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$a CRADLES OF CIVILIZATION : ANCIENT EGYPT AND EARLY MIDDLE EASTERN CIVILIZATIONSHuman historv is marked by a number of events which, with hindsight, appear quite revolutionarv. One of these major stages occurred in the Middle East when almost simultaneously city-states grew up over a relatively short period of time in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Simple farming communities were transformed into vast, organized societies that had ay the characteristics of distinct civilizations. People congregated in densely packed centress with rulers, priests and officials to regulate and organize their activities. Writing and number systems developed to cope with the mass of complicated business to be transacted. As a result of trade, people grew rich, and the richest formed an elite from which the officials were chosen. They used their wealth to build palaces and templesm which were decorated and furnished in great style. Art flourished in a spectacular way. This spontaneous development of art occurred, with no obvious outside influences, in only a few places on earth - Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, China. Central America and Peru. Only through the work of archaeologists do we know about these hotspots , for they all occurred in ancient times before there were written records. Written records from the same civilizations have been found, but these are from later periods taan those from which the earliest art dates. Writing began in the Middle East about 3000 Bc During the last century, archaeologists have found a wealth of evidence, including Rziar>c documents, from tombs, temples and many other buildings that enable us to build a picture of the way people lived. The civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt grew and spread over a long period. Their cultures influenced many others around them at the trcic and down the ages, so that even today their influence is ever-present in Western civilization, having been passed on to us by the civilizations of Greece and Rome. The Sumerian civilization began around 3500 BC with the growth of farming communities on the fertile plains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Food was plentifttl, 90 there was time for crafts and for seeking new materials and new people to trade with along the rivers. As the Sumerians moved into new territory they met settlers with cultures less developed than their own. Sometimes the encounters would be peaceful.. and the peopic ready to admire and benefit from the newcomers superior skills. Sometimes the encounters were hostile and violent, so that the Sumerians had to fight to hold on :,, their position of power. This happened with most of the ancient civilizations. As they grew and spread, they had to defend themselves against peoples around them who were less developed and alvrars ready to attack them. In time, the civilization would outgrow its strength and deteriorarjr. g allowing other cultures to take over and continue the development, or let it die.(libra)
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