Table of Contents
Early High Civilisations in Asia and North Africa
Geographical and Environmental Foundations
The earliest high civilisations in North Africa, the Ancient Near East, and Asia emerged along major river systems. Examples include the Egyptian state on either side of the Nile, the Mesopotamian cultures between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers, the Indus or Harappan culture in South Asia, and the ancient Chinese states along the Yellow River (Huang He) and Yangtze River.
The crucial factor was the fertile alluvial soil deposited by these rivers, making large-scale agriculture possible and thus supporting urban settlement.
Identified Early Civilisations
- In the Ancient Near East, the primary examples are the Mesopotamian states in the region between the Euphrates and Tigris.
- In North-East Africa, the Egyptian kingdom straddling the Nile is among the first high civilisations.
- In South Asia, the Harappan culture along the Indus River is a key early civilisation.
- In East Asia, the Chinese states developing along the Huang He (Yellow River) and Yangtze are part of this early phase.
General Features of Early Civilisations
These early high civilisations typically show a number of shared characteristics:
- Sedentary agriculture in fertile river valleys, which allowed food surpluses.
- The development of cities and centralised political structures.
- Division of labour and social stratification.
- Writing or proto-writing systems (in some cases) and trade networks.
- Monumental architecture and administration. (While the article on Lernhelfer is brief, these are commonly accepted as features of early high civilisations.)
Significance
These civilisations represent independent centres of development in the ancient world. They show how human societies transitioned from small-scale, subsistence-based communities to complex, urbanised, state-organised societies. Because of their environmental settings and societal transformations, these regions are often described in scholarship as “cradles of civilisation”.