No one woke up in the city of Thebes in Egypt one morning and said, what a beautiful morning, I sure am living at the height of Egyptian civilization. Still, they're useful constructs, particularly when you're comparing one civilization to another. They're less useful when you're comparing a civilization to a non-civilization type social order, which is why we will try to avoid that. And yes, I am getting to the good boyfriend stuff. Patience, grasshopper. So what is a civilization? Well, diagnosing a civilization is a little like diagnosing an illness.