...All civilizations have key aspects and valuable skills that they use to have a successful running society. Language, cities, skilled workers, complex structures, and advanced technology are what make a civilization flourishing and prosperous. Deprived of these foundations, the success of these civilizations won’t be as substantial. All successful developments are consisted of these elements because they have created a stable society and a very structured government consisting of a strong foundation and prosperous humanity. Our society today has been evolved from previous cultures that have used these exact key aspects for their survival and for their flourishing humanity. The ancient civilizations of the Sumerians were a thriving civilization that had elements to help their society proceed. Language was stated to be a major element needed towards a civilization that helped create a stable environment for their people. Sumerians communicated through cuneiform which was known to be a wedge shaped writing of theirs. It helped their society to stabilize and progress into our languages today. Also it helped their community advance and exists on. Cities also contributed into the making of a controlled social hierarchy by making communities closer and stabilized governments stronger. Cities had huge developments of advanced technology such as canals with helped out with irrigation and mud bricks which were used for arches and dorms. It assisted the city to work well and advance as...
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...Michael Miner World Cultures I Professor Friedrich November 2, 2015 Minoan Civilization Throughout history the Minoan civilization was very major during its time. “Prior to the classical Greek culture, during the Bronze Age, lived the Minoans.” The Minoans was credited as being Europe’s first great civilization. “Named after the legendary King Minos, the Minoans were an advanced society made up of highly cultivated artists and extremely intelligent engineers.” While researching, it showed the Minoans were primarily mercantilist people, engaged in overseas trade and managed a lucrative maritime empire, dominating the Mediterranean, the Greek islands, Greece, and expanded all the way out to the Black Sea. “A sophisticated group of people, they were also the first Europeans to use a written language, “known as Linear A, as well as the first to construct paved roads.” Located in the Middle of the eastern Mediterranean, at the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe, “was the mountainous islands of Crete.” It was there were the magnificent civilization, “flourished.” Archeological evidence shows there was a habitation on the islands since the seventh millennium.” After the fifth millennium B.C., they found the first evidence of handmade pottery, marking the beginning of the civilization. “History showed that the Crete had 90 cities, of which Knossos was the most important one. “However, research shows the palaces of the Minoans were destroyed by forces unknown to us in...
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...artwork. Researchers have established that the Maya cities were completely abandoned by 900 A.D. Evidence reveals that the Maya Civilization was among the most dominant indigenous societies in Mesopotamia. Different from other indigenous populations, the Maya were centered in one geographical region. Evidence that they were organized makes it a challenge to understand what could have caused the decline. This paper reveals several of the main factors that researchers find possible causes of the decline. Much has been done in this pursuit since the start of the 19th Century. History of the Maya Empire The Maya civilization had increased to about 40 cities in the period 250-900 A.D. defined as the classic period. Cities included Uaxactún, Tikal, Copán, Calakmul, Palenque, Dos Pilas, and Río Bec among others. Each of these had a population ranging between 5,000 and 50,000 heads. The total Maya population is thought to have reached two million people, the cumulative population of all the cities. Excavations have revealed unearthed plazas, temples, palaces, pyramids, and courts where the Mayas played ballgames (Demarest 241). These items must have carried some ritual or political significance in the Mayan culture. There, however, is evidence that the populations comprised of farmers who used the primitive slash and burn agriculture. There are indicators that advanced farming methods were later adopted as excavators have found traces of irrigation...
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...How Geography Effected Ancient Cultures Mesopotamia and Egypt in the ancient world were in modern day Iraq, and Egypt is still there today. Culture in theses societies, was loosely based on their natural surroundings. While geography in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt differed in stability and protection, they were similar in farming opportunities, with comparable sources of water giving them both the chance to excel in agriculture. The river flooding in Mesopotamia and Egypt differed in predictability; while rivers in Mesopotamia were sporadic in flood patterns, the Nile in Egypt was very predictable in its flooding. This caused the two civilizations to have opposing ideas of the power of their gods. In ancient Mesopotamia, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were incredibly unpredictable, and when they flooded they caused frenzies in surrounding areas. This unpredictability was reflected in their religion, as they felt the flooding of the rivers was a punishment for something they did. In thinking they could never please the gods, the people of Mesopotamia believed one only had the underworld to look forward to after death. They viewed nature as something out to get them. This belief led to more selfishness in people, and as a result, people were generally less trusting. However, in Egypt, the Nile River and its yearly predictable flooding led to the creation of calendars to plan agriculture around flooding; therefore, the flooding would help, not hurt them. The predictability...
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...American schools do teach a little about ancient greece and there are actually movies out now that provide great information on wars for example the movie 300. Although sometimes you want to expand your knowledge on certain things and I thought that’d be great for Greece. In this essay I will hit key points like the beautiful Greek geography and how it affected trade, some politics and how the government and religion played a part in life, and the periods and mighty wars fought. hopefully i will succeed in this essay and get a good grade. The purpose of this essay is to provide informational facts on ancient greek civilization/culture and give the reader a sense of how it was then. Enjoy. My background knowledge about ancient Greece is that good. From movies I've seen that Greece had some type of problem with Persia. Im not sure what the problem was but i know it was two major city-states/ empires, Athens and Sparta. I know the one army fought on land & the the other on ships in water. I also know that europe is known for wine and oil so i would like to know if those are some resources Adding that I did know that Greece was surrounded by water so I wonder how that affected the crops? Well to continue on I’d like to answer some of my questions and get to know this cool place a little better. Let’s begin. Greece is the South Eastern region on the European continent. It is defined by a series of mountains, surrounded on all sides except the north by water, and had countless...
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...The Decline of the Minoan Civilization Makeeba Charstaon Strayer University Professor Anne Keyes Hum111 11/3/2015 The Decline of the Minoan Civilization Minoan Crete was a major civilization in its time, but several theories have been advanced to explain its demise, including speculations associating it with mythical Atlantis. What were the causes of the Minoan Civilization’s decline? State the mystery and provide a brief summary of 2 reasonable scholarly theories. Identify one of the theories as the most plausible and provide at least two convincing reasons. In researching this topic “there are essentially two main theories that have been invoked to explain the demise of Minoan civilization, but neither matches the observed gradual decline that took place. One is the explosion of the volcano in Thera (Santorini) and the other is invasion and occupation by the Mycenaean’s.” (Tsonis, Swanson, Sugihara, & Tsonis, 2010) Many who thought that the destruction of the Minoan Civilization was provoked by something as violent and as sudden as the eruption of Santorini Volcano. (Minoan Civilization, 2015) “It was believed that the eruption took place in 1450 BC, when the Minoan Civilization perished, but newest findings and theories set it somewhere between 1627BC and 1600BC. The cosmogonic event of the eruption has perplexed historians for years. Until today, the scientific world is trying to explain and reconstruct the sequence of events that led to the destruction of...
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...INDUS CIVILIZATION Indus civilization, also called Indus valley civilization or Harappa civilization, the earliest known urban culture of the Indian subcontinent. It was first identified in 1921 at Harappa in the Punjab region and then in 1922 at Mohenjo-Daro (Mohenjo-Daro), near the Indus River in the Sindh (Sind) region, now both in Pakistan. Subsequently, vestiges of the civilization were found as far apart as Sutkagen Dor, near the shore of the Arabian Sea 300 miles (480 km) west of Karachi, also in Pakistan, and Rupnagar, in India, at the foot of the Shimla Hills 1,000 miles (1,600 km) to the northeast. Later exploration established its existence southward down the west coast of India as far as the Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay), 500 miles (800 km) southeast of Karachi, and as far east as the Yamuna (Jumna) River basin, 30 miles (50 km) north of Delhi. It is thus decidedly the most extensive of the world’s three earliest civilizations; the other two are those of Mesopotamia and Egypt, both of which began somewhat before it. The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE) located in the western region of South Asia, and spread over what is now Pakistan, northwest India, and eastern Afghanistan. Flourishing in the Indus River basin, the civilization extended east into the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley and the upper reaches Ganges-Yamuna Doab, it extended west to the Makran coast of Baluchistan and north to northeastern...
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...A. 643 BC exactly B. Around 1200 BC C. Around 1400 AD D. The date is unknown Question 2: What is the most famous Olmec jade sculpture? A. The Kunz Axe B. The Kukulkan C. The Xochicalcan D. The Sword of Kunz Question 3: The traits of the Olmec civilization were adapted by what kingdom? A. The Amazonian kingdom B. The Olmeccian kingdom C. The Aztec kingdom D. The Zapotec kingdom Question 4: The Mayan people took their name from what? A. The month of May, because they were founded during it B. The Aztec euphemism for human sacrifice, Humayanising C. The Olmec supreme deity, Mayapower D. The last Maya capital city of Mayapan Question 5: Where is the monolithic temple to Kulkalkan...
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...The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans. Will Durant referred to it as "the first link in the European chain." The early inhabitants of Crete settled as early as 128,000 BC, during the Middle Paleolithic age. However it was not until 5000 BC that the first signs of advanced agriculture appeared, marking the beginning of the civilization. Overview What the Minoans called themselves is unknown. The term "Minoan" was coined by Arthur Evans after the mythic "king" Minos. Minos was associated in Greek myth with the labyrinth, which Evans identified with the site at Knossos. It has sometimes been argued that the Egyptian place name "Keftiu" (*Káftiu kftiw) and the Semitic "Kaftor" or "Caphtor" and "Kaptara" in the Mari archives refer to the island of Crete; "On the other hand some acknowledged facts about Caphtor/Keftiu can only with difficulty be reconciled with Crete," observes John Strange. In the Odyssey, composed centuries after the destruction of the Minoan civilization, Homer calls the natives of Crete Eteocretans ("true Cretans"); these may have been descendants of the Minoans. Minoan palaces (anaktora) are the best known building types to have been excavated on the island. They are monumental buildings serving administrative...
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...AP World History - Stearns Chapter 2 – Classical Civilization: China I. Introduction – longest-lived civilization in history A. Isolated 1. Couldn’t learn from other cultures 2. Rare invasions 3. Distinctive identity 4. Relatively little internal chaos w/ decline of Shang dynasty a. Greatest links to classical society B. Intellectual theory 1. Harmony of nature – yin and yang – balance 2. Seek Dao – the way a. Avoid excess b. Appreciate balance of opposites c. Humans part of world, not on outside – like Mediterranean Thesis: China emerged with an unusually well-integrated system in which government, philosophy, economic incentives, the family, and the individual were intended to blend into a harmonious whole. II. Patterns in Classical China A. Pattern of rule 1. Dynasty, family of kings – create strong politics, economy 2. Dynasty grew weak, taxes declined 3. Social divisions increased 4. Invasion or internal rebellion 5. Another dynasty emerged – general, invader, peasant rebel B. Zhou Dynasty – 1029-258 BCE 1. Started decline in 700 BCE 2. Ruled w/ local princes – alliance system a. Successful in agricultural communities – ie manor system Europe b. Princes received land for troops/tax 3. Eventually local leaders ignored central gov’t 4. Contributions a. Extended territory to “Middle Kingdom” – wheat north, rice south 1. Transportation/communication...
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...The Ancient Greeks and Romans both began their histories as city-states. While the irregular coastline and the mountainous terrain of the Greek peninsula isolated the various Greek city-states from one another, the city of Rome was located in the geographical middle of a generally north-south plain bordered on the east with mountains and on the west by the sea. Therefore, Rome was exposed to the migrations and invasions of people from the Po River in the north and Sicily in the south. The two primary ethnic and cultural influences upon the Romans were determined to a degree by this geography. That is, the first influence was that of the Etruscans in the north, and the second major influence was that of the Greeks in the south. By the time the city-state of Rome had emerged as a distinct entity out of its Etruscan origins and was prepared to expand its own unique influence, Greek civilization had spread throughout the Mediterranean basin. However, the fierce exclusiveness of the Greek city-states from one another, stemming from their geographical isolation, had determined that Greek colonization of the Mediterranean would be an extension of isolated city-states. The Greek polis did not permit the building of a Greek empire, and the strict barriers to the extension of citizenship prevented any one city-state from becoming dominant. As we have seen from Greek history, the Athenians were on the way to creating an empire through their domination of the Delian League, but this trend...
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...Columbia. Their capital was Cuzco. The Inca civilization was in the highlands of Peru. The Aztecs were located in Mexico. The Aztec Empire was based in the Valley of Mexico, a high elevated valley in the mountains of Central Mexico. Tenochtitlan was the Aztec city and the capital. It had canals and causeways that supplied hundreds of thousands of people who lived there. The Mayans lived in Mexico and Central America. The Palenque was once known as the red city, because the buildings were all painted red. The Maya capital...
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...Luminosity in the Muslim World At its peak, Islam was the intellectual center for science, education, philosophy and medicine not found anywhere else in the world. “The Medieval Islamic world…offered vastly more freedom than any of its predecessors, its contemporaries, and most of its successors,” said Bernard Lewis, a historian of the Middle East. (Akoyl) Islamic scholars and teachers lit the flame that would spread to Europe and ignite the fire which brought forth the Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment. For centuries, Islam was at the forefront of human civilization and achievements. The Golden Age of Islam was extraordinary, ground breaking and original, but like many things throughout time, it came to an end. Contemporary Islam no longer...
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...Are we Alone? Throughout the recorded history of mankind, we as citizens of Earth have encountered many unexplained mysteries. Many of these anomalies will remain unsolved unless we as a society become open to the possibility of change, open our minds and our eyes. The answer to the question "Are we alone in the universe?" has been unanswered and may remain so until scientists are no longer heavily scrutinized for researching the topic. Mainstream science has and will continue to ridicule and humiliate any individual who expresses an interest in the topic of aliens or extra-terrestrials. However, as time and technology progress, there has been a vast amount of substantial evidence that continues to build in many scientific disciplines such as archaeology, astronomy, philosophy, anthropology and ancient history. The late Swiss author of multiple best-selling novels, Erich Von Daniken introduced a radical new theory that would cause an enormous paradigm shift. Von Daniken was educated in a strict Catholic boarding school. He and his classmates were made to complete translations of the Old Testament Bible from Greek to Latin, and then from Latin to German. Von Daniken discovered his fascination with extra-terrestrials once he began to study the book of Ezekiel and the story of his wheel. In 1968, Von Daniken wrote and published his first novel titled “Chariots of the Gods” and the birth of the Ancient Astronaut theory was born. Essentially, the...
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...Eric Grimes Hsiang-Wang Liu World Civilizations III November 11, 2012 The Wealth and Poverty of Nations Why Some Are So Rich and Some Are So Poor The book, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why some are so rich and some are so poor, discusses that the characteristics of a society’s cultural history is the key to explaining success, in today’s global world. It also discusses why they achieve economic success while others remain mired in poverty. This book was written by David Landes, a professor of history and economics at Harvard University. The book was first published in 1998. It is based off of Adam Smith’s, The Wealth of Nations, written in 1776. The moral of this book describes how the writer explores the differences between the West and the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The book explains how our people got to a certain place in the world and the difficulties getting there. David Landes believes that this topic is overdue for discussion and feels he should step up to the subject. Landes starts with discussing the geography of the nations. He mentions in chapter one that many rich countries lie in the temperate zones, particularly in the northern hemisphere and the poor countries are in the tropics and semi- tropics. Philosophers believe that “this reveals the deepseated optimistic bias with which we approach problems of development and the reluctance to admit the vast differences in initial conditions with which today’s poor countries are faced...
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