How old is human civilization?
To have a civilization, you need cities. The word Civilization comes from the Latin word civilis, the adjective form of civis, meaning a “citizen” or “townsman” governed by the law of his city. The conventional view holds that cities first formed after the Neolithic revolution. The Neolithic revolution brought agriculture, which made denser human populations possible, thereby supporting city development (Bairoch 1988, p. 3-4). The advent of farming encouraged hunter-gatherers to abandon nomadic lifestyles and to choose to settle near others who lived off of agricultural production. The increased population density encouraged by farming and the increased output of food per unit of land, created conditions that seem more suitable for city-like activities. Early cities developed in a number of regions of the ancient world. Mesopotamia can claim the earliest cities, particularly Eridu, Uruk, and Ur. Although it has sometimes been claimed that ancient Egypt lacked urbanism, in fact several
