2 Cities in history – First urban revolution (Greek, Roman cities and Indian)
Dr.Azka Kamil
A system of villages developed first in Mesopotamia. The main concentration of people, around 200-500 individuals, was in the hills and along piedmont of Tigris & Euphrates river and not along flood plain proper(Fig 2). These included the earliest cities of Mesopotamia like Erech, Eridu, Ur, Lagash and Larsa in the southernmost part of the Tigris-Euphrates river valley, and Kish &Jemdet Nasr in the midsection of the same river valley. All of them had transformed from villages to cities. But the process of transformation was gradual and took centuries, before it was complete. Each city-state was ruled by the king, who was also its
chief priest. It was mandatory for the farming population to return the king the part of their surplus agricultural output. The surplus was stored in the main temple. It formed the main source of sustenance for the ruling group of the city. The cities founded at this time were on sites located on the interfluves between channels of the Tigris and Euphrates River system where they were afforded the greatest protection from floods that occurred frequently. The earliest cities grew up within the walled section that had temples, and formed the characteristic feature of Mesopotamian cities. The main dominance was of the priestly class on the social structure. They guided both economic and ritualistic aspects of the society. The temple palace complex was surrounded by a wall. It had a dual role, one to act as a defence against marauders from adjacent city-states and two, provided protection against the recurrin floods from Tigris- Euphrates valley. The walls were made of fired and unfired mud bricks for most of the houses, temples and palaces. The arrangements of the houses were irregular. They were interrupted by open spaces in the vicinity of temples and other public buildings. Streets were narrow lanes without surfacing or proper drainage. The refuse accumulated on the lanes. The excavation of Ur reveals one of those extreme conditions where the refuse had gradually raised the level of the streets to such an extent that houses had to create entrance on the second level, since the original floor was below the street level. The chapels, small shops, and rows of booth were interspersed among the cluster of houses and were supposedly used by merchants and artisans. The outer margin of the city was a zone where the poorest elements of the population lived in mud and huts. Farming community were settled in the periphery of the city. The cultivation of the crops within or near the margin of these cities was beneficial in that it facilitated the movement of produce to markets in the heart of the city as well as providing a more assured food supply.
The early development was also marked in the valley of the lower Nile River. The agglomerated settlement of the Nile valley dates from 3500 to 400 B.C. These early settlements were crude walled clustering with the dwellings like huge barracks and narrow lanes between that served as sewers as well. As in the Mesopotamia, in the Nile valley too, the development of the walled villages took place in the delta area of the lower river valley. The villages were clustered into politically independent units. Each had its own cooperative irrigation systems for cultivation of staple grains like wheat and barley. Animals were domesticated and metallurgical tools were used. In the social sphere, there was stratification and an emerging division of labour. The earliest cities that emerged in this region about 3100 B.C. were Memphis, This, Heliopolis, Nekhab (El Kab) and later Thebes. . The remnants of these cities have mostly been covered by silt deposited in the annual floods of the Nile Valley. The thought on diffusion further gets credence from the certain artefacts found on the sites of the ancient Nile River, as they are believed to have been borrowed from Mesopotamia. It also includes the concept of early writing. There had been a more gradual transition from village to city in the Nile valley than in Mesopotamia. The practice of changing the site of the capital may have resulted in the conspicuous absence, in development of large cities. Around 2900 BC Akhetaton became the first capital while Memphis enjoyed this status after 2700BC. After about 2000BC Thebes became a large city and Akhetaton served as a capital for a short period(Fig 3). Part of the reason why traces of earlier cities in the Nile Valley are lacking may have to do with the building materials used. The type of
building material used may be one of the reasons for the missing traces of the earlier cities in the Nile valley. The materials do not readily withstand the weathering of time were used like sun dried clay bricks supplemented with wattle and daub.Later too, when stone was used for construction of the pyramids, the houses of the people were made of perishable materials.The remnants of cities that developed after 2000 BC indicate that multi-storeyed houses were fairly common.Social stratification with the slum area, a working men’s section (handicrafts), and a core area including a palace, temples, storehouses for the surplus food and public buildings. The streets were un-surfaced with no provision of drainage, like those of the Mesopotamian streets.
A third area that marked the population agglomeration originated was the upper Indus River Valley.There are lots of evidence to support existence of numerous towns and villages in this region.The region was based on a highly productive system of agriculture that facilitated in emergence of these towns and villages. The system of irrigation and water impoundment was most likely a sophisticated system. The beginning of the settlements in this area dates from about 3300BC although cities as such dates from about 1500 -2500 BC. The cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, in the Indus Valley, developed into major cities by 2500 BC. The city of Harappa was in Punjab at the headwaters of the Indus. Later, these cities rose to the status of capitals of an empire that flourished between 1500-2500 BC. Agriculture was supported by system of irrigation and surpluses of wheat and barley were produced in this area. The people of the region knew use of tools as well as domesticated animals and used wheeled vehicles.
Another area that witnessed the origin of earlier cities was the Wei Valley, not far from the Hwang-Ho River in China.Towns were established about 2250 BC in this region. The level of technology was lower than in other areas of city origin. There was no evidence of use or knowledge of metallurgy. The people produced surpluses of food like millet, and domesticated animals. The first cities to have developed in China seem to have been in Hwang Ho Valley, with the earliest being the city Shang (Yin) on the Hwang Ho at Anyang. Shang civilization was based on agriculture that included cultivation of wheat, barley, millet and rice. There seems to have been water impoundment measures & canalisation that resulted in increasing the productivity staple food-stuffs. There are evidence of domestication of animals and wheeled vehicles. The power structure was also well defined with a hereditary political leader and nobility.
The city of Meso-America appears to have originated centuries preceding Christian era. The advanced communities had been developed in the pre-Columbian times by the peoples indigenous to this region notably the Maya, Zapotees, Mixtecs and Aztecs. The early cities of Meso-America such as Tickal and Uaxactun, and the later like Copan, Mayapan supposedly were developed by a society that produced surplus of maize. There was development of class structure. The leadership was providedby the priestly class.
None of the cities that developed in this region exists today. Some were said to be submerged beneath flood waters, some gradually disintegrated and others were buried by the accumulation of sand and silt. The earliest cities did not occupy large amount of land area nor did they have populations that today would be considered large. Kaekemish on the Euphrates River covered 240 acres and Mohenjadaro on the Indus River covered about 600 acres, Ur with its canals, harbours and temples occupied 200 acres, with its population as high as 24000 people. Nineveh included about 1800 acres of land area. Crowdedness, congestion, slums and pollution had been the urban problems since these cities were first formed (Mumford, L., 1938)
After the rise of Islam, about the seventh century AD, a host of new cities were established in Central Asia. As part of the Arab extension of city building, there was an establishment of cities in North Africa, and later along the East African Coast. The cities formed during this period were Timbuktu, Kano, Kilwa, Mombasa and Gedi. In Europe, cities were formed by the Greeks included Sparta, Corinth, Megara, Byzantium and Athens by the 8th century BC. During the same period, Etruscans developed the centres of Veii, Pisa, and Siena, among others. Rome threw the Etruscan dominance about 500 BC and became the seat of an empire that advanced the urban frontier to the north and the west. Greeks city states established colonies on the north side of the Mediterranean in Italy, Spain and Gaul and north of the Black Sea as well. Athens had outgrown their limited food supplies and could exist only by trade. The colonies supposedly provided them with food stuffs in exchange for certain manufactured goods such as woollens, wine silver, and pottery & metal articles. The food based product was also provided by the non-colonies but not on mutual trade rather on plunder.
The Romans extended the city formation into England and to the Rhine River in the Western Europe, into Central Europe and the Balkans.Many of the contemporary cities had their origins during this era of Roman city building including New York, London, Brussels, Utrecht, Cologne, Strasbourg, Paris, Bordeaux, Vienna, and Belgrade. With the collapse of Roman Empire, the city life in the Western Europe declined. Nonetheless, only portion of Europe under Byzantine or Muslim influence had an urban life.During the post Roman period the cities of the Western Europe declined. This was mainly due to their trade routes being obliterated by Germanic invaders. However, a number of Roman cities sustained. There arose religious administrative centres that were ringed by the settlements of merchants and artisans. These centres eventually evolved into strong cities once again. The members of the nobility established themselves on the old Roman sites. They built fortified strongholds that attracted people to them. Such was the genesis of cities like Antwerp, Frankfurt, Prague, and Warsaw. After the ninth and tenth centuries there was a greater political stability and kingdoms were consolidated. Cities achieving a new prominence at this time included Venice, Liege, Cologne(Fig 4), Utrecht, Paris, and Toulouse.
The northern Europe that remained free of Roman domination, the first appearance of cities was delayed until about 20th century. As a result of Greek colonisation, the city life in European Russia originated in about 8th cent BC. But it was not until the period between 600-1100 AD that any cities of consequence were founded. Examples include Kieve, Novgorod and Rostov. Until the 13th century, the development of Moscow did not assume urban character. Although earlier it had the citadel, and the Kremlin was its nucleus.
In the Indus Valley there was a demise of cities for about a millennium. By about 6th century BC, under the Aryan control there was reappearance of city formation. By about 4th century BC cities included Taxila, Kasi (Benaras), Champa, Kampila and Pataliputra (Patna). By the end of the 4th century BC urbanisation had been extended to the south. New cities formed until the era of Muslim rule, which began in the 8th century. But by the 17th century Muslim empire was fading and cities arose under the influence of European colonists such as Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. There was also rise of colonies in Southeast Asia like that of Singapore, Rangoon and Manila.
In the period from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD the major surge of city formation in China and most of East Asia. . The cities formed included Suchow, Liangchow, Canton, Nanking, Chengtu. At the time of Mongol invasion, after period of dormancy, city formation began afresh and cities such as Hangchow, Yunanfu , Shenyang (Mukden) came into existence. By the end of the 13th century major cities of China had been established. Only exceptions were Shanghai and Hong Kong that were formed during the time of the European colonisation. Japan is said to owe its urbanisation to the diffusion from Chinese mainland. City formation in Japan began in about 400 AD with Osaka as major centre. There was a decline of city life after an early surge of city formation, and was replaced in the late 14th century by the renewal of urban activity. By about the 16th century, the landscape was dotted with “castle towns” such as Edo (Tokyo) and Hiroshima each with population running in thousands (Griffith, T., 1968).
In Meso-America, the early groups such as Mayas and Zapotecs continued to spread the development of urban centres. The Spanish conquest in the 16th century later brought about a drastic cultural change in the remaining cities of the earlier eras. The cities that so formed were established in European tradition and character.
Bases of City development, Diffusion and Decline:
Two factors were instrumental in providing the bases for the city development or formation
(1) Technology and (2) social structure. There had to be a means or mechanism of providing surplus food supplies and raw materials to support a non-agricultural population. Invention of iron and its working technique enhanced the development of urban society. The use of iron provided for the cheaper implements. The availability of iron tools was first evidenced in agriculture, where iron plough replaced those of bronze, stone or wood and improved wheeled vehicles provided for better transportation to ship food and other goods to the markets in the city. There was also improvisation in irrigation, weaving techniques and making of coined money. These developments facilitated not only expansion of agricultural areas but also saw increase in the food surpluses. This in turn meant more territory under control and increased ability to support non-agricultural population.
In addition to the advances in technology, there was a need of a power structure that could organise, channel and exploit these advances. There were fortified palaces to protect the ruling class from marauders and invaders and invariably these were the focal points of transportation and communication. The economic support broadens as a society broadens its political control. This helps cities to then use the resource base of an enlarged hinterland and can maintain and expand trade routes. The rise or decline of a city may also be due to factors other than technological advancement or a deep-seated power structure. The value system of the people (Jerusalem) can lead to the continuation or re-establishment of the city when other advantages have been diminished. Also, the vagaries of the physical environment can lead to the sudden or prolonged demise of the city as in the case of Pompeii(Fig 5), destroyed by the volcanic eruption and Kish that was submerged by the change in the course of Euphrates River (Mumford, 1938).
The most important city in India is Delhi. It has grown on the river Jumna in the relatively narrow neck of fertile land between the TharDesert to the south-west and the Great Himalayan barrier to the north-east. Here also a corridor diverged to the south-west to Baroda and the Gulf of Cambay. The numerous conquerors who poured into India by way of the Khybar Pass inevitably took the route through Delhi, so that this district has some claims to be called “Cockpit of India”. The early history of Delhi dates back to 11th century A.D. A number of conquerors destroyed their predecessors cities and built capitals of their own. Some of these ancient sites are indicated in the map (Fig 6) by the figures 1 to 7. The site labelled 7 was chosen by Shah Jahan about 1650. Most of the earlier cities were to the south of modern (Indian) Delhi, some of them as much as four miles to the south. The country is relatively flat, and the river itself is perhaps the main controlling factor in siting these towns since it has varied its course considerably. To the north is the “Ridge” which is an outlying spur of the Aravalli hills, rising about sixty feet above the plains. Here the British troops under Nicholson were encamped during the siege, which lasted for three months. The blowing up of Kashmir Gate enabled the British to capture the mutineers in the Indian city. The Hall of Audience was in the former palace, which is now called the “Fort”. Here was the
famous Peacock Throne. The native city has been described as a huddle of mean houses in mean streets diversified by splendid mosques. The main street, ChandniChowk, running east-west from the fort, was however a broad avenue with a double row of trees down the centre. From Delhi radiate railways to all parts of India. In1911, it was decided to construct a new city as the centre of Indian administration. This interesting planned city is called New Delhi. It was largely designed by Sir Edward Lutyens, who has followed it in some respect the pattern of Washington. A striking rock was chosen as the site for the main buildings, and a “Mall” leads from this to Jamuna (Taylor, G., 1968)
Structural Components of the Ancient City
One of the structural elements of the ancient city was the walled Citadel, often ringed by one or more settlements. The wall provided protection to the ruling group contained within its confines. However, it did not express the limits of the city expansion for much of the population lived outside its protection. The walled Citadel consisted of prominent structures that contained the treasures of the society and surplus food. It also provided for the living space for the powerful. The citadel was located on the mount of the earth which gave it a more imposing appearance.
The Acropolis located atop a rugged cliff was surrounded by a wall(Fig7). It was a focus of ritualistic events involving processions that would make their way up the cliff to the Acropolis. Though Acropolis was splendid in architectural splendour, the homes outward from its base were mud huts. They were arrayed in a disorganised manner along narrow lanes. These lanes also acted as sanitary sewers.
Even though Acropolis served as a lofty meeting place dedicated to sacrifice and prayer to the God, there was a need of a meeting place for secular assembly and transactions, and that
resulted in shaping Agora. It was a place of assembly of towns-people and also for settlement of minor judicial matters. The early agora had an irregular form. It was at times an open square and at other a widening street. The original Agora was an open space, publicly owned and used for public purposes but not enclosed. The Agora was ringed with temporary stalls and craftsmen workshops. From the 7th century on, with the introduction of stamped coins, commerce gained importance and economic activities expanded. As the agora became a type of marketplace it also retained its role as an open place, and this social function of the agora was retained in the later cities, but with a new name such as Plaza orPiazza or Campo.
Another element unique of some early cities of the Greek culture, which had endured over the centuries, is the Grid Iron Plan. The grid iron plan was employed by Hippodamus, a Greek planner in the development of several Greek cities. It involved two major thoroughfares that intersected in the centre of the city with agora, major public buildings and temple placed around that intersection.
One component of the Roman city not found in the Greek cities was the Thermae or Public Baths. They were said to have established as early as 33BC. These tended to be lavish and luxurious buildings. The public bath building was a vast enclosure containing several pools, massage rooms, and rooms for partaking of food. Often the public baths had attached gymnasia and playfields. At first, when its construction was conceived, there was a separation of men and women in the baths but gradually they emerged as a common space and turned into places of drunkenness and debauchery as the sexes became intermixed.
Another urban component that was characteristic of Rome was Insula, the rough representation of cities in the recent past as well as the present. Each insula was a group of dwelling units for less privileged elements of Roman society. It was several stories high. A height limitation was put on them. Their structure was poorly built with wood which made them very vulnerable to fire as well as deterioration. Over a period of time, insula gave rise to the concept of multiple family dwelling units of poor quality. The pattern previously had been of the single family huts of poor quality. With these changes, insulae soon tended to disrupt the basic element of the society, the family and, were quick to evolve into mass slums.
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References
- Davis, K. and Hertz, H.,(1954), The Pattern of World Urbanisation, New York.
- Davis, K., (1955), The origins and growth of urbanisation in the world, American Journal of Sociology 60.05, 429-7
- Mumford, Lewis, (1938), The Culture of Cities, Harcourt, Brace and world publication, London.
- Mumford, Lewis (1961), The City in History, Harcourt, Brace and world publication, New York.
- Taylor, G., (1968), Urban Geography – A study of Site, Evolution, Patterns and Classification in Villages, Towns and Cities, London
- Verma, L.N. (2006), Urban Geography, Rawat Publication, Delhi.