Group 2: Video: What was the ethnicity of the Ancient Egyptians? What made such a great civilization possible and how did the ancient Egyptians order their society? Discuss the similarities and differences between Ancient Egypt and Nubia. (Wallech, pp. 52-75).“Gift of the Nile – History of Africa with Zeinab Badawi.” (Links to an external site.)

An Example of a Discussion Board Response

Question: Do you agree with the contention that the first advanced civilizations emerged in Mesopotamia and Egypt sometime before 3000 B.C.E.?

How to respond: In your answer, you must let the reader know what a civilization is, that is, define civilization before assessing whether societies of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt can be called advanced civilizations or not. Be sure to cite sources of information, particularly the assigned reading.

Answer: For a society to qualify as a civilization, it must exhibit certain political, social, economic, and technological characteristics. These include: cities as administrative centers; a political system built upon the control of a defined territory rather than kinship connections; involvement in specialized, non-food-producing activities; social stratification based on accumulation of wealth; monumental building; a writing system; long-distance trade; and advances in science and the arts (Bulliet et.al., 23). Societies in both Mesopotamia and Egypt had all of these traits and thus can be considered advanced civilizations. Considering writing, for example, there was cuneiform and hieroglyphics, respectively (Bulliet et.al., 35; 40).

Work cited

Richard W. Bulliet et al., The Earth and its Peoples: A Global History, 6th edition (Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2015).