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SOCIAL AND CLASS RELATIONS

 The social structure of the earliest civilizations shows hierarchies and a concentration of power among certain elites. There were few matriarchal societies in the ancient world; most were patriarchal and polygamous among the wealthy social classes. As civilizations developed and expanded, their social structures often had to be modifi ed. Sometimes this resulted in a decentralization of power, even on rare occasions, as in ancient Greece, in democracy. At other times changes were forced by foreign invasions. Egypt:- The apex of Egyptian society was the pharaoh since he (or more precisely, his “house” or the institution that he incarnated) stood as the intermediary between the world of gods and of human beings. The pharaoh’s main duty was to maintain maat, an apotheosized state of cosmic balance or justice for his whole realm. Pharaoh owned vast tracts of land and sometimes vied with priests for control and status. His offi ce was hereditary and dynastic. History records one ...

Scientific tools and speculation

 Peoples of the Near East were the fi rst to develop writing. They used papyrus, animal skins, and clay tablets. The earliest surviving writing in China was found incised on animal bones and turtle shells and cast into bronze vessels. The Chinese invented paper around the beginning of the Common Era, a much cheaper medium than silk and less cumbersome than clay tablets or metal.Western civilizations made strong contributions to the speculative disciplines of mathematics and sciences. The abacus was invented in the Near East around 3000 b.c.e., an indication of fascination for numbers, mathematics, and the sciences. Famous scientists include Pythagoras (500 b.c.e.), who,in addition to fi guring out useful things related to triangles, developed both scientifi c and eccentric Theories about the physical universe. Euclid (300 b.c.e.) is still studied today for his insights in geometry, and his theory profi ted another Greek mathematician, Aristarchus, who computed the distance between ...

Metal Forgoing

 Copper smelting began in Catal Huyuk (perhaps the earliest city excavated, found in modern-day Turkey) before the Bronze Age. However, the people in northern Thailand were the fi rst to make bronze (an alloy of tin and copper) around 4000 b.c.e. The fi rst bronze foundry in China developed around 2200 b.c.e. Craftspeople among the Hittites of western Asia perfected iron making for their weapons by 1200 b.c.e.; iron work was also known in central Africa. The Iron Age reached China by 500 b.c.e. Being cheaper to produce than bronze, iron soon found widespread use in war and farming. The Chinese began casting iron a thousand years before Europeans did. At about the same time they began to cast iron the Chinese also began to make steel. Researchers have recently uncovered a Chinese belt buckle made of aluminum, showing that they began to refi ne this metal some 1,500 years before Europeans. In the Andes area gold smelting, used largely for jewelry, developed around 200 b.c.e. After 60...

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

 Many ancient cultures were fascinated with the movement of the heavenly bodies because people thought that they exerted infl uence on earthly events. The ancients carefully observed astral rhythms and computed how the seasons fi t this schedule. Sumer, one of the earliest Mesopotamian cities, left behind the fi rst calendar (354 days) by 2700 b.c.e.China had developed a calendar system very similar to the modern one by 1400 b.c.e. In  Central America the Maya developed an amazingly accurate calendar that could predict eclipses and  planetary conjunctions that mirrored the modern way of calculating years, based on a commonly accepted event like the birth of Christ. Dionysius Exiguus (a Christian) invented the current datingsystem in the sixth century.

Beast and Burden

 The first beasts of burden to be domesticated were the donkey, the buffalo,and the camel, all by 3000 b.c.e. The llama was used in the Andes Mountains in South America.Animal husbandry lagged behind in the Americas because horses died out early in this part of the world and were only reintroduced by Europeans after 1500 c.e. Over the centuries people as far separated as the Celts and Chinese adopted the horse to great advantage. However, at first the horses were mainly used to pull war chariots; later for cavalry, and not commonly for agricultural labor.

Fertile Crescent

 Mesopotamia, or the Fertile Crescent, developed the world’s fi rst cities, so it is not surprising that wheat and barley were fi rst cultivated there. Irrigation and the drainage of swamps also fi rst occurred there, around 5000 b.c.e. From time immemorial the Nile River over- fl owed its banks bringing fertile silt and water to the narrow and prolifi c fl oodplain. When the Nile failed, social upheaval and revolution often followed.

Indian administrative service ?

 The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian Police Service and the Indian Forest Service. Members of these three services serve the Government of India as well as the individual states. IAS officers may also be deployed to various public sector undertakings. As with other countries following the parliamentary system of government, the IAS is a part of the permanent bureaucracy of the nation,and is an inseparable part of the executive of the Government of India. As such, the bureaucracy remains politically neutral and guarantees administrative continuity to the ruling party or coalition. Upon confirmation of service, an IAS officer serves a probationary period as a sub-divisional magistrate. Completion of this probation is followed by an executive administrative role in a district as a district magistrate an...