ABSTRACT
The word civilization has three meanings, as this chapter explores: (1) it refers to new levels of social complexity, including formal governments and writing systems; (2) it refers to societies that share cultural features and a common history (like Chinese civilization); and (3) it sometimes refers to claims of superiority over other noncivilized or “barbarian” peoples. This chapter suggests how and why early civilizations established some of the new structures and how they would prove fundamental to world history going forward. It also briefly presents features of several of the early civilizations themselves, comparing Egyptian and Mesopotamian characteristics and introducing Jewish monotheism.
