Chapter Notes On 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.

Ancient civilizations have had profound effects of what we know as the modern world today. The primary purpose for anything that lives is to survive. Throughout history animals, plants and humans have adapted to their surroundings. All living things have changed throughout time. The thing that differs humans from rest is, humans are more cognitively advanced. Over the course of time the shape and size of the human skull has changed. The size of the human brain has increased, which has allowed humans to adapt more to their surroundings. To survive, humans were making tools for hunting and to cut with. The closer you lived to the equator the darker your skin may have been, so you could adapt to the intensity of the sun’s rays. If you lived further

Over the course of human history, humans and our ancestors have made tremendous strides. From Homo habilis making the first stone tools to the Egyptians building The Pyramids of Giza, human history is nothing short of intriguing. If it wouldn’t have been for each stride made by our ancestors we probably wouldn’t live in the world that we live in today. When the Neolithic Era began in 9600 BCE, human civilizations gradually started to spring up all over the world. Humans set up civilizations from Mesopotamia in the Middle East, to China in East Asia, and all the way to Caral-Supe in South America. Although these ancient civilizations were separated by thousands of miles, they all share common patterns and

All the way from the start of civilization through to the Early Christianity there has been a pantheon of; destruction, recognition, wars, cultural diffusion, religious breakthroughs, laws that have been established, kings and queens crowned and dethroned. The Mesopotamian Civilization it was the land between two rivers the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers that civilization first began.

The Ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamia, and Greeks were some of the oldest complex societies, although similar in many aspects. Mesopotamia is located in the Fertile Crescent, land in and between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers usually known as modern day Iraq and Eastern Syria.(24) In Egypt, the Nile River creates a fertile valley which is rich in nutrients and essential to their survival. The Nile flows from Burundi, slightly south of the equator eventually traveling through Egypt and into the Mediterranean. Ancient Greece is situated very closely to Egypt so trading was easy between them. How are these three civilizations comparable and different?

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

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, the print revolution gave power to hundreds of journalists across the nation. What was written carried more power than ever before, and writers, especially Upton Sinclair and Ida B. Wells, were using their skills to expose certain companies and social groups who had hidden atrocities. These writers held more power than what they thought as their works are still recognized today.

An interesting question to ask oneself about ancient civilizations is “How did the various governments keep their respective populations under control?” By taking a look at some of the literature and forms of art, one can get an idea of the crafty techniques used by leaders to control the populace. The concept of social control has been around as long as civilizations have been. This can be seen in the Roman stoic ideals portrayed in the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, the Four Noble Truth’s teachings in India, and the emphasis on harmony in China with the Chinese Bronze Bell. It’s interesting to see the ways works of art and even religious texts were used to control the common people.

Have you ever wondered where some of the things we use every day come from? Well, everything around us from the roads, the calendars, to the columns on the White House are ancient inventions that we use everyday. Ancient civilizations from the Eastern Hemisphere have invented these items. Some of the inventions that they made change our daily lives. Three inventions that impact our lives today are architecture, the calendar, and the roads invented by Romans.

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!

Most people believe that all ancient civilizations were the same: they all lived with a steadfast loyalty to their one and only king that ruled all of the lands, civilizations only achievements were monumental buildings, and they vacuously attacked neighboring societies to gain more land for millennia. While some of this knowledge is true to an extent, civilizations accomplished an abundance more than some realize. Some fail to register that early civilizations are unique from each other. Egypt and Mesopotamia were two distinct civilizations. Despite similarities such as both being river civilizations, Egypt and Mesopotamia contrasted with each other in the areas of, type of ruling, religion, and

Romans contributed to public discussions by using the official texts that detailedly described about military, laws, and civil issues. These early newspapers were called as, “Acta Diuma,” which is also known as “daily acts”. It was written on metal or stone, and later it was published in an area like Roman Forum, where many people in Rome will pass by. Acta Diuma is thought to be first appeared in 131 B.C. It typically showed about the victory of the Roman army, games and gladiator lists, birth and death notifications, and furthermore, there are some stories that intrigues readers. There was Acta Senatus including details of the Roman congress proceedings. Julius Caesar has established various reformations to the “Populist,” during his position

It is no secret that the news has always been known to be bias toward a certain opinion, but experts can trace acts like this all the way back to the nineteenth century in early America (Thornton, 2016). During this time period most of the well-known newspapers were explicitly linked to political parties and economic interest. Respected historian Chilton Williamson writes this about the early 1900’s, “The presentation of facts simply as facts, editors and writers reasoned, cannot accomplish the exalted goal of saving civilization” (Thornton, 2016). But what if a leader comes along and believes that the best thing for their country is to use extreme media bias? In 1933 Adolf Hitler changed the meaning of media bias by completely controlling what people saw and read. Hitler eliminated papers against his control, and promoted the ones in favor. By doing this, he forced people to only see what news was being presented in one way, instead of an accurate and fair representation of the entire news (The Press in the Third Reich). This statement is not insinuating that bias with Nazi Germany is the same as modern America, but it is suggesting that bias amongst media allows for a misrepresentation of the truth to the people.

Newspapers played a critical role after the American Revolution. Journalists criticized the Articles of Confederation and showed how worthless the American dollar was. Even though the Freedom of the Press was issued in the constitution, it was soon shut down with the implement of Sedition Act of 1798. Restrictions on the press were put in place. It was illegal, “to write, print, utter or publish, or cause it to be done, or assist in it, any false, scandalous, and malicious writing against the government of the United States (constitution.org). Many people disliked it and the Sedition Act was pronounced unconstitutional in 1832. This was the beginning of the “Fourth Estate” which means the press watching over the government like a watchdog.

Early civilization consisted of core values that defined the communities that resided within it. These communities were driven by numerous factors in which would decide the overall outcome of the civilization. Geography, social and economic values, and they’re culture all played an important role in the makeup of these civilizations.