Civilization is the taming and cultivation of raw human nature. It is an achievement of the intellect over instinct, and a triumph of the human mind over the animal brain. It is a quest for excellence in the arts, sciences, and social organization. It is also a quest for power, wealth, comfort, and beauty. This quest for perfection is what anthropologists, historians, and other scholars call civilization.
During the first millennium of human history, civilizations arose at many places around the globe. The most prominent were in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley of present-day Pakistan and India, China, and the Huang He (Yellow River) valley of Central Asia. The Olmec of Mesoamerica, the Maya of Mexico, and the Inca of Peru were also early civilizations. All arose near water sources, as prehistoric hunter-gatherers were always drawn to the rivers for food and shelter. They all developed cities, invented forms of writing, and began to domesticate animals. They also developed rudimentary forms of government, including political and religious leadership.
Historian Arnold J. Toynbee explored the process of civilization in his multi-volume A Study of History, and his ideas have influenced scholarly understandings of the subject. He viewed the rise and decline of 21 civilizations and five “arrested civilizations.” He believed that the most important factor in a civilization’s development was the success or failure of its leaders to create a unified culture, which included religious and secular art.
The development of a unified culture required division of labor, which allowed people to work on other things in addition to growing crops and hunting and gathering. It also demanded a system of communication, which led to the development of language. Eventually this led to the creation of decorative, musical, and literary arts. The first decorative and artistic expressions likely occurred quite early, but written language only came later, perhaps as late as the third millennium BCE in some cases.
As early communities grew in size, it was necessary to provide services beyond the scope of neighborhood groups. They needed to be protected against internal robbers and external raiders, and they had to manage large irrigation projects that could not be done by individuals. These demands led to the formation of a class of political leaders, called kings in ancient Egypt, who claimed to be representatives, or even human incarnations, of gods.
The kings of early civilizations also managed the economy and provided the basic infrastructure to support dense populations. They often had to pay coerced tribute to other kings in order to maintain their position and power.
At the same time, the people of a civilization needed to be trained in military and administrative skills. To do this they needed to separate these roles from the ruling class, and to develop an educated citizenry. This required schools and universities. Educated citizens would have the intellectual and emotional strength to help keep society running smoothly, and they were vital for a successful civilization.