The Emergence of Cities: A Historical Overview of Urbanization in Mesopotamia - Prof. W. R, Study notes of Geography

Download The Emergence of Cities: A Historical Overview of Urbanization in Mesopotamia - Prof. W. R and more Study notes Geography in PDF only on Docsity! GEOG 1003 Rowe August 31, 2010 The Environmental Transformation II The Urban Revolution - Approximately 4,000 years after agriculture settled people, cities began to arise. - 7,500 B.C. villages in the Fertile Crescent had populations of 250-500 people - In approximately 3,500 B.C., cities begin to form Three processes, or steps, to cities 1. Population Growth and Concentration 2. Environmental Control and Investment a. Environmental control: control the flood, diverging rivers, irrigation, learning to work with the environment b. Investment: not thinking about the present, or even the near future, but in the future (decades and generations in the future) i.e., planting fruit trees 3. New Technology: Plow, Pottery, Metal Control, Writing Three preconditions: 1. Reliable Food Supply a. Can’t have urban life without a stable and reliable food source 2. Social Organization a. Collection, storage, redistribution 3. New Level of Control of human Energy a. Humans as labor machines, productive food surplus, taxation - City life began in Mesopotamia (not the same as the Fertile Crescent; the Fertile Crescent surrounded Mesopotamia) - Farmers moved out of the foothills into the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley (Mesopotamia) - They brought inventions o Plants, animals, traditions of village life - Found new environmental problems o The land was very hot and dry o They had to have irrigation  Allowed them to have crops  They could grow year round  Irrigated agriculture produced five times the yield of dry agriculture o The summer heat could kill their animals  Semi-nomadism (has a permanent home, but they travel between two places; e.g., herder has a home, but spends months up the hill with his herd) began: they would spend the summer in the foothills with their animals so the animals wouldn’t die of heat or lack of food o Wheat and barley o No stones  New construction: mud brick o Standing water breeds illness  Malaria and yellow fever - They could concentrate human energy into a smaller space - Villages formed in a linear fashion (along the river) Social Organization - 1st class: Priestly Class – 1st Administration o Organization of feeding animals  Transhumans: vertical nomadism o Controlled and organized wool trade (first trade) o Organized trade between farmers, herders, and fishermen o Most important: solved irrigation dispute - 2nd class: Merchants (Intermediate class) o Dealt with trade - 3rd class: Slaves - 4th class: Warriors o Controlled army - 5th class: Farmers First Inequalities Created Through Social Classes - 98% of population were farmers - Problem with upstream vs. downstream First Civilization - Sumerian Civilization o City states: 12 powerful cities that controlled areas that together formed Sumer o Within 1,000,000 people o More leisure time, since not all were farmers and didn’t spend time farming anymore o Fertile versus desert - Known from archaeological record and comparison of pre-industrial cities Heart, Afghanistan - Mosque (largest structure and place of worship in the city) is located in the center - Around it is the old city of Heart - Next to the mosque is the citadel, a major fortress - There is a claustrophobic feel when walking through the streets (very narrow; tunnel-like) - Streets open into thoroughfare with merchants and stores - Mud brick: material for the buildings - Water: very important issue - Spatially divided - Northeast part of town is where the water comes in o This is the rich area o Where the poor live, the water is not clean - Old age is possible but not probable - Life expectancy is in the 40s o Men: 45, women: 46 o Compared to Egypt; men: 65, women: 69 and U.S.A.; men: 73, women: 79 - Dominated by craftsmen o Crafts done all by hand - Jewelry is only at the high end - #1 thing in high end: cell phones o They skipped 20th century life almost (never had landlines) - Women: o Hidden (unless farmer’s wife) o Completely covered – only the eyes showing - Deeply traditional - Agriculture is the most important thing - Country side o No machinery - Along the ends of agriculture o Nomads o Semi-nomads  In the morning, they would meet with merchants - Delivery into city was by horseback or horse-drawn carriage - No lights at nights Roman Civilization - 300 million people All urbanism except China is based on Sumerian urbanism