Transcript 8 Common Factors of Civilization

What makes a civilization tick?
How do we determine what IS a civilization?

People live together in groups and all contribute
in some way. Cities serve a function with a
common government and organization

Example: Charlotte, NC
You contribute as a student by gaining an education
for the future
 I contribute as a teacher in order to educate the
public
 Police, Firemen, Doctors, Lawyers, Gardeners, etc


Can you think of more examples?
Sumer
Charlotte
 Any
government that kept things in check
and offered protection to the people
 Created
laws and rules for people to live
equally and fairly
 Governed the people to keep them calm,
tame, and civilized

Without this people would do whatever they
wanted and the civilization would be in chaos
 It
is more than just believing in something,
but having rituals and practices for the
religion
 It
is organized religion in which more than a
small group of people believe and worship in
the same way.
 It
helps the people build morals and guides
them spiritually. There are now leaders for
the religion and important figures to look up
to

Every person no longer does EVERY single job…

They pick a position that they want to do and get really,
really good at it (they become an expert on it)

Kind of like going to college now

Different people have different jobs

These jobs contributed to the society to help make it
better.

These jobs were necessary to the growth of society.

What does specialize mean?

To gain skills that are for a particular purposes. Instead
of being “a master of all trades”, you pick one and
become the best you can be at it.
 What
are the jobs that allow us to live
successfully and safely in today’s society?
What are the most necessary?

Division of classes based on social status
Money
Power
 ancestors



Use Hierarchy
The ones at the top are the smallest group but hold
the most power
 The middle is the second largest group
 The bottom is the largest group and holds the least
amount of power due to money


Some people born into classes, others can move
classes up and down by achievements

What is our class system like now?

The arts go beyond cave painting

They are now done beyond what is necessary, they
become a form of self expression and beauty
Art is created for the purpose of decorating and
worshiping
 In the past architecture was only the items that
were necessary

A very basic home with one room used for all
purposes.
 No additional buildings or creative buildings


Now architecture is becoming very complex


Decorative and difficult designs
Buildings hold many purposes and there is now a
physical building for just about everything (religion,
bathing, etc)
Before civilizations, the materials
used in architecture were very, very
limited.
They usually consisted of the
materials that were available where
they were living (H.E.I.)
Stone, mud, sticks, etc
As civilization starts to develop, they use
more varied materials to construct their
buildings
They also start to add elements of beauty
to their architecture such as columns,
arches, etc
Periods of history are sometimes
described by the type of architecture
they had during that time
 structures
(such as highways or schools or
bridges or docks) constructed at government
expense for public use
 Government
is taking responsibility for
improving the lives of the people by making
their lives more convenient through the
following…
 Building
of roads, plumbing, irrigation, etc

Most importantly, you can’t be civilized by
historian standards without a written language
to pass ideas and history
Spoken language comes first (through Homo
erectus gathering around the fire and building a
community)
 As time passes and more people are speaking,
there becomes a need to turn these spoken
words into written words.
 They begin to do this to record religious
documents, and start keeping public records of
land ownership
