Civilization, a cornerstone of human development, is the intricate tapestry that encompasses societal progress and cultural achievements. In its essence, it refers to a complex society that traverses culture, technology and government.
Civilized societies develop in a variety of ways, depending on the geographical environment and prevailing conditions. River valley civilizations, like the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt, developed along the nurturing banks of rivers, allowing people to devote themselves to farming and amassing food surpluses that enabled them to transform small agrarian settlements into vibrant cities and invest in the arts, philosophy and politics.
While the emergence of civilizations was not an abrupt, discrete evolutionary adaptation—Darwinian selection is gradual and punctuated equilibria theories of evolutionary transition don’t work on such short time scales—they did happen at an extraordinarily fast rate. The emergence of the first proto-urban settlements that housed several tens of thousands of people—Uruk, Ur, Kish and Eridu in Mesopotamia, Susa in Elam and Memphis in Egypt—took only about 12,000 years, a remarkably short period for such a major transformation.
The emergence of these societies is the greatest single accomplishment of Homo sapiens. In a matter of a few thousand years, humans from Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas all invented agriculture, built temples, invented writing, and made significant advances in art, science, medicine, metallurgy and engineering.
This unprecedented development is often attributed to the spread of sedentary agriculture and the division of labor, which allowed people to devote their time to other activities. It is also suggested that these innovations facilitated the growth of trade, which depended on written records for maintaining business agreements. The earliest written records appear to have come from the Sumerians, the Shang Chinese and the Olmecs/Mayans.
It’s important to note that despite their remarkable advancements, these early civilizations went unrecognized by Western scholars until recent times, due to a mix of racial and religious prejudice and the belief that such cultures were “savage” or “primitive.” Even when the term was used, it generally referred to a white, Christian-based civilization.
Some historians believe that the defining characteristics of civilization—urbanity, culture and politics—are universal to all human societies. They suggest that, if we can understand these universal elements of civilization and incorporate them into our own lives, we can make the world a better place.
The most common feature of civilization is urbanity, which refers to people living in cities and engaging in specialized occupations and activities. In addition, most modern Western civilizations have a class system that divides people by their income. This includes wealthy, middle-class and poor. Other definitions of civilization include a belief in the equality of all people, respect for human rights, fair and just treatment of everyone, and the use of reason to guide our decisions. While these are important traits, they are not essential for a civilization. Other important principles include the willingness to learn from other civilizations, the acceptance of diversity and respect for elders.