I believe it was Jared Diamond who applied the title of this post to the so-called neolithic revolution. Beginning about 12,000 years ago in the Levant - the region where the Bible stories we are reading are set -- and occurring at various later times around the world, people started cultivating crops. This meant abandoning the nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and living in permanent settlements. Exactly why this happened, and why it happened so universally even in very distant places, is a matter of much dispute, and I won't get into that here.
Now you might think this happened because agriculture makes people healthier, more prosperous, and more secure. But you would be wrong. Archaeological evidence shows convincingly that when people abandoned hunting and gathering in favor of agriculture, they became much less healthy. Average stature fell from something like 5' 10" for men and 5' 6" for women to 5' 5" and 5' 1". It took until the 20th Century for people to regain the adult stature typical of 10,000 BC. Life expectancy fell, and people were plagued by nutritional deficiency and infectious diseases that were very uncommon in the earlier epoch.
However, cultivating cereals and other crops did mean that the population density could be much higher, because there were a lot more calories available. How, you may ask, did hunter-gatherers maintain their low population density? Ah, that's the dark side of Eden. They apparently had means of contraception, but failing that we believe that infanticide was often practiced. In any case, the availability of milk from animals enabled women to space births more closely, and populations increased.
The dense, permanent settlements required more social structure. Fields and technology such as irrigation ditches had to be controlled and managed. Instead of a continual harvesting of naturally available resources that varied according to the seasons, a single large harvest had to be stored and doled out over the the year. This required hierarchy, but it also meant that a surplus was available to support people who did no productive work, but only exercised power. These people could now own substantial property, including the land itself. The typical society was ruled by an alliance between a priestly caste and warrior kings. (We are about to see this system emerging in the Book of Joshua, by the way.) Unlike shamans, the priests did not merely communicate with the spirit world, they promulgated systems of rules, taboos and ceremonial observances, and demands for tribute. The warrior king generally claimed divine sanction, or even to be a kind of God himself. The status of women fell severely, in part because they were much more preoccupied with child bearing, and in part because of the greater importance of physical force in maintaining the social order.
Ownership of land, and the existence of a warrior caste supported by the agricultural surplus, meant a new kind of war: military conflict among highly organized, well armed professional armies over control of territory. Conquest led not only to pillage but to the new institution of slavery as conquered people became property. A few individuals in the top ranks of society were well fed and enjoyed luxury, though often insecurely. But most were immiserated. There were no debates about liberalism vs. conservatism or the proper role of the Supreme Court. Anyone who challenged the authority of the priests and kings would be killed, probably by torture. So that was much of the world for the next few thousand years. It didn't happen exactly that way everywhere, but it did for most of the societies whose names we know and whose stories are told in our history books.
The next installment, I hope, will be more interesting.