We are told that one of the earliest of civilizations emerged around present day Iraq was the Sumerian civilization, known at the time as southern Mesopotamia. This civilization is one that was thought to be one of the earliest civilizations that incorporated written language into their societies. Another similar civilization arising at the time was the Egyptian civilization, famously know for its pyramids and pharaohs. The third civilization emerging was in Peru. It was believed to have emerged at around 3000 BCE, which coincided with the emergence of the Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations.
How did civilizations emerge in the first place? Historians have come to believe that civilizations came about thanks to the Agricultural developments that took place before. I think that this is particularly true because, in my opinion, that is when people really started to act and take a step towards humanity as it is today. People started to get a sense of property. By that I mean that people took ownership and claimed what was rightfully theirs.
The chapter goes on to state that people were naturally placed into classes and that their societies somehow became unequal without any one noticing. It was as if they had know that they belonged in a certain class all their life. You had the rich and the poor.
I think that in that aspect, things are pretty much the same even now to this very day. You have the wealthy people, the people who run this country, or people who strived to work hard and earned the wealth they have. Then you have you average citizen, who in this day and age, struggles for the majority of his life and can't seem to get rid of their usual patterns and make a living as easy. You even have people working multiple jobs to even provide food on the table for their families. In comparison to ancient societies, that can be connected to the physical labors that people had to endure back then. For example, the pyramids in Egypt didn't build themselves. The lower class of Egypt ended up building those massive structures for their rulers.
Another similarity between both time periods is the distinction between the classes. I think clothing really can show the difference, however, I do believe this was a lot clearer to identify in the ancient times. Nowadays you can buy similar looking clothes, but the only difference may be that the wealthy shopped at a really expensive store while you shopped at a thrift shop.
Writing became a catalyst that sparked the beginning of the new age. In my opinion, whoever knew how to write and read had an immense amount of power. However, I find it strange that I think that. How would illiterate people know what was written and what was not? How could they just accept the fact that because some scribble was written on a wall and whatever the scribes said it meant, that they should follow and obey. Why didn't they demand to be taught how to read and write? I think that regardless of your class, you should be able to have the right to learn to read and write.
In closing, I don't really think that there was much of a difference in approach as to how these civilizations should be run. In both time periods you have the high class, the middle class, and the low class. Gender, age, and wealth play a huge role as to how you are seen in your civilization. The only difference being the technology. We have a completely way of life and technology that was maybe during the ancient times, not even dreamt of. If we were to go back in time, we'd seem like aliens to them. Not only in appearance, but the way of life.
The chapter goes on to state that people were naturally placed into classes and that their societies somehow became unequal without any one noticing. It was as if they had know that they belonged in a certain class all their life. You had the rich and the poor.
I think that in that aspect, things are pretty much the same even now to this very day. You have the wealthy people, the people who run this country, or people who strived to work hard and earned the wealth they have. Then you have you average citizen, who in this day and age, struggles for the majority of his life and can't seem to get rid of their usual patterns and make a living as easy. You even have people working multiple jobs to even provide food on the table for their families. In comparison to ancient societies, that can be connected to the physical labors that people had to endure back then. For example, the pyramids in Egypt didn't build themselves. The lower class of Egypt ended up building those massive structures for their rulers.
Another similarity between both time periods is the distinction between the classes. I think clothing really can show the difference, however, I do believe this was a lot clearer to identify in the ancient times. Nowadays you can buy similar looking clothes, but the only difference may be that the wealthy shopped at a really expensive store while you shopped at a thrift shop.
Writing became a catalyst that sparked the beginning of the new age. In my opinion, whoever knew how to write and read had an immense amount of power. However, I find it strange that I think that. How would illiterate people know what was written and what was not? How could they just accept the fact that because some scribble was written on a wall and whatever the scribes said it meant, that they should follow and obey. Why didn't they demand to be taught how to read and write? I think that regardless of your class, you should be able to have the right to learn to read and write.
In closing, I don't really think that there was much of a difference in approach as to how these civilizations should be run. In both time periods you have the high class, the middle class, and the low class. Gender, age, and wealth play a huge role as to how you are seen in your civilization. The only difference being the technology. We have a completely way of life and technology that was maybe during the ancient times, not even dreamt of. If we were to go back in time, we'd seem like aliens to them. Not only in appearance, but the way of life.
