were women’s roles in the first 4 million years of human
history? What evidence can we find that might give us some
indications of what women’s roles may have been? Does the
evidence indicate how women’s roles may have changed over
time? How and why might such change have occurred?
Civilization Emerges
Cities: As farmers settled in fertile river valleys, they began to
grow surplus or extra food. This extra food increased the
population of the settlements. In time, the settlements grew
into cities, such as Ur in Sumer or Babylon in Mesopotamia.
Organized Central Governments: As cities developed and
expanded, the food supply and irrigation systems needed to be
maintained. Governments, such as councils or religious leaders,
began to oversee the business and existence of the cities.
Complex Religions: Religious leaders would conduct elaborate
ceremonies to appease the gods (polytheism)and insure a
bountiful harvest. Floods and droughts were blamed on the
gods’ anger so rituals were conducted in the temples.
Job Specialization: As civilizations became more complex,
artisans and craftsmen were needed to maintain specific items
and tasks. No longer could individuals do all the work. Now
some concentrated on teaching, scribing, stonecutting, etc.
Social Classes: As jobs became specialized so did the status
& needs of certain individuals. The need for a knowledgeable &
educated religious leader was more respected than unskilled
workers. Herders were needed & respected for providing
food, while masons were needed for building. Slave were on
lowest rung of the social ladder, warriors & kings were on top.
Writing: Records were needed to keep accounts on
trade goods and food storage. Writing was needed because the
information became too great. In addition, one needed to
express more complex ideas such as "belief" and "social order"
where pictures and words simply would not suffice.
Art and Architecture: This expressed the beliefs and values of a
civilization. Different styles were developed and copied by
societies. Often the art was used to impress visitors and people
about the beauty and power of a king or a community
Public Works: The government would order these, although
costly, to aid and benefit the community. Such things as a wall
to protect from attack or a canal to aid in irrigation would help
insure the survival of a people.
Mesopotamia: Settled Agriculture in an Unstable
Landscape
Fertile Crescent
Agriculture difficult-relied on irrigation
– little rainfall
– rivers flood at wrong time for
grain
– rivers changed course
• warm climate & good soil
• 3000 BCE irrigation canals constructed
• Draft animals : cattle & donkeys, later
camels & horses
• No significant wood, stone, or metal
resources
• Sumerians earliest people-creators
of Mesopotamian cultural
achievements
• 2000 BCE, Sumerians supplanted by
Semitic-speaking peoples who
dominated & intermarried w/
Sumerians-preserved Sumerian
culture
Standard of Ur
What elements of civilization can you see here?
What does this artifact reveal about Sumerian culture?
Mesopotamia: Cities, Kings, Trade
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Villages & cities linked by mutual
interdependence
Peasants produced food for nonproducing
urban elites & craftspeople
Cities provided military protection,
markets, & specialist-produced goods
City States– city & its agricultural land
– sometimes fought over resourceswater & land; sometimes cooperated
– Trade flourished
– mobilized human resources to open
new farmland & to build/maintain
irrigation systems
Construction of irrigation systems
required organization of large labor pool
Two centers of power: temples & palaces
Temples were landholders-priests
controlled considerable wealth
religious power predates secular power of
palaces
Mesopotamian Politics
• Decentralized, autonomous citystates
• Secular leadership“big men”
(lugal), originally military
leaders
• The Epic of Gilgamesh-secular ,
semi-divine power
• Frequent conflicts/conquests
• Akkadian state, Sargon of
Akkad-Empire Builder
• Hammurabi’s Law Code reveals
social organization & unequal
punishments
• Essential resources obtained by
territorial expansion & through
long-distance trade
Mesopotamian Economy
• Fundamentally agricultural
• needed resources- obtained
by territorial expansion &
through long-distance trade
• Economy sacred-dependent
on divine power
• Merchants originally
employed by temples or
palaces; later, private
merchants emerged
• Trade carried out through
barter or traded for fixed
weights of precious metal
or measurements of grains
Mesopotamian Society
• Patterned on a plan of the gods
• Stratified somewhat fluid society
• Hierarchy associated w/ economic
activity & rank/power
• Elites=administrators, priests
controlled land as part of duties
• Commoners owned small garden
plots-dependent on state in return
for labor
• Artisans/craftsmen worked mainly
for “the state”
• Slaves-not essential to economywar captives or debts
Women in Mesopotamia
• Women lost social status w/
dependence on agriculture
• own property
• maintain control of dowry
• trade
• work outside home
• status declined further in
2nd millennium
• Rise of urbanized middle
class-laws favored husbands
• Women preserved or
increased wealth
• Some given to temple deity
Mesopotamian Religion
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Religion was syncretic blend of Sumerian &
later Semitic beliefs & deities
Polytheistic, anthropomorphic-human
emotions, capricious, undependable
Each city had it’s own guardian deity
Empire building elevated some deities to
greater prominence
Humans were servants of gods-complex,
specialized hereditary priesthood served
gods
Temples were walled compounds containing
religions & functional buildings
Most visible part of temple compound was
ziggurat
Little knowledge of beliefs & religious
practices of common people
Evidence indicates a popular belief in magic
used to influence gods
Mesopotamian Technology & Science
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Technology: “specialized knowledge
used to transform natural
environment & human society.”
irrigation systems & nonmaterial
specialized knowledge such as
religious lore, ceremony, writing
systems
Cuneiform:
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evolved from using pictures to
represent sounds of words or parts of
words
– complex, required hundreds of signsmonopolized by scribes
– Developed to write Sumerian but later
used to write Akkadian & other Semitic
& non-Semitic languages
– Used to write economic, political, legal,
literary, religious, & scientific texts
Mesopotamian Technology & Science
• Irrigation,
transportation (boats,
barges & donkeys)
• bronze metallurgy,
brick making,
engineering
• Military technologypaid, full-time
soldiers; horses;
horse-drawn chariot;
bow & arrow; & siege
machinery
• numbers (base-60
system)-advances in
mathematics &
astronomy
Egypt:“Gift of the Nile”
• Defined by Nile River-narrow
green strip of arable land on
either side of its banks, &
fertile Nile delta area
• “Red land” = desert
• “Black Land” = cultivated
• Upper Egypt=along the
southern part of Nile as far
south as the First Cataract
• Lower Egypt= northern delta
area
• Climate good for agriculturelittle or no rainfall
• Farmers depended on river for
irrigation
Egypt: “Gift of the Nile”
• Nile floods beneficial
• Predictable, & at right time
• Rich deposit of silt
– Provided “season”s
– inspired orderly view of
universe
• Other natural resources:
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reeds (papyrus for writing)
wild animals
birds & fish
plentiful building stone & clay
access to copper & turquoise
from desert
– gold from Nubia
Egyptian Politics: Divine Kingship
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Evolved from pattern of small states ruled by local kings-emerged into large, unified Egyptian state
around 3100 B.C.E.
Organized into thirty dynasties: three longer periods: Old, Middle, New Kingdoms
divided by periods of political fragmentation & chaos
Kings (pharaohs) dominated Egyptian state- gods come to earth-ensured welfare & prosperity of
people-maintain Ma’at (truth, order, justice, harmony, law, morality)
Death of pharaoh beginning of journey back to gods
Funeral rites & preservation of body important to maintain Ma’at
Early pharaohs buried in flat-topped rectangular tombs-stepped pyramid tombs appeared about
2630 BCE & smooth-sided pyramids later
Great pyramids at Giza constructed 2550-2490 BCE (Old Kingdom period only)
Constructed w/ stone tools & simple lever, pulley & rollers-required substantial resources & labor
Egyptian Politics: Administration & Communication
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central administration through system of provincial & village bureaucracies
Bureaucrats kept track of land, labor, taxes, people; collected resources
Supported central government institutions- palace, bureaucracy & army &
maintain temples, construct monuments
Two writing systems: hieroglyphics & cursive
Papyrus- used for religious & secular literature &record keeping
Tensions between central & local government were constant
When central power was predominant, provincial officials were appointed &
promoted by central government on merit
When central power was weak, provincial officials become autonomous- made
positions hereditary-buried in own districts rather than near tomb of king
Egypt: Administration & Communication
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More rural than Mesopotamia
had cities, but haven’t been
excavated-know little about urban life
regarded all foreigners as enemies,
but desert nomad neighbors posed
no serious military threat
more interested in acquiring
resources than in acquiring territory;
resources acquired through trade
Egypt traded directly with the Levant
& Nubia- indirectly with Punt
(probably part of modern Somalia)
Exports-papyrus, grain, gold
Imports-incense, Nubian gold,
Lebanese cedar, tropical African ivory,
ebony, animals
Egyptian Economy
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Agricultural
Self-sufficient
Small businesses, factories
Heavy taxes, high interest
rates
• traded directly w/ Levant &
Nubia- indirectly with Punt
(probably part of modern
Somalia)
• Exports-papyrus, grain, gold
• Imports-incense, Nubian gold,
Lebanese cedar, tropical
African ivory, ebony, animals
People of Egypt
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Population of about 1 to 1.5 million
physically heterogeneous people,
some dark-skinned-some lighterskinned
Divided into several social strata: (1)
the king & high-ranking officials; (2)
lower-level officials, local leaders and
priests, professionals, artisans, welloff farmers; and (3) peasants, the
majority of the population
Peasants lived in villages, cultivated
the soil- paid taxes, provided labor
service
Women subordinate- engaged in
domestic activities
Had right to hold, inherit & will
property
Retained rights over their own dowry
after divorce
More rights than Mesopotamian
women
Slavery less harsh than elsewhere-not
essential
Egypt: Belief and Knowledge
• Based on a cyclical view of nature
• Two most significant gods-sungod Re & Osiris, god of the
Underworld, who was killed,
dismembered & then restored to
life, represented renewal & life
after death
• Kings-identified with Re & Horus,
son of Osiris- served as chief
priests
• large amount of wealth spent
constructing fabulous temples
• Temple activities included regular
offerings to gods & great festivals
Egypt: Belief and Knowledge
• Belief in afterlife inspired
mummification-provided
knowledge of chemistry
anatomy
• Tombs pictures/artifacts
provide extensive information
about daily life
• Tombs built in desert avoided
wasting arable land-reflected
social status of deceased
• Mathematics, astronomy,
calendar making, irrigation,
engineering/architecture, &
transportation technology
Indus Valley Civilization
• Central part of Indus Valley
area is Sind region of
modern Pakistan
• Adjacent related areas
included Hakra River (now
dried up), the Punjab &
Indus delta region
• Indus carries silt- floods
regularly twice a year
• Access to river water for
irrigation allowed farmers in
Indus Valley region to
produce two crops a year
despite sparse rainfall
Indus Valley: Material
Culture
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flourished from 2600 to 1900 BCE
Harappa (3½ miles in circumference,
population about 35,000)
Mohenjo-Daro (several times larger)
Surrounded by brick walls, streets laid
out in grid pattern-supplied w/ covered
drainage systems to carry away waste
remains of citadel-center of authority,
storehouses for grain, barracks for
artisans
controlled surrounding farmland
Harappa located on frontier between
agricultural land & pastoral economiesmay have been a nexus of trade in
copper, tin, & precious stones from NW
High degree of standardization in city
planning
Some scholars argue was result of
extensive trade within the region rather
than the existence of authoritarian
central government
Indus Valley
• Better access to metal than
Egyptians & Mesopotamiansartisans created utilitarian &
luxury items
• Extensive irrigation systems,
potter’s wheel, kiln-baked
bricks & bronze metallurgy
• Extensive trade w/ NW- Iran,
Afghanistan & even
Mesopotamia
• We know little of the
identity, origins, or fate of
people of Indus Valley
• Writing system has not been
deciphered
Why did Indus Valley Collapse?
• Former Theory-Indus Valley cities
abandoned around 1900 BCE –due
to invasion
• Current theory-decline due to
breakdown caused by natural
disasters & ecological change
• Agricultural production declined
• Hakra River-dried up, salinization,
erosion
• When urban centers collapsed, so
did way of life of elites-peasants
probably adapted & survived
Conclusions
Political & Economic Comparisons
• Mesopotamia, Egypt, & Indus Valley all developed along river systems where they
were assured an adequate water supply for agriculture
• They all developed political structures for organization of labor to provide
irrigation systems
• Kingship developed as the political leadership system of both Egypt &
Mesopotamia-Egypt’s kings were believed to be divine in origin, while
Mesopotamia’s rulers were not
Religious & Cultural Comparisons
• The predictable flooding of the Nile translated into a relatively optimistic outlook
on the afterlife for Egyptians
• In contrast, the unpredictable and violent flooding of the Tigris-Euphrates Basin
gave Mesopotamians a more fearful expectation of their afterlife
• All three civilizations developed architectural techniques for building large
structures
• Egyptian women appear to have enjoyed more equality in society than did
Mesopotamian women
Discussion Questions
1. How did differences in the environment and geographical location affect
the development of these three early civilizations?
2. What evidence do you see here of interaction between these civilizations
and other peoples (including interaction among the three civilizations
themselves)? How important do you think that interaction with other
peoples was for the development of these three civilizations?
3. What demands arose for these civilizations that led to their technological
advancements?
4. What factors might explain the rise and decline of civilizations in general
and of these particular civilizations?
5. How do the religious beliefs and world-views in Mesopotamia and Egypt
reflect the relationships between the environment and the people of
these civilizations?
6. What is the connection between knowledge and power? How did writing
play into this relationship?