Posted on 02/19/2022 8:36:01 AM PST by MNDude
As long as I have been alive, the The Mesopotamian Civilization has been considered the oldest civilization. I'm curious what is the criteria to be considered a civilization? Is it really the oldest, or is something that archeologists do not wish to update their books after spending a lifetime devoted to this teaching.
The Mesopotamian civilization dated back to 6500 BC, but the Jiahu in China dated back to 7000 BC.
Gobekli Tepe, in Turkey, was a temple was built along a grand geometric plan in 9000 BC.
I'm curious to hear an opinion from any archeology\ anthropology experts here.
But they had to log the food and what they kept in the cave thus writing.
About the Tree... mankind has always done something that required him to be sent to the naughty corner. That is where the concept of time came about. :) How much longer do we have to wander the desert?
Jiahu is classified as a village rather than a civilization. “Civilization” implies city-sized populations, along with subsistence by agriculture, advanced social organization, and writing (rather than simply artistic symbols or pictographs).
When I mentioned literacy, I was deliberately trying to avoid mention of writing, as we generally understand the term. A better -- but longer -- way to put it is, "the ability to convey abstractions with symbols."
FWIW, the earliest extant writing specimens are the works of ancient bookkeepers.
“Civilization implies...”
Or as Justice Stewart said, “I know it when I see it.”
The very root of the word means cities, so, yes, synonymous. Get it?
Culture precedes civilization, so, when a group sharing a language build cities, they become a civilization.
For example ?
—
Mastodons, Wholly Mammoth, Wholly Rhinos, Colombian Mammoths, Short-faced Bears, Smilodons, Aurochs, Giant Sloths, etc
Taxes. I'm pretty sure on this, but I haven't done any research!)
“Since their life spans would have been perhaps about 30 to 35 years they simply had no time to learn stone masonry, stone carving nor building large megalithic structures.”
Huh, that is right in the range for Mayans, Incas, Aztec (maybe shorter for them). They built complex large stone structures, carving, etc. etc.
I disagree. It is under the control of Islamics who suspect that what will be found there will blow their whole world concept to pieces. Not just Muslims but other dark forces have an interest keeping the site controlled and buried.
No one really wants to know of the world and times of Noah that mirrors our own world as it is now!
And that is what they are trying to keep buried.
"Civilization" was coined only a few hundred years ago.
The "very root" was civis, a townsmen or person in a community of any size; and in Rome a city was urbs. The designation was a matter of an individual's legal status, not the size of the town or its complexity. The term predates the founding of Rome.*
Anyway -- speaking of roots, cities are the fruit, not the tree. They don't pop into existence ex nihilo.
So no, not synonymous.
*See The Ancient City, by Fustel de Coulanges.
It's now being considered that the Sphinx and Egyptian pyramids were built over 10,000 years ago, looking at water run-offs near the sites.
I visited that museum in Taipei and was AMAZED at the art-work from so long ago. Intricate ivory carvings, etc.
In my town near Seattle a few years ago they dug up some tools in a new development - dated to 10,000 years ago, and one of the earliest examples of human tools in North America. They pretty much just looked like rocks!
And that was a glorious day!
Im not a member of the team, Im only repeating the reason Ive seen given in videos. I have no doubt that nutburgers blowing things up is a real concern but discussing such things truthfully often has a way of causing bad press and funding to disappear.
Indeed! Ahura-Mazda Lager - the beer that made Mesopotamia famous!
Yeah. Interesting implications for the true age of civilizations.
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