Introduction

The common belief about early civilizations is that they were all same, they have a similar culture, similar philosophy and similar economic principles. The term civilization refers to an advance organization of societies (Waddell, 2012). It is also described as a stage of socioeconomic and cultural development of societies. Civilization illustrates a significantly higher level of cultural and societal development. It represents a complex society that has its specialized labour, social hierarchy, and agricultural surplus. The major river valleys are recognised as grounds of the world’s first civilizations (Freeman, 2014).  Egyptians Sumerian And Babylonian are considered as most important early civilizations in history. The present essay is aimed to discuss these civilizations in detail. A comparison between these civilizations is also included in this essay. All information is collected from secondary resources and a conclusion is also derived to summarize the findings.

Early Civilizations

The floodplains and major river valleys around the globe were perfect lands for the development of early civilizations. The history revealed that early civilizations were urbanized and their complexity was not influenced by any external source. These civilizations were not developed on any pre-existing civilizations as well. The fact that the early civilizations were developed independently makes their study significantly useful for historians to understand foundational grounds of these early civilizations (Mackenzie, 2014). 

Early Egyptian Civilization

The early Egyptian civilization was developed in north-east Africa and linked to 4th millennium BCE. This civilization has attained the great interest of arachnologists and historians as its several achievements are still preserved in monuments. Some resources identified the existence of early Egyptians since 3rd millennium BCE. The river Nile was the primary water source for agricultural purposes (Hall, 2015). This civilization was an agricultural population as the floodplains in Neil valley was enormously fertile. These flood plains were the primary source for the country’s economic wealth. The early Egyptians use Neil for their transportation’s purposes (Waddell, 2012)

A cataract at Aswān served as country’s boundary to makes it separate from rest un-populated area. Egypt attained significant popularity among the rest of the world at that time primarily due to its sophisticated civilization, country’s stability and prosperity. Immigrants and invaders attracted of Egypt because of these factors. The Mediterranean Sea was the gateway to Egypt’s cultural contacts (Hall, 2015). 

Egyptians had a trading relationship with Lebanese to import timber as well as other essential things needed for the country’s daily living. The first crops were wheat and barley and country were successful in maintaining a good surplus of these crops. The multiple cropping was unfamiliar in this early Egyptian civilization. The crops cultivations were also used to manufacture ropes, mats and shoes. Egyptians are identified as settlers who came Neil valley after attracting to its fertility. This civilization had cities, towns and villages where all population resides. Egyptian civilization was not as urbanized as Mesopotamia (Mackenzie, 2014). 

The Early Sumerian Civilization

The Sumerian civilization was an early civilization that was identified to resided in the Mesopotamia region. Two important rivers present around Mesopotamia. This area was also agricultural land and contains food plains. The early Sumerian civilization is considered as more urbanized civilization and their most important achievements were language-innovation, governance and distinct architecture. The early Sumerian civilization is also considered as a foundation for present civilization. It is also called a civilization of the first-settled human that existed between 4500 to 4000 B.C (Oppenheim, 2013).

The earliest population was settlers that came much early than 4500 BC, these early population of Sumerians is known as “Ubaid” people. Their land was also divided into town, villages and cities. The major achievements of this civilization were cattle-farming, weaving-textile, the innovation of woodworking as well as pottery making. Uruk was known as first developed ancient city of this civilization (Waddell, 2012).

This civilization also has a rich history of language innovation, especially in writing. The archaeologists have identified Code of Er-Nammu writing linked with Sumerian civilization. Another achievement of this civilization was its development in art and architecture (Kriwaczek, 2014).  There was significant use of Sculpture in temples. Schools and the concept of education were also present in this civilization. In 2004 B.C., the Elamites came, then Amorite invades and all of these civilizations were merged to develop Babylonians (Oppenheim, 2013).

The Early Babylon Civilization

The civilization existed in Babylonia city of Mesopotamia is known as Babylonian civilization. Their existence is considered to be present almost 4,000 years ago. At present, Iraq is situated on its land. It was also agricultural land and main water surplus was Euphrates River. It is considered as the world’s largest city in human history. The city was rich in lavish-buildings and remarkable architecture. This civilization also had their distinct language, Akkadian and city were ruled under “Hammurabi”. The important achievements of this civilization include the development of legal-codes. The country defeated Assyrians during the period of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and it was the most commanding country of that time (Freeman, 2014). 

The statues and other noticeable artwork of this civilization are still presented to some extent. Persians were the main empire that took control of Babylon civilization when king Cyrus conquered its land. The Babylon civilization also has an important role in Jewish-history and thousands of Jews were imprisoned in Babylon for almost 50 years. The Hebrew and Christian’s scriptures also include a description of Babylon civilization. The tower of Babel has been discussed in religious stories as a human effort to reach heaven. The impassable walls of Babylon were another important achievement of this civilization (Kriwaczek, 2014). 

Conclusion

                    The early civilizations had their characteristics, cultural values and distinct achievements. The above discussed three early civilizations have several differences and few similarities with each other. Egyptians had a trading relationship with Lebanese to import timber as well as other essential things needed for the country’s daily living. Their architecture, government and crop production were important achievements as an early civilization. The early Sumerian civilization is considered as more urbanized civilization and their most important achievements were language-innovation, governance and distinct architecture. The Babylon civilization was rich in lavish-buildings and remarkable architecture. This civilization also had their distinct language, Akkadian and city were ruled under “Hammurabi”. The important achievements of this civilization include the development of legal-codes.

References

Freeman, C. (2014). Egypt, Greece, and Rome: civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean. Oxford University Press.

Hall, H. R. (2015). The ancient history of the Near East: from the earliest times to the battle of Salamis. Routledge.

Kriwaczek, P. (2014). Babylon: Mesopotamia and the birth of civilization. Atlantic Books Ltd.

Mackenzie, D. A. (2014). Myths of Babylonia and Assyria. Masterlab.

Oppenheim, A. L. (2013). Ancient Mesopotamia: portrait of a dead civilization. University of Chicago Press.

Waddell, L. A. (2012). Egyptian civilization its Sumerian origin and real chronology. Read Books Ltd.