Week 02 Flashcards
what is the relationship between the concept of a “city” and the concept of “civilization”?
homo sapiens 300,000 - 500,000 years old
begins in central-east africa (migration out of africa)
modern brain is only 35,000 years old
what are the first known permanent human settlements?
Jericho and Catalhoyuk (modern day Turkey)
13,000-9000 years ago
12-10,000 years ago - Abu hureya
2,000 - 8,000 residents in each
human extinction/evolution
as humans evolved smarter, stronger versions persisted while others went extinct
why our version of humans won
larger brain and better communication
foraging
atleast 35,000 years old
bands of 20-100 people
semi-permanent (managing resources with fires and dams)
fueled innovation for survival
documentation
networking
neolithic transition
transition to agriculture and farming base
first evidece of farming in 9,000 BCE
took until 4,000 BCE for there to be solid evidence that there was full time farming to support population
population explodes with farming as main source of life/food
foraging vs farming
foraging
more fun, healthier, less health risk, mobility responds to weather
farming
crowding and disease, monotmy, climate dependent, have to defend your home
first cities in the wetlands (river based)
swamp, marsh lands
dry and wet seasons (good for different types of forage)
tkes tavel out of hunting (but still plentiful food and resources)
located in flood zones
“turtlebacks)
diet and environment in Catalhoyuk
dense settlement (travlled on top of buildings)
hunting, fishing, special type of farming, versions of gardening
way of life that still relies on foraging but in an environment that is very plentiful with minimal mobility needed
agriculture settlements and equality in UBAID towns
demands of agriculture: coordianated labour
egalitarian
irrigation, planting, harvest
environmental degredation
relied solely on farming
range of social order
mass storage, burial space for children, social rankings
UBAID settlements
a consistent way of life (architecture, order, ways of life) in Mesopotamia
north settlements
lots of rain
more uniform
south settlements
not as much rain (better for crops)
more social hierarchy
designated burial space for leaders and children
more complexity, mass storage, more central organization
CREATES THE CONDITIONS FOR SOCIAL INEQUALITIES
what are the origins of cities?
atleast 45,000 years of human history has been in small bands as foragers
not very much documentation as they were always moving unlike permanent settlements where they documented and stored items
what were UBAID settlements
lots of small towns interconnected by the rivers in Mesopotamia
(independent marshland cities)
river valley was more lush than it is today
regions that are different but share various common traits
farming was easier
started to have some specialization
can be equal or unequal
opppotunity to grow larger (through farming ) was there but spent 2,500 years choosing not to (and stay as localized foragers)
where is Mesopotamia
west asia, modern day Iraq
idea of the “urban revolution”
4,000 - 2,500 BCE
division of labour and specialization
writing, long distance trade, surplus created and stored
prominent architecture, ruling class, political identity
what era did Gordon Childe deem as the emergence of cities
the urban revolution
4000-2,500 BCE
Uruk, Sumeria
3,500 - 2,900 BCE
50,000 people
complex artwork
government seals
city walls (some still standing)
Uruk ways of life
grains and livestock
war captives
surplus taxes
city walls
taxes on farmers outside the city walls (in the form of grain)
priests and temples
very complicated religion
markers of progess/advancement in Uruk
agriculture, art, writing, drained marshes, long distance trade, monumental architecture
produces lots of sophistication and complexity
helps define where the roots of cities started
the darkside of Uruk’s progress
slavery was the object of war
planting and harvesting required lots of labour
logging, manufacturing, irrigation
was a very dominant entity in order to fuel its development
grain was very taxable
Uruk social control and farming
farming made it easy to control the population due to the only two crucial times of farming (planting and harvest)
what is the warka vase?
tells the story of Innanas journey
gilgamesh
stories about how the city came about
boat of heaven that delivers the tools that people need to start a city (Uruk) - myth
full of instability
the short lives of early city states
miniscule affairs
short lived dynasties
caused by :
wars, plagues, climate, escapees, politicide.
the epic of gilgamesh
life of gilgamesh
(Uruk existed long before him)
kind of a bad dude
gods send a supervillain (enkidu) to kill him
they become friends and go on adventures
they fight off the gods together
gilgamesh goes on a solo adventure after enkidu dies, returns to Uruk to accept his mortality
