ABSTRACT
The previous chapter outlined in some detail the various human cultural institutions that are the building blocks to ancient, and present-day, societies: kinship and social relations, religion, economy, and political structures. This chapter is devoted to interrogating the role that these human social institutions played in the emergence of civilization. It is too simplistic to say that any given social institutions “caused” civilization to happen; nor is it correct to say they were simply impacted by social factors as more complex societies emerged. Rather, the interactive nature of human actions and perceptions, as they relate to family, belief, economic organization, and political structure, were intricately interwoven into the fabric that made up “civilization” in the ancient world.
