This repeated activity should help you become familiar with a process for understanding unfamiliar words anytime you encounter them in the course.

Take out your vocab tracker and be sure to record new and unfamiliar words on it according to your teacher’s instructions.

Agrarian civilizations stimulated humans to develop a whole new array of solutions to the challenges posed by living in larger and denser human communities. These solutions have varied dramatically over time, and they have often varied from region to region, showing the influence of geography and culture on how people adapt. All of these adaptations have contributed to the acceleration of collective learning.

You’ll use your knowledge of the origins of agriculture from the previous lesson to figure out how agriculture led to the first agrarian civilizations. It’s important for you to begin to formulate explanations for why cities and states emerged not long after agriculture was adopted in certain areas.

Preview

The development of agriculture allowed humans to abandon the foraging life that they had relied on for most of their history and settle down in one place. One of the many significant consequences of this development was the appearance of more densely populated communities like cities, states, and civilizations.

Key Ideas—Factual

Think about the following questions as you watch the video:

Part I

1. Why does David Christian claim that increasing complexity depends on agriculture?
2. What was the “secondary products revolution” and why was it so important to the spread of agriculture and the growth of cities and states?

Part II

3. What is an agrarian civilization?
4. Where did the first agrarian societies develop?
5. Why does David Christian say that "surpluses" are the key to cities?
6. Why does Christian argue that cities needed a "coordinating mechanism"?

Part III

7. What are the characteristics that all agrarian civilizations share?
8. Why does David Christian make the claim that writing accelerated collective learning? Do you agree with him?

Thinking Conceptually

How can geography and environmental factors influence the structure of a civilization? Think of one civilization from history and provide examples of how the formation or growth of that civilization was impacted by geography.

Early agrarian societies began forming in different locations around the world about 5,000 years ago. Generally located near fresh water sources like rivers, these societies shared common characteristics such as the storage of surplus food, a central ruler who commanded armies, organized belief systems, and social rank. Yet, each of these agrarian societies were also unique in the crops they produced, their forms of communication, and their cultural practices.

This article introduces you to early agrarian societies. You will use evidence from this article to assess how this more general information about early agrarian societies compares to the more specific information you’ll read in each of the articles in the Comparing Complex Societies collection.

Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. Remember, this should be a quick process!

Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Where and when did the first agrarian societies begin?
2. What is the difference between a city and a state?
3. What were the main differences between agrarian societies that emerged in Afro-Eurasia and those that were founded in the Americas?
4. What role did climate play in the formation of early agrarian societies?
5. Why did the formation of large agrarian societies happen more slowly in some regions of the world?
6. What did all early agrarian societies have in common?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. Why do you think early agrarian societies shared many of the same characteristics?

Comparing ancient agrarian complex societies will help you develop your historical comparison skills. By zooming in to learn about individual complex societies and then comparing across them, you will be able to understand the similarities and differences between how these societies developed and transformed over time. Because comparison is one of the key ways historians make sense of the past, you must engage in this historical thinking practice if you are to become better historians.

Reading
In this activity, you will use your close-reading skills to pull out information from each article and use it to complete the Comparison Tool.

In this activity, you will gather information from a variety of articles about the emergence of complex agrarian societies, and then identify similarities and differences between these societies.

Your teacher will either hand out or have you download the Comparing Complex Societies worksheet. Then, review the Comparison Tool (included in the worksheet) with your class to make sure you’re focusing on the right details when reading the articles. Your teacher will divide the class into small groups and assign each group two of the complex societies from the chart.

Next, read your assigned articles and complete Part 1 of the Comparison Tool (Identifying and Describing).

Once all groups are finished with Part 1 of the tool, write the similarities and differences your group found for your societies in the table your teacher created on the board or chart paper. Then, take a few minutes to read what other groups found in their articles and look for similarities and differences across all the societies.

Next, your teacher will assign each group a category from the table (geography and environment, political structure, culture and society, or decline and transformation). Look across your assigned category for all societies and choose the most important similarity and difference. Your group may determine importance in a variety of ways as long as you provide evidence for why you chose these similarities and differences as the most important. Be prepared to share out your choices and explanations.

Finally, you’ll individually write two thesis statements as an exit ticket for the following prompts:

• To what extent were these agrarian complex societies similar?
• To what extent were these agrarian complex societies different?

Your teacher will collect your worksheets to assess your knowledge of these societies and your comparison skills.

Mesopotamia means “land between two rivers” but it’s famous for its “firsts,” which include the first system of writing, the first law code, the concept of time, and the first empire. Mesopotamia’s geography and environment shaped the early agrarian societies that formed there, including the city-states of Sumer and Akkad. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers provided fertile soil for crops. The semi-arid climate helped harden the clay used for building monuments and for creating the tablets used to record the first writing system. But the lack of natural barriers left the Mesopotamian city-states vulnerable to invasions, which allowed empires to conquer the region.

This article is part of a set that describes the geographic, political, cultural, and societal characteristics of early agrarian complex societies. These articles will help you understand how early complex societies developed and how they transformed over time. In addition, you will conduct a comparison analysis of these societies to assess their similarities and differences.

Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. Remember, this should be a quick process!

Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How did geography and the environment shape the development of Mesopotamian societies?
2. What was the political structure of Mesopotamian societies and how did the environment shape politics?
3. What were the cultural characteristics of Mesopotamian society?
4. How was Mesopotamian society organized?
5. What led to the decline and transformation of Mesopotamian societies?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. How did Mesopotamian societies transform their environment and how did the environment transform Mesopotamia?

Ancient Egyptian society flourished for more than 3,000 years, thanks to the fertile Nile River Valley. The Nile was important for irrigating crops and trading with other societies. But Egyptians’ lives focused on more than just farming and trade. They excelled in mathematics, engineering, and medicine, building massive pyramids and tombs in honor of their pharaohs. While Egyptian society was organized in a hierarchical structure, women had more rights than in other ancient societies. But as New Kingdom pharaohs waged wars of expansion, the government weakened, which allowed foreign empires to take over the region.

This article is part of a set that describes the geographic, political, cultural, and societal characteristics of early agrarian complex societies. These articles will help you understand how early complex societies developed and how they transformed over time. In addition, you will conduct a comparison analysis of these societies to assess their similarities and differences.

Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. Remember, this should be a quick process!

Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How did geography and the environment shape the development of Ancient Egypt?
2. What was the political structure of Ancient Egypt?
3. What were the cultural characteristics of Ancient Egyptian society?
4. How was Ancient Egyptian society organized?
5. What led to the decline and transformation of Ancient Egypt?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. In what ways were the Egyptian and Mesopotamian environments similar and different?

Natural barriers protected China from external threats while its fertile river valleys allowed populations to soar and large, powerful states to develop. China was ruled by a series of hereditary monarchies called dynasties. The concept of the Mandate of Heaven was developed to help explain the dynastic cycle. As one dynasty grew weaker, periods of conflict and instability often followed until a new dynasty arose to take its place. Each dynasty retained some similarities but also adopted new social and cultural practices to secure their rule. This article explores the Shang, Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties that dominated ancient China.

This article is part of a set that describes the geographic, political, cultural, and societal characteristics of early agrarian complex societies. These articles will help you understand how early complex societies developed and how they transformed over time. In addition, you will conduct a comparison analysis of these societies to assess their similarities and differences.

Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. Remember, this should be a quick process!

Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How did geography and the environment shape the development of ancient China?
2. What was the political structure of ancient China? What were the achievements of the Chinese dynasties?
3. How did belief systems influence the culture of ancient China?
4. How was Chinese society organized?
5. What led to the decline and transformation of the Han Dynasty and how long did the dynastic system last?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. Was China’s political system more like Mesopotamia or more like Egypt? What environmental factors can help explain these similarities?

The Persians created a vast overland empire while the Greeks organized themselves in independent city-states. Eventually, the expansion of these two societies led to tensions and wars as they came into contact. Their differences in geography, government, and culture all played a role in causing these conflicts. Although both societies ultimately fell to a rising power in Macedon, their innovations continue to influence our world today.

This article is part of a set that describes the geographic, political, cultural, and societal characteristics of early agrarian complex societies. These articles will help you understand how early complex societies developed and how they transformed over time. In addition, you will conduct a comparison analysis of these societies to assess their similarities and differences.

Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. Remember, this should be a quick process!

Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How did geography and the environment shape the development of the Persian Empire and the Greek Peninsula?
2. What type of leader did the Persian Empire have? What were some ways that the empire was governed?
3. What were the major differences between the Persian and Greek political systems? Why did these two systems come into conflict?
4. How were the cultures of Greece and Persia shaped by their political expansion and conflicts ?
5. How were these two societies organized? What were their social hierarchies like?
6. What led to the decline and transformation of Persian and Greek societies?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. Of the ancient societies you’ve read about so far, who were the Greeks most like? What about the Persians? Are these similarities primarily geographic? Or are they political, cultural, or social?

Roman society began as villages on the hills around the Tiber River. Over time, the Romans expanded their territory to become one of the largest empires in history. One of the keys to their success was the Romans’ incorporation of conquered peoples’ customs and cultures. The ancient Romans borrowed from the Greeks, Egyptians, and Persians as they expanded and created a multicultural and multi-ethnic empire. But their impact didn’t die when the empire declined. Modern societies borrowed elements of their political structure, philosophy, and arts.

This article is part of a set that describes the geographic, political, cultural, and societal characteristics of early agrarian complex societies. These articles will help you understand how early complex societies developed and how they transformed over time. In addition, you will conduct a comparison analysis of these societies to assess their similarities and differences.

Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. Remember, this should be a quick process!

Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How did geography and the environment shape the development of Rome?
2. Who ruled Rome? How did this change over time?
3. How was Roman culture shaped by the empire’s expansion?
4. How was Roman society organized? Who had the most power? Who had the least?
5. What led to the decline and transformation of the Roman Empire? What replaced it?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. Why do you think we continue to be influenced by Roman culture?

India was divided into hundreds of kingdoms until the Mauryan Empire united them under one all-powerful ruler. The Mauryan Empire’s most famous ruler—Ashoka—communicated with his subjects by building large pillars inscribed with Buddhist teachings. These pillars reminded those living under Ashoka’s rule to be respectful of others while also demanding loyalty to the emperor. Ashoka also relied on a large bureaucracy to maintain his empire, but his successors weren’t as successful. Although the empire eventually fell, Ashoka’s legacy can still be seen in India today.

This article is part of a set that describes the geographic, political, cultural, and societal characteristics of early agrarian complex societies. These articles will help you understand how early complex societies developed and how they transformed over time. In addition, you will conduct a comparison analysis of these societies to assess their similarities and differences.

Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. Remember, this should be a quick process!

Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How did geography and the environment shape the development of Indian societies?
2. What type of ruler did the Mauryan have? What strategies did the ruler use to maintain power?
3. How did belief systems influence political systems in the Mauryan Empire?
4. How did belief systems influence Mauryan society, including how the society was organized?
5. What led to the decline and transformation of the Mauryan Empire? What replaced it?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. Elements of Ashoka’s reign can be seen in India today. What are some other examples of how ancient complex societies continue to influence our world?

The Maya built complex societies in the challenging environments of Mesoamerica. The ways in which they adapted to these geographic and environmental challenges highlight their societies’ complexity and the Maya’s innovative skills. The Maya engineered their landscape to provide water to their people. While the Maya had a complex hierarchical society with all-powerful kings ruling over the city-states, these kings also had a duty to communicate with the gods and provide their subjects with water. When droughts became more frequent, the Maya migrated and adapted to these conditions, which is why there are more than 7 million Indigenous Maya today.

This article is part of a set that describes the geographic, political, cultural, and societal characteristics of early agrarian complex societies. These articles will help you understand how early complex societies developed and how they transformed over time. In addition, you will conduct a comparison analysis of these societies to assess their similarities and differences.

Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. Remember, this should be a quick process!

Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How did geography and the environment shape the development of the Maya?
2. What types of rulers did Maya city-states have? What types of things did they do to maintain their power?
3. How was Maya culture shaped by their environment?
4. How was Maya society organized? Who were the most important people in Maya city-states?
5. What led to the decline of the Maya city-states? How did the Maya adapt and transform their communities?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. How did Maya societies transform their environment and how did the environment transform the Maya?

The West African empire of Mali began in the early thirteenth century after a ruler named Sunjata forged alliances and conquered the surrounding region. Situated along ancient trade routes near the Niger River, the Mali Empire became extremely wealthy. The empire reached its height during the reign of Mansa Musa, Mali’s most famous and richest emperor. Mansa Musa’s legendary hajj to Mecca impacted the economy of nearby societies and fascinated those who witnessed it. But as happened in most of these complex societies, internal political problems led to a transformation that was followed by the end of the empire.

This article is part of a set that describes the geographic, political, cultural, and societal characteristics of early agrarian complex societies. These articles will help you understand how early complex societies developed and how they transformed over time. In addition, you will conduct a comparison analysis of these societies to assess their similarities and differences.

Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. Remember, this should be a quick process!

Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How did geography and the environment shape the development of societies in the Sahel?
2. What types of rulers did the Mali Empire have? How did they govern?
3. How was Mali’s culture shaped by trade and geography?
4. How was Mali’s society organized? Who was at the top of the social hierarchy and who was at the bottom?
5. What led to the decline and transformation of the Mali Empire? What empire replaced it?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. How were the other societies you’ve read about shaped by trade and geography?
2. The Mali Empire formed much later than the other societies you have learned about in this unit. What elements did it share in common with the ancient societies you’ve learned about? How did it differ?

The primary source excerpts in this collection explore ancient complex societies, such as those in Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, and India. These sources provide information about how governments established and maintained power as agrarian societies grew more complex.

The primary source excerpts in this collection will help you assess how states expanded and how rulers maintained control over growing populations of diverse people. These sources complement the Comparing Complex Societies activity and article collection and will provide you with evidence to support, extend, or challenge what you’ve learned about these societies.

There are two different tools that could be used to help you analyze these primary sources, the Sourcing Tool and the Quick-Sourcing Tool. Your teacher will let you know which tool to use as you read through the sources in this collection.

From c. 1200 BCE to c. 700 CE a set of religions spread along trade routes to become the first world religions. These “portable, congregational religions” that include Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam appealed to people of all social classes and occupations. Those who accepted the tenets of the faith became part of the community of believers, which provided structure and meaning for large groups of people. These faiths shared common features such as a path to eternal salvation, but they were also distinctive in their practices and beliefs.

This article provides evidence to help you understand why certain religions became global in this period. These faiths connected people across vast areas and gave them a sense of community. You can use the evidence in this article to compare these religious communities with the complex societies you learned about in this lesson.

Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. Remember, this should be a quick process!

Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What are the common features of “portable, congregational religions” according to historians J.R. McNeill and William McNeill?
2. Why did these “portable, congregational religions” become popular during this time period, c. 1200 to 700 CE?
3. What is the one common theme or tenet that Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, and Islam all teach?
4. What is the caste system and what characterizes each level of this system?
5. What are the Purusharthas?
6. How did Buddhism begin and what are its “Four Noble Truths”?
7. What is the Eight-Fold Path about?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. How do you think rulers of early agrarian societies used belief systems to their advantage?

The research you complete for this activity will enable you to broaden and reinforce your understanding of the characteristics of agrarian societies.

Causation
As part of this activity, you have to convince others that your society made the most important contribution to the world. One way to do this is by examining the effects of your society's contributions. The more you engage in causal reasoning around this process, the more likely you are to have a compelling argument about why your society is the best.

Your teacher will divide the class into 10 groups. Working in your group, you’ll create a walk-through museum exhibit to illustrate the history and culture of one of the following ancient agrarian societies: Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, China (Shang to Han Dynasty), ancient Persians and Greeks, ancient Rome, the Mauryan Empire, Maya, or Mali. Each group will be assigned a society by your teacher. Your goal is to convince visitors to the museum that your group’s society made the greatest contribution to the world above and beyond that of the other societies. All members of your group need to collaborate to research your society and create a “walk-through” museum exhibit illustrating your society's “greatness.” Use the Research Worksheet to keep you on track.

Your teacher will let you know where you will be setting up your exhibit. Once all exhibits are set up, each group will present their projects to the class and the class will evaluate each group’s presentation using the Agrarian Societies Museum Project Checklist. Remember that the goal of each group should be to convince visitors to the museum that their society made the biggest contribution to history.

For the museum exhibit, your group will need to create four pieces that illustrate and emphasize the greatness of your agrarian society exhibit:

1. Visual artifacts: You will have poster board but think creatively!
2. Written information: Printed out or displayed digitally. Remember: in your own words.
3. Video: This could be in any creative format including but not limited to a documentary-type video, a music video that changes the lyrics to a popular song, or a news report. It should present some basic information about your society, including why your society has had the greatest impact on the world.
4. Interactive components: This could take a variety of forms, including games from the society or a “living member” of the society, for example.

Each of the components listed above should include information about your agrarian society's government, religion, environment, arts and culture, science and technology, economics, and society. The following chart lists the topics and the questions you should explore in your research:

Your group will be graded on:

• the quality and creativity of the four pieces you create
• the extent to which you made clear the characteristics of your society
• the degree to which your group creates a compelling and convincing argument about the importance of your society’s contribution to the world
• your classmates’ assessment of your project using the Agrarian Societies Museum Project Checklist
• your fellow group members’ assessments using the Collaboration Rubric

In this activity, you will explore the collapse of complex societies. This will help you understand that societies don’t always end for the same reason, and that multiple viewpoints can be used to explain how these societies collapsed or transformed. This activity builds on what you’ve already learned about early agrarian societies and asks you to think about the significance of the causes of collapse. In the end, you’ll make a claim about what you believe was the most significant cause of collapse for a particular society and justify it with reasoning. In addition, you’ll make a claim about the most historically significant causes of collapse, which adds another layer of complexity to the causation progression, deepening your causal reasoning skills.

Earlier in this lesson, you learned about some early complex societies of the past. Now, you’re going to explore the collapse of the societies you examined. Complete steps 1 through 4 with a small group. Complete the Making Claims step on your own.

Capturing Causes

1. Take out the Causation – Collapse worksheet. Your teacher will assign you to a group to work with.
2. Review the materials for the complex society you are taking a closer look at, and list as many causes for collapse as you can. You should have at least one short-, one intermediate-, and one long-term cause of the collapse of your complex society on the Causation Tool.

Categorizing Causes

1. Next, use the key to label the causes of collapse by type in the chart.
   • (P) Political – What type of government, organization, or power structure was there? Who was in charge? Did people vote or have a say?
   • (I) Innovation – What did they invent? Were there any new developments or technologies?
   • ($) Economic – What jobs were there? Did they use money? Did they trade?
   • (C) Cultural – What/whom did they worship? What/whom did they believe in? Did they have written language? Did they leave any artifacts behind, such as art, customs, sports, dress, language, music, dance, foods, celebrations?
   • (E) Environmental – How did they attempt to control or use the environment? What impact did the land, water, and nature around them have on the way they lived?
   • (S) Social – Were there different roles for men and women? Did they live in family units? Did they interact with other groups? Did they have a social structure (enslaved, priests, kings)?
2. Then, annotate the necessary and important causes of collapse.
   • Necessary – The event would not have happened without this cause. It was required. Circle all necessary causes.
   • Relevant – This cause was important, but not required, for the event to happen. It played a more secondary, supporting role. Underline all relevant causes.
   • (*) Triggering Event – The most immediate cause of an event. Put a star next to the triggering event.

Making Claims

1. Finally, working on your own, make a claim about the most significant cause that led to the collapse of the society. Make sure to back up your claim with evidence from the articles in Unit 7 and your past research. Use the sentence frames provided on the Causation – Collapse worksheet to help you write your claim, state your evidence, and then elaborate with your own reasoning. Also, identify the claim tester you used to check your claim, and remember to give your reasoning. Historical significance can be determined in several ways, and you can use the acronym ADE to help you determine significance:
   • Amount: How many people’s lives were affected by the cause/effect?
   • Depth: Were people living in the time period being studied deeply affected by the cause/effect?
   • Endurance: Were the changes people experienced as a result of this cause/effect long-lasting and/or recurring?