The roots of Western

The roots of Western civilization may be found in the experience and culture of the Greeks. Yet Greek civilization itself was richly nourished by older, magnificent civilizations to the south and east, especially in Mesopotamia and Egypt. In the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (Mesopotamia) and soon after in the valley of the Nile in Egypt, human beings moved from a life in agricultural villages, using tools of wood, bone, shell, and stone, into a much richer and more varied social organization that we call civilization. That is, instead of merely agricultural villages, we see the beginnings of real cities.