The word civilization encompasses a broad range of cultural achievements, technological prowess and societal progress. The term has come to be used primarily to refer to the advanced societies of human history, but it also describes many other aspects of human culture and society that are considered desirable. Civilizations appear in diverse forms and evolve along a complex timeline, with some rising and falling more quickly than others.
Initially, civilizations appeared where agricultural settlements could consistently produce surplus food for consumption and trade. These societies developed cities, writing, religion and specialized occupations. They also organized social hierarchies that distinguished people based on their role in the community and status within the group, which included political leaders, religious and military figures, craftspeople and merchants, and slaves.
Early civilizations were often centered around rivers, where fertile landscapes fostered agricultural and water management prowess. In some cases, these societies were able to develop a written language and advanced technologies, such as pottery and bronze weapons. The Aksum Empire, which ruled from 160 CE to 960 CE in what is now Ethiopia, was an advanced civilization that invented the earliest form of writing and boasted a well-established capital city, an extensive network of trade routes and a powerful army.
A common definition of civilization involves a progression from tribal life to urban living, characterized by centralized cities and the development of writing and other forms of record-keeping. These developments ushered in new economic systems, including money and taxation. They also led to the creation of a middle class that consisted of government officials, priests and warriors, and lower classes that included farmers and artisans. Some of the lower classes may have also been slaves, whose labor allowed cities to grow and flourish.
The five essential traits of civilization include urban sophistication, unified culture, advanced technology, recording and preserving knowledge, and the presence of a specialized work force and complex institutions. However, the concept of civilization is controversial among archeologists and anthropologists because it makes an overt value judgment that civilization is superior to other forms of society.
Some scholars suggest that the emergence of civilizations is a natural process. These theories are based on the idea that human societies go through cycles of growth, reorganization and decline. These phases are characterized by a number of factors, including environmental damage and climate change; dependence on long-distance trade for necessary resources; and internal conflict and war.
Other scholars believe that civilizations fail because of a lack of innovation and the inability to adapt to changing environments. They also argue that these societies are doomed to fail if they reach a point of diminishing returns, when the costs of increasing complexity outweigh the benefits. This theory is based on the ideas of the historian Arnold Toynbee, who wrote A Study of History, which traced the rise and fall of 21 civilizations.