A civilization is a complex society that is characterized by the existence of cities. According to the National Geographic Society, it also includes a sophisticated culture of writing and arts that enables an educated class to lead a life of prosperity, security and meaning. Other facets of a civilization include political leadership, organized religion and military force. Civilizations are thought to have evolved from hunter-gatherers that established semi-permanent and then permanent communities in areas of the world where fertile land could be used for agriculture. These settlements included the Nile Valley of Ancient Egypt, the Aegean islands including Crete, around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia, India’s Indus River Valley region, China’s Huang He valley (Yellow River) and elsewhere. The first civilizations developed highly stratified societies with several inherited social classes that included a ruling elite of priests, government officials and warriors. This upper class demanded luxury goods like jewelry and pottery, which prompted artisans and craftspeople to develop their skills.
These new industries led to the development of trade, which facilitated the movement of raw materials such as metals and crops, from one area to another. As a result, civilizations also grew to depend on long-distance trade for their most basic needs, creating the need for a written form of communication. The creation of trade also accelerated the development of civilization by creating opportunities for the exchange of ideas, art forms and technology.
As civilizations grew, they developed a complex system of rules and laws to govern their people. These rules helped to prevent societal chaos that would threaten the stability of the entire community. These systems of law and order usually included a military to enforce them. In addition, early civilizations developed religion, which often served to support the power of their political leaders and reinforced their belief in a higher power. The kings of Ancient Egypt, for example, practiced divine kingship, asserting themselves as human representatives, or even incarnations, of their gods.
In his book The Collapse of Complex Societies, Joseph Tainter argues that the growth of civilizations led to a point of diminishing returns, after which any further increases in complexity actually produced negative results. He believes that Rome reached this point in the 2nd century CE and fell from its heights. Jared Diamond, in his 2005 book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, argues that other factors contributed to the demise of Rome, including environmental damage such as deforestation; dependence upon long-distance trade for essential resources; increasing reliance on warfare to generate revenue and impose order; and unsustainable rates of expansion, which drained resources from the empire.
Today, the word “civilization” is frequently used as a synonym for “western civilization.” While it is true that Western civilization has brought many innovations in science and technology, such advances have not always been beneficial to all peoples of the world. Some critics, such as Derrick Jensen in his book Civilization: The Achilles Heel of the Human Race, argue that modern civilization is a path that will ultimately doom humans and the environment.