What contributions did near eastern civilizations make to history? New ideas and inventions of Pre History man were important, but how they evolved and led to new and more complex ideas and inventions is imperative to history. Over time these advancements brought people into a more efficient living environment, making for higher population and spread of cultural, political, economic, and social ideals over large geographical areas.
What we know about the people before written records is limited to what artifacts and artwork we find. Pre History man used crude tools made of primarily stone. During the Upper Paleolithic era, beginning about 40,000 B.C., people refined these tools by using polished stone. New tools like fishhooks and sewing needles were made out of bone and wood during this time.
During the Neolithic revolution around 11,000 B.C., people made the first semi-permanent settlements. Storing Grain in pits made it possible to survive without moving in the winter months. Around 6,000 B.C. Agriculture was becoming widely used as a primary means of survival. The first evidence of domesticated cattle was also found in this time frame. Primitive civilizations such as Jericho were growing at this time and a series of long distance trade routes were established. This was a step towards the first urban-based civilizations, as a significant number of people were becoming full time in a non-agricultural trade.
The first primary civilization was located in Southern Mesopotamia, known as Sumer. The Sumerians invented the first writing known as Cuneiform. We are left with tens of thousands of written records on many aspects of the Sumerians, the most notable of these being the Epic of Gilgamesh. This is an a...
... middle of paper ...
...control with the Chaldeans, the deciding factor would be the Persians. They would unite the Near East from Greece to Egypt all the way to Mesopotamia. They set a standard currency and measurement system and expanded trade to and communication to unknown proportions. The Persian religion was Zoroastrianism, which resembles Judaism and Christianity, and was a universal religion before Christianity and Islam.
From Pre-History to the Persians people went from nomadic hunting and gathering people to complex and organized civilizations. Through this time small ideas like the stone knife turned into the iron sword that modernized warfare. Small idea on a greater deity helped establish great civilizations, but also helped them fall when internal problems arose or warfare broke out. Some of these changes have had a lasting effect and still affect the world today.
Before the beginning of history, people from across the land gradually developed numerous cultures, each unique in some ways while the same time having features in common. Mesopotamia and Egypt are important to the history of the world because of religious, social, political and economic development. Mesopotamia was the first civilization, which was around 3000 B.C., and all other countries evolved from it. Mesopotamia emerged from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The soil was rich and agriculture was plentiful. The Semitic nomads occupied the land around Akkad. The Sumerians established the city-states. Villages became urban centers. Because of the formation of the city-states everything flourished. However, Mesopotamian agriculture lacked stones; therefore mud brick became their major building block. Their diet consisted of fish from the rivers. The rivers were flooded frequently destroyed the cities. Mesopotamians made their living from crops and pottery.
The historical land of Mesopotamia significantly contributed to early civilization in relation to its close proximity to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and rich fertile land it provided. The rivers offered the people of Mesopotamia fertile soil, irrigation water for crops and fishing, and also supplied an abundance of wild barley and wheat for food or could stored as a food supply.
I think that the Greeks contributed more to the civilization, because they influenced much of the Western civilization. They were very intelligent they created a lot of artwork. The Greeks contributed to most of the things today. They were great in sculpturing and they created Greek philosophy and Science. They trained many of the upper class males: mental, moral, and physical excellence to eventually lead their households. All the students were males and they taught the most significant of these were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Alexander the Great made the most significant person in the Greek civilization.
The Neolithic Period, which includes events from 12,000 years ago, is one of the most important revolutions to occur in history. The Neolithic lifestyle was established first in the Middle East, and then later in the Yellow river basin in China, which then spread over the years into the Western Hemisphere. During this time period, the domestication of plants and animals and the development of cities was starting to become more prominent and well known to many different civilizations across many different countries. It consisted of many changes in human cultures from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of farming and settlement, which supported a larger population. As civilizations expanded, so did traditions and techniques. A major technological and cultural change to modern ways of thinking and acting began in Western Europe, and from these beginning new approaches to science and law spread quickly around the world. It spread to countries, causing more people to become aware of when and where to properly irrigate a crop, which type of area had the best security, and other common living strategies. Surely enough, many years later, traditions are the same as they were thousands of years ago. Although traditions may not have changed, the way people think about their God and religions have changed from culture to culture. Throughout the years, men and women from the Middle West completely changed their relationship from nature, to a more independent lifestyle; human beings learned to have more control over their lives.
Classical civilizations are civilizations that influence later societies. The four classical civilizations have had a great impact on many other civilizations. Another example of a classical civilization besides Greece is Rome. Classical civilizations have had both a positive and negative effect on the modern world. From around 1750- 133 B.C.E., discrimination based on gender arose in classical Greece.
The author describes how ingenuity and technology changed social organization in early civilizations. Why was this “one of the major turning points in the social history of humankind?” How does this alteration of social structure reflect our modern societies? Give specific examples from your own culture to demonstrate how this change persists today.
...e people began to settle in villages the beginning of social class and government were formed to maintain order and a sense of security as a community. Other technological advances were made as well including the making of bronze to form stronger weapons and permanent homes.
Gilgamesh is introduced as knowing all things and countries including mysteries and secrets that went on a long journey and had his story engraved on stone. This gives us a little information on the writing technique in Sumeria. Sumerian art was complex. Clay was the Sumerians' most widely used material. Sumerian available because of the invention of cuneiform writing before 3000 B.C. The characters consist of wedge-like strokes, impressed on clay tablets. This system of writing developed before the last centuries of the 4th millennium B.C. in the lower Tigris and Euphrates valley, probably by the Sumerians The history of the script is strikingly like that of the Egyptian hieroglyphic. This must have been the technique that Gilgamesh uses in order to transcribe his story onto these clay tablets. It was reinforced in the story by mentioning it at the beginning and end of the Epic.
The term civilization refers to what is considered the most advanced stage of structure and social development. One of the biggest shifts that forever changed the fate of the human race was the event of the Neolithic Revolution. The Neolithic Age began sometime between 10,000 and 7,000 B.C.E. The Neolithic Revolution is thought to have been triggered by a shift in climate that allowed peoples in the right locations to begin experimenting with early forms of agriculture. It is important to note that this revolution was not limited to the Cradle of Civilization: the change occurred at approximately the same time period the world over, wherever circumstance was right: for example, peoples all across Mesoamerica began to shift at the same time as others on the opposite side of the world, throughout Asia.
Mesopotamia’s first invention was a form of writing called cuneiform which was written on clay tablets with a sharp reed called a stylus. This permitted for recording events and writing formal laws. The Sumerians, a civilization in Mesopotamia designed the wheel which was used to help transfer heavy objects to and from places. They also began constructing daggers, spears and chariots, which has led to their successful wars. The Mesopotamians were also responsible for the first laws and the discoveries of glass, sailboats, and ziggurats. With interest high in religion and mythology, Sumerians and their successors worshiped gods and goddesses just like Egyptians, Greeks, and Aegean cultures.
Their inventions are even more significant to our lives today than any other. The Babylonians created an accurate calendar, the months written in Hebrew, invented by priests that became astronomers. Much similar to ours, it consists of 12 months. Another invention is that of place value and roman numerals. Their mathematics was based on a numeric system, which could be counted physically using the twelve knuckles on one hand the five fingers on the other hand. Another contribution is architecture. The Ishtar Gate was one of the major gates of Babylon, sort of like a pathway to a new land, or the entryway into a cathedral. The Etemenaki, or more famously, the Tower of Babel, famous from Book of Genesis, was a major building to Mesopotamia. Next, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were tiered gardens containing shrubbery and various types of plants, about 320 feet high, built by King Neb. It represents sort of like a very flora-filled mountainside, when in reality is gorgeous pants running down the side of a large, descending building. Finally, the last architecture building, the Double Walls of Babylon, as I mentioned before. The double walls of Babylon surrounding the city were made of bricks dried in the sun, and laid in a type of cement with occasional layers of reeds between the courses. Externally it was protected by a deep moat. The last contributor is astronomy. Here is the talk of zodiac signs, again
The earliest writing systems were pictographs that varied within appearance, structure, and meanings. Some of the earliest writing systems were used in temples, where scribes recorded amounts of grain collected, as well accurate information about seasons and rituals used in practice. As time progress, the system of writing became more sophisticate within other civilizations developing more letters in their writing systems. The Egyptians developed hieroglyphics, and other writing systems. The Sumerians developed a writing system called cuneiform that was later adapted by the Assyrians and Babylonians. Ancient people developed system of mathematics, astronomy, and calendars that regulate time and know when to harvest crops. With ancient people having the ability to write, they created great feats of literature like the famous narrative poem The Epic of Gilgamesh. Ancient people like the Babylonians also developed architecture with amazing feats like ziggurats, and famous landmarks like The Hanging Gardens of
The Neolithic Revolution, which also called the Agricultural Transformation, took place between 10,000 and 8,000 years old in the Near East. This revolution began at the time that people started to practice farming. The growth of population made people to develop a new ability to adapt with the needs of the communities and to start to gather together in order to build up larger groups. The expansion of larger society and the development of farming provided more secure for the economic at that time.
When one wants to look at the true heart of a civilization, they must first understand the civilization’s beliefs, moral standards, social interaction, attitudes, values and social consciousness. Without a sincere background about these topics, one cannot truly develop a full understanding of the period. History calls upon humankind to breakdown civilizations, and find the roots of past civilizations. Many factual ideas have been abstracted from numerous sources through out time. In studying Ancient Greek civilization, the reader sees immense concentration of social consciousness for its peoples’ needs. Greek civilization absorbed many different attitudes from the Athenians, Spartans, and Macedonians. Another highly moral civilization was the Medieval times. The English had intolerant views on Religion; an aspect of a society which had much importance to the world at this time. Because of these beliefs, all religions had to experience frustrations that occasionally lead toward conflict. The Chinese were greatly influenced by the earth’s ways, rather than global issues and demonstrated this through their religion, Buddhism. The Han dynasty incorporated a Confucius government system into their legal system, and po...
Ancient Greek Civilization has been one of the most influential and significant civilizations throughout history. Ancient Greeks made very important contributions to the civilization of the ancient world and the future civilizations. Politically, intellectually, and artistically, the Greeks influenced the world of the past and the future societies. Greece may look like a small country, but it was the birth of the greatest influences in ancient and modern life.