All over the world, you will find that all the earliest civilizations grew up in the river valleys. The reason being these valleys were fertile; good for growing food crops, as well as the rivers had a perennial supply of water. Besides, the rivers were also a means of easy and cheap travel and carrying of goods by means of boats. So, the civilization that grew during this age is called the Riparian civilization.
The four earliest civilizations that developed during this age are:
- 1. Egyptian Civilization on the banks of river Nile
- 2. Mesopotamian Civilization in the valleys of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates
- 3. Indus Valley Civilization in the valleys of the rivers Indus, Ganga and the Narmada
- 4. Chinese Civilization in the valleys of the rivers Hwang Ho, Yangtze Kiang and Si Kiang
Now let us read about these four greatest and the earliest civilizations.
The Egyptian Civilization
Egypt lies in the North African continent. In ancient time it lied between the Mediterranean coast in the north and the fifth Nile cataract in the south. Most of the land on the either side of the river is a sandy desert. Once in a year heavy rains in the tropical Africa fills the Nile and it overflows its bank in Egypt. This overflow or inundation covers the land on either side of the river with soft fertile mud resulting in quick and amazing rich harvest. Egypt is thus called the gift of Nile. A great and major civilization flourished here in the Bronze Age
The Egyptian king was called Pharaoh, who had absolute power and was considered to be gods on earth. Next to the Pharaoh were the nobles and the priests who were also the government officials. Below them were the farmers and the craftsmen. The lowest were the slaves, many of them captured in war. The upper class lived in luxury, so were the nobles and priests. The famers and the slaves were attached to the land on which they worked.
Agriculture was the most important occupation in Egypt. Oxen were used to plough the fields where wheat, barley, millet, flax, cotton and vegetables were grown. Animals like pigs, cows, sheep, goats, donkeys, camels, doves and geese were domesticated. To make agriculture successful the water of the Nile during the five months i.e. June to October had to be controlled by digging reservoirs to store water and building miles of canals to take irrigate the land and construction of dykes to contain the flood water.
The Egyptian craftsmen were no less than wonders of the ancient world. They were potters, glassblowers, weavers, jewelers, carvers of ivory and wood, paper makers and carpenters. Craftsmen were forbidden to change or give up their occupation without the permission of the Pharaoh. Craftsmen were forbidden to change or give up their occupation without the permission of the Pharaoh.
The pyramids are the best known architectural monuments of Egypt. They were the tombs of the Pharaohs. The most marvelous among them are the Great Pyramid of Giza near Cairo, the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu. The great Sphinx is another wonderful structure carved out of a single block of stone. It has the head of a man and the body of the lion. Also Abu Simbel Temple is worth mentioning. It resembles a great cathedral. Then there are many temples near the Thebes. These pyramids are beautiful and of great historical importance. From them we learn much about the ancient Egyptians, their pastimes, their dresses, the types of boats and chariots they used, etc.
All trade and commerce was controlled by the Pharaoh. He was the chief beneficiary of the Egyptian land, trade and commerce. His storehouses and treasure were all bursting with his share of the produce and the wealth of the country. For the foreign trade, Egyptian build the world’s finest sea-going ship which were used to export linen, wheat, glassware, jewellery, furniture, etc. and import horses, cedar wood from Babylon, gold and ivory from the southern world and copper form Cyprus.
The Egyptians knew the art of writing. Their script was called Hieroglyphics, meaning sacred writing because only priests could write. It was a kind of picture writing consisting of 24 signs, each of which stood for a consonant. Sheets of papyrus made from the leaves of papyrus tree growing in the Nile valley were used for writing. For pen, they used a thin reed pointed at the end and water thickened with gum and mixed with various mineral and vegetable substances was used as ink.
The Egyptians were very much advanced in the knowledge of mathematics and science, especially geometry. They also had fair knowledge of medicine and practised surgery. They knew about the anatomy and recognized many signs and symptoms of diseases and prescribed medicines. Castor oil was used as purgatives. They gave us the solar calendar, comprising 365 days divided into 12 months of 30 days each. The remaining 5 days were not considered part of the year. These 5 days were put aside for the annual religious celebrations and feastings.
A lot of superstitions like use of amulets to cure diseases were found prevalent in the society. The belief in life after death was characteristics of the Egyptian religion, making the burial rites elaborate and lavish. They mummified the bodies of the dead and placed them in magnificent tombs. The dead were well provided for their journey into the next world. All their personal belongings like clothes, furniture, weapons and jewellery were left in the tomb together with big jars filled with wine and food. There were also symbolic boats of Ra, the Sun god to take them to the next world.
The Egyptians worshipped a number of gods and goddesses. Ra, the Sun god was the chief god followed by Osiris, the river Nile god. Even Pharaoh were worshiped as living god on the earth. Certain birds and animals like the hawk, jackal, crocodile and the bull were considered sacred.
By about 1000BCE, the greatness of the Egypt was over. The Pharaohs had to fight for their existence against various invaders. Slowly and gradually Egypt was only a shadow its former glory and strength.
Mesopotamian Civilization
Mesopotamian civilization spanned from 4000BCE to 600BCE in the present territory of Iraq. It was between the banks of the rivers the Tigris and the Euphrates. Its southern region was called Sumer, north was Assyria and on the east side was Babylonia and Akkad. A number of prosperous cities have been unearthed from the ruins of the Mesopotamia like Ur, Eridu, Uruk, Lagash and Kish. These were the city states with independent governments under independent kings, mostly fighting their neighbors. Most of the land was owned by the upper classes – the nobles, the priests and some rich merchants. The King was the wealthiest landowner. The farmers rented land and paid rent in kind. There were also finest craftsmen and slaves who performed household and agricultural duties assigned by their masters.
The most important achievements of the Mesopotamians were the code of law written by the King of Babylonia Hammurabi. His Code Hammurabi was written on stone tablets and contained laws that covered almost all aspects of life. It protected women, poor, and prescribed severe penalties for the dishonest. Since, the society was essentially a business society; this Code Hammurabi was very useful.
The Mesopotamians were famous for their crafts and produced beautiful objects in gold and silver, glassware, helmets, armours, little statues and jewellery. They were highly civilized and developed an excellent irrigation system. They had flourishing external trade and commerce and imported timber and stone, metals and gold and silver, whereas exported food grains and finished products. The trade was under the supervision of the Kings.
They developed a system of writing called cuneiform because the symbols used were wedged shaped written on clay tablets with Stylus, a sharp pointed reed. They possessed a good knowledge of mathematics and astronomy. They established the lunar calendar having 12 months, each of either 28 or 29 days according to the moon phase. This is still in use in Arabian countries. Their unit for counting was 60 which are not in use in any place at present.
They worshiped many gods and goddesses, with each city having its own patron deity who protected the city from harms. The temple of the city god was called Ziggurat, an imposing piece of architecture reaching the skies in a series of stairs. The King was the chief priest and was the representative of god on earth. He appointed chief priests. They believed in life after death and placed food, clothing, weapons and ornaments with the dead thinking they would need these in the next world. They usually buried their dead in the backyard of their houses.
Indus Valley Civilization
The civilization that flourished between 3000BCE and 1500BCE covering areas in the north and west Indian subcontinent including Punjab, Sind, Baluchistan in Pakistan and Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh in India forming a triangle with an area of about 12,99,600 square kilometers is known as the largest Asian civilization, the Indus Valley Civilization. It was in the catchment areas of the rivers Indus, Ganga and the Narmada. It consisted of two largest cities Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro and a number of small towns Ropar, Lothal, Kalibangan, Banwali etc. The civilization was urban in nature.
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were well-planned cities with straight and wide streets and strongly built houses. Harappa stood on the banks of the river Indus; whereas Mohenjo-Daro situated on the banks of the river Ravi. The cities were divided into two parts: the citadel on the high ground comprising of public building such as the granaries, places of workshop and factories and the lower parts comprising of the living quarters. The streets were straight and wide and at right angles to each other. The main street in Mohenjo-Daro was 80 metres long and 10 metres wide. The buildings were laid out in blocks and were made up of burnt bricks with flat roofs and many doors and windows. Every house had its own well, drain, bathroom and kitchen. There was a highly developed drainage system and excellent city water supply system. They even had a system of lighting the streets at night.
The most remarkable structure in Mohenjo-Daro was the ‘Great Bath’, a large public swimming pool, 55 metres long and 33 metres wide with galleries on all three sides and an outlet on one corner leading to a drain. The bath was probably used for religious purposes. In Harappa we find as many as six granaries, each measuring 15.23 metres long and 6.09 metres wide. These were public granaries. They were all located within a few metres of the river banks.
The Indus Valley people grew wheat and barley which were their staple food. Milk, meat, fish, dates and fruits were also part of their diet. Sesame and mustard were used for oil. The farmers domesticated sheep and goats as well as elephants and asses were used as beast of burden. Horses seem to have been unknown.
They were the first to grow cotton and knew the art of spinning and weaving. The men dressed themselves in loose unstitched cloth wrapped round their bodies and the women wore short skirts and wrapped a kind of shawls round their shoulders. The men kept their hair short and trimmed their beard, while the women kept long hairs and dressed it in variety of styles. Both men and women wore jewellery made out of gold, silver, copper, bronze, ivory or shells like earrings, armlets, bracelets, nose-rings, bangles, girdles, anklets, necklaces and nose studs, etc.
They were engaged in various trades and commerce. The main occupations were farming, weaving, pottery, metallurgy, toymakers, etc. A strong trade relation existed between Mohenjo-Daro and Mesopotamia. Most of the trade was carried out by sea. They exported wood, cotton, pottery, jars and ivory.
The Harappans also knew writing but their script is not deciphered as yet. It is like the Egyptian pictorial writing. But they wrote short inscriptions not long like the Egyptians. The Harappan seals are among the finest examples of ancient art in the world. They are either square or rectangular and are made of baked earthen clay called terracotta.
We know very little about the religious beliefs of them. Probably they worshipped the Mother Goddesses and three faced god resembling the Shiva and some animals. They believed in some form of life after death that is clear from the custom of placing items of food, utensils, ornaments and other things in the graves.
Also we do not know much about their system of government. Probably they had a sort of municipal government but surely no traces of kings or queens. Our knowledge of the Indus Valley remains inadequate till date until the scholars do not decipher the scripts.
Chinese Civilization
In the far east far away from the other contemporary civilizations there existed another Chalcolithic Age civilization which grew up in the valleys of three rivers Hwang-Ho, Yangtze and Si Kiang. This was the Chinese Civilization. From 1700BCE the history of China is dominated by the history of the dynasties of the powerful emperors who kept long standing armies and were very powerful.
The Chinese society was a close knit society with strong closely knitted family system. On the top most was the emperor followed by the nobles and then merchants and the craftsmen. The lowest rank was of the slaves.
Agriculture was the chief occupation of the Chinese and they grew rice, wheat, millet and other grains. They irrigated their lands by canals. Other occupations were silk making, pottery, metallurgy, crafts and wood work. They domesticated horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs and poultry. The Chinese were the first to extract silk from the silk worm and the makers of porcelain. They also invented a primitive kind of compass. They were the first to invent the gunpowder but didn’t use it for warfare. Paper making was known to them and they used bark of trees and old rags to make paper.
The Chinese religion consisted of ancestor worship as well as the worship of the nature. Astrology was developed in China and many superstitions were prevalent. The Chinese calendar consisted of 365 days and had 12 months. They could forecast eclipses.
Chinese didn’t have any alphabets but they wrote in pictorial forms. They wrote on bamboo slips or on silks before paper was invented using brush and paint. Each picture stood for a different word, thing or idea.
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