Urbanism in archaeology - Essay Example

? 15 Apr. Urbanism in Archaeology: Urbanism means the way of development, shaping and modification of the built environment found in the towns and cities. It is not the planning of town as is usually understood by some people. It explains the way communities came into being in cities, and how they interacted with one another to give rise to the social systems. The concept of the contemporary world is totally incomplete without cities. According to an estimate, population of people that live in cities exceeds half of the total, and in the upcoming century, it is quite likely to approach two-thirds (Marcus and Sabloff 3). Cities used to be non-existent in the past. This has stirred up a lot of debate regarding the factors that have caused cities to form. Some scholars think that old scattered populations nucleated to create the cities while others believe in the role of several other factors. An in-depth analysis of the literature relevant to ancient cities is a potential means of identification of the factors that gave rise to urbanism. “These diverse settlements not only have much to tell us about the social, political, religious, and economic conditions of their times but also say something about our own” (Marcus and Sabloff 3). The division of class played an important role in maintaining the balance of social systems in cities and their civilization. Mesopotamian civilization is generally recognized as the first civilization (“The Birth of Civilization” 8). The modern Baghdad can be divided into two zones of ecology, namely the northern zone and the southern zone. Sumerians founded many of the ancient cities of Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium B.C.E. in Sumer that forms the southern Babylonia. Uruk was the a city in Sumer that was world’s largest city in 3000 B.C.E. However, many cities existed in Sumer before that. In the Early Dynastic Period that mainly ranged from 2800 B.C.E. to 2370 B.C.E., a lot of Sumerian cities were aligned north to south of Mesopotamia aside the watercourses (“The Birth of Civilization” 8). These cities included but were not limited to Ur, Lagash, Uruk, Shuruppak and Nippur. Many of these city-states had developed leagues of religious and political importance. These city-states quarreled with one another over possession of more resources and land for irrigation and agriculture. With the passage of time, stronger leagues gained hold of the weaker, and gradually increased enough to develop whole kingdoms which would in turn, rule many city-states. Ten major criteria of difference between the earliest and modern villages can be drawn from the archaeological data, which can be summarized as follows: Although most of the first cities are smaller than contemporary villages, they used to be considerably densely populated and voluminous as compared to the settlements that preceded them. The ancient urban population differed in function from a village. Most of the people living in cities were peasants, and would cultivate crops in the lands aside the cities. People who had other professions and lived in cities like merchants, priests and craftsmen used to acquire food from the surplus prepared by the peasants as a support. The peasants did not take any service or goods from them for offering them the fish or grains they collected. The primary producers were obliged to reserve a portion of the surplus for a divine king as tax. This was extremely necessary in order to generate capital. Monumental structures not only signified the concentration of the surplus of the society, but also distinguished cities from villages. A lot of temples were constructed in the Sumerian cities. However, many magazines and workshops were attached to them. Each temple had a big granary. Many examples of this trend can be noticed. The grand tombs of pharaohs dominated the Nile Valley. Likewise, the pyramids and temples of the Maya cities are quite well known. Therefore, it can be said that the social surplus in Sumer was delivered to the god and kept in the granary of his temple. All officials used to serve the divine pharaohs. Surplus was used to support the citizens who were not involved in the business of production of food. As the citizens gathered food from the royal granaries or the temples, they became dependent upon them. However, it is noteworthy here that such people as priests, military officials and civil leaders used to have more share from the surplus, and gradually became members of the ruling class. Because of this social status, members of the ruling class were not supposed to do any manual work. Citizens belonging to the lower social class were guaranteed security by these officials, and they also did not have to do any intellectual work, that was generally considered much tiring and confusing than the usual physical work. This fundamentally divided the society into two classes, the upper class and the lower class. Each of the two classes had there respective roles and responsibilities towards each other. The ruling class was obliged to develop recording systems and excel in the field of science. The Egyptian pharaohs and administrators of the Sumerian Temples required a system of recording in order to make the system intelligible to the successors. Therefore, the need of invention of writing was felt. Writing is the most fundamental means and symbol of civilization. With the creation of script and writing, the clerks were able to elaborate such fields of science as geometry, arithmetic and astronomy. This allowed accurate estimation of the tropic year, which in turn, led to the formulation of calendars. Rulers used these calendars to understand the cycles of operations involved in agriculture and facilitated the farmers accordingly. However, because of the difference of language, the Babylonian, Maya and Egyptian calendars differed a lot from one another. Meanwhile, other specialists excelled in artwork. They made sculptures of beasts and humans. Various styles, forms and models of art were created in the Indus, Egyptian, Maya and Sumerian civilizations and they greatly excelled in the field of arts and crafts. A portion of the concentrated surplus was used to import raw materials that were not found locally for making products. All regions from Egypt to Byblos heavily participated in trade. Mesopotamia and Indus Valley were linked by commerce. The first cities depended greatly on distant trade much more than Neolithic villages. Thus, specialist craftsmen in cities were granted raw materials. They had opportunities of employment and also felt safe and secure in the State organization. Cities became homes to the craftsmen to which, they could relate to both economically and politically. Highlighting the significance and contribution of individuals and groups in bringing a societal change in the city life-span, Fustel de Coulanges said: The social tie was not easy to establish between those human beings who were so diverse, so free, so inconstant. To bring them under the rules of a community, to institute commandments and ensure obedience, to cause passion to give way to reason, and individual right to public right, there certainly was something necessary, stronger than material force, more respectable than interest, surer than a philosophical theory, more unchangeable than a convention; something that should dwell equally in all hearts, and should be all-powerful there. (Marcus and Sabloff 4). The aforementioned ten criteria “exhaust the factors common to the oldest cities that archaeology, at best helped out with fragmentary and often ambiguous written sources, can detect” (Childe 16). Cities differ from region to region depending upon the cultures of the respective regions. However, analysis of the archaeology of ancient cities suggests that many of them shared similar patterns of development, though things with same purpose and meanings were different in different cultures. Works Cited: Childe, Gordon. “The Urban Revolution.” The Town Planning Review. vol. 21. no. 1. pp. 3-17. 1950. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. . Marcus, Joyce, and Sabloff, Jeremy A. “The Ancient City: New Perspectives on Urbanism in the Old and New World.” pp. 3-26. n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. . “The Birth of Civilization.” pp. 1-39. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. . Read More