Conclusion

The best way to create a meaningful definition of Western civilization is to study its history, which begins in Mesopotamia and Egypt; early societies there influenced the later civilization of Greece. Cities first arose in Mesopotamia around 4000 to 3000 B.C.E. Hierarchy had characterized society from the very beginning, but it, along with patriarchy, grew more prominent once civilization, larger populations, and political states with centralized authority became widespread.

Trade and war were constants, both aiming in different ways at profit and glory. Indirectly, they often generated cultural interaction by putting civilizations into close contact. Technological innovation was also a prominent characteristic of this long period. The invention of metallurgy, monumental architecture, mathematics, and alphabetic writing greatly affected people’s lives. Religion was at the center of society; people believed that the gods demanded everyone, from king to worker, to display just and righteous conduct. But not even their faith could protect the people of the early civilizations of the Mediterranean from the destruction inflicted by the Sea Peoples and from their own internal conflicts in a period of prolonged violence. Neither hierarchy nor central authority could preserve their prosperity, and a Dark Age began around 1000 B.C.E.