Ancient Age

We explain what the Ancient Age was and its main characteristics. Furthermore, the civilizations that constituted this historical period.

The Ancient Age began with the founding of the first cities and States.

What was the Ancient Age?

The Ancient Age or Antiquity was the historical period in which the first state civilizations emerged and developed of humanity (known as ancient civilizations). In particular, it was characterized by the invention of writing, an event traditionally considered the end of prehistory and the beginning of history.

The beginning of the Ancient Age dates back to the founding of the first cities much larger and more complex than Neolithic villages. Along with them appeared political power (kings, palaces), organized religions (priests, temples) and a bureaucratic and commercial order. The process that produced this new political and social organization is usually called “emergence of the State” or “urban revolution.”

The first civilizations of the Ancient Age emerged around 3300 BC. C. in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Other civilizations of the Ancient Age were those that appeared in Anatolia, the Levant, Persia, India, China and the Mediterranean. In America, the oldest state civilizations arose in Mesoamerica in the second millennium BC. C. and in the Andes around the beginning of the Christian era (or common era).

For its part, the stage of the Ancient Age in which the Greek city-states emerged is known as Classical Antiquity (8th centuries BC to 5th AD) the Macedonian empire of Alexander the Great expanded and the Roman Empire was established.

The Ancient Age ended when the Middle Ages began in Europe in the 5th century AD. c However, some historians refer to the period that spanned between the 3rd and 8th centuries (from the final phase of Classical Antiquity to the first half of the Early Middle Ages) with the term Late Antiquity.

Key points

  • The Ancient Age was a period that lasted from 3300 BC. C. (first civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt) until 476 AD. C. (fall of the Roman Empire).
  • It was characterized by the existence of cities, state political regimes, writing systems and various cultural innovations.
  • The first civilizations of the Ancient Age were those of the Near East, Egypt, India, China and the Mediterranean.
  • Classical Antiquity was the time of predominance of Greco-Roman culture, from the 8th century BC. C. until the 5th century AD. c.
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See also: Age of Metals

Ancient Civilizations

The concept of Ancient Age was originally devised for the history of the Near East and Europe so its chronology is mostly focused on the history of these regions.

Although there is no clear date for the beginning and end of the Ancient Age, its The beginning is usually located in the emergence of the state civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt in 3300 BC. c. From that moment on, the societies of the Middle East and North Africa went through various stages:

  • In Mesopotamia It went from the predominance of the city-states of Sumeria (3300-2350 BC) to the formation of the Akkadian Empire (2350-2150 BC), then to the Sumerian Renaissance or Third Dynasty of Ur (2100-2000 BC). . Persian domination (539-331 BC).
  • In Syria-Palestine and Anatolia Important civilizations emerged, such as the kingdom of Mitanni (1550-1270 BC) and the Hittite Empire (1650-1200 BC), and the Phoenicians (1500-539 BC) stood out in the southern Levant. , who established commercial colonies in various parts of the Mediterranean.
  • In Egypt The pharaonic State was established around 3000 BC. C. This went through periods of centralization, expansion and political fragmentation until it was conquered by the Persian Empire in the 6th century BC. C. Then, after the conquest of Alexander the Great in 332 BC. C., the Hellenistic era began (323-30 BC), which installed a dynasty of Macedonian origin and concluded when Egypt was converted into a Roman province.
  • In southwestern Iran It was formed in 550 BC. C. the Achaemenid Persian Empire, which dominated the entire Near East and ancient Egypt until it was defeated by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. c.

Other regions in which important ancient civilizations emerged were India, China and the Mediterranean:

  • In India and Pakistan The civilization of the Indus Valley initially emerged (2600-1700 BC) and later the society of the Vedic period (1500-500 BC), displaced to the Ganges valley and other areas of India. Between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC. C. the Mauryan Empire existed, which unified most of the Indian subcontinent.
  • in China There were three ancient dynasties before the formation of an empire: Xia (2100-1600 BC), Shang (1600-1046 BC), and Zhou (1046-256 BC). The imperial era began with the Qin (221-206 BC) and Han (206 BC-220 AD) dynasties.
  • In the Mediterranean The Minoan civilizations on the island of Crete (2000-1450 BC) and the Mycenaean civilizations on mainland Greece and the Aegean Islands (1650-1200 BC) stood out.
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A particular period in ancient times was the so-called classical antiquity, which began with the rise of the Greek city-states in the 8th century BC. c and had its moment of splendor with the rise of Greco-Roman culture in the Mediterranean between the 5th centuries BC. C. and II d. C. This stage was famous for its artistic, political, philosophical and commercial development, which laid the foundations of Western culture:

  • In Greece We moved from the archaic era (800-500 BC) to the classical era (500-323 BC) when Athenian philosophy and democracy developed, and wars broke out between various Greek and Greek city-states. against the Persian Empire. Later, the Macedonian empire of Alexander the Great prevailed, conquering most of the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. C. the Hellenistic period began, characterized by the wide dissemination of Greek culture. However, the eastern Mediterranean soon came to be dominated by Rome. The last Hellenistic kingdom was Egypt, which became a Roman province in 30 BC. c.
  • In Rome A republic was established in 509 BC. C., which expanded until it dominated the Italian peninsula in the 3rd century BC. C. and most of the Mediterranean in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. C. In 27 a. C., a few years after conquering the last Hellenistic kingdom (Egypt), the Roman Empire was formally born under the authority of its first emperor, Augustus. The Roman Empire reached its maximum expansion in the 2nd century AD. C. It was later divided into an eastern empire and a western empire.
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The end of the Ancient Age is usually placed around the year 476, when the Western Roman Empire fell and its ancient territory was divided into kingdoms that began the Middle Ages. This periodization is valid mainly for Western Europe, since the Eastern Roman Empire continued to exist until the 15th century and other Asian, American and African civilizations had different historical milestones during this time.

References

  • Gernet, J. (2018). The Chinese world. Criticism.
  • Hornblower, S. et al. (2023). ancient Rome. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
  • Mark, J.J. (2012). Ancient India. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/
  • Pomeroy, S. et al. (2002). Ancient Greece. Political, social and cultural history. Criticism.
  • Sanmartín, J. & Serrano, JM (1998). Ancient history of the Near East. Mesopotamia and Egypt. Akal.

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