According to scholars, the key elements associated with a ‘civilization’ generally include the following requirements: cities and a system of government; creation of enforceable laws; formalized religion; social stratification; specialization of labor; writing and record keeping; comprehension of mathematical principles; engineering; metallurgy; and support for the arts.

Each of these inter-related criteria is vital to the creation of a nominal civilization, with the very emphatic exception (in my opinion) of the establishment of any formalized state-sponsored religion. Organized religion has no place in a truly civilized society – as history has repeatedly shown.

The first civilization emerged in ancient Sumer around 3,200 BCE; prior to this, human social development had been dominated by hunting and gathering. During the Neolithic Era, people began farming, domesticating animals, making and using tools and establishing villages. They also kept detailed records. These innovations paved the way for the development of civilization.

Advanced societies initially emerged in fertile river valleys because the environmental conditions were conducive to supporting larger populations.

The development of civilization can’t be explained by environmental factors alone, however. Most of the required elements contain a human component. A civilization can be viewed as a group of people who live together in a single place and share a (rigid) social, political, economic and religious structure.

With the rise of civilization comes the development of culture. This ultimately leads to cultural diffusion and the spread of “civilization” through conquest, migration, and trade.

Religion was central to Sumerian society, and nearly every aspect of their culture was dominated by it. Religious beliefs produced moral codes of conduct, which gave birth to formal laws. Legal concepts like restitution, retaliation and punishment for false accusations became streamlined. This led to the creation of the ‘Code of Hammurabi.’

Hammurabi developed and recorded an extensive code of laws: 282 in total. He claimed the laws were formulated with the authority of the gods, and to violate them was to commit both an earthly and a divine offense.

Of course, there were different sets of laws for the rich and the poor, just like we have today.

The code distinguishes between punishments for wealthy noblemen, commoners, and slaves. The priestly ruling class took its place high up in the power structure: these were the people who knew the will of the Gods, after all.

The phrase “an eye for an eye” represents what many view as a harsh sense of justice based on revenge – but the entire code is far more complex than that.

Although he was concerned with keeping order in his kingdom, this was not his sole motivation for creating the laws. When he became ruler Hammurabi only governed about fifty square miles of territory. As he conquered other city-states and the empire grew, he saw the need to unify the various groups he controlled under one system of “justice.”

Hammurabi understood that in order to achieve this goal he needed a universal set of laws covering all the people he conquered. And thus began the history of human subjugation.

“So it is written; so shall it be done.”