Civilization: Definition and Characteristics

1. Definition and Characteristics
By Antonio Delgado
Faculty, General De Jesus College

2.  How is civilization defined?
 Distinguish civilization from “kabihasnan”.
 What are the seven major first civilizations?
 What are the different characteristics of civilization?
 How are these characteristics exemplified in the oldest
civilization: Sumer (Mesopotamia)?

3. Latin word meaning “city”

4.  According to Beck, et al (2009), it is a complex culture with five
characteristics:
1. Advanced cities
2. Specialized workers
3. Complex institutions
4. Record keeping
5. Advanced technology

5.  Cities were the birthplaces of civilizations.
 Although Strayer & Nelson (2016) describes a city as having a
population in the tens of thousands, a city is more than a large
group of people living together.
 It is a center of trade.

6. c. 3800 – 500 BCE

7. c. 3800 – 500 BCE

8. c. 4500 BCE

9. Population: 40,000 – 80,000
“first true city”

11.  specialization – development of skills in a specific kind of work
 artisans – skilled workers who make goods by hand

12. Standard of Ur (c.. 2600 BCE)

13.  institution – long-lasting pattern of organization in a
community
 Examples: government, religion

15. Code of Ur-Nammu

17.  cuneiform – first system of writing invented by the Sumerians
around 3000 BCE
 pictographs – symbols of the objects or what they represented
 scribes – professional record keepers

18. clay tablet with cuneiform writing

19. “wedge-shaped”

20. clay tablet and stylus

22.  quipu – system of record keeping of the Incans which used a set
if colored strings tied with different-sized knots at various
intervals

23. Example of quipu from Larco Museum Collection

24.  technology – refers to the people’s use of tools and processes to
make their work faster and easier.

25. mass-produced pottery

26. hydraulic engineering

27. plow

28. textile mill

29. mass-produced bricks

30. Ur-Nammu as Basket Carrier, c. 2111 - 2905 BCE

31. c. 3000 – 1200 BCE

33.  According to CrashCourse (2012), it is a social order with four or
more of the following “symptoms”:
 Surplus production
 City
 Specialization of labor
 Trade
 Social stratification
 Centralized government
 Shared values (religion)
 Writing

34.  surplus - agricultural produce or a quantity of food grown in
excess of one’s needs

36.  For our course, these are the characteristics of a civilization:
1. Advanced cities
2. Surplus production
3. Specialization
4. Social stratification
5. Government
6. Belief system
7. Economy
8. Record keeping
9. Advanced technology
10. Associated with a river

39. 1. Mesopotamian Civilization (Sumerian) – Tigris and Euphrates
2. Nile Valley Civilization (Old Kingdom) – Nile
3. Indus Valley Civilization – Indus
and Sarasvati (Ghaggar-Hakkar) River
1. Chinese Civilization (Shang dynasty) – Huang He
and Yangtze (Chiang Jiang)
 These are known as the Four Great River Valley civilizations.

40. Tigris

41. Euphrates

42. Euphrates

43. Nile River

44. Indus

45. Ghaggar-Hakra River

46. Ghaggar-Hakra River

47. Huang He

48. Chiang Jiang

49. Chiang Jiang

50. 5. Norte Chico Civilization – Supe River
6. Mesoamerican Civilization (Olmec) – Coatzacoalcos River
7. Oxus Civilization – Amu Darya

52.  In Filipino, “sibilisasyon” has a different meaning from
“kabihasnan”.
 The word “kabihasnan” comes from the word “bihasa”

53.  It is a society that has a high standard of living, an organized
government, religion, a system of labor, and social stratification
(Cruz, et al, 2015).

54.  According to Cruz, et al (2015), there are five standards by
which by which the presence of a “kabihasnan” may be
measured:
1. Government
2. Economy
3. Religion
4. System of Writing
5. Advanced level of technology

56. Boxer Codex (c. 1590)

57.  Civilization is a reflection of who we are and what we value
(Osborne, 2006).
 “Hindi sibilisado.”
 “Taga-bundok”
 “Barbarian” – anyone who did not speak ancient Greek
 Civilization is an intellectual construct (CrashCourse, 2012).

60.  Beck, R. et al (2009). World History: Patterns of Interaction. Boston,
MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, pages 14 – 25
 CrashCourse. (2012, February 2). Indus Valley Civilization: Crash
Course World History #2 [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ndRwqJYDM
 Cruz, A. et al (2015). World History. Quezon City: Vibal Group, Inc.,
pages 43 – 44
 Strayer, R. & Nelson, E. (2016). Ways of the World: A Brief Global
History with Sources (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
pages 24 – 47