Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
29 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
When was the term civilisation first used and what is its etymology? |
16th C. AD Latin etymology linked to being a legitimate civilian |
|
|
What is it's definition and what are the characteristics? |
A complex state society characterised by: 1) Urban development 2) Social stratification 3) Symbolic communication 4) Perceived dominance over natural world 5) Centralised power 6) Domestication of flood 7) Monumental architecture 8) Specialisation of labour 9) Ideologies of progress and superiority 10) Taxation |
|
|
What is an alternative definition? |
A condition of being 'most advanced' A relative term based on 'what it is not' i.e. barbarianism Hence can also be a progress |
|
|
What process did V. Gordon Childe introduce to describe civilisation and when? |
The Urban Revolution in 1930s |
|
|
What is the Urban Revolution and how is it identified? |
A term used to describe the process by which agricultural village societies developed into socially, politically and economically complex urban societies Identified by 10 formal criteria including artistic expression and foreign trade |
|
|
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the term Urban Revolution? |
+ A suite of characteristics essential to development - Many criteria present in pre-civilised societies - Don't always match every civilisation e.g. South Americans didn't have writing - Just describing previously considered examples |
|
|
What is the problem with the term 'civilisation'? |
Advocated by early modern philosophers e.g. Thomas Hobbes 'Life in a state of nature is nasty, short, and brutish' Result of contemporary ideals
Things shift backwards and forwards. All of the great civilisations collapsed |
|
|
What did Thomas Hobbes say? |
Life in a state of nature is nasty, short, and brutish |
|
|
Name 4 drivers for civilisation |
1) Agricultural surplus facilitates craft specialisation 2) Hydraulic hypothesis 3) Coercion theory 4) Need for trade and materials |
|
|
What is the Hydraulic hypothesis and where can it be seen? |
The development of irrigation works led to the use of mass labour, organisational hierarchies for co-ordination, and government control for distribution Seen in Mesopotamia |
|
|
Who coined the coercion theory and what is it? |
Cameiro (1970) States formed in order to handle the burden of fighting and defending |
|
|
What features of Imperial and republican Rome make it a civilisation? |
Structures Politics Economics Communication |
|
|
What were the structural features of Imperial and republican Rome? |
Urban development - sector model allowed for outward progression and growth Monumental architecture - Colosseum and Baths of Caracalla |
|
|
What were the political features of Imperial and republican Rome? |
Social stratification Centralised power - Senate Legal system - Roman law from 12 tables to Corpus Juris Civilis |
|
|
What were the economic features of Imperial and republican Rome? |
Public taxes - modest assessment of wealth and property then 1-3% |
|
|
What were the communication features of Imperial and republican Rome? |
Classical Latin - highly stylised and polished literary language |
|
|
What are the issues with calling Rome civilised? |
Poor lived in concentrated areas in shoddy tenements Slavery Harsh penal code Blood sports |
|
|
When was the Uruk period in Mesopotamia? |
c. 4,000 - 3,000 BC |
|
|
What features of Uruk Mesopotamia make it civilised? |
Structures and urbanisation Ideologies Social complexity Economics Communication |
|
|
What were the structural features of Uruk Mesopotamia? |
Emergence of urban life with cities expanding to 1km squared with 10-20,000 people Monumental architecture e.g. White temple to the Sky God Anu |
|
|
What were the ideological features of Uruk Mesopotamia? |
Temples Monumental art e.g. Warka Vase depicts offerings to Inanna, patron goddess |
|
|
What were the socially complex features of Uruk Mesopotamia? |
Increased settlement hierachies |
|
|
What were the economic features of Uruk Mesopotamia? |
Hub of trade and administration Mass production e.g. disposable bevelled rim bowls Craft specialisation - standard professions list
|
|
|
What were the communication features of Uruk Mesopotamia? |
Origins of cuneiform script representing the Sumerian language Development of cylinder seals aspect of record keeping bureaucracy |
|
|
What features of Egypt (Late 4th millennium BC) make it civilised? |
Structures and Urbanisation Politics Ideologies Communication |
|
|
What were the structural features of Egypt and what are the issues? |
Monumental Architecture - Mastabas built with mud bricks Urban planning - Matter of debate as Ancient sites fragmented, continuously inhabited BUT some evidence such as workmen's village of el lahul centred on temple of the Senusret's pyramid and partially enclosed by at least 3 mud brick walls |
|
|
What were the political features of Egypt? |
Unification - c. 3150 BC under single, divine King Narmer Class system |
|
|
What were the ideological features of Egypt? |
Divine King - Narmer (palette shows unification) Spreading of religious cults Construction of religious facilities
|
|
|
What were the communication features of Egypt? |
Hieroglyphic script - cursive for religion. Ideograms and phonograms |
