We explain what the ancient civilizations were in China, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Phoenicia and Asia, among others.
What were ancient civilizations?
They are known as ancient civilizations. societies that lived in different parts of the world during ancient times (between 3000 BC and 476 AD). Specialists identified more than one hundred civilizations with different levels of social, political and cultural complexity. Each one has its own characteristics and history.
The term civilization It is used to talk about human societies that developed a complex social organization and created urban centers with administrative structures and division of labor. In ancient times, some of these communities had a state organization: power was concentrated in a group that had privileges and a life differentiated from the rest of society.
Among the oldest civilizations are that of Ancient Egypt in North Africa and Sumer in Asian Mesopotamia. Also in Asia, the ancient civilizations of China and the Indus Valley developed. Later, the Greek civilization inhabited the coasts and islands of the eastern Mediterranean Sea and Ancient Rome came to occupy the entire region surrounding that sea.
The ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica were the Olmec culture, which inhabited the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico, the Teotihuacan culture in the Valley of Mexico, and the Mayan culture in the Yucatan Peninsula. In South America, the most important was the Andean culture of Chavín.
See also: Early agricultural civilizations
Characteristics of ancient civilizations
Each civilization of the Ancient Age had its own history and culture. However, some common characteristics can be identified:
- Surplus production. Ancient civilizations had a productive economy. With the development of agriculture, surpluses (produced goods that exceeded subsistence needs) were stored. This made it possible to accumulate goods, trade and have resources for emergencies.
- Urban centers. Ancient civilizations created cities with homes and buildings dedicated to storing surplus production and managing resources. Life in the urban center was different from the rural area, dedicated to agricultural and livestock production.
- Monumental architecture. Ancient civilizations built large architectural works that involved enormous expenditure of accumulated resources. Some of them were works necessary for the survival of the community (such as canals and dams for irrigation or defensive walls) and others had religious or administrative uses (such as temples and palaces, respectively).
- State organization. Ancient civilizations were the first to develop states with centralized power. A privileged social group was responsible for establishing laws, maintaining social order, and managing the community's resources (that is, collecting taxes and redistributing wealth).
- Hierarchical social division. The social group that controlled political power was differentiated from the rest of the population. In most cases, it was a social caste of priests or warriors. Artisans and peasants produced goods and paid tribute in exchange for safety and protection.
- Administrative structure Ancient civilizations created more or less complex writing systems, depending on each case, to record the payment of taxes and manage assets. These societies had a high level of organization that required the work of officials specifically dedicated to this task.
- Art. Each ancient civilization was characterized by developing its own artistic style (with greater or lesser influence from other societies). These styles were seen in their production of ceramics or utensils, in architecture and in sculptures.
See also: History
Ancient China
The Chinese civilization inhabited the basin of the Yellow and Blue rivers, in the central-east of present-day China. The oldest urban settlements date back to 3000 BC. C and it is believed that approximately around 2000 BC. C. the first state organization appeared, under the government of the Xia dynasty.
Since then, Chinese history was marked by the rise and fall of different dynasties and by having a social division with very marked hierarchies. It is known for the ideas of thinkers such as Confucius and Lao Tzu, and for its unique architectural style based on symmetry and the incorporation of symbols in construction. He is also notable for the invention of gunpowder, the compass and the breeding of the silkworm.
Ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia was a territory located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in western Asia. It was inhabited by different important ancient civilizations, including the Sumerians, the Akkadians, the Assyrians and the Babylonians.
The Sumerians
From 3500 BC. C., the Sumerian civilization developed complex agricultural techniques with large canal works to control the flow of water. In addition, the Sumerians founded dozens of urban centers called “city-states.” Each Sumerian city had its own government, its laws and worshiped a different god. The most important were Ur, Uruk, Eridu and Kish.
The Sumerians created the first writing system (called cuneiform) with the aim of recording the administration of cities. Another notable feature of their culture was the construction of ziggurats, which were temples in the form of step pyramids. Furthermore, the myth of the universal flood comes from their culture, which is present in the epic story. The Epic of Gilgamesh.
The Akkadians
The Akkadians were a Semitic people who lived in Mesopotamia and who, from 2350 BC. C., managed to subdue the different cities in the area. King Sargon I centralized power and unified the region under a single kingdom that, with the successive conquests of neighboring territories, became one of the most important empires of the time.
For more than a century, the Akkadians spread their language and culture. However, around 2150 BC. C., they failed to maintain control and the Sumerian city-states regained their independence.
The Assyrians
The Assyrians were another people of Semitic origin who inhabited Mesopotamia. From the middle of the third millennium BC, some Assyrian city-states were unified under a centralized government. However, it was only around the 8th and 7th centuries BC. C. that the Assyrians extended their power and built an empire by conquering several regions of Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Syria and the Levant. The fall of its power was a consequence of internal and external political conflicts.
The Assyrians were known for their military prowess and advanced war tactics. They were also characterized by the great development of written culture and by their architectural art, with very detailed reliefs of battle scenes and religious scenes.
The Babylonians
The Babylonians were another Semitic people who lived in Mesopotamia. In 1792 BC. C., its king Hammurabi I conquered the Sumerian cities and founded the first Babylonian Empire. However, during the following centuries the region was invaded by peoples of different origins (Hittites, Kassites and Assyrians).
Around the 7th century BC. C., the Babylonians regained control of the region and, under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, they also occupied Phenicia and Palestine and founded the Neo-Babylonian Empire, which remained in force until the invasion of the Persian Empire in 539 BC. c.
Ancient Egypt
The civilization of Ancient Egypt settled in the Nile River valley in North Africa. It is estimated that around 3000 BC. C. the first dynasty was founded, led by Pharaoh Nemes. Under the same government there were different cities that were connected through the Nile River.
The history of the Egyptians lasts more than three thousand years and is marked by the rise and fall of different dynasties. The pharaoh was believed to be sacred because he connected society to the gods.
The Egyptian civilization developed different writing systems, such as hieroglyphic, and is known for the construction of large pyramids.
Ancient Greece
The Greek civilization inhabited the region south of the Balkans (southeastern Europe), the islands of the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and the coasts of Asia Minor. He founded dozens of city-states called polis, which were independent political and territorial units. Among the most important were Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes and Miletus.
Greek civilization is known for the great influence of its cultural and political development on other societies, contemporary and later. Its great buildings stand out (such as the Parthenon temple in Athens), its mythology (the stories of the pantheon of gods such as Zeus or Hercules and heroes such as Odysseus and Achilles) and its philosophers (such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle). It is also distinguished for having created democracy as a political system.
Ancient Rome
Roman civilization arose around the city of Rome, which was founded in the 8th century BC. C. in the Italian peninsula. It expanded to occupy most of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. During its history, it had three types of political organization: the monarchy (753 BC-509 BC), the republic (509 BC-27 BC) and the empire (27 BC).-476 AD).
It was one of the most important and influential civilizations of ancient times. With the conquest of territories, the Romans expanded their culture, built cities and imposed some of their customs (such as the use of Latin, which gave rise to the entire family of Romance languages: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Romanian, Galician, Catalan, among others). Around the 4th century AD. C., the imperial government adopted Christianity as its official religion.
In 476 AD. C., the fall of the empire before the invasion of Germanic peoples marked the end of the Ancient Age and the beginning of the Middle Ages.
The Phoenicians
The Phoenician or Phoenician-Punic civilization was a Semitic people that inhabited the eastern coasts of the Mediterranean, in the Levant region. Between the 10th and 6th centuries BC. C., the Phoenician culture came to occupy part of the current territories of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Israel.
The Phoenicians were especially known for their maritime trade, which connected different cities and colonies throughout the Mediterranean. Its political organization was in city-states, of which the most important were Byblos, Tire and Sidon.
The Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire was another of the largest empires of Antiquity. The Achaemenid Persians were a tribe of Indo-European origin that inhabited the Iranian plateau.
In 550 BC C., King Cyrus II, nicknamed the Great, unified the different Persian tribes and defeated the Median Empire that ruled the region. Then, he dedicated himself to expanding his domains and conquering neighboring kingdoms, including Babylon, Judea, Syria and other territories in Asia Minor.
The heyday of the Achaemenid Empire occurred around 500 BC. C and its fall occurred against the troops of Alexander the Great in 330 BC. C., when King Darius III was defeated. The Greeks were their most important rivals, and they clashed with them during the Persian Wars (490-449 BC).
Its main city was Persepolis (founded between 518 and 516 BC), and it was connected to the different corners of the empire by an extensive network of roads called the “royal causeway.”
The Persians spoke an ancient Persian dialect that initially did not have writing, although it coexisted with very different languages in society. After the conquest of Mesopotamia, Aramaic became a lingua franca between the various parts of the territory.
The Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilization inhabited part of the present-day territories of Pakistan, Afghanistan and India between 3300 BC. C and 1300 BC. C. Its most important cities were Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.
Specialists believe that the Indus Valley civilization had a complex administrative organization, as it built urban centers with differentiated housing and ceremonial centers. However, it did not form a monarchical caste with a monopoly on political power.
This civilization stands out for its production of terracotta statuettes with stylized female forms. They also had a writing system with symbols and seals, which still could not be deciphered.
The Olmec civilization
The Olmec civilization is one of the oldest in America. It inhabited the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico between 1500 BC. C and 400 BC. C. Its most important centers were those of San Lorenzo, La Venta and Tres Zapotes. They had a hierarchical social and political organization, whose power was in the hands of a caste of priests.
The Olmecs were the first to create a writing system in America and had a religious pantheon that was later taken over by other Mesoamerican cultures. In addition, they created the religious ritual calendar based on the 260-day lunar movement.
The Teotihuacán civilization
The Teotihuacán civilization occupied the northwest of the Valley of Mexico between the years 200 AD. C and 550 AD. C. This city was the first large urban center in the region and was distinguished by its immense palaces and pyramids.
Characteristics of this civilization are the ceramic vessels with drawings that represented events from the mythology of their gods and the murals that adorned the religious temples in the shape of pyramids.
The Chavín civilization
The Chavín civilization was an Andean culture that inhabited the Marañón River basin between 1200 BC. C and 400 BC. C. It built religious centers and inhabited different ecosystems of the Andes. It was a civilization that united diverse populations under the same system of religious beliefs, but it is not known with certainty if it involved the creation of a unified State.
This civilization had an artistic and architectural style that influenced other populations in the region, such as those of Kotosh and Kuntur Wasi. It stands out for the construction of temples decorated with religious motifs, human figures and fantastic scenes.
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References
- Ackermann, M. (2008). Prehistoric Eras to 600 ce Encyclopedia of World History, vol. YO: The Ancient World. Prehistoric Eras to 600 CE Facts on File.
- Marquez, M and Cassano, K. (2010). The first societies of Antiquity; States and empires of Antiquity; States and civilizations of America. Social Sciences 1. Cassava.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2020). List of Ancient Civilizations. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/