My theme with this blog until now has been to present life five millennia ago, in order to make understandable the setting of my novels. We will continue to go deeper after this, but I think it’s time to take stock of where we have come. Starting with the last few Ice Ages, separated by periods of global warming, we have worked our way from the Last Glacial Maximum up to the Holocene where the northern hemisphere was again well irrigated, leading to the Neolithic invention of agriculture, and on through the Chalcolithic up to the Early Bronze Age.
In the Early Bronze Age, 5,203 years ago, everyday life in Mesopotamia, the West coast of Asia, and Egypt was organized more like life today, radically different from life at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum or even the early (pre-pottery) Neolithic. Now, don’t stress over that statement. It’s obvious, at least on the surface. Let’s compare life in those three eras with today.
Regional population collapse followed initial agriculture booms in mid-Holocene Europe (no comparable data for west Asia)
Source: Shennan, Stephen et al. Op. cit. See Bibliography.
Geometric Growth in Food Production. At the Last Glacial Maximum, man was still a hunter-gatherer, and despite our fantasies about such a life, it was hard, brutal, exhausting, never-ending work. All activity was dedicated to feeding the tribe and maintaining shelter, stone tools, and clothing.
In the Neolithic, man invented agriculture (the sowing of grains, taming and tending of flocks and herds, applying the strength of animals to some of the heavier chores), pottery (to cook in, to store excess grain and water, and to ferment grain into beer), reed and then wooden boats (for fishing, to ferry travelers to shorter routes) , the wheel (to ease the moving of loads), smelting copper (more durable tools), advanced tools (looms, hinges, fasteners, saws, weapons, utensils), and construction with sunbaked clay bricks (in alluvial locations where building stone was rare).
In the Early Bronze Age, man irrigated large fields of grain surrounding fortified cities, thus producing reliable excesses of food, which freed up inventive men to work full-time in crafts and trading their services for food and for other crafts and services. Such specialists quickly invented cylinder seals, the potter’s wheel, accounting scripts, a phonetic system of writing, massive brick and stone architecture, literature… trends that continue to this day. Droughts, blights, and plagues would inflict setbacks in population growth, before growth returned to an upward trend. A number of setbacks are evident in the above graph, one being catastrophic for several hundred years before resuming growth at a much slower rate.
Food production continues to fuel global population growth. The current Ebola crisis and the WWI flu epidemic slowed recent growth, but historic setbacks like the Medieval Black Plague and mutations of old killers like TB still lurk as major, even existential threats to future growth.
City of Mari in Middle Bronze Age. Inner circular fortification would be Early Bronze Age. Grain fields and gardens surrounding city.
Source. S.O.S. Mesopotamia Wiki.
Crowded City living. At the Last Glacial Maximum, men still lived in scattered, small, mobile groups which were able to follow herds and seasonal wild grains and other food sources. Hunter-gatherers’ primary sustenance came more from meat than from veggies, primarily due to availability.
In the Neolithic, man began gathering on fertile land, and increasingly concentrated his diet upon grains and other crops rather than meat. Cooperation within a group of farmers allowed them to more efficiently plant, sow, irrigate, harvest, and store their produce, as-well-as erect homes and corrals, and increasingly important: to protect themselves. This led to ever larger grouping and fortified towns in the best located and most fertile land, usually by a river.
By the Early Bronze Age, the city of Uruk contained 50-80,000 in a 2 sq. mile walled enclosure, and other Mesopotamian cities were comparable. However, 50-80,000 people produced a lot of sewage, and the only drains were the streets. The stench would be offensive to our modern sensibilities, but it wouldn’t have been much worse than Dickensian London. After initial exposures and epidemics, the surviving population would grow natural immunities and the primary epidemiological threat would be new diseases transmitted along the rapidly expanding trade routes.
Increasing urbanization remains the dominant trend throughout the world today.
Royal Standard of Ur: civil side. Stratification of people: Mr. Big and cronies on top. Herdsmen and craftsmen in middle. Day laborers on bottom.
Royal Standard of Ur in British Museum–civil side. Source.
Oppressive Government Rule. At the Last Glacial Maximum, men already experienced tyranny, as human nature does not gravitate to liberality when communal life is at risk every day. Tribal units being small, they would be led by the biggest, strongest men, who could keep order and lead the hunt for big game. Keeping order would include policing primal taboos that foster the birthing and maturation of children to keep the numbers up, while keeping the internal violence down. Only an optimist could believe that such leaders were, in the main, sensitive and gentle. Granted, they could be murdered in a rebellion. But, then, who would lead? A sensitive soul? The leader of the coup—perhaps the man who dealt the coup de grace? We mustn’t project modernity back.
In the Neolithic, farming and animal husbandry probably began as a tribal activity. It was every bit as complicated as hunting and gathering, and it would have started as a supplement to that old way of life. The successful would be the first to cast off that old way. Agriculture would make obvious the lack of work produced by the slacker. It’s hard to fake work when the chores are measurable. So, we can imagine the first signs of a work ethic emerging on these early farms, and the first signs of labor-management strife, and resentment of those who had visibly more. Class structure would have begun with the proportional rewards of the more productive.
In the Early Bronze Age, after farming culture had evolved for millennia, disparities in individual wealth would be immense. From the Neolithic farms to the Early Bronze Age, murder and injustice (before city laws, there were tribal laws) distorted fair play in the accumulation of individual wealth. Hard-working men have needed to defend themselves since time immemorial. But, bad guys have a way of seizing power, and thus ramping up their wealth on the backs of everyone. Once they have enough money, they can buy decisions that further advance their advantages. Remember, we do not yet see written laws, and orally maintained laws are easily gamed. Under such conditions, government corruption and tyrannical abuse would be the law of the city, as we have seen in the beginning of the epic of Gilgamesh, and with the murderous burials of the Kings of Ur.
Most of today’s world suffers similar oppression under unaccountable governments, often guised in republican or democratic robes. Sooner or later, all realize they live in some form of “1984.”
Royal Standard of Ur: War Side. Mr. Big, bodyguards, personal war wagon on top level viewing prisoners. Ground troops in middle killing and taking prisoners. Wagon soldiers on bottom at walk, trot, canter, and gallop crushing opponents.
Royal Standard of Ur in British Museum–War Side. Source.
Government Monopoly on Force. At the Last Glacial Maximum, the small tribe of hunter-gatherers would already be, as previously described, ruled by a strongman. A larger tribe would have an advantage of force over a smaller tribe, but, if the smaller tribe was vigilant to growing threats, it could retreat beyond their reach more readily. Despite this advantage of mobility, however, there is strength in numbers, and as the weather grew conducive to agriculture, no doubt the tribes would have begun to grow. In conflicts, it’s safe to forecast that big tribes absorbed smaller tribes. But, there is really no archaeological evidence of a military class at that time.
In the Neolithic, as farming communities grew, there would be raiders who preferred theft to hard work. This would have led villagers to surround their settlement with stockades and moats, and to place the village to make use of natural obstructions (cliffs, lakes, rivers), and develop special defensive techniques to protect against raids (shooting from atop walls, and behind cover). These defenses would be manned by townsmen. Those who periodically served as leaders of militia wouldn’t represent a threat to city dwellers, because they used citizen soldiers.
By the Early Bronze Age, we see on the Standard of Ur that kings had acquired offensive armies that went abroad to conquer other cities, or to rout besiegers. Much of this manpower would have still come from conscripted militia. However, the king would hire a personal guard for his household, distancing himself. After the first signs of rebellion in the cities, or duplicity from the king, we would expect the elite families to form their own guards to protect their interests. The individual townsman would be powerless to defend himself against these government leaders. As power asymmetrically concentrates with the king, even elites prove unable to counter royal force. Townsmen and elites are conscripted to fight so the king can increase his wealth. And some of them are forced to die in the king’s tomb to accompany him into his afterlife as slaves.
In today’s world, the idea of an individual standing up against modern government is laughable—were it not so tragically demonstrated in the daily news. Terrorism attracts disenfranchised individuals to find asymmetrical strength in committing enervating atrocities. The old saying, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” once held a grain of truth, but today’s terrorist bands draw the worst, not the best, from society. Terrorism is now a cult for nihilists and anarchists, chronic losers–a form of narcissism inflamed by deceitful teachers to worship false gods designed to stimulate conformity, obedience, racism, demonic worship through sacrifice (murder and suicide), and a murderous frenzy against all they consider “other.”
Sheeple (soldiers, war wagon crews, courtesans, servants) wait to die at Ur King’s burial.
For background on this scene, see Post 23.
Conclusion. From the above, it should be clear that by the late Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Early Bronze Age, man had taken advantage of the global warming and was growing excess food. To do this, man had built ever-larger fortified villages of farmers, many big enough to be called a city today. Excess food meant that not everyone had to work the farms and herds, and craftsmen were able to apply their creativity to new products and services in exchange for food and other products and services, creating an economy and urban culture that we would recognize today. As wealth grew for some, city life became crowded, noisome, and crime-ridden. The rich were able to raise their own contingent of guards. The kings would have the largest force—if not, they would be replaced by the guy who did. Government would grow in a Darwinian pattern until corrupt tyrants ruled and owned a monopoly on armed coercion. Individuals would find themselves powerless, but unable to leave and restart because life outside the walls was even more violent. So, the people became sheeple and worked within the system as the lesser evil.
Now tell me that’s substantially different from the following 5,000 historically documented years up to today. Q.E.D.