Prepared by: Faizan Bhatti

B.S. Math - II
CIVILIZATION:
A civilization is a society or culture group normally defined as a
complex society characterized by the practice of agriculture and
settlement in towns and cities. Compared with other cultures,
members of a civilization are commonly organized into a diverse
division of labor and an intricate social hierarchy.

Definition:
Civilization is often used as a synonym for the broader term
"culture" in both popular and academic circles. Every human being
participates in a culture, defined as "the arts, customs, habits...
beliefs, values, behavior and material habits that constitute a
people's way of life". However, in its most widely used definition,
civilization is a descriptive term for a relatively complex agricultural
and urban culture. Civilizations can be distinguished from other
cultures by their high level of social complexity and organization,
and by their diverse economic and cultural activities.

In an older but still frequently used sense, the term "civilization"

can be used in a normative manner as well: in societal contexts
where complex and urban cultures are assumed to be superior to
other "savage" or "barbarian" cultures, the concept of "civilization"
is used as a synonym for "cultural (and often ethical) superiority of
certain groups." In a similar sense, civilization can mean
"refinement of thought, manners, or taste".

In his book The Philosophy of Civilization, Albert Schweitzer, one of

the main philosophers on the concept of civilization, outlined the
idea that there are dual opinions within society; one regarding
civilization as purely material and another regarding civilization as
both ethical and material. He stated that the current world crisis
was, then in 1923, due to a humanity having lost the ethical
conception of civilization. In this same work, he defined civilization,
saying:
“It is the sum total of all progress made by man in every sphere of
action and from every point of view in so far as the progress helps
towards the spiritual perfecting of individuals as the progress of all
progress.”

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SECULARIZATION:
Secularization or generally refers to the transformation by which a
society migrates from close identification with religious institutions
to a more separated relationship. It is also the name given to a
general belief about history, namely that the development of
society progresses toward modernization and lessening dependence
on religion as religion loses its position of authority.

Secularization has many levels of meaning, both as a theory and a

historical process. Social theorists such as Karl Marx, Sigmund
Freud, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim, postulated that the
modernization of society would include a decline in levels of
religiosity. Study of this process seeks to determine the manner in
which, or extent to which religious creeds, practices and institutions
are losing their social significance (if at all).

The term also has additional meanings, primarily historical. Applied

to church property, secularization involves the abandonment of
goods by the church where it is sold to purchasers after the
government seizes the property, which most commonly happens
after reasonable negotiations and arrangements are made. In
Catholic theology, the term can also denote the permission or
authorization given for an individual (typically clergy, who become
secular clergy) to live outside his or her religious colony
(monastery), either for a fixed or permanent period.

CIVIL SOCIETY:
Civil society is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social
organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning
society as opposed to the force-backed structures of a state
(regardless of that state's political system) and commercial
institutions of the market.

Civil society refers to the arena of uncoerced collective action

around shared interests, purposes and values. In theory, its

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institutional forms are distinct from those of the state, family and
market, though in practice, the boundaries between state, civil
society, family and market are often complex, blurred and
negotiated. Civil society commonly embraces a diversity of spaces,
actors and institutional forms, varying in their degree of formality,
autonomy and power. Civil societies are often populated by
organizations such as registered charities, development non-
governmental organizations, community groups, women's
organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations,
trade unions, self-help groups, social movements, business
associations, coalitions and advocacy groups.

CULTURE:
Culture is a term that has different meanings. For example, in 1952,
Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164
definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and
Definitions. However, the word "culture" is most commonly used in
three basic senses:
• excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known
as high culture
• an integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and
behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought
and social learning
• the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that
characterizes an institution, organization or group.
•
When the concept first emerged in eighteenth- and nineteenth-
century Europe, it connoted a process of cultivation or
improvement, as in agriculture or horticulture. In the nineteenth
century, it came to refer first to the betterment or refinement of the
individual, especially through education, and then to the fulfillment
of national aspirations or ideals. In the mid-nineteenth century,
some scientists used the term "culture" to refer to a universal
human capacity.

In the twentieth century, "culture" emerged as a concept central to

anthropology, encompassing all human phenomena that are not

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purely results of human genetics. Specifically, the term "culture" in
American anthropology had two meanings:
(1) The evolved human capacity to classify and represent
experiences with symbols, and to act imaginatively and creatively;
and
(2) The distinct ways that people living in different parts of the
world classified and represented their experiences, and acted
creatively. Following World War II, the term became important,
albeit with different meanings, in other disciplines such as
sociology, cultural studies, organizational psychology and
management studies.

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION:

The Indus Valley Civilization (mature period 2600–1900 BCE),
abbreviated IVC, was an ancient civilization in the Indian
Subcontinent that flourished around the Indus River basin. Primarily
centered along the Indus river, the civilization encompassed most of
Pakistan, mainly the provinces of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, as
well as extending into modern day Indian states of Gujarat,
Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. Remains have been excavated
from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Iran, as well. The mature
phase of this civilization is technically known as the Harappan
Civilization, after the first of its cities to be unearthed: Harappa in
Pakistan. Excavation of IVC sites have been ongoing since 1920,
with important breakthroughs occurring as recently as 1999.

The civilization is sometimes referred to as the Indus Ghaggar-

Hakra civilization or the Indus-Sarasvati civilization. The appellation
Indus-Sarasvati is based on the possible identification of the
Ghaggar-Hakra River with the Sarasvati River mentioned in the Rig
Veda, but this usage is disputed on linguistic and geographical
grounds.

BABYLONIA:
Babylonia was a state in Lower Mesopotamia (Iraq), with Babylon as
its capital. Babylonia emerged when Hammurabi (fl. ca. 1696 –
1654 BC, short chronology) created an empire out of the territories

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of the former kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad. The Amorites being a
Semitic people, Babylonia adopted the written Semitic Akkadian
language for official use, and retained the Sumerian language for
religious use, which by that time was no longer a spoken language.
The Akkadian and Sumerian cultures played a major role in later
Babylonian culture, and the region would remain an important
cultural center, even under outside rule.

The earliest mention of the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet

from the reign of Sargon of Akkad, dating back to the 23rd century
BC.

Following the collapse of the last Sumerian "Ur-III" dynasty at the

hands of the Elamites (2002 BC traditional, 1940 BC short), the
Amorites gained control over most of Mesopotamia, where they
formed a series of small kingdoms. During the first centuries of
what is called the "Amorite period", the most powerful city states
were Isin and Larsa, although Shamshi-Adad I came close to uniting
the more northern regions around Assur and Mari. One of these
Amorite dynasties was established in the city-state of Babylon,
which would ultimately take over the others and form the first
Babylonian empire, during what is also called the Old Babylonian
Period.

The city of Babylon obtained hegemony over Mesopotamia under its

sixth ruler, Hammurabi (fl. ca. 1728 – 1686 BC (short)). He was a
very efficient ruler, establishing a bureaucracy, with taxation and
centralized government, and giving the region stability after
turbulent times, thereby transforming it into the central power of
Mesopotamia. One of the most important works of this "First
Dynasty of Babylon", as it was called by the native historians, was
the compilation of a code of laws. This was made by order of
Hammurabi after the expulsion of the Elamites and the settlement
of his kingdom. In 1901, a copy of the Code of Hammurabi was
discovered on a stele by J. De Morgan and V. Scheil at Susa, where
it had later been taken as plunder. That copy is now in the Louvre.

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Babylonian beliefs held the king as an agent of Marduk, and the city
of Babylon as a "holy city" where any legitimate ruler of
Mesopotamia had to be crowned.

The Babylonians, like their predecessors, engaged in regular trade

with city-states to the west; with Babylonian officials or troops
sometimes passing to Syria and Canaan, and Amorite merchants
operating throughout Mesopotamia. The Babylonian monarchy's
western connections remained strong for quite some time. An
Amorite named Abi-ramu or Abram was the father of a witness to a
deed dated to the reign of Hammurabi's grandfather; Ammi-Ditana,
great-grandson of Hammurabi, still titled himself "king of the land of
the Amorites". Ammi-Ditana's father and son also bore Canaanite
names: Abi-Eshuh and Ammisaduqa.

The armies of Babylonia were well-disciplined, and conquered the

city-states of Isin, Eshnunna, Uruk, and the kingdom of Mari. But
Mesopotamia had no natural, defendable boundaries, making it
vulnerable to attack. Trade and culture thrived for around 150
years, until the reign of the 15th king of the first dynasty, Samsu-
Ditana, son of Ammisaduqa. He was overthrown following the "sack
of Babylon" by the Hittite king Mursili I, and Babylonia was turned
over to the Kassites, with whom Samsu-Iluna had already come into
conflict in his 6th year.

KOT DIJI:
The ancient site at Kot Diji was the forerunner of the Indus
Civilization. The people of this site lived about 3000 BC. The
remains consist of two parts; the citadel area on high ground (about
12 m), and outer area. The Pakistan Department of Archaeology
excavated at Kot Diji in 1955 and 1957.

Located about 22 kilometers south of Khairpur in the province of

Sindh, Pakistan. The site is situated at the foot of the Rohri Hills
where a fort (Kot Diji Fort) was built around 1790 by Talpur dynasty
ruler of Upper Sindh, Mir Suhrab who reigned from 1783 to 1830.
This fort built on the ridge of a steep narrow hill is well preserved.

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The Early Harappan site at Kot Diji consists of two clearly defined
areas. Citadel on high ground for the elites separated by a
defensive wall with bastions at regular intervals. This area
measures about 500 ft x 350 ft. Outer areas, or the city proper
consisted of houses of mud bricks on stone foundations. Pottery
found from this site has design with horizontal and wavy lines, or
loops and simple triangular patterns.

Other stuff found are pots, pans, storage jars, toy carts, balls,
bangles, beads, terracotta figurines of mother goddess and animals,
bronze arrowheads. Well fashioned stone implements were also
discovered.

The interesting find at Kot Diji is a toy cart, which shows that
potter’s wheel lead to wheels for bullock carts.

There are obvious signs of massive burning of over the entire site,
including both the lower habitation area and the high mound (the
fortified town), which were also observed at other Early Harappan
sites: Period III at Gumla, Period II at Amri, and Period ID at
Naushero. Signs of cleavage were observed at Early Harappan
phase Period I at Kalibangan. The cause of the disruptions and/or
abandonment of these sites toward the end of the Early Harappan
phase are still unexplained.

HARAPPA:
Harappa is a city in Punjab, northeast Pakistan, about 35 km (22
miles) southwest of Sahiwal.

The modern town is located near the former course of the Ravi
River and also beside the ruins of an ancient fortified city, which
was part of the Cemetery H culture and the Indus Valley Civilization,
and is believed to have had as many as 23,500 residents—
considered large for its time. Although the Harappa Culture
extended well beyond the bounds of present day Pakistan, its
centers were in Sindh and the Punjab.

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In 2005 a controversial amusement park scheme at the site was
abandoned when builders unearthed many archaeological artifacts
during the early stages of construction work. A plea from the
prominent Pakistani archaeologist Ahmed Hasan Dani to the
Ministry of Culture resulted in a restoration of the site.

History:
One of the most fascinating yet mysterious cultures of the ancient
world is the Harappan civilization. This culture existed along the
Indus River in present day Pakistan and India. It was named after
the city of Harappa as it was the first of that civilization's cities
discovered. Harappa and the city of Mohenjo-Daro were the
greatest achievements of the Indus valley civilization (although it
should be noted that this is in part owing to the relative lack of
systematic excavations and published information on other Indus
Valley Civilization urban centers). These cities are well known for
their impressive, organized and regular layout, road and street
networks, drainage and step-wells for water. Over one hundred
other towns and villages also existed in this region. The writing
system of the Indus Valley Civilization, evinced in numerous seals,
pottery graffiti and a probable sign at Dholavira, remains
undeciphered.

EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION:
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization in eastern North Africa,
concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is
now the modern nation of Egypt. The civilization began around
3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
under the first pharaoh, and it developed over the next three
millennia. Its history occurred in a series of stable periods, known as
kingdoms, separated by periods of relative instability known as
Intermediate Periods. After the end of the last kingdom, known as
the New Kingdom, the civilization of ancient Egypt entered a period
of slow, steady decline, during which Egypt was conquered by a
succession of foreign powers. The rule of the pharaohs officially
ended in 31 BC when the early Roman Empire conquered Egypt and
made it a province.

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The civilization of ancient Egypt thrived from its ability to adapt to
the conditions of the Nile River Valley. Controlled irrigation of the
fertile valley produced surplus crops, which fueled social
development and culture. With resources to spare, the
administration sponsored mineral exploitation of the valley and
surrounding desert regions, the early development of an
independent writing system, the organization of collective
construction and agricultural projects, trade with surrounding
regions, and a military that defeated foreign enemies and asserted
Egyptian dominance. Motivating and organizing these activities was
a bureaucracy of elite scribes, religious leaders, and administrators
under the control of a pharaoh who ensured the cooperation and
unity of the Egyptian people through an elaborate system of
religious beliefs.

The many achievements of the ancient Egyptians included a system

of mathematics, quarrying, surveying and construction techniques
that facilitated the building of monumental pyramids, temples,
obelisks, faience and glass technology, a practical and effective
system of medicine, new forms of literature, irrigation systems and
agricultural production techniques, and the earliest known peace
treaty. Egypt left a lasting legacy: art and architecture were copied
and antiquities paraded around the world, and monumental ruins
have inspired the imaginations of tourists and writers for centuries.
A newfound respect for antiquities and excavations in the early
modern period led to the scientific investigation of Egyptian
civilization and a greater appreciation of its cultural legacy for Egypt
and the world.

History:
By the late Paleolithic period, the arid climate of Northern Africa
became increasingly hot and dry, forcing the populations of the
area to concentrate along the Nile valley, and since nomadic
hunter-gatherers began living in the region during the Pleistocene
some 1.8 million years ago, the Nile has been the lifeline of Egypt.
The fertile floodplain of the Nile gave humans the opportunity to
develop a settled agricultural economy and a more sophisticated,
centralized society that became a cornerstone in the history of
human civilization.

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Pre-dynastic Period: In Pre-dynastic and Early Dynastic times,

the Egyptian climate was much less arid than it is today. Large
regions of Egypt were covered in treed savanna and traversed
by herds of grazing ungulates. Foliage and fauna were far
more prolific in all environs and the Nile region supported large
populations of waterfowl. Hunting would have been common
for Egyptians and this is also the period during which many
animals would have been first domesticated.

Early Dynastic Period: The ancient Egyptians chose to begin

their official history with a king named "Meni" (or Menes in
Greek) who they believed had united the two kingdoms of
Upper and Lower Egypt. The transition to a unified state
actually happened more gradually than the ancient Egyptian
writers would have us believe, and there is no contemporary
record of Menes.

Old Kingdom: Stunning advances in architecture, art, and

technology were made during the Old Kingdom, fueled by the
increased agricultural productivity made possible by a well
developed central administration.

First Intermediate Period: After Egypt's central government

collapsed at the end of the Old Kingdom, the administration
could no longer support or stabilize the country's economy.
Regional governors could not rely on the king for help in times
of crisis, and the ensuing food shortages and political disputes
escalated into famines and small-scale civil wars.

Middle Kingdom: The pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom restored

the country's prosperity and stability, thereby stimulating a
resurgence of art, literature, and monumental building
projects.

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New Kingdom: The New Kingdom pharaohs established a period
of unprecedented prosperity by securing their borders and
strengthening diplomatic ties with their neighbors. Military
campaigns waged under Tuthmosis I and his grandson
Tuthmosis III extended the influence of the pharaohs into Syria
and Nubia, cementing loyalties and opening access to critical
imports such as bronze and wood.

Third Intermediate Period: Following the death of Ramesses XI

in 1078 BC, Smendes assumed authority over the northern
part of Egypt, ruling from the city of Tanis. The south was
effectively controlled by the High Priests of Amun at Thebes,
who recognized Smendes in name only.

MESOPOTAMIA:
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river
system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding
to Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of
southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khūzestān Province of
southwestern Iran.

Widely considered as the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age

Mesopotamia included Sumer, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian
empires. In the Iron Age, it was ruled by the Neo-Assyrian Empire
and Neo-Babylonian Empire, and later conquered by the
Achaemenid Empire. It mostly remained under Persian rule until the
7th century Islamic conquest of the Sassanid Empire.

History:
The history of Mesopotamia begins with the emergence of urban
societies in northern Iraq in 5000 BCE, and ends with either the
arrival of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE, when
Mesopotamia began being colonized by foreign powers, or with the
arrival of the Islamic Caliphate, when the region came to be known
as Iraq.

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A cultural continuity and spatial homogeneity for this entire

historical geography ("the Great Tradition") is popularly assumed,
though the assumption is problematic. Mesopotamia housed some
of the world's most ancient states with highly developed social
complexity. The region was famous as one of the four riverine
civilizations where writing was first invented, along with the Nile
valley in Egypt, the Indus Valley in the Indian subcontinent and
Yellow River valley in China (Although writing is also known to have
arisen independently in Mesoamerica).

Sumer:
Sumer was a civilization and a historical region located in Southern
Iraq (Mesopotamia), known as the Cradle of civilization. It lasted
from the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period (late 6th
millennium BC) through the Uruk period (4th millennium BC) and
the Dynastic periods (3rd millennium BC) until the rise of Babylon in
the early 2nd millennium BC. The term "Sumerian" applies to all
speakers of the Sumerian language.

The cities of Sumer were the first to practice intensive, year-round

agriculture (from ca. 5300 BC). However, it should be noted that
agriculture appeared independently in multiple civilizations close to
the same time as Sumer. The surplus of storable food created by
this economy allowed the population to settle in one place instead
of migrating after crops and grazing land. It also allowed for a much
greater population density, and in turn required an extensive labor
force and division of labor. This organization led to the necessity of
record keeping and the development of writing (ca. 3500 BC).

History:
The Sumerian city states rose to power during the pre-historical
Ubaid and Uruk periods. Sumerian history reaches back to the 26th
century BC and before, but the historical record remains obscure

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until the Early Dynastic III period, ca. the 23rd century BC, when a
now deciphered syllabary writing system was developed, which has
allowed archaeologists to read contemporary records and
inscriptions. Classical Sumer ends with the rise of the Akkadian
Empire in the 23rd century. Following the Gutian period, there is a
brief "Sumerian renaissance" in the 21st century, cut short in the
20th century BC by Amorite invasions. The Amorite "dynasty of Isin"
persisted until ca. 1700 BC, when Mesopotamia was united under
Babylonian rule.

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