BUILDING COMMUNITIES

Essential Question How did early cities begin?

Activity 1 Define the words on page 66 of your

textbook:

Division of labor Merchant Social Class Government Urban Taxation Civilization

Activity 2 Use pages 67-71 to complete the

Building Communities fact-finder.

Early Towns Success at farming or trading allowed

many earlyvillages to grow into towns.

They could support up to a few thousand people.

Jericho 7000BC, Jericho grew into one of the

earliest known towns.

Jericho became an important trading town, by about 6500 B.C.

It supported about 2,000 to 3,000 people.

Jericho Ruins

Jericho Ruins

Jericho It also assisted nomadic herders and

traders who were crossing the Syrian Desert.

Provided water and a place to rest.

Syrian Desert

Syrian Desert

Jericho Defensive measures were taken to protect

the town from enemies and wild animals.

People built a large stone wall around the town

They dug a large ditch around the outside of the wall.

They also built watchtowers, so the guards could see approaching danger.

Defense Walls

Jericho In about 6,000 B.C., Jericho was

abandoned.

Çatal Hüyük This town was very similar to Jericho.

It was located near a good supply of water and had good soil for crops.

It was near important trade routes.

Çatal Hüyük

Çatal Hüyük By 6500 B.C., the town controlled the

obsidian trade, which made the town very successful.

Houses of Çatal Hüyük The people lived in smaller houses (as

opposed to the beehive shaped huts of Jericho).

The houses had separate rooms for cooking, sleeping, and other activities.

Houses of Çatal Hüyük Defense of the town was the walls of the

houses.

Houses of Çatal Hüyük Houses could only be entered from the

roof.

In times of danger, they would pull up their ladders.

Labor, Leaders, and Laws Social and political changes took place

as a result of growing population.

Societies were more complex.

New kinds of leadership developed.

Labor, Leaders, and Laws New jobs (other than farmers) were

needed.

Labor, Leaders, and Laws Division of labor developed, which

divided people into jobs according to their abilities.

Labor, Leaders, and Laws Some grew crops, while others made

tools or clothing.

Labor, Leaders, and Laws Others were merchants, which were

people who sold goods they had bought from traders.

Labor, Leaders, and Laws Society was divided into social classes.

The highest class was made up of rulers, priests, and other important leaders and their families.

Important families ruled in towns and passed on their positions to chosen family members.

Labor, Leaders, and Laws Leaders of towns had increased

responsibilities and power.

They had to control more people, food surpluses, and wider trade.

They also created unwritten laws that townspeople lived by.

Labor, Leaders, and Laws This was the start of government (an

organized system of leaders and laws).

Cities and Civilizations Around 3500 B.C., towns in southwestern

Asia developed into cities.

Early cities had 5,000 or more people.

Cities and Civilizations Governments needed to be better

organized.

City leaders needed to organize the building of longer walls for defense.

They had to maintain water supplies and nearby irrigation systems.

Leaders also supervised the construction of temples, palaces, and other buildings.

Early City

Cities and Civilizations More specialized jobs developed in

cities.

Some still worked as merchants, craftworkers, and traders.

Others worked for the city government as officials who helped manage the city.

Cities and Civilizations Taxation (a system in which people

supported the city) developed.

Taxes were paid by working on government projects or with crops.

This was used to pay city officials and to trade for other goods and materials.

Cities and Civilizations Mesopotamia is where the first cities

developed; out of farming villages in southwestern Asia.

Cities and Civilizations In 3100 B.C., cities (Eridu, Kish, Ur, and

Uruk) gave rise to the world’s first civilizations.

Eridu

Kish

Royal Tombs of Ur

Uruk

Uruk

Cities and Civilizations They share common features and covered large

areas, had better organized societies and economies, and constructed larger buildings and temples.

People living in civilizations made advances in science, mathematics, and transportation.

Most developed some form of writing, to keep records of events, trade, and taxes.

People also began to follow religions that were supported and controlled by their governments.