Chapter 2
Commonalities of early cavitation’s
have been determined to fall under the common patterns of: standardized weights,
measures, architectural styles, agricultural for the economic foundation and a written
language; though many remained deciphered to this day. Many features of early cavitation’s
included: ceremonial bathing, ritual burning, yoga positions, bulls and
elephants as religious symbols, and the styles of jewelry and clothing. These
features can help a researching scholar determine what civilization a particular
artifact belongs to, as well as to help determine the social standing of an
individual, their cultural preferences, and the impact their environment has on
them. As early civilizations began to settle their vast differences in their
wealth, status, and power became evident. The greater wealth was not spread across
the populous, it was instead piled up, and contributed to the erosion of
equality. The upper class, or wealthy class, had many advantages of the lower
class. Because of their access to money, the upper class rarely did their own
work, and relied heavily on the lower class to complete their work for them.
They also occupied all the top positions and were immune from discipline,
meaning, if they were struck by a commoner the commoner would have to pay a fee
and in many cases, they were even punished with 60 strokes with an oxtail whip
in public. Free commoners occupied the middle class, and while they didn’t have
as many advantages as the upper class, many were able to rent small portions of
land and they would occupy lower level official and military positions. The
required labor, rents, taxes, and tribute payments of the commoners heavily
supported the upper class. At the lowest level were the slaves. The slaves were
stripped of all their rights, and sometimes even ripped apart from their
families to fulfill their duties. In early cavitation’s, slavery was used for
agricultural purposes, and they weren’t as harsh on them as later civilizations
would grow to be. They also weren’t associated with blackness in early
civilizations, any lower-class citizen of any color could be a slave. Just as
there was a hierarchy for class standing, there was also a hierarchy for
gender, leaving men with all the power, land, and money. In essence, men had it
all and could do it all, and women could do what they were told.
Comments
Post a Comment