Summary: The Emergence Of Civilization

1. According to the section of the textbook titled "The Emergence of Civilization" there are a number of proposed causes to why civilizations developed. One theory, for instance, suggests that material forces such as agriculture allowed for a unified community that demanded a specialization of labor. A second argument contradicts the former, claiming that nonmaterial forces (particularly, religion) influenced the establishment of these complex cultures. Yet other historians believe that certain challenges (possibly environmental) forced humans to develop an organized and civilized society. Overall, however, all theories agree on the fact that civilizations were a response to sustain the needs and beliefs of growing human societies. For example, these establishments allowed for an emphasis on a distinct religious structure, a social division based on affluence, as well as an economy that focused largely on trade with neighboring peoples. Such aspects would not have been present in prior small agricultural settlements, since they are much smaller (in size comparison) and less complex.
2. The earliest creators of Mesopotamian

3. According to the map, the area in which the Sumerians occupied proved to be both advantageous and disadvantageous. The positive side was that the Fertile Crescent was able to environmentally sustain agriculture and thus yielded much of the crops and food that the Sumerians consumed. Additionally, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers allowed for a constant water supply for both the humans as well as the domesticated plants and animals. However, these bodies of water also caused unpredictable flooding that severely harmed the Sumerians and their agricultural system. They were probably faced with limited natural resources as well, given that the Syrian Desert was below and the Persian Gulf east to their civilizations. These problems were somewhat eliminated, fortunately, through the construction of encircling walls and trading,