As the new way of life stabilized and spread, as trade networks developed to supply local needs, and as human populations continued to expand, villages grew into towns and then into cities.

For the first time in history, a truly urban mode of life emerged in the southern part of Mesopotamia, between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago.

This artist's depiction of Ur, one of the world's first cities, shows some features of the new mode of life: the houses of mud brick with open central areas and living space on the roofs are intelligent responses to the hot, dry climate. Note also how effectively these dwellings divide public from private spaces in the complex new living space which is the city. The emergece of "private life" brought with it immense changes in the way people lived and perceived their existence. For example, "property" became increasingly important.

Scholars are trying to reconstruct the nature and impact of these changes-- for example, the influence of these changes on gender roles. Cities meant new roles for women as well as for men. Not all the changes were positive by any means.