Rise of Civilizations

Thousands of years ago, several societies in different parts of the world changed from hunting and gathering to farming. Some began to produce surpluses of food. Those surpluses helped bring about the world’s first civilizations. In Unit 1, you learned that most historians define civilization as a complex culture with these five characteristics: (1) advanced cities, (2) specialized workers, (3) complex institutions, (4) record keeping and writing, and (5) advanced technology. You also learned about several early civilizations. In the next six pages, you will explore what those ancient civilizations had in common and how they differed.