The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

Several of the world’s earliest cities were organised along egalitarian lines. In some regions, urban populations governed themselves for centuries without any indication of the temples and palaces that would later emerge; in others, temples and palaces never emerged at all, and there is simply no evidence of a class of administrators or any other sort of ruling stratum. It would seem that the mere fact of urban life does not, necessarily, imply any particular form of political organization, and never did. Far from resigning us to inequality, the picture that is now emerging of humanity’s past may open our eyes to egalitarian possibilities we otherwise would have never considered.

The passage is about the political and civic organization of ancient cities. It states that some ancient cities were organized along egalitarian lines, without any indication of temples or palaces (which suggests a lack of a ruling class or administrators), and that in other cities, temples and palaces never emerged at all. Option D correctly summarizes this information by stating that there was evidence of an egalitarian urban life in some ancient cities, where the political and civic organization was less hierarchical. Option A is incorrect because it only mentions the absence of temples and palaces, but does not mention the fact that some ancient cities were organized along egalitarian lines. On a similar note, Option B presents an exaggeration by suggesting that 'all' ancient cities were organized along egalitarian lines, which is not stated in the passage. Option C is also inaccurate since it asserts that ancient cities were transformed from egalitarian to hierarchical, but the passage only states that some ancient cities were egalitarian and does not mention any transformation. 

Hence, Option D is the correct choice.