Yunsong Yue
August 3rd, 2017 The term “ancient Near East” was coined out by the British Empire in the 19th-century, geographically covering the modern Middle East that was divided into eight major regions and states: Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, ancient Iran, Anatolia/asia Minor and Armenian Highlands, the Levant, Cyprus, and the Arabian Peninsula. Ancient Near East begins in the 4th millennium BC and ends either with the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BC or with the Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. This period of history is considered to be the cornerstone of civilization. With agriculture practices advancing, allowing the possibilities of urban development, creating social class, centralized government and empires. The phrase “Near East” represented Ottoman
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Sumer is the earliest civilization known to mankind, stretched from the first settlement of Eridu until the rise of Assyria and Babylon. Akkadian Empire on the other hand, was regarded as the world’s first empire until it was split into Assyria and Babylonia. At the east of Sumer and Akkad, is ancient Elam. Before Elam was part of the Assyrian Empire in the 9th to 7th centuries BC, it is the kingdoms on the Iranian plateau. From 3200 BC to 2700 BC, where the proto-Elamite civilization was heavily influenced by the cultures of the iranian plateau was characterized as the Banesh period. The Amorites, nomadic Semitic people, controlled the west of Euphrates from 3500 BC and eventually settled in Mesopotamia. Middle Bronze Age includes Assyria, Babylonia, Canan, and the Hittite Empire. Assyria became a powerhouse after enduring a short period of Mitanni domination, ruling much of the near east. Babylonia founded by Amorite tribes and was under the rule of Kassites for more than 4 centuries. Canaan was a combination of Ugarit, Kadesh, Megiddo, and Kingdom of Israel. The Hittite Empire dominated Asia minor and the Levant until it was taken over by
In their role of empirical dominance throughout 13th century Eurasia, the Mongol’s were nomadic tribes of herders and raiders north of China, under the leadership of Genghis Khan. Born under the name Temujin, Genghis traits of charisma and reputation as a tactician won over his people’s support. Thus through the act of uniting groups of the steppe (region), he was crowned Khan of Khan in 1206. As quoted from Hugh Kennedy’s book Mongols, Huns and Viking's nomads at war” “the Mongols were triumphant in every major engagement fought up to ‘Ayan Jalut in 1260’ “. A crucial factor unique to this success was the nature of Mongol soldiers in which their life-styles demanded skills such as archery and horseback riding, which was also essential in
The cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt developed into such successful civilizations for various reasons. Mesopotamia is located in the middle of the Fertile Crescent, which is made up of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Egypt is located in Africa and has natural barriers that protect it. Those barriers are the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile River, and various mountains.
The civilization that flourished in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine were located in river valleys or along the Mediterranean coast. These civilizations developed highly complex cultures that shared many common characteristics. Some of the characteristics that they shared were justice, cultural diffusion, architecture and inventions. Because of these characteristic they achieved and contributed a lot to society as well as to future civilizations.
Ancient civilizations made some important contributions to our life today. They started around 3500 BC. Ancient civilizations also achieved many things. Some of those things were new inventions, the use of new technology, writing systems and architectural skills. Two of the many civilizations that did these things were the Chinese and Egyptians.
I think that without the past there is no future. The future is very important and in this essay I will explain the Egyptian civilization in mesopotamia and information about their beliefs, way of life and leadership. I will also include the role of pharaoh and priests of Mesopotamia.
Similar to the Roman Empire the Persian Empire stretched across vast lands without any serious rivalry. At the height of the empire it stretched across, not only, Asia, from the Aegean to the Indus River, but also included part of the continent of Africa. We get the word, Persia, from the Greek word Parsa meaning, “Above reproach”. The Persians unlike most other Empires would be ruled under a benevolent ruler. This would bring a large amount of cultural diffusion to the Empire. The empires history is separated into three historical periods: Old Persia (600-300 B.C.E), Middle Persia (300-800 B.C.E.) and modern Persia (800-Present). The height or the Empire was reached around 500 B.C.E. (Ancient and Medieval History
There is lots of strategies that have led the ancient empires to their success and staying strong. .Geography was a huge part of history, this is because many people live upon geography. They rely on geography to live. To add on, the success and failures all come from geography, which is very important. Ancient Egypt had many ups and downs through their empire, geography helped them a lot for planting crops and getting resources. Ancient Greece was affected by the geography near their location a lot. The Aksum empire heavily relied on the geography near their empire, it helped them a lot with the way they traded with other empires. In all of the empires, geography was the breaker or the winner and determined whether the empire would fall or
Mesopotamia is a rich flat plain created by deposits from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. At the southern end of this plain developed the first recognizable civilization, in the area known as Sumer. In 3000 B.C. Sumer contained a dozen or more city-states, each ruled by its own king and worshiped its own patron deity. The citizens of these city-states were classified into three classes: nobles and priests, commoners, and slaves. In the center of a
Greek Mythology played a monumental role in the structural development of ancient Greece, not only as a society, but as individuals. Surprisingly, their religion was not exactly one of originality. In fact, their religion was loosely based on earlier cultures’ religions. It bears many strikingly similar resemblances to some of the oldest recorded religions in history. Ancient Greek religion is a type of polytheism called “Monarchial Polytheism.” That is, they believe in several different gods and deities but there is a supreme ruler above all of them. In order to fully understand how similar the mythological systems of religions have been throughout the years, you must look back towards the earliest of recorded civilizations. Polytheism
Cycladic civilization is divided into three periods: Early Cycladic (3000-2000 BC), Middle Cycladic (2000-1500 BC), and Late Cycladic (1500-1100 BC). The large amount of white marble sculptures located in the Cycladic islands, especially Naxos and Paros, a place exclusively made up of female folded-arm figures. These impressive marbles seem to be a symbol of Cycladic art. These figures are the best-known and most appreciated productions of the Cycladic art. Most of the Cycladic figures represent nude females with folded arms. These figures are usually found in grave areas and were probably associated with funeral rites, but some of larger
Geography had a tremendous impact on early civilizations, the topography of the different regions played a key role in their development and formation. This statement by Fernand Braudel “ Geography is the stage in which humanity’s endless dramas are played out” (Getz et al., Exchanges, 26) is a very moving and telling description. The terrain, whether it is natural or man made is not the end all, be all. It does however affect the stage a great deal. Mountainous areas act as blockades, which keep the societies independent, plains open up the area, and rivers enable everything to move around freely. 2
Mesopotamia was the foundation of western civilization. This was around 3500 BC when cities started evolving in world history. It was also known as the “land between the rivers.” The first city-states developed in southern Mesopotamia by the Sumerian citizens around 4000 BC. The history begins at Sumer; this society brings many things to the table for a starting civilization. In 3500 BC the Sumerian people learned their own writing system. They would write on cuneiforms, clay blocks which were easy to be transported but they were very fragile. The Sumerian people had an independent government which was ruled by a king, Sargon. The cities as well as
For a few centuries after the death of Shamshi-Adad I, Assyrian cities were subjugated by a succession of outsiders: Babylonians under Hammurabi, Hittites and Mitanni-Hurrians. From 1791 to 1360 A.D. control over Assyria passed back and forth, although Assyria itself remained more or less stable. After a power struggle between the Hittites and Mitanni, the Hittites successfully broke the power of the Mitanni in the region. Assyria then began to take control over territories that had belonged to Mitanni. The Hittites battled with the Assyrians, but the Assyrian king Ashur-Uballit stamped out any remaining Mitanni or Hittite control over northern Mesopotamia.
The ancient Greek and Roman civilizations of Europe began to progress toward a more civilized order of society. As there were no previous establishment to base their ideals on, it was understandable that there were some difficulties in their progression as a society. Although the ancient Greek and Roman governments fell, both had similar paths of creation, conquest, and destruction.
The civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and China were all different but were also developed similar ways of doing things. The political, economic and intellectual outlooks of these ancient peoples say a lot about their ways of life. The religious views of Egypt and Mesopotamia were rather different.