Beginning of Civilizations

• 12,000 years ago, hunters and gatherers began building permanent homes and experimenting with agriculture.

  • ​Agriculture: the raising of crops and animals for human use.

• ​Most cities began cropping up around rivers. We all these River Civilizations.

• ​Ancient Egypt

• ​Mesopotamia

• ​Ancient China

• ​Ancient India

​Agriculture helped create a way for people to live in large groups without traveling to gather food.

• ​People began to domesticate animals (train to be useful).

• ​These animals helped make gathering easier and provided more resources.

• ​A surplus is an extra supply of something.

• ​Enough crops were harvested to provide food for the entire year.

• ​Cattle provided a steady supply of meat and milk.

• ​Farmers can now provide food for all of the people of the civilization!

• ​But, farming was HARD!

• ​Demands on farmers' time led to SPECIALIZATION.

  • ​People trained to do particular kinds of work.

• ​So, some people farmed, others made wheat into bread flour.

• ​Some made tools, bricks, pots.

• ​Farmers could exchange food for other products.

• ​Civilization is a culture that has developed systems of:

  • ​Specialization

  • ​Religion

  • ​Learning

  • ​Government

​Economy is the way a people manage money and resources for the production of goods and services.

• ​Egypt's economy was based on Agriculture.

• ​Farmers produced a surplus, which fed the whole country.

• ​Goods were exchanged instead of money for trade.