Trends in Ancient Civilizations

If ancient civilizations did not invent new ideas and machines, the world would not be in the spot it is today. Innovation is necessary for the continuation and improvement of a society. Ancient cities in the River Valley were very intelligent and knew how to use the resources they could find. Civilizations in the Middle East and Asia, circa 3,000 BCE, showed great success in the areas of government, science and technology, and writing. The cities made advancements in government and the security of their lands.

An already known fact about the Egyptian civilization that was their elaborate burials. They were very architecturally advanced and constructed the pyramids and other complex tombs for the Pharos. The final ancient civilization I read about was the Indus River Valley civilization. This included ancient India, China, and the Americas. India was developed during the Bronze Age and was very advanced because their cities were planned out in a grid format and even had plumbing systems. Their social order is what surprised me the most because there was a group outside of the order, the untouchables, you couldn't move up a class until the next life, and the ultimate goal was nirvana, the union of Atman with Brahman. China established cultural diffusion with the initiation of the Silk Road . I also studied this civilization in a previous course and learned about the dynastic cycle and how dynasties can be overthrown because of the Mandate of Heaven. I lastly discovered that Olmecs in the Americas contributed to society by creating a calendar, building great pieces of architecture, and passing on their traditions to future generations to

Ancient civilizations surrounding Egypt and Mesopotamia during this time period had similar political and social structures to either of the civilizations. Most societies with a centralized government did not see their rulers as divine as pharaohs. Some civilizations, like the Chinese rulers and their Mandate of Heaven, ruled with a power similar to the Egyptian pharaohs. However, the Chinese empire could also be overthrown if they were a bad ruler. The Greek city-states also constantly fought each to gain power over all of Greece. Socially, ancient civilizations were not as lenient towards their women. Since social inequalities developed starting around the development of agriculture, women of ancient times were

Men had privileges that woman did not have. Some laws protected the women in some ways, for example, “if a man divorced his wife because she did not bear him a son, he had to provide her with money”. (3) Other laws direct to the thought of women being way less than men. Where women’s word does not matter, only her negative actions and they are equally punished. The Mesopotamian government shows more violent solutions to their crimes and the Egyptians themselves.

Many ancient civilizations have changed the way we live today. Sumerians invented the first language, Hammurabi invented the first set of laws, Egyptians created pyramids, and so many other ways that ancient people made the building blocks of the way our society lives today. It amazes me how God gave us brains to figure out ways to make life so much easier!

In Mesopotamia social status was a major factor of life. The code of Hammurabi reflectsthis aspect as well. Punishments under these codes had a pay scale that varied based uponclass. If a crime was committed against an upper class citizen the consequence was vastlygreater than if the same law was violated against a free commoner. This distinction applies tomost laws, ranging from physical harm to theft.

Each civilization was able to develop their own form of writing, political and religious establishments, cities, manufacturing of trade, and government. However, within these civilizations there were some drawbacks, mainly involving inequality. As they settled, the men and women had more time to have children, in which the woman would usually end up caring for the infant, while the man of the household would proceed the leadership roles in the cities. Eventually this resulted in patriarchy and forms of hierarchy such as kings and queens who held all

When the first civilizations took place, inequality and hierarchy became normal and natural. The upper classes enjoyed greater wealth or salaries and were able to avoid physical labor. They had the finest of everything and occupied the top positions in political, military and religious life. In Mesopotamia, the punishments prescribed by the social status. If a highly common status man struck another highly common status man he would have a small fine. If a common man struck a man of higher status, he would receive sixty strokes with an oxtail whip in public. The vast majority consisted of farmers that supported the upper classes.

Do you ever wish you could go back in history? If you answered yes then you should learn more about the Paleolithics and the Neolithics. These two cultures are extremely different, but were basically the founding fathers for the way we’ve evolved and live today.

Both civilizations in Southwest Asia and South Asia slowly developed a patriarchal system. The distinction of gender roles in these civilizations offered the insight that the individuals of the societies had reached a level of sophistication that called for labels that maintained order. In these societies, women were bound by specific laws. In Mesopotamia, the Hammurabi Laws offer limited protection for women and in the

Over 99% of human history occurred during prehistoric cultures, who had no system of writing or method or chronicling events. This left very little written record or accounts of what transpired that might be studied today. This lack of evidence made it very difficult to learn about previous civilizations and cultures and how they came to be, thrive, and eventually fall. With no written record, we had to rely on archaeology to investigate the whole of human history. While many of our species’ milestones occurred in prehistoric times, it became more and more important for the field of archaeology to advance and be taken seriously. All of this is interesting, but let’s take a look into a specific place and time to expand upon what

There are some hints given to women that are still underneath the social structure of men in certain laws. For example, when men wanted to get divorced, they were not even questioned by the judges. However, when women no longer wished to live with their husbands, they were carefully inquired before any decisions could be made. Also, women never actually “owned” their property; it always was either their fathers’ or husbands. This Mesopotamia was not perfectly bound to a patriarchal society, but also will still have issues concerning women’s freedom.I formally had thought that the status of women in Mesopotamia would be lower than that of men, however, Hammurabi’s codes of law gave me an insight of another perspective: the women were not completely

PERIOD 2: Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies, c. 600 BCE to c. 600 CE

Three important eras in ancient history were the Paleolithic Era, the Neolithic Era, and ancient civilization. Many years ago, about 8,000 B.C., people began in the Paleolithic Era. They soon formed towns in what became the Neolithic Era, at about 3,000 B.C.

Technology has been the building blocks of a successful civilization for hundreds of years. Although technology could reference a broad number of objects or devices it has played an important role in developing civilizations such as the Mayan, Aztec, and Incan societies. Beginning their roots in Central and South America, these civilizations flourished due to new advances in astronomy, agriculture, and more. Technology allowed for these civilizations to achieve seemingly impossible tasks such as massive pyramids and intricate irrigation systems.