The urban revolution of the building of the first cities took place in 3100-2900 BC, the Jemdet Nasr Period. The changes in human settlement patterns from isolated settlements to larger village communities continued. The first civilization appears in the Great Plains to the south of Mesopotamia in the area later called Sumer. Scientist say that this is the first sign of civilization because of four main characteristics that first appear at this time. In this paper I will discuss these characteristics of a civilization. I will also talk about a civilization, once considered "barbaric" by the Greeks, rise to power under the influence of King Philip II. How he transformed a rickety, ramshackle, backward kingdom into to the most powerful state in the Greek world.
The first characteristic of a civilization is the appearance of cities. Without cities there is no civilization. There are several factors that distinguish between a city and other populated areas. One is that there must be a significant number of people in a defined area of land; this is referred to as size. Next there must be specializations for the development of a city. The majority of people in a city do not work in food production instead they have a specialty, such as a shoemaker. The complexity within the specialties is a factor in deeming a city. Social stratification, or social classes, is also needed for the development of a city. Lastly the appearance of monumental architecture: such as temples, and palaces. All of these factors must be apparent for the category of city.
Technology is needed for a civilization classification. The first appearance of bronze occurs about the same time as the first civilization. This mixture of tin and copper enables the development of better tools that stimulates the economy. Also the specialty of killing other human beings and advanced organized armies is under the category of technology. .
Another characteristic of a civilization is a bureaucracy: some sort of government or administrative policy-making group.