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1、IBT-SAT小马过河—专业备考社区3.2CivilizationBetween4000and3000B.C.,significanttechnologicaldevelopmentsbegantotransformtheNeolithictowns.Theinventionofwritingenabledrecordstobekept,andtheuseofmetalsmarkedanewlevelofhumancontrolovertheenvironmentanditsresources.Alreadybefore4000B.C.,craftspeoplehaddiscovere
2、dthatmetal-bearingrockscouldbeheatedtoliquefymetals,whichcouldthenbecastinmoldstoproducetoolsandweaponsthatweremoreusefulthanstoneinstruments.xAlthoughcopperwasthefirstmetaltobeutilizedinproducingtools,after4000B.C.craftspeopleinwesternAsiadiscoveredthatacombinationofcopperandtinproducedbronze,a
3、muchharderandmoredurablemetalthancopper.ItswidespreadusehasledhistorianstospeakofaBronzeAgefromaround3000to1200B.C.,whenbronzewasincreasinglyreplacedbyiron.Atfirst,Neolithicsettlementswerehardlymorethanvillages.Butastheirinhabitantsmasteredtheartoffarming,theygraduallybegantogivebirthtomorecompl
4、exhumansocieties.Aswealthincreased,suchsocietiesbegantodeveloparmiesandtobuildwalledcities.BythebeginningoftheBronzeAge,theconcentrationoflargernumbersofpeopleintherivervalleysofMesopotamiaandEgyptwasleadingtoawholenewpatternforhumanlife.Aswehaveseen,earlyhumanbeingsformedsmallgroupsthatdevelope
5、dasimpleculturethatenabledthemtosurvive.Ashumansocietiesgrewanddevelopedgreatercomplexity,anewformofhumanexistence-calledcivilization-cameintobeing.Acivilizationisacomplexcultureinwhichlargenumbersofhumanbeingsshareanumberofcommonelements.Historianshaveidentifiedanumberofbasiccharacteristicsofci
6、vilization,mostofwhichareevidentintheMesopotamianandEgyptiancivilizations.Theseinclude(1)anurbanrevolution;citiesbecamethefocalpointsforpolitical,economic,social,cultural,andreligiousdevelopment;(2)adistinctreligiousstructure;thegodsweredeemedcrucialtothecommunity’ssuccess,andprofessionalpriestl
7、yclasses,asstewardsofthegods’property,regulatedrelationswiththegods;(3)newpoliticalandmilitarystructures;anorganizedgovernmentbureaucracyarosetomeettheadministrativedemandsofthegrowingpopulationwhilearmieswereorganizedtogain
