Blog Post 7

I think that the emergence of agriculture did lead to the eventual rise of the state because the different communities were able to expand and build into their own large-scale states due to the ability to harvest different plants and domesticate different types of animals.  The start of the Neolithic period allowed for culture, religion, and communities to start and expand.

After the Paleolithic period, the Neolithic period started, which was when humans made the transition from hunting and gathering into agricultural production.  The Near East was the first place to switch to an agricultural way of life and this change made for a sense of community in states around the world.  The southern part of the Fertile Crescent was where the Neolithic Revolution began.  Now the Fertile Crescent is not very fertile but there have been remains of domestic cattle and stone tools meant for harvesting crops found there.  The conditions of this area were so good that it allowed for humans to become  sedentary, meaning they could cultivate the land and settle in this one area year round.  This was a very big step in the start of building up the state in different areas because instead of humans moving around very often during their hunter-gatherer phase, they wanted to stay in one spot so they could grow food and raise animals.  By doing this, they began to have people that permanently lived by them instead of always moving around.  These communities were able to begin because humans lived permanently near each other and then they were able to help each other out in the long term.

These ancient cities rose during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period which basically just means that it was the period in history before humans began to make pottery.  During the PPNA, there was  large sedentary communities, communal structures, communal granaries and the practice of burying their dead underground.  These communities were what made religion easily rise.  During the PPNB phase, the large communities turned into communities that were a bit more complex.  They had walls that surrounded each community, and the community domesticated plants and animals.  They also remembered their dead by making plastered heads of their relatives that have died.  This new way to remembered the deceased added to the growing religious practices around the world.  These early cities were able to trade with each other making new kinds of food available, and allowing each one’s culture to expand and combine into the future.