Changes And Continuities Essay

Between 8,000 B.C.E. and 600 C.E. political and social changes occurred frequently and drastically, such as the process of hunting and gathering started to fade away due to the rise of agriculture throughout the world, which in turn caused the inequality between men and women to start. The urbanization of societies led to stronger and more complex governments and civilizations. And the rise of religious and philosophical beliefs in different societies caused the concept of social classes to become more prominent in everyday life. But society did not only have social and political changes, they also had continuities. Such as the process of trade with other civilizations, which provided a large source of social diffusion and income within most societies or
civilizations. During the Paleolithic era the most prominent way food was acquired was through hunting, which was performed by the men, and gathering which was performed by the woman. But near 8,000 B.C.E. a new way of obtaining food emerged called farming. This new process of procuring food made it so civilizations could settle down in one area, instead of following wherever the animals migrated next. So new agricultural societies began showing up since it was much easier to cultivate and produce your own food rather than tracking animals or foraging for vegetation all day. But the agricultural revolution did not just provide a way for communities to settle down, it also started an inequality between men and woman that has lasted even to this day. During the hunting and gathering era women were respected by the men because they were out searching for vegetation to feed to their families, so their skills were essential to the survival of the group. But when agriculture came into the world the woman were told to stay home, raise children, and do the domestic chores, while the men worked out in the fields to provide the food. Woman were now thought of as weak and submissive towards the men, who were viewed as strong and dominant. Most historians blame the Neolithic era for gender inequality, and that is primarily due to the agricultural revolution that happened all over the world from around 8,000 B.C.E all the way to today. But agriculture was not the only thing that changed the world, the urbanization of societies also brought transformation’s in the categories of government and civilizations. Now there was a way for nomadic groups to settle down in one place, and get all their food from one place. So they decided that there needed to be some rules in order to keep their civilization running smoothly. A perfect example of that is with Hammurabi’s Code, which was a set of written laws established by King Hammurabi in Babylon around 1792 to 1750 B.C.E. during the neolithic era. These regulations were constructed in the interest of bringing laws, justice, and order to the kingdom of Babylon. But Hammurabi’s code was just the start of new written laws created by the government in order to provide justice, and peace. In fact, another civilization that was extremely powerful during the classical era also passed a well known set of written laws, and that civilization was Rome. The twelve tables were written in 450 B.C.E. in order to have a code of laws that would binding on both the patricians and the plebeians. These laws were enforced impartially by the magistrates, and just like with Hammurabi’s code they were used to provide justice and peace throughout Rome. But the urbanization of civilizations led to much more than just written laws, it also led to more complex and long lasting religions. During the Paleolithic era the nomadic hunting and gathering people did not have a religion. Instead, they believed in nature or nature spirits, and we know that because of the cave drawings that the ancient people did. But as societies started to settle down there was an increase in new ideas, and one of those major ideas was the idea of religion. During the early Neolithic era the Egyptian civilization was basically run by “God’s”, and that is because they thought of their Pharaohs as god’s. Religion was such a major importance to the success of their society that they even advanced in technology, and math just to honor their Gods with the construction of the Pyramids that began in 2560 B.C.E.
A large number of the societies in the Paleolithic era and early to middle neolithic era were polytheistic which means they believed in more than one god. But as societies progressed and the classical era came into societies new religions that were monotheistic started to emerge, such as Zoroastrianism, which was founded in the 6th century B.C.E., Judaism, which was founded in the 7th century B.C.E., Christianity, which was founded in the 1st century C.E. Monotheistic religions mean they believe in one all powerful God, and not many gods like the polytheistic religions. These religions, and even the polytheistic religions were a huge way to tell if a society was complex or not because it takes job specialization, and writing to be able to have a successful religion. And those factors also go into having an urbanized, and complex society or civilization. The political changes of societies from 8,000 B.C.E. all the way to 600 C.E. contributed to the agricultural revolution, and without that revolution, we
wouldn’t have the food’s we have today, and the techniques of farming for food that we have. So the advancements that societies made during the Paleolithic era all the way to the Classical era has affected the entire world for hundreds of years, and will probably continue affecting the world for a long time. Also, without the urbanization of civilizations, nomadic groups would have possibly taken a much longer time to settle down, or they might not have settled down at all. Therefore the world would definitely be much different because society would be less advanced than it is now due to the fact that they wouldn’t have had as much time to improve in technology, government, or education. These ancient civilizations provided a great foundation for society to change politically. Throughout history society has had people who were thought of as better than others, and that is because of the concept of social classes that was made hundreds of years ago. But it was not like that in the beginning of humanity during the Paleolithic era. Around 8,000 B.C.E. people were nomads who believed in nature or nature spirits, but as time progressed the ideas of what was around them that could not be seen got more complex. By around 4,000 B.C.E. what historians think was the first religion emerged in Egypt. This religion was polytheistic which means they believed in more than one god. Around 90% of ancient Egyptian citizens were poor, but they accepted the lesser social class because they thought it was the will of their god’s. As time went on more and more religions started to pop up around world, and one of those religions was Hinduism. Hinduism was founded in 2,000 B.C.E. in India, and just like the Egyptians religion it was polytheistic.