8 Features of Civilizations

Aim: What is a civilization, and what are the EIGHT features of a civilization?

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What is a civilization?

• --A civilization is a complex society that has cities, a well organized government, and workers with specialized job skills.

• --The first civilizations appeared in fertile lands near rivers.

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1. Cities

• Early cities emerge near farming centers.
• As populations grew due to a food surplus from farming, small villages grew into cities

2. Governments

• A government is a group of people who make the laws for a certain area.
• These governments could train an army to defend a civilization from attack.

3. Religion

• Religion was often linked to government, because many rulers claimed that their right to rule came from the gods.

• People feared the gods, but also hoped that the gods would protect them.

4. Job Specialization

• Due to a surplus of food, not everyone needed to work the farm
• People would specialize in other fields, and became priests, merchants, soldiers, and craftworkers.
• Specialization allows civilizations to become more complex.

5. Social Classes

• Social classes are groups of people who occupy different ranks or levels in society.
• The highest people in society were rulers and priests.
• Below them were farmers, and merchants.
• The lowest class were slaves.

6. Public Works

• Governments would organize workers to build large scale projects such as roads, water systems, and city walls for protections.
• Building public works was time consuming and dangerous.
• Public works benefit all in society.

7. Art and Architecture

• Early people built and decorated temples, tombs, and palaces.

• Music and literature also became an important part of a civilization.

8. Systems of Writing

• Each civilization had their own form of writing.

• Writing was used to preserve information such as laws, and prayers to the gods.