All ancient civilizations developed out of common elements that define “culture:” political systems, laws, religious practices, trade, and community social organization. Differences among civilizations, often resulting in downfall, are attributed, in part, to geography and the role of environmental impacts.
Ancient Laws and Law-Givers
All societies must have laws in order to function. Ancient Civilizations began this practice by writing down or codifying laws so that everyone in the community was able to read them. In Ancient Babylon, Hammurabi, for example, ordered that all existing, known law codes be written on a great stone or stele. Hammurabi’s code was given to the people by the sun god who is depicted at the start of the law code. The code, much like the “Mosaic” law code that is recorded in the Old Testament, focuses on retribution – often referred to as “an eye for an eye.” The Code of Hammurabi can be seen today at the Louvre museum in Paris.
The law codes of Ancient Egypt were given to the people, according to their religious beliefs and mythologies, by the god Osiris. Osiris was probably an historical figure, an early Egyptian leader whose great deeds were thereafter associated with the gods. Osiris was the most popular god in Ancient Egypt, representing a positive afterlife.
Law codes and law givers like Moses and Osiris attempted to bring order to their civilizations. Thus, there are many similarities in ancient law codes such as obedience to rulers and the honoring of parents. Even in Ancient China great emphasis was placed on the “five relationships” that governed family and community life.
As ancient civilizations grew into vast empires, like the Roman Empire, laws became more complicated, touching every aspect of life from adoption to taxation. In the Roman Republic, the first laws were recorded and displayed on the “Twelve Tables.”
The Role of Early Religion
Even before there were ancient cities and early civilizations, Neolithic peoples developed a sense of religion tied to nature and to the forces beyond everyday life. Archaeologists, for example, have discovered an ancient religious site dated to 10,000 BCE at Gobekli Tepe in southern Turkey. This corresponds to a time ancient peoples were still primarily nomadic, making the ancient temple find more significant.
The formation of religious practices, a priestly caste, and views of an afterlife are all representative of “civilization.” Scholars have even traced the various names used for “God” in the Middle East to one common source.
Because early religion was associated with nature, the relationship with the gods was often impacted by nature’s forces. In Ancient Egypt, the Nile River was sacred: it flooded the land once a year allowing for bountiful harvests. In other parts of the ancient world, natural disasters like uncontrolled flooding that swept away entire communities meant that the gods were angry. The story of Noah and the “Great Flood” in the Old Testament was found, in varying forms, in many ancient writings, including the first epic, the story of Gilgamesh.
Uncontrolled and unpredictable flooding had similar consequences in Ancient China and Ancient India. Civilizations reacted differently to such calamities. For the Hebrews, such calamities meant that the people had forsaken their covenant responsibilities to God.
Earthquakes in Ancient Greece meant that particular gods or goddesses were angry – or fighting amongst themselves. In the Old Testament book of Daniel, God gave the city of Babylon to Cyrus because the Babylonian leaders had become slothful and self-indulgent. As the new ruler, Cyrus ordered the construction of the “royal road,” which linked his empire together. Such wide scale organization enhanced trade – another way religious beliefs and practices were spread or diffused in the ancient world.
Geography Impacted Ancient Civilizations
Geography played an important role in the rise and the decline of ancient civilizations. Mesopotamia, for example, grew around the Euphrates and Tigris river systems. Although providing water for irrigation, the rivers were unpredictable. Additionally, there were no natural geographic barriers, causing new civilizations to rise and conquer older ones. New civilizations frequently mastered new techniques in weaponry and siege warfare, like the Assyrians, enabling them to become highly successful.
Mediterranean civilizations like the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans grew out of hilly terrain, forcing a greater dependence on trade. Smaller communities clustered around city-states forged alliances – leagues, for mutual survival. Carthage, located on the Mediterranean in North Africa, developed a vast trade network, establishing colonies to facilitate that network until Rome took it over following the Punic Wars. Rome, traditionally a land power, was forced to develop a navy in order to eliminate Carthaginian competition in the Mediterranean.
Similarities and Differences Attributed to Various Reasons
Differences in geography impacted how ancient civilizations existed. This included the formation of religious beliefs, trade practices, agricultural endeavors, and interaction with other, emerging civilizations. All ancient civilizations developed laws and community structures. Once pictograms evolved, laws could be recorded.
Changes in climate and geography enabled early nomadic peoples to settle in crude communities and agricultural settlements. Some of these settlements, like Jericho, were established thousands of years ago. The process of sedentarization then allowed for development of culture, political systems, religious practices, and the diffusion of laws. Additionally, the advent of cities promoted a social caste system that included labor specializing.
Ancient civilizations were far more similar in terms of basic development than different. Differences resulted from geographic placement, forcing culture to adapt to different environments.
References:
- Richard Covington, “Roads of Arabia,” Saudi Aramco World, Vol. 62 No 2, March/April 2011
- Stephanie Dalley, translator, Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009)
- Dominic Rathbone, The Grammar Of The Ancient World (New York: Fall River Press, 2009)
- Daniel C. Snell, Life In The Ancient Near East (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997)
- Sandra Scham, “The World’s First Temple,” Archaeology, Vol. 61 No 6, November/December 2008
- Dudley Young, Origins of the Sacred (New York: St Martin’s Press, 1991
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