Urbanization Ancient History

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Urbanization

Definition

byJoshua J. Mark

published on 07 April 2014

Urbanizationis the process by which rural communities grow to formcities,or urban centers,

and, by extension, the growth and expansion of those cities. Urbanization began in

ancientMesopotamiain theUrukPeriod (4300-3100 BCE) for reasons scholars have not yetagreed on. It is speculated, however, that a particularly prosperous and efficient village attracted

the attention of other, less prosperous, tribes who then attached themselves to the successful

settlement.

The historian Lewis Mumford notes that:

...though permanent villages date only fromNeolithictimes, the habit of resorting to caves for the

collective performance of magical ceremonies seems to date back to an earlier periodThe outline of

thecityas both an outward form and an inward pattern of life might be found in such assemblages (1).

This process, then, gave rise to the densely populated centers which came to be known as 'cities.The historian Helen Chapin Metz proposes that the growth of the cities in Mesopotamia was the

result of the inhabitants struggling to cope with the environment. She writes:

The civilized life that emerged atSumerwas shaped by two conflicting factors: the unpredictability of

the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which at any time could unleash devastating floods that wiped out entire

peoples, and the extreme fecundity of the river valleys, caused by centuries-old deposits of soil. Thus,

while the river valleys of southern Mesopotamia attracted migrations of neighboring peoples and made

possible, for the first time in history, the growing of surplus food, the volatility of the rivers necessitated

a form of collective management to protect the marshy, low-lying land from flooding. As surplus

production increased and as collective management became more advanced, a process of urbanization

evolved and Sumeriancivilizationtook root (2).
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The Rise of the City

The earliest city to rise in the region of Mesopotamia is considered by modern-day scholars to be

Uruk, around 4500 BCE, and then that ofUraround 3800 BCE, both of which were then situated in

proximity to the banks of the Euphrates River. To theSumerians,however, the first city

wasEriduwhich was founded in 5400 BCE but probably was not a `city' in the same way thatUruk or Ur would be defined (see definition of City). In the myth ofInannaand the God of

Wisdom, the dictates of civilization, known as the meh, are taken from Eridu to Uruk and it is

thought the subject of this poem represents the shift in paradigm from a more pastoral way of life

(symbolized by Eridu) to one more urbanized (represented by Uruk). The structure of the city, and

the security of urban living, seems to have attracted the populace of the region to urban centers

although the theory has been suggested that the populace was forcibly removed from agricultural

holdings and re-located in the cities whose rulers then appropriated the lands for the state. This

theory, however, fails to account for the continuation of urbanization throughout the history of

Mesopotamia or its replication in other nations.

By the year 2600 BCE Ur was a thriving metropolis and, by 2900 BCE, was a walled city with apopulation of approximately 65,000. Urbanization, however, continued as the city expanded out

from the center and, in time, the once fertile fields which fed the populace were depleted. The

over-use of the land, combined with a mysterious shift in the Euphrates which drew the waters

away from the city, resulted in the complex finally being abandoned around 500 BCE. Eridu, for

perhaps similar reasons, was abandoned in 600 BCE and Uruk in 650 BCE. Though many factors

no doubt contributed to the decline of cities such as Ur (Sargon of Akkadplundered the city in

2340 BCE, for example, and repeated military excursions against the city persisted through the

ages with the Elamites finally sacking the city in 1750 BCE), it has been suggested that

urbanization and, especially, the over-use of the surrounding lands forfarming,was a central

cause.

Urbanization & Overuse of Resources

At the center of Ur, as with all of the cities in ancient Mesopotamia, was the greattemplewhich

was the locale of ceremonial, commercial and social functions. Religious activities, such as

festivals, were the main social gatherings of the time and these occasions were often used to

distribute surplus food and supplies to the populace of the city. The priests of the temple, who

were also the rulers of the city from about 3400 BCE, were responsible for this distribution and

relied heavily on the farmers of the region to supply such surplus as they needed (a role which

would eventually be taken over by the king, as royalty superseded the priestly class in power in

the third millennium BCE with the emergence of the warrior-king known as the 'Lugal, meaning

Big Man). This excess production of the countryside not only supplied the population of the citywith food but also increased long-distancetradewith other cities along the Euphrates such as

Tikrit and Eridu. As urbanization continued, however, the need for more and yet more raw

materials depleted the natural resources of the region and, eventually, led to a lack of necessary

assets and the abandonment of the city.

Egypts Answer to Urbanization

Urbanization spread from Mesopotamia to Egypt and, from there, toGreeceand it seems, early

on, that the lesson of the city of Ur, and others, was heeded by later urban centers. In Egypt,

especially, great care was taken with the land to prevent the less desirable consequences of

urbanization from toppling the great cities ofPharaohso that focus could remain steady oncultural aspects such as the development ofwriting,architecture, laws, administration, sanitation,
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trade, and craftsmanship (all thought to have originated in Mesopotamia at Uruk). Professor

George Modelski, of the University of Washington, writes:

Some students of the ancient era have been known to argue that, unlike Mesopotamia, Egypt lacked

anything that could be regarded as cities in modern terms. That great country did have temples,

palaces, and cemeteries, often of monumental proportions, as early as the fourth and third millennia,but its capitals seem to have lacked remarkable size and have left little evidence either of intellectual life

or of commercial activity. As John A. Wilson put it: `For nearly three thousand years, until the founding

ofAlexandria,Ancient Egypt was a civilization without a single major city.

This claim, however, is countered by Professor M.E. Smith of Arizona State University who claims

that:

Because archaeologists have failed to find large cities in Egypt prior to Akhenatens capital at Amarnain

the New Kingdom period (1350 BCE) Egypt has sometimes been contrasted to Mesopotamia as a

`civilization without cities. This label masks a distinctive form of urbanism, howeverEgypt did not lack

cities; rather its urban systems were structured differently from the more familiar form of Mesopotamiancities (The SageEncyclopedia of Urban Studies, 26).

Egypt, it seems, understood both the benefits and the costs of urbanization and opted for

dispersed urbanization characterized by smaller, more specialized urban settlements (26). This

same paradigm holds true for the urban centers of the Maya, at least in their planning, but the

seemingly universal progression of urbanization led to the depletion of natural resources and, as

Smith notes,

Nearly all ancient urban societies engaged in deforestation, often with disastrous consequences for soils

and the water table. In temperate latitudes forests were cut down for firewood and construction

materialsIn tropical forest settings, forests were cleared for agricultural production. Most ancient cities

were ultimately destroyed or abandoned (27).

The Rise & Fall of Cities

The artificial environment of the city, which subjugated the surrounding natural environment to

the needs of the populace, consistently is seen to eventually deplete and destroy the very

resources which gave rise to the city. As urbanization increased, rural lands decreased and, as

Mumford writes,

...the blind forces of urbanization, flowing along the lines of least resistance, show no aptitude for

creating an urban and industrial pattern that will be stable, self-sustaining, and self-renewing. On the

contrary, as congestion thickens and expansion widens, both the urban and the rural landscape undergo

defacement and degradation, while the unprofitable investments in the remediesserve only to promote

more of the blight and disorder they seek to palliate (14).

This cycle of rise and fall of cities is seen repeatedly in many cultures around the world. Why it

happened so frequently in some regions, such as Mesopotamia, and not in others, such as Greece,

is a question still debated by scholars and historians. Some assert it is simply a matter of over-

population (as in the case of the Maya) while others point to an overuse of the land (as at Ur and

other Mesopotamian cities). Neither answer is completely satisfactory and most likely it is a

combination of many factors, a lack of forethought among them, which led to the destruction or

abandonment of so many ancient cities.
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Urbanization Ancient History