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Now review the characteristics of civilizations in both images and text. This will help prepare you to identify characteristics of ancient civilizations in the final activity.

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Characteristics of Civilizations

View of Acropolis of Athens on top of a hill overlooking ancient Greece.
The Acropolis, a monument in Athens, is a symbol of ancient Greece.

One characteristic of civilizations is that they have urban areas, such as large towns or cities. This photograph shows the large city of Athens, which was the center of ancient Greek civilization.

Anchient Egyptian papyrus showing three women approaching woman on throne.
In ancient Egypt, royal families were the highest form of society.

Two characteristics of civilizations include: (1) Culture, which is seen in art, architecture and written or spoken language; and (2) Government, which includes leaders.
The papyrus shown here shows ancient Egyptian royalty. This piece of art shows both culture and a form of government.


Read the excerpt below.

In ancient Egypt, society was split into groups based on what people did during their lives. At the top of society was the Pharaoh, followed by members of the nobility, who were the wealthiest group below the Pharaoh. Workers called craftsmen came next, and farmers and slaves were at the bottom of society.


Click the Show Answer button below to reveal the characteristic of civilizations that is evident from the text.

In ancient Incan society, people learned how to farm crops such as potatoes, peanuts and tomatoes. They became experts at farming on hillsides, and raised donkey-like animals called alpacas. Incan people worshipped several different gods. The most important was the sun god called "Inti."


Click the Show Answer button below to reveal the two characteristics of civilizations that is evident from the text.

In the next activity, you will use what you have learned about civilizations to identify characteristics in examples from ancient civilizations.