Chapter 2 Outlines

Step One—Read the Chapter and Take Notes As You Go
This outline reflects the major headings and subheadings in this chapter of your textbook. Use it to take notes as you read each section of the chapter. In your notes, try to restate the main idea of each section.

Chapter 2: First Civilizations: Cities, States, and Unequal Societies (3500 B.C.E.–500 B.C.E.)
  I. Something New: The Emergence of Civilizations
  A. Introducing the First Civilizations
    1. Sumer, Egypt, & Nubia, 3500–3000 B.C.E.
    2. Norte Chico, 3000–1800 B.C.E.
    3. Indus Valley and Oxus, 2200 B.C.E–1700 B.C.E.
    4. Xia, Shang, & Zhou, 2200–771 B.C.E.
    5. Olmec, 1200 B.C.E.
  B. The Question of Origins
    1. Roots in Agricultural Revolution
    2. Growing population density, competition, and subordination
  C. An Urban Revolution
    1. Uruk, Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, & Teotihuacán
    2. Centers of politics, administration, culture, and economics
    3. Impersonal and unequal

  II. The Erosion of Equality
  A. Hierarchies of Class
    1. Inequalities of wealth, status, & power
    2. Impact of urbanization
    3. Elite privileges
    4. Wealth producers
    5. Slaves
  B. Hierarchies of Gender
    1. Sex versus gender
    2. Patriarchal ideal versus reality
    3. Farm labor, warfare, and property
  C. Patriarchy in Practice
    1. Law and female sexuality
    2. Respectable and non-respectable women
    3. Decline of the goddesses

  III. The Rise of the State
  A. Coercion and Consent
    1. The need for organization
    2. Monopoly on the legitimate use of violence
    3. Religion and political power
  B. Writing and Accounting
    1. Literacy and social status
    2. Tracking wealth and property
  C. The Grandeur of Kings
    1. Lifestyles of the rich and famous
    2. Death styles of the elite

  IV. Comparing Mesopotamia and Egypt
  A. Environment and Culture
    1. Different rivers
    2. Pessimistic Mesopotamia & Optimistic Egypt
    3. Soil health
  B. Cities and States
    1. Violent and unstable city-states
    2. Security, stability, and political longevity
  C. Interaction and Exchange
    1. Long-distance trade
    2. Cultural influences
    3. Migrations, rivalries, and diplomacy

  V. Reflections: “Civilization”: What’s in a Word?
  A. Debate on terminology
  B. Ambiguous views of civilization
  C. Are civilizations solid?