The end of the Neolithic in the Middle East brings the prehistoric period of this region to an end. All structures and ancestral values that had been passed through generations since immemorial times have been wiped out in a matter of a few centuries. A radical change ensued that gave rise to a completely different society, in which very few elements of the old world survived. However, many signs point out that the past has not been forgotten, but most of what characterized it underwent drastic transformations to fit the new society. A few examples will suffice to illustrate the depth of these transformations:
1) The social organization, at the time egalitarian, is now hierarchized and differentiated
2) The economy, then in the hands of women, rests at present on men
3) The procreative forces, once all attributed to women, are, at present, controlled by men; even fertility will become a male attribute
4) Spirits that embodied the manifestations of nature have been transformed into divinities that are freed from any representation
Some of these transformations, as we have seen, were already in the making during the last phase of the Neolithic, whereas others will need more time to develop. Ultimately, the new society will reach its apogee by the time Antiquity ends.
The very difficult and unstable conditions that reign at the end of the Neolithic era have put an extraordinary strain on the chief, left with few traditions and beliefs to support his decisions, and confronted with an increased demand as to his leadership and his authority, the community relying on him to bring prosperity back. This will create a new political and social order characterized by a centralized and hierarchical power, the chiefdom. Dethroning the tribal organization and definitively dissolving the ancestral egalitarian values that were in force [see Part Two, endnote 9], the renewed structure will be better adapted to accommodate the expansion of a much more heterogeneous population.
Furthermore, the traditional division of tasks will permanently disappear, men taking over the work in the fields while women are relegated to secondary tasks. More divisions in the distribution of labor will appear and give finally birth to castes of specialists, such as that of the priests and of soldiers.
All in all, the Chalcolithic era (around 5,500-3,500) sees the introduction of new social and economical structures. Monumental architecture, public sanctuaries and cemeteries; the emergence of castes of specialists in activities such as handicraft and metallurgy, whose occupation is not directly related to the production of food; the distribution of residential zones according to social or economic criteria, are all witnesses of a society that, in a relatively short time, makes an enormous step forward.
On the technological front as well, the Chalcolithic is the scene of numerous innovations. Beside the introduction of the plow and of plow animals in agriculture, irrigation systems are created that imply the cooperation of several villages and the formation of a political organization that coordinates them. In addition, the domestication of the horse and the invention of the wheel will have meaningful consequences in domains as diverse as transportation, communication, and conquest. Last but not least, the end of this period sees the introduction of writing that marks the beginning of recorded history.
Accompanying and mirroring the new lifestyle and world view, a brand-new system of beliefs will arise from the debris of the previous one. The spirits will become divinities, who, assembled in pantheons, will spread throughout the Middle East to form the first cultural empire of our history, the polytheistic culture.
Finally, the adverse climatic conditions that played an important role in the demise of the Neolithic society will further affect the new period. Floods and other calamities, such as the rupture of the Bosporus, will regularly break out in the region, until the last deluge that will flood the plains of the Tigris and the Euphrates around 3,500, having a profound impact on the collective memory since it has been recorded in all mythologies of the region.
Of this proto-history, very few elements have been uncovered, and as the Chalcolithic ends, the scene of the Urban Revolution is already set, the life of its people and their social organization “frozen” in the first writings. But in the light of our Neolithic heritage, we can discover and understand on which foundations and armature the new society has been built.