Page 111 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

1888 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

A bus station in central
Sao Paulo, Brazil. The
city’s sudden and rapid
growth in the second
half of the twentieth
century means it is
plagued by poor infra-
structure. The city’s
highways are clogged
with cars and its metro
is relatively small for a
metropolitan area of
over 20 million people.
The city has recently an-
nounced plans to con-
struct a system of bus-
ways throughout the
region to improve
public transportation.

their dwelling places. In addition, more and heavier transport network created led to the rise of the world’s
things were worth having when people remained in the first cities and of what we call civilization.
same place year round; and some of them—roof timbers, Later on, horses and especially mules tended to dis-
for example—often had to come from afar. place donkey caravans in western Asia since they could
Enhanced need for transport was met when many (not carry larger loads. Elsewhere, other transport networks—
all) food producers began to use the strength of domes- sometimes relying solely on human portage, as in Mexico
ticated animals to carry loads. Early farmers in western —allowed other cities and civilizations to arise.They sig-
Asia were particularly lucky in having within their reach nalized a fundamental departure from older and simpler
a variety of domesticable animals that were useful for forms of human society. Being places where strangers per-
transport: cattle, donkeys, horses, mules and camels, petually came and went, and where rules of kinship and
Water buffalo in India and Southeast Asia, yaks in Tibet, local custom could not cope with important everyday
llamas and alpacas in Peru, and reindeer in the Arctic encounters, cities, and then states that embraced a plu-
north were also locally important as beasts of burden, but rality of cities, needed new kinds of authority and sub-
fell far short of the capabilities of the animals of western ordination to function smoothly. In particular, managing
Asia. Accordingly, they eventually spread very widely long-distance exchanges, safeguarding new forms of
among other peoples, wherever climate allowed and suf- wealth, and keeping invisible spirits and gods friendly
ficient fodder could be found. demanded special attention. To meet these needs, a few
Donkeys were easiest to manage. By 4500 BCE or privileged city dwellers ceased to raise the food they con-
before, caravans of donkeys began to traverse western sumed, finding ways to induce or compel farmers round
Asia carrying specially valued goods on their backs for about to hand over part of the harvest to them.
hundreds of miles. In the land of Sumer near the shore In Sumer and in most (but not all) other early civi-
of the Persian Gulf this overland transport system inter- lizations, priests claiming to know how to please the gods
sected with rafts and boats moving along the Tigris and by conducting sumptuous temple rituals were the earliest
Euphrates rivers, and with the long-range coastal ship- managers of urban society. Beginning about 3000 BCE,
ping of the Indian Ocean. By about 3500 BCE the min- military leaders began to rival them since gathering and
gling of peoples, skill and knowledge that this far-ranging defending new forms of wealth required ever-greater