While the exact timing varies across regions, there is substantial evidence that hierarchical structures became entrenched with the rise of the first cities and states around 3000–3500 BCE. The formation of early cities and states over 5000 years ago marked the institutionalization of social hierarchy as the foundation of political and economic structures.

The timeline of early state formation aligns with the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (c. 3500–3000 BCE), when complex societies emerged in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China.

Peter Turchin³³⁸ confirms that urban state societies first appeared around 5000 years ago, marking a shift from chiefdoms to territorial states. The evidence from archaeological and historical records suggests that this period saw the rise of institutionalized social stratification, replacing kin-based egalitarian societies.

The hierarchical structures of Mesopotamian city-states such as Uruk and Ur, ancient Egypt, and the Indus Valley Civilization, are examples of how elite classes, often justified through religious or divine status, monopolized decision-making power.

The consolidation of power among ruling elites allowed for the organization of labor, taxation, military force, and economic control. According to Samuel Bowles & Mattia Fochesato,³³⁵ enduring economic inequality only became possible once early states institutionalized wealth concentration, replacing transient inequalities in earlier agricultural societies. Hierarchy became necessary to sustain large populations through the control of resources. For example, centralized storage and distribution of food surplus, specialized workforces of artisans, soldiers and bureaucrats and legal codes justifying coercive enforcement.