I think we are doing a serious wrong when we say that societies turn to civilizations when they settle in one place and lose the sense of commonality with those around them, banding together with their own beliefs, customs, and in some cases languages. We feel this change occurs when people agree to live together in accordance with an understood and often written set of guidelines to govern their behavior and develop a surplus in staple goods so they can work to develop new technologies and new ideologies as well as establishing a means of defense to protect their luxuries the surplus allows.


With these as the guidelines most commonly accepted for what a society needs to be considered a civilization, we tend to ignore any groups that we, in essence, do not like because they fail to fit our cookie cutter world. Would any of us declare that the Hebrew people were not civilized? They lived in accordance with a written set of guidelines that governed behavior, working to develop surpluses in staple goods to allow for the development of specialists in many different areas of society. They stood apart from those around them in beliefs, dress, and governance and their leaders established plans for defense to protect their society. Yet for all of this we do not study the great Hebrew civilization of the Middle East simply because they did not, at any time in the history of this region, rule over vast territories and the people within them. Instead they lived in the same basic area from ancient times predating the great Mesopotamian Civilizations through our modern world.

We also discount the Hunter-Gatherer societies of ancient times. While they did not live in one fixed location, instead often travelling over a vast range that may or may not have overlaped with other groups, they did have distinct customs and beliefs often setting them apart from other groups. They worked for a common good making sure everyone and everything within their society was protected from outsiders. They also worked to build a surplus allowing for a small amount of specialization and a sense of security against future times. Again we do not call them civilizations mainly because they did not live in one fixed location.