Timeless topic

HAS Michael Wood put together in this small volume Entitled 'Legacy: The Search for Ancient Cultures', a wonderful survey of the first civilizations to Arise in human culture, and Their enduring legacy for us today. It deals with crops That M me across the globe - So Many Prehistorical and ancient historical texts concentrate Almost Exclusively on the Fertile Crescent of five thousand years ago, to the exclusion of cultures That city in the Indus Valley M me, China, and the Americas.
The first city cultures (from our civilization qui Ultimately derived in large part) M me Largely indépendamment of each other, in what are present day Iraq, India, Egypt, China, and Central and South America. This book was a bit of a self-discovery trip for Wood, as he HAD Hitherto Concentrated Primarily on British history (I know from whence His Work), venturing only to the limits of Europe calculated previously.
Perhaps the Fertile Crescent of Iraq is highlight highlighted Both Because It is the precursor of Semitic cultures (qui give us Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Among Many things --other), goal aussi Because It Was the first city to Arise Culture. All old cultures M me around rivers, for the sake of basic food necessity. In Iraq, There Were agricultural settlements coalescing into cities as early as the seventh millennium BCE. These first settlement-builders Were not Sumerian; They Came later, about 4000 BCE, into an already-existing cultural structure. Who exactly Were the Sumerians prior to this is still a mystery.
'Their language Has No Known affinities With Any language, living or dead. Purpose concernant Elamite new discoveries, the ancient language of Persia, May hold the key to Sumerian origins. '
Early cultures boasted the Iraqi cities of Eridu (quite Possibly the first city on earth), Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Nippur, and of course, Babylon. None of these ancient cities is still inhabited, mostly HAVING-been abandoned due to exchange rates in the course of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Sumer has-been and war-ravaged Conquered Many Times, Most Recently again in the 1990s.
Indian history is fascinating too. The prehistory of India Went mostly unknown up to this century, When scholars Began to take a serious look. While linguistic studies of Sanskrit-have been going on for Hundreds of years, It has-been only in this century que la antiquity of Sanskrit and Its Place as a proto-language has-been Understood.
The lost cities of the Indus show That There Were people before the Aryans in the subcontinent, PARTICULARLY with the discoveries of Mohenjodaro and Harappa, and settlements Occupying a space the size of western Europe, with extensive trade and culture. HOWEVER, There Was a period of about 1000 years in qui There Was no real urban cultivation in India, with the decline of the cities. 600 Toward the Ganges and Jumna ECB civilizations grouped in kingdoms, Largely Aryan, Began to Arise. Hinduism and Buddhism are Largely products of this process.
China: has a long, unbroken history. China Was the last of the Old World civilizations to develop, Nearly 1,000 Years After Iraq. The Chinese concepts of civilization are very different from the West, and different from Indian, too. Cities Began not have residence or grouping for trade or manufacture, purpose Rather as royal enclosure surrounding the king, qui in all the dichotomies of life Were played out. This Remained true to the days of the last emperor.
Culture Grew up around the Yellow and Yangtze rivers in China. Confucius Was the great shaper of tradition, and China Experienced a cultural advance by unparalleled Reviews the other Old World civilization. In fact, China Remained Possibly The Strongest power Culturally and militarily on Earth up to about the year 1000; icts only relative isolation from all --other powers Kept them out of China's influence. China's self-centered decline in the past millennium allowed the Western cultures to surpass China.
Egypt is Discussed in terms of tradition of the pharoahs, City Developments along the Nile, trade and literary achievements That are still fascinating today. The Pyramids are the only remaining of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Egypt Review: had an unbroken pharoanic Nearly rule for 3000, up to the time of Alexander the Great, and the continuing dominance thereafter of European-based empires. Egypt in fact Consists of two kingdoms, the upper and lower. Strong natural frontiers Egypt Kept Safe During ict development. Perhaps the first true city Was Hierakonpolis, in the upper kingdom, with settlements to be reliably traced back to 4500 BCE.
In the Americas, only really Wood Discusses the Central American cultures That M me around Mayan cities - he Does not do much work in the Peruvian / South American cultures. This is the one great flaw Perhaps in the book. By 3000 BCE, There Were Developing settlements into cities in the Americas, goal Perhaps the first true cities Was Teotihuacan in Mexico. In 500 CE-have-been this May the Largest city in the world, with 250,000 people. Independent of --other cultures built pyramids and temples They comparable to the Old World examples, a testament to the similarity of the human mind to response to the same symbolic ideas. Mayan Culture Spread Throughout Central America as a result of indigenous efforts Most Likely, Teotihuacan Was a goal instead of trade and pilgrimage and learning for people thesis.
With the collapse of the Mayans, the Aztecs Gained ascendancy in the older area around Teotihuacan. The Aztecs, bloody sacrificial rites Given To, Were Perhaps the first civilization to be exposed to the Old World orders, and the first conquest Has To Suffer Their Hands.
Wood concluded, as part with a chapter on exploration, conquest, investigation, research, and finally, some small understanding of the world has-been lost qui, qui profit generated bears.