World History / Unit 1: Prehistory and Early River Valley Civilizations
1.6 Features of Civilization and Early Belief Systems
Notes
Historians use a set of features to define a civilization.
- Key features: cities, organized government, complex religion, job specialization, social classes, writing (record keeping), art and architecture and public works (canals, walls).
- Nearly all early civilizations grew near rivers because they provided water, fertile soil and transportation.
- Phoenicians (along the eastern Mediterranean) were sea traders who developed an alphabet of about 22 letters, an ancestor of the Greek and Latin alphabets.
- Judaism developed among the ancient Israelites. It is monotheistic (belief in one God). Its sacred text is the Hebrew Bible, including the Torah. Tradition traces the faith to Abraham and the law to Moses, including the Ten Commandments.
- Judaism's ideas about one God and ethical law later influenced Christianity and Islam.
Practice
Which pair of features would a historian use to show that an early society was a civilization?
Cities and record keeping are core features of civilization.
Why was the Phoenician alphabet important?
A simple alphabet was easy to learn and spread through trade.
Which belief is central to Judaism?
Judaism is monotheistic and centered on the covenant and law, such as the Ten Commandments.
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