Settlements and Social Structure in the Ancient World

Introduction

Human settlements and societies varied greatly in antiquity. They ranged from small groups moving from place to place to large nations living in cities of stone or brick. In some settlements, all members were relatively equal, while in others, power was concentrated in the hands of rulers who were revered as gods. These differences did not come from biological differences among people but from adaptations to varying environments, from contacts with other societies, and, most important, from economic strategies. Generally, people in small, mobile groups were relatively equal and showed little occupational specialization. Large societies, especially those dependent on agriculture, tended to show relatively high degrees of social inequality and specialization. Religious beliefs provided justifications for social structures and ethical principles for guiding social relations. The societies described below illustrate many of the variations in ancient social structures.

Mesopotamia

The word “Mesopotamia” comes from the Greek language and means “in the middle of rivers.” It refers to the area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Western Asia. In the area surrounding Mesopotamia, people in the hills of what are now Turkey, Iraq, and Iran learned to domesticate wild sheep and other herd animals, to spin and weave wool, and to cultivate grains. Because they produced more than they needed, they began to engage in trade and to establish villages and cities as trade centers. One of the most prominent early trade centers was the oasis city of Jericho, near the Mediterranean Sea at the northern edge of the Arabian peninsula, on the route between Asia and Egypt. Jericho, which was founded about 8,000 years ago, was a walled city with rectangular buildings that were at first made with reed and mud, then with baked clay, and finally of bricks.

About 3300 b.c.e., large cities grew up on the fertile plains between the Tigris and Euphrates in a land that was called Sumer. The harvests that supported such cities as Kish, Lagash, Eridu, and Uruk were made possible by extensive networks of irrigation canals. Creating and maintaining these canals required a large labor force and a high degree of social organization, and this tended to concentrate power in the hands of priest-kings, who ruled over the cities. The surplus food, in addition, produced varied classes of people for administration, trade, crafts, and other occupations. Religion supported the entire social structure. Great temples erected on terraces of bricks were the physical and spiritual centers of these cities.

The Sumerians were conquered by the Akkadians under Sargon of Akkad in approximately 2334 b.c.e. Under the Akkadians, the ruler became regarded as a god, and society became even more centralized around the person of the ruler. Powerful rulers also characterized the Assyrian and Babylonian states that followed the Akkadians. As social organization became more complex, however, it became necessary to create rules for living beyond the spoken commands of kings and their officials. Several rulers attempted to establish systems of laws. The best known of these systems was the code of the Babylonian king Hammurabi (r. 1792-1750 b.c.e.).

Hammurabi’s code gives us some insight into the social classes of Babylonian society because the laws differed depending on whether the person in a legal case was an awilum, a muskenum, or a wardum, suggesting that ancient Mesopotamian society, at least at this time, was divided into three categories. It is clear that the wardum was a slave, a person who could be bought or sold. Muskenum seem to have been people employed by the royal palace, who used property but did not own it. Awilum were apparently independent owners of property.

Proto-Indo-European society

Most of the languages of Europe and India and some other languages such as Iranian (Persian) and Armenian are related. This means that they all descend from a common language, known as Proto-Indo-European. Although there is debate about the original homeland of the Proto-Indo-Europeans, they probably lived in the far eastern part of Europe and the western part of Central Asia.

The society of the early Indo-European peoples appears to have been divided into three classes: priests, warriors, and herder-cultivators. This social division may have been the basis of the self-classifications of later Indo-European speakers. The Proto-Indo-Europeans sacrificed horses, which were important animals in their culture, and engaged in war raids to steal cattle.

The linguistic evidence suggests that the Proto-Indo-Europeans were patrilineal; they traced their families through the fathers. Analyses of common words in Indo-European languages also indicate that their economy was based on the breeding of animals and that they lived in clusters of houses in extended families or clans. A warlike people, they also had fortifications consisting of high walls.

South Asia

The earliest civilization in the region now occupied by India and Pakistan is known as the Harappā civilization, after the ancient city of Harappā. The people of this society lived along the river Indus in cities of brick houses and canals laid out in checkerboard grids. They carried out extensive trade along the river and may have been in contact with the ancient Sumerians.

About 1500 b.c.e., according to most historians, an Indo-European people known as the Aryans began migrating from the northwest through the lands of the Harappā civilization and into the Ganges Valley. The Aryans had war chariots, which gave them military superiority, and they gradually came to control much of India. The caste system of India probably emerged as a result of the combination of the three Indo-European classes—Brahmans (priests), Kṣatriya (warriors), and Vaiśya (peasants)—with the conquered people, who were known as Śūdra, or people of the lowest class. The pariahs were people without a caste and came to be considered below even the lowest caste. In addition to these major castes, India gradually developed numerous subcastes, known as jatis, that defined occupational groups. By about 600 b.c.e., kingdoms and republics, based on towns, had emerged throughout northern India, and the economy had become increasingly complex, with growing numbers of artisans and merchants.

New religious teachings appeared in the changing social environment of South Asia, including the Buddhist religion (sixth or fifth century b.c.e.). Much of India was united under the rulers of the Mauryan Dynasty in the fourth century b.c.e., and the Mauryan emperor Aśoka (r. 269-238 b.c.e.), took up the Buddhist faith and supported Buddhist missionaries to other countries. When South Asian political and religious ideas spread into many parts of Asia, Buddhism became part of many Asian social systems.

Iran

The place name “Iran” comes from “Aryan.” After 1500 b.c.e., Iran, which lies between the Punjab in South Asia and Iraq in West Asia, was invaded by two waves of Indo-Europeans. The first wave was made up of groups known as the Sogdians and Bactrians and the second by groups known as the Medes and the Persians. These Indo-European newcomers came into contact with the earlier Mesopotamian societies, and by conquering these societies and adopting some of their cultural practices, the Indo-Europeans began to change into empires on the Mesopotamian models. The empire of the Medes appeared at about 715 b.c.e. One hundred and fifty years later, the Persians defeated the Medes and established the Persian Empire.

Mesopotamian ideas of kingship became deeply rooted among the Persians. Elaborate ceremonies were practiced at court, subjects of the Persian king were regarded as his slaves, and subjects were expected to prostrate themselves before the king. The empire was administered in a highly systematic fashion. It was divided into twenty districts, known as satrapies, which were taxed in fixed amounts. Royal roads connected the central administration, based in Persepolis, with outlying provinces.

Greece

One of the earliest complex societies in the area of Greece developed about 2600 b.c.e. on the island of Crete, in the Mediterranean across from the southern tip of mainland Greece. The Cretan society, known as Minoan, was based on seagoing and trading activities and established cities at harbors. Many archaeologists believe that women held influential positions among the Cretans.

During roughly the same period that some Indo-European groups invaded India, others filtered down through mainland Greece to Crete, where the newcomers established their rule by 1425 b.c.e. Throughout the Greek world, a social order dominated by aristocratic charioteers living in large fortresses began to emerge about 1600 b.c.e. Known as the Mycenaean era, this warrior society lasted until roughly 1100 b.c.e., and the society described in the Homeric poems is based on traditions and legends from this time.

Settlements around the Mycenaean fortresses led to the growth of city-states. City-states were small independent powers. Although virtually all city-states were ruled by kings and aristocrats early in the histories, during the seventh century b.c.e., many developed into oligarchies (rule of a few, wealthy men) or democracies (rule of all citizens). Even in democracies, such as Athens in its classical period, the citizens made up only a small portion of the residents in a city-state because there were also many slaves and resident foreigners. Sparta, another celebrated city-state, became a military society after conquering the neighboring Messenians in wars in the eighth and seventh centuries b.c.e. As a result of the war, Sparta became organized into the spartiates, or full citizens who were in permanent military training; the perioeci, or inhabitants of the countryside who had few rights and had to give military service on demand; and the helots, or slavelike peasants who were required to give half their harvests to the spartiates.

Rome

Rome is believed to have been established about 750 b.c.e. through the joining of the Latins and Sabines under the influence of the Etruscans. The Etruscans were a nationality believed to have arrived in Italy from West Asia. The early population of the area around Rome consisted of shepherds, peasants, and landowners, with some artisans in the city itself.

The main social classes that emerged in Roman society were known as patricians, or aristocrats, and plebeians, or common people. The patricians were supported by their clientela, or dependents. After the Romans did away with their monarchy and became a republic, about 500 b.c.e., the economic and legal disadvantages of the plebeians led to a series of class struggles, until about 300 b.c.e. These class struggles were solved partly by allowing plebeians to hold high political office and partly by Rome’s military expansion, which benefitted members of both groups.

Rome extended its power throughout the Mediterranean world, but Roman soldiers alone would not have been able to hold such an enormous expanse of territory. Gradually, the ruling classes of all areas within Roman control came to identify themselves and their interests with Rome. Rome itself changed from a republic to an empire, and its social and political structure came to resemble the absolute monarchies of Mesopotamia and Persia. Under the emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305 c.e.), the citizens of the empire became subjects. The class system of the empire had also changed by Diocletian’s time, as peasants became serfs, known as coloni, who were permanently tied to the land on large estates of powerful landholders.

The Roman emperor Constantine the Great (r. 306-337 c.e.) converted to Christianity, and gradually Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire. Christian beliefs and the Christian Church hierarchy became an important part of social and political life in and around the empire.

Egypt

The best-known early settlements and societies on the African continent were established in the northeastern corner, along the fertile banks of the Nile River. The periodic floods of the Nile brought rich mud and silt to its shores, bringing concentrations of people who established villages. With the growth of population and increased harvests, kingdoms emerged in Upper and Lower Egypt about 3000 b.c.e. When these two kingdoms were united, a single ruler, known as the pharaoh, took control of Egypt.

Most of the people of Egypt were peasants. However, there were also powerful nobles, feudal lords of the provinces of Egypt. There was therefore a continual tension between the centralizing force of the pharaoh and the competing forces of the feudal lords. When the pharaoh was weak, the lords struggled with each other to dominate Egypt. The pharaohs succeeded in concentrating the control of Egyptian society, however, and Egypt continued to be a highly centralized civilization with a peasant population after it fell under the political dominance of Persia (525-332 b.c.e.), the Greeks (332-30 b.c.e.), and the Roman Empire (30 b.c.e.-642 c.e.).

Sub-Saharan Africa

Above the Sahara Desert, Egypt and the northern coast of West Africa were part of the Mediterranean world and became parts of the Roman Empire. Below the Sahara, though, stretches an enormous continent. Until about 10,000 b.c.e., the Sahara was a grassy plain. As the climate changed, this plain became a desert, and people moved southward into the area of what is now Nigeria in sub-Saharan West Africa. About 2000 b.c.e., early West Africans, probably living around the Niger River, discovered agriculture. This promoted an increase in population and led to further southward movement. From roughly 200 b.c.e. to the beginning of the common era, people speaking related languages known as Bantu languages spread out through most parts of the continent. These Bantu speakers often displaced the ancestors of those today known as Khoisan and Mbuti (formerly known as Pygmy). About 200 b.c.e., the use of iron was probably introduced into sub-Saharan Africa from Egyptian culture through the Meroe civilization on the Nile River, and this helped the Bantu speakers in their settlement of the continent.

African societies were divided into many ethnic groups, and they did not have any single social pattern or economic activity. Nevertheless, some social structures were apparently common among these ethnic groups. Extended family was generally seen as the basis of social life, and marriages were thought of as unions between extended families. Lineages, groups of related families who could trace descent from common ancestors, created larger social organizations. The eldest male of the most senior family was frequently the chief or headman of a village.

East Asia

The most influential society of East Asia developed in China. About 6000 b.c.e., people in what is now China began to cultivate millet and rice and to use stone tools for clearing land. From 3000 to 2000 b.c.e., the surplus food production led to complex settlements, warfare, and elaborate systems of social status. In about 1600 b.c.e., the Shang Dynasty, the first historical kingdom of China, made its appearance. The people of the Shang made use of bronze tools and weapons. After 1200 b.c.e., they also made use of war chariots, which they may have adopted as a result of contact with Indo-Europeans in the West.

The Shang Dynasty possessed a hierarchy of priests, political officials, artisans, and peasants, all under a hereditary king. The king’s position was supported by the worship of royal ancestors, suggesting the importance of extended family and kinship in Shang society. The Shang Dynasty was succeeded in Chinese history by the Western Zhou Dynasty (1066-771 b.c.e.) and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 b.c.e.). The centuries of the Western and Eastern Zhou were times of conflict, during which the kings lost power to local lords, much as the pharaohs had lost power to local elites during troubled times in ancient Egypt. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, however, the philosopher-teacher Confucius (551-479 b.c.e.) devised an ethical system based on social obligations and respect for family relations that became a fundamental part of Chinese social structure in the following centuries. The Zhou Dynasties were followed by the Qin (221-206 b.c.e.), the Western Han (206 b.c.e.-23 c.e.), and the Eastern Han (25-220 c.e.). During these centuries, power was once again centralized under Chinese emperors, and the Chinese state developed an elaborate bureaucracy involved in guiding and regulating the society.

Chinese social patterns greatly influenced other areas of East Asia. After apparent settlement by waves of immigrants from Korea, Japan established the Yamato state in the Kofun period (c. 300 c.e.-710 c.e.). The Yamato state was culturally dominated by China, and by about 700 c.e., a bureaucratic state modeled on that of China was established in Japan. Many elements of Chinese social structure also entered Vietnam, which came under direct Chinese rule in 43 c.e., and Korea.

The Americas

According to most scholars, the Americas were settled some time during the Ice Age when the ancestors of Native Americans crossed from Asia by means of a land bridge between Siberia and North America. As these early settlers spread out through North and South America, they developed an enormous variety of social structures, from small, nomadic groups to large civilizations with sophisticated architecture and varied social classes.

A number of the ancient Native American societies were primarily hunters and gatherers. Others became settled societies, concentrating on agriculture. The cultivation of maize (corn) spurred the development of the Hopewell culture, which lasted from about 200 b.c.e. to about 200 c.e., in the Ohio and Illinois River Valleys. The surplus produced by the corn economy led to the creation of a privileged, wealthy class.

Some of the most complex social structures of ancient America developed in Mesoamerica (modern Mexico and Central America). As in Mesopotamia, the development of agriculture in this region provided the basis for permanent villages and cities. Between 6500 and 1500 b.c.e., people in Mesoamerica learned to cultivate maize (corn), beans, and squash. About 1500 b.c.e., villages began to appear, and soon after, the Olmec civilization appeared in what is now Mexico. Contact with the Olmecs may have influenced the development of Maya civilization in Guatemala and the Yucat n Peninsula of Mexico. Maya society was apparently highly unequal, characterized by a vast gap between the common people and the rulers and hereditary nobles. Warfare for obtaining slaves and human sacrifices appears to have been one of the main preoccupations of the nobles. Maya settlements are best known for their large stone buildings, particularly for their large ceremonial pyramids. Most common people, though, probably lived in wooden structures around the stone pyramids, palaces, and courts that remain today.

In South America, complex societies began to develop in the region of the Andes Mountains, along the Pacific Coast, about 2300 b.c.e. Little is known about the early complex societies of the Andes, but these influenced later societies, such as the Chimu, the Tiahuanoco, and the Inca.

Oceania

The area containing the islands of the Pacific Ocean is often referred to as Oceania. It covers an enormous expanse of territory, from Australia to Hawaii to Easter Island. New Guinea and Australia and some of the other islands of Oceania were settled 30,000 to 40,000 years ago by dark-skinned ancestors of the Melanesians and Australian Aborigines. The Polynesian inhabitants of Oceania are believed to have moved from mainland Southeast Asia into the islands of Indonesia. They began traveling into the Pacific Ocean in canoes about 2000 b.c.e., and by 500 c.e., they had settled much of the vast region of Oceania.

Irving Goldman, in his book Ancient Polynesian Society, divided the social structure of much of Oceania into three categories. In New Zealand, Tikopia, Manihiki, and Rakahang, there were continual gradations of social status, without clear class divisions. In a second category, including Easter Island, Mangaia, and Niue, political power was in the hands of skilled war leaders, although hereditary chiefs had some traditional, religious influence. In the highly stratified societies of Tahiti, Tonga, Mangareua, and Hawaii, clearly delineated noble and common classes were present, and marriage between the two classes was forbidden. The chiefs or kings were not only powerful, but also sacred and their persons were surrounded by rituals and rules known as tabu (taboos).

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