Main Points

History is Now

Some animals live in groups, some animals use tools, some animals create complex relationships between members of their own species and even with other species. There are many ways in which scientists, sometimes trying to justify their own racist beliefs, have tried to define the difference between human and animal. In each case, these definitions have proven to be a measure of how poorly we had studied the animal world. As our knowledge of the animal kingdom has grown we've learned that in fact the dividing line between animals and humans is subtle. You share 85% of your genes with a mouse, and 97% with a chimpanzee. For some people this is very hard to accept. For those of us who live with the reality of animals, especially those of us who have pets, this is a comforting confirmation of what we've long known.

A reasonable question then becomes, why have humans created cities, civilizations, and other things that clearly separate us from animals. I maintain that the answers are not earth shaking, though their consequences have shaken the world without a doubt. But if we look at the early development of mankind, there were long stretches of time when Australopithicus and Homo erectus lived lives little different from the other great apes. These peoples were hunter-gatherers who wandered from place to place seeking food and shelter. They led natural, usually boring lives, too often puntuated by extreme violence. Scientists may one day better categorize the reasons why humans shape the world around them differently than other animals, but the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods demonstrated that humans were not that different from other animals at all.

The Agricultural Revolution

There's very little that distinguished early humans from the animals they lived among and hunted. But from certain simple techniques some groups gained advantages for survival over other peoples. Frequently, these advantages were simply a matter of location and the resources that were available there. Superior building materials allowed one prehistoric culture to replace those that came before. Superior tools allowed one group to be more effective than another. Other groups of hunter-gatherers either adopted the new advances or were supplanted by those that did. Even the coming of modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) from Africa around 100,000 BC merely reflected the replacement of one species by another, the new culture representing an advance not significantly greater than the advances that came before or after.

In 8,000 BC however, there was an entirely different kind of transformation. Certain groups had been experimenting with planting their favored plants and returning to those locations later to eat the resulting crops. In 8,000 BC, some groups in the Middle East found that crops hardy enough to be stored for long periods of time could be grown in sufficient quantity that they could feed you all year round. It was the death knell for the dominance of hunter-gatherers. Settled peoples who ate crops had to work much harder, but they ate better and ate more consistently than hunter-gatherers. They were healthier and generally stronger and their way of life therefore swayed many hunter-gatherers to adopt it. The agricultural revolution of 8,000 BC set in motion events that could not be undone.

Hunter-gatherers did not go down quietly. The early villages of the settled peoples gave way to increasingly sophisticated and protective structures. Fortifications and other defenses showed that hunter-gatherers were not above "hunting" the settlers and their stationary riches. Most likely settled peoples fought with one another as well for goods and for access to the best land.

These were difficulties for the agricultural revolution, but settling down was too powerful a concept. A key advantage was the vastly increased range of tools that became available. Any tool that was more than about 30 lbs. simply did not appeal to a hunter-gatherer who was going to have to drag it five miles everyday to the next campsite. This also marks the first time that a major new tradition appears in the cultural record - home. While family groups are attested as far back into the past as we can trace, it was simply impossible for a hunter-gatherer to call anyplace home when they were moving on after a few days, weeks, or months. Sophisticated permanent shelters are one of the earliest developments in the lives of settled peoples; while difficult to comprehend, this was the birth of the concept we think of as "home". It has proved a powerful psychological motivation to settle down and has influenced human culture ever since.

Urbanization and Careers

As years passed, techniques for growing food improved, the range of land under cultivation spread, the number crops increased, allowing previously "poor farmland" to be cultivated with newly recognized crops or simply providing variety in the diet of early settlers which led to better health. The great river valleys provided the best farmland, often permitting multiple growing seasons, and so it was in these locations that experienced the first transformative consequences of the agricultural revolution. It became possible for a human being to survive without growing their own food, building their own shelter, or defending themselves; you could have other people do it for you. Farmers had learned to grow enough food for their families and still have a surplus left over.

At first, this surplus merely went to sustaining a ruling elite. But gradually the first professions developed: solider, artisan, builder, priest. These people were not capable of supporting themselves, they required the support of the local populace either willingly in exchange for their services or more frequently by coercion of force from rulers who wanted professionals to serve their courts. These developments reached a critical mass in 4000 BC when Uruk became the first city in world history. It boasted a population of 10,000 and was heavily walled to defend those inside from anyone who might wish to take what they had. The city was critical; it was one thing for people to specialize in a trade or profession, it was another to be able to find a location where they could purchase everything else they needed. Cities were highly focused centers of population that allowed specialization, a relatively high volume production, and the easy ability to sell what you made and purchase what you didn't.

The larger the city, the more specialized workers could become. Cities benefited tremendously from professionals who specialized and produced goods of higher quality and in greater quantities. This was one factor in the rise of cities and careers, and one reason why careers emerged in tandem with the trend toward urbanization. The flip side was that careers were highly desirable; people could focus on doing one thing they did well and / or enjoyed while purchasing goods they didn't want to make for themselves. Urbanization made it possible to find buyers and sellers in large enough volumes for specialization to work for the first time, so they exploded together. On the strength of this economic reality, Uruk ruled unchallenged for 1000 years.

The First Empires

Gradually other cities followed. Mesopotamia had more than enough rich farmland to support many cities. Egypt grew up around the Nile, Harrapan civilization grew up on the Indus River in India, China grew up on the banks of the Yellow River. Cities allowed specialization which was the most important kind of learning that happened during the Formative Era. Thus, cities were engines that accelerated technological advances at a much faster rate than ever before. The cities and the geogrpahic heartlands where they sprang up – Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China – became the centers from which knowledge and civilization spread throughout Eurasia.

And slowly the secrets of agriculture and civilization spread outward from the river valleys. However, the hinterlands could not challenge the supremacy of the great river valleys; their farmland did not grow enough crops to maintain long term dominance. The Hittites were the first civilization to develop iron; they defeated the Mesopotamians but the weak soil of their mountainous homeland could not provide the economic strength to maintain their dominance. By contrast, invaders like the Chaldeans and Arameans were able to secure their military success precisely because they seized control over the rich lands of Mesopotamia which were the real engines of Formative power. Away from the great rivers, the lack of crops prevented large cities. The lack of large cities impaired population size and the ability to specialize professionally.

This meant that by and large, cities and civilizations had only one real predator... each other. By 3000 BC, Uruk had lost its unchallenged supremacy and Mesopotamia was falling into the pattern that would be repeated in Egypt starting in 3000 BC, India in 2600 BC, and China around 1800 BC – inter-city war. At first this lead to small groups of cities conquered and controlled by one ruler, but soon great empires were expanding to engulf Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China. The Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, and the Chinese dynasties – the Shang and the Chou – each emerged as dominant powers for a time. The end was always the same. Eventually smaller powers formed coalitions to overthrow their masters. Where these empires could not be beaten in a fair fight, their dominance finally prompted unhappy subjects to gang up and find strength in numbers.

Geography was the most important influence on the success of Formative Era civilizations. The better the farmland, the more advantages, and generally the more powerful and advanced the cultures which settled there. To some extent this was a result of the most powerful and successful military cultures conquering the best farmland. However, over and over again, it was the access to the best farmland which made cultures powerful in the first place. Yet there were ways that this advantage could be overcome, and gradually people discovered the secret.

Whether it was people finding power together in urban cities, or groups finding power together over great empires, the message and lessons of the Formative era were stark and clear: people are powerful, cooperation rules. The secret of success that powers the civilizations of the Formative Era is nothing more earth-shattering than the power of working together. And yet this simple secret did indeed shatter the world forever. It was a theme that would continue throughout the course of history.