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3.3 How Civilization Began: AntiquityVersion 1.4 February 2023                           (Previous Version) These are the questions we ask in the introduction (Section 0.1.6 – paragraph 16): Where did civilisation begin? Who invented arithmetic, money, writing, the wheel? How did weapons and war develop? Is government natural? Where does religion come from? Why did civilisations thrive in Eurasia and the Americas, but less so in sub-Saharan Africa or Australia? This chapter covers the period from about 5,000 years ago up to about 1,500 years ago, during which many social institutions, such as cities, governments, money, laws and armies developed, as well as most of the world’s great traditional religions. Cultural forms such as art and architecture, poetry, music and theatre became more codified. Intellectual skills such as writing and arithmetic developed, as well as technology such as wheeled vehicles, better agriculture, shipping, metal work and weaponry. Hunter gatherers and nomadic herders were less affected, but if they lived on the borders of ‘civilisation’ they still had to adapt to it, while having a huge impact on the ‘civilised’ regions. These huge changes had an immense impact on the daily lives of ordinary people, as well as on human psychology and our imagination. Life without a government and without a religion became almost unimaginable.  For most people, their role as rulers, warriors, merchants and farmers became fixed and part of their identity, often defined in great detail, restricted by social systems tied to technology and commerce. Freedom of expression and action were limited essentially to affluent elites. How early societies developed thousands of years ago still affects many people today, especially indigenous people being swamped by modern technological ‘civilisation’. Much of our knowledge of this period comes from written material, including written laws, trading and accounting records, plays and poems, and philosophical and religious writing. This material is still supplemented and cross referenced to artefacts, ancient ruins, and other scientific evidence. We propose to look at how we know what we know about history under the following headings:
As stated in the chapter overview, this is the current summary of our conclusions in this area: Farmers began to produce a surplus which allowed societies to support rulers, priests, trades and craft workers and merchants, and early civilisations adopted different solutions to local problems, developing technology, trade, counting, arithmetic, taxation, money, writing, legal systems, religion and philosophy.  more                                                             Statement 16
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