Describe Civilizations In The Ancient Mesopotamia (Essay Sample)

Ancient Mesopotamia
Name
Institution
Instructor
Subject
Date
Stratified, class-specific, patriarchal societies emerged in human history like the Ancient Mesopotamia arose due to Agricultural civilizations. In these civilizations, they usually, undermined the status of women and their potential in the society. In this scenario, these agricultural civilizations were characterized to be patriarchal in the essence that they were run by men. From this assumption, it means that men controlled almost everything from the cultural, economic and political life. Consequently, as these civilizations became more developed and renowned, the status of women deteriorated even further. All families were governed on the patriarchal basis and this situation, the husband was the head of the family and had the final say on the fundamental conditions and major decisions made within the family.
Additionally, in this patriarchal family setting, the family structure was under the control of men. All property and the institution of marriage were controlled by men and therefore women were subordinate to men and it was a normal condition for every woman to abide by that. In these scenarios, most of the patriarchal families were depicted by the fact that after marriage women were supposed to moved to orbit the husband’s residence
(History World International, 1992).
Since Mesopotamia was an agricultural society, which was situated between Rivers Tigris and Euphrates, as result of the artificial irrigation systems it led to the emergence of social classes and stratification of different communities. The three major classes that include the as nobility, the free citizens and the slaves. The Agricultural environment called in for the stratification of the society and one could be treated according to the social status he or she held in the society. The society was composed of Kings, Priests, Scribes, Merchants and Artisans, commoners and slaves. Slaves the lowest class in that society and were supposed to work in the agricultural areas without payment. (Hierarchy Structure, 2013).
Consequently, in the Ancient Mesopotamia there were different duties for different gender in the society. In this case, for the day to day live, men were supposed to go out and work. This is usually on their specialized duties like being a musician, a builder or a mason. On the other hand, women were left behind to look after children and their households. On the other hand, children were raised in accordance with their gender, in this scenario, boys were trained with skills which they could use to work once they become adults on the other hand, and girls were trained on how to become mothers and wives. The woman’s main role in the society was to clean, cook and raise the children. Additionally, women could also become midwives and even sell the surplus goods they obtained in their families (SMS Promotions, n.d).
In the Aryan society, patriarchal was depicted by in the Vedic period whereby men held positions in power and was supposed to descend only through the male line. Additionally, the idea of the castes came in and brought a social stratification into different lifestyles, rituals statuses, social status and occupation. In the Aryan civilization there were four castles. Brahmins (priests and Scholars), the kshatriyas (kings, governors and warriors), the vaishyas, (cattle herders and merchants) and the shudras (the laborers and services providers (Boundless, 2015).
Consequently, like many civilizations in the world, ancient China also witnessed social classes society. This civilization was divided into Fengjian Structure this gave rise to four classes. The highest class was that of King and his family, followed by the Shi Class, Nong Class, Gong class, and the Shang class. In this scenario, the King was the highest the highly respected class in the empire, he owned the largest land and ruled over people. The Shi Class were the scholars of the Shou and Shang Dynasties. Additionally, the Nong were the peasant farmers while the Gong was composed of craftsmen and artisans. Finally, the Shang was the lowest class that was composed of traders and merchants (Hierarchy Structure, 2013).
In conclusion, Stratified, class-specific, patriarchal societies emerged in human history like the Ancient Mesopotamia, Aryan and Chinese, arose due to Agricultural civilizations. This is because, in the agricultural civilizations called in for more organized society to use...