“Today, when human beings have the capacity to destroy civilization, we might reflect on humanity’s long and painful climb to the civilized state. (Perry, 2009, pg. 5) As we take a look at the long progression of how humankind has moved from the remote unknown, uncivilized barbaric civilization that it was so long ago, and compare it to present day civilization, one can assume that the surrounding cultures have taken a dramatic turn from what it used to be. But what happens when we contemplate the religion of the world that was once believed long before? Although many societies and civilizations have come a long way from what they used to believe, which was the belief in gods or myths, there are still a great deal of present day societies that continue to look towards the gods of life, fire, water and nature, and we have to wonder if we really have moved from that primitive life that began many years ago. Have we really come as far as we think we have? Three million years ago, humans lived only to hunt and survive. It seems no other purpose existed and they knew not of how to be a civilized people. But, ten thousand years ago this era would pass into history and is said to have paved the way and shaped humanity as we know it. This new era would begin a time known as the Near Eastern Civilization. This civilized nation meant that a language would be discovered, a religion would be practiced, farming would be developed and the means for survival would be formed. Though the civilizations of today might find this era to be rather barbaric, it seems the Near Eastern people had quite a cultured life for what they had to work with. As we move on to the next development, The Early Mesopotamian civilization was located in ... ... middle of paper ... ...ll around, and shortly this civilization would also pass into the books of history. In conclusion, the civilizations of the world have unquestionably taken many forms through the years. Through many stages with their beliefs in religion, intellect, knowledge, government and politics, they all partook in both successful then failed attempts to continue the society that took so much effort to build. Will present day civilizations continue to rise and fall as did those civilizations that are read about today? Will the scholars of the future read about present day civilizations and learn that we too were the fate of yet another chapter written in the history books? Works Cited Perry, M., Chase, M., Jacob, J.R., Jacob, M.C. & Von Laue, T.H. (2009). Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society (9th ed.) Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
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.
Coffin, Judith G., and Robert C. Stacey. "CHAPTER 18 PAGES 668-669." Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture. 16TH ed. Vol. 2. New York, NY: W. W. Norton &, 2008. N. pag. Print.
Hause, S., & Maltby, W. (2001). The Ancient Near East: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Phoenicia and Israel. Essentials of Western Civilization (pp.7-15). California: Wadsworth.
Coffin, Judith, Joshua Cole, Robert Stacey, and Carol Symes. 2011. Western Civilizations. New York, London: W. W. Norton & Company.
Martin, Glenn Richards. "Chapter 8-13." Prevailing Worldviews of Western Society since 1500. Marion, IN: Triangle, 2006. 134+. Print.
Theodore Dalrymple is an English writer and retired prison doctor and psychiatrist. Daniel in his writings has frequently argued that the liberal and progressive views prevalent within Western intellectual circles minimize the responsibility of individuals for their own actions and undermine mores which are traditional, contributing to the formation within rich countries of an underclass which is afflicted by violence, sexually transmitted diseases, criminality, welfare dependency and drug abuse. His writings are generally based on his experience of working with criminals and the mentally ill. Dalrymple has been at various occasions been accused of being a pessimist and a misanthrope, but his persistent conservative philosophy has which is describe as being anti-ideological, skeptical, rational and empiricist has been worthy of praise . In 2011, Dalrymple for his works has received the 2011 Freedom Prize from the Flemish think-tank Liberia. The Theodore Dalrymple’s, “What We Have to Lose”, is the vigorous defense of civilization from barbarism. His main argument which he puts forwards with detailed examples and evidences many of them form his own experiences, recognizes that often the greatest threats to this fragile human achievement come from within. In his essay he provides a chilling glimpse at the problem we face in the West. He recognizes the fact that we have grown so used to civilization that it is almost impossible to believe that it is a fragile thing, and it can disappear. It gives us an important lesson that civilization, despite its grandeur and its seemingly endless resources, is not invincible, and can disappear. I would say we are witnessing an accelerating decline. The situation in West comes down to a point wher...
Cole, Joshua, Judith G. Coffin, Carol Symes, and Robert Stacey. Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture. Brief Third ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. Print.
Today, in the 21st century, historians all over the world continue to study ancient civilizations. Archaeologists have found a lot of evidence of ancient civilizations existence that could help to reveal mysteries of the ancient world. Earliest civilizations go through the complex processes of survival, social adaptation and cultural development. Ancient civilizations flashed like stars in the horizon of history, than evolved and flourished, and then destroyed after certain period of time. But they left incredible knowledge of material and spiritual cultures for future generations. Considering the details of origins of ancient civilizations such as ancient Egypt and Greek through the history, modern people could see growth and decline of their cultures, values and scientific achievements which influenced the development of contemporary world.
Lynn Hunt, Thomas R. Martin, Barbara H. Rosenwein, R. Po-chia Hsia, Bonnie G. Smith. The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures: 3rd Edition, Volume I.(Boston, New York 2009) 9-10
Throughout the ancient world, religions and ideologies have developed into forms and practices that influence the very essence of civilizations. Religions could pose as a form of foundation for the beliefs, ideas, social organizations, and economic structures of a certain group of people. They provided a means of justification and form of unity between people and they helped establish and infuse new ideas into a culture. Religions were used as source to explain the misconcepted beliefs in nature and science as well as natural phenomina and it was also used to provide a source of motivation, control, and stability in a civilization.
Analysing The West: Unique, Not Universal. Throughout history, Western civilization has been an emerging force behind change in foreign societies. This is the concept that is discussed in the article, the West Unique, Not Universal, written by Samuel Huntington. The author makes a very clear thesis statement and uses a variety of evidence to support it. This article has a very convincing point.
The Western culture has evolved over a span of several years with various civilizations specializing in specific aspects of life or nature. In essence, Western civilization dates back to the BCE periods when Ancient Greece, Mesopotamia, and Ancient Rome reigned. Each of the Western civilizations came with a clear lineage that portrayed such attributes as property rights, free market economy, competition, personal freedoms, and innovation (Perry, 2013). Besides, the western civilizations came at different periods with some of the attributes evolving or remaining unchanged throughout the lineage. However, the non-western civilizations contributed towards such attributes to a given extent, primarily because of the interactions among
Religion is an ever-growing idea that has no set date of origin. Throughout history religion has served as an answer to the questions that man could not resolve. The word religion is derived from the Latin word “religio” meaning restraint in collaboration with the Greek word “relegere” which means to repeat or to read again. Religion is currently defined as an organized system of beliefs and practices revolving around, or leading to, a transcendent spiritual experience. Throughout time, there has yet to be a culture that lacks a religion of some form, whether it is a branch of paganism, a mythological based religion or mono/polytheistic religion. Many religions have been forgotten due to the fact that they were ethnic religions and globalizing religions were fighting to be recognized, annihilating these ancient and ethnic religions. Some of these faiths include: Finnish Paganism, Atenism, Minoan Religion, Mithraism, Manichaeism, Vedism, Zoroastrianism, Asatru, and the Olmec Religion. Religion is an imperative part of our contemporary world but mod...
Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization. 8th ed. Vol. 1. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.
Mesopotamia Civilization: The Mesopotamian civilization was developed 6000 years ago and is located in the Fertile Crescent which is now the modern day Iraq. In Mesopotamia, there is an existence of a social structure that was divided into four. The priests were considered to in the top of the pyramid while the slaves which came from the different cities that the Sumerians conquered were considered to be at the bottom of the structure. In Ancient Mesopotamian family, men had more power than women. Men were taught about the business of trading and while women stayed at their homes, cooking and taking care of their family. The men were considered to be the masters of their house, but women have also the right to divorce their husbands (Mark,