Ancient civilizations have always excited the minds of scientists, treasure hunters and lovers of historical puzzles. The Sumerians, Egyptians or Romans left a lot of evidence of their existence, but they were not the first on the planet. In addition to the legends about their rise and fall, there are blank spots in history that have not yet been filled.
All these civilizations were outstanding in their time and in many ways surpassed not only their era, but also modern achievements. But, for various reasons, they disappeared from the face of the Earth, having lost their greatness and power. It's not just about the empires that have definitely flourished on the planet, but also about the cultures that may have existed. For example, the well-known Atlantis has not yet been found, but could it even exist?
The editors of InPlanet have compiled a list of the most ancient civilizations, the legacy of which still causes heated debate among historians. We present to your attention the 12 greatest empires that left behind a lot of mysteries!
1 Lemuria continent / 4 million years ago
The origins of all ancient civilizations originate from the myth of the mysterious continent of Lemuria, which went under water many millions of years ago. Its existence was repeatedly mentioned in the myths of different peoples and philosophical works. They spoke of a highly developed race of apes who had excellent education and developed architecture. According to legend, he was in the Indian Ocean and the main proof of his existence is the island of Madagascar, inhabited by lemurs.
2 Hyperborea / before 11540 BC
The mysterious land of Hyperborea has been haunting the minds of scientists and researchers for many years who want to find at least some evidence of its existence. So, at the moment there is an opinion that Hyperborea was located in the Arctic and was inhabited by the ancestors of the Slavs. At that time, the continent was not yet covered with ice, but blossomed and fragrant. And this, by the way, is possible, because scientists have found that 30-15000 years BC. The climate in the Arctic was favorable.
It is worth noting that attempts to find Hyperborea have been practiced for a long time, for example, Germany and the USSR during the Second World War sent expeditions to search for the lost country. But it was never possible to establish whether there really was a country that became the progenitor of the Slavs.
3 Aroe civilization / 13000 BC
This civilization belongs to the category of mythical, despite the fact that there are a lot of buildings that prove the existence of peoples on the islands of Micronesia, Polynesia and Easter. Ancient cement statues dating back to 10950 BC have been discovered in New Caledonia.
According to legend, the civilization of Aroe, or the Kingdom of the Sun, was formed in the Pacific Ocean after the disappearance of the continent of Lemuria. Among the indigenous inhabitants of these islands, legends still circulate about ancestors capable of flying through the air.
4 Civilizations of the Gobi Desert / approximately 10,000 BC
Another mysterious civilization, the existence of which is disputed. Now the Gobi desert is the most sparsely populated place on the planet, arid and destructive. However, there is an opinion that many thousands of years ago a certain civilization of the White Island lived there, which stood on the same level with Atlantis. It was called the country of Agharti, the underground city, Shambhala and the land of Hsi Wang Mu.
In those years, the desert was the sea, and the White Island towered over it like a green oasis. Scientists have confirmed that this was indeed the case, but the date is confusing - the sea from the Gobi Desert disappeared 40 million years ago. Whether a settlement of sages could exist there at that time, or later, has not been scientifically proven.
5 Atlantis / 9500 BC
This mythical state is perhaps the most famous in the whole world. There is no exact evidence that there really was an island that went under water along with a highly developed civilization. But until now, sailors, historians and adventurers are looking for an underwater city filled with the treasures of ancient Atlantis.
The main proof of the existence of Atlantis is the works of Plato, who described the war of this island with Athens, as a result of which the Atlanteans simply went under water along with the island. There are many theories and myths about this civilization, and even entire scientific movements.
6 Ancient China / 8500 BC - our days
Chinese civilization is recognized as one of the oldest in the world. Scientists believe that its first beginnings appeared 8000 years ago BC. Written sources record the existence of a state called China as early as 3500 years ago. According to this, archaeologists discover pot shards in China dating back to 17-18,000 years BC. The ancient and rich history of China has shown that this state, ruled by dynasties for many millennia, was one of the most developed and strongest in the world.
7 Civilization of Osiris / before 4000 AD
Since officially this civilization cannot be considered to have existed, one can only guess about the dates of its heyday. According to legend, the Osirians were the progenitors of the Egyptian civilization and, accordingly, lived in the Mediterranean basin before their appearance.
Of course, all guesses about this civilization are based on unreliable facts, for example, that the Osirian civilization died due to the fact that the death of Atlantis provoked the flooding of the Mediterranean basin. There is no exact evidence of these events, therefore, only a mass of flooded cities at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea can be considered as confirmation of a civilization that has gone under water.
8 Ancient Egypt / 4000 BC - VI-VII centuries. AD
The ancient Egyptian civilization existed for about 40 centuries and reached its peak in the middle of this time period. To study this culture, there is a separate science of Egyptology, which studies the diverse history of this empire.
Ancient Egypt had everything it needed for development and prosperity - fertile land in the Nile River valley, religion, state administration and an army. Despite the fact that Ancient Egypt fell and was absorbed by the Roman Empire, there are still traces of this powerful civilization on the planet - a huge Sphinx, ancient pyramids and a lot of historical artifacts.
9 Sumerians and Babylon / 3300 BC - 1000 BC
For a long time, the Sumerian civilization was credited with the title of the first in the world. The Sumerians were the first to engage in crafts, agriculture, pottery and construction. In 2300 BC, this territory was captured by the Babylonians, who, led by Babylon, became the cultural and political center of the Ancient World. Both of these civilizations are the strongest states of Ancient Mesopotamia.
10 Ancient Greece / 3000 BC - I century. BC.
This ancient state was called Hellas and was considered one of the most powerful in the ancient world. Greece, this territory was nicknamed by the Romans, who captured Hellas in the first century BC. For three thousand years of existence, the Greek empire left behind a rich history, a lot of architectural monuments and many literary masterpieces that are still popular. What are the myths of ancient Greece!
11 Maya / 2000 BC - 16th century AD
Legends about the power and greatness of this amazing civilization are still circulating and pushing people in search of ancient treasures. In addition to untold riches, the Maya Indians had unique knowledge in astronomy, which allowed them to develop an accurate calendar. They also had amazing knowledge in construction, thanks to which their devastated cities are still included in the UNESCO heritage list.
This highly developed civilization had developed medicine, agriculture, water supply systems and a rich culture. Unfortunately, in the Middle Ages, this empire began to fade, and with the advent of the conquistadors, it completely disappeared.
12 Ancient Rome / 753 BC - V c. AD
The Roman Empire was one of the most powerful in the history of the Ancient World. She left behind a bright mark in history, enslaved many small states and won a lot of bloody wars. Ancient Rome had its own mythology, a powerful army, a management system and was the center of civilization during its heyday.
The Roman Empire gave the world a rich cultural heritage and history that still excites the minds of scientists. Like all ancient empires, it died out due to exorbitant ambitions and plans to conquer the whole world.
All these ancient civilizations left behind a huge cultural heritage and a lot of mysteries that have yet to be solved. Time will tell whether humanity will be able to find out whether some empires existed or not. In the meantime, we can only be content with conjectures and already existing facts.
I met in the Neolithic, there was native gold. Then people discovered such metals as copper, tin, silver, lead, and later iron. At first, they learned how to process copper - a soft metal that melts at a fairly low temperature.
Seven thousand years ago, people began to actively use copper to make axes, knives, and other tools. Gradually, copper replaced the stone. This led to the fact that the Stone Age was replaced by the Copper Age. The Copper Age is called the period of 4-3 millennia BC. e.
Along with copper, people processed precious metals - gold and silver. This is how blacksmithing and jewelry crafts appeared.
With the development of economic life, the need arose for the exchange of products of labor between farmers, pastoralists, artisans, which led to an increase in trade. Later came the first money. Shells, animal skins, bulls, measures of grain could act as the oldest money. But the most convenient as money turned out to be ingots or pieces of metals - copper, silver, gold.
2. The invention of the plow.
People improved the cultivation of the land. They invented a wooden plow that looked like a big hoe. It was difficult for the man to pull the plow as it was too heavy. Oxen were harnessed to the plow. With the help of a plow, stubborn, hard soil. The cultivated land has expanded significantly. As a result, yields have increased. People could make large stocks of grain.
With the help of a plow, two people were usually plowing. One man directed the oxen, the other leaned on the plow so that the furrow would be the required depth. Now not all members of the community had to participate in the cultivation of the land. People were released for other activities - construction, crafts, extraction of salt, metals.
3. Construction of megalithic structures.
There is an amazing building in the south of England. Roughly processed stone blocks placed vertically form a semicircle. On them lie the remains of stone slabs. This building is surrounded by earthen ramparts. When the sun rises, it finds itself between two central blocks-pillars, as if framing the sunrise of the daylight. This building is called Stonehenge. Such structures are called megalithic. You remember that the word "lit" means "stone". "Mega" in Greek means "huge", "extra large". Huge ancient megalithic structures are found not only in England, but also in other parts of Europe, Asia, and North Africa.
Perhaps the megalithic structures were the oldest temples, and also served as the first observatories that made it possible to observe the movement of the Sun, Moon, stars, planets and make calendar.
4. Ancient cities.
Not far from the southeastern Mediterranean coast archaeologists excavated a huge hill. They found the remains of one of the oldest cities in the world - Jericho.
Ten thousand years ago, a village of farmers appeared here. The inhabitants of this village worked hard, received good harvests of barley and wheat, exchanged them for handicrafts from neighboring tribes. The inhabitants of the village accumulated wealth. This allowed them to start rebuilding their settlement, which gradually turned into a city.
The people of Jericho built houses from sun-dried mud bricks. These bricks were not rectangular, to which we are accustomed, but had an oval shape: from below they were flat, from above they were rounded. with fingerprints. Jericho bricks were similar to a modern loaf. Around Jericho, the inhabitants erected powerful walls with towers. The city had a sewerage system. The rain ox was collected in specially built storage facilities. The inhabitants of Jericho exchanged grain, as well as salt mined here for shells from the shores of the Red Sea, turquoise from the Sinai Peninsula and other things.
In Jericho archaeologists found ancient burials: the faces of the dead were covered with clay masks with painted hair and headdresses and shells inserted into the eye sockets. The ancient temple testifies to the religious beliefs of the inhabitants.
Another ancient city excavated by archaeologists was Chatal-Guyuk in Asia Minor. Its inhabitants were engaged in agriculture. There were no streets in this city. Houses were built close to each other. They didn't have doors. It was possible to enter the premises only through the holes in the roof, where they climbed the ladder. When enemies approached the city, the stairs were removed. Deaf, without windows, the outer walls of the houses turned into powerful fortifications.
The inhabitants of the city worshiped the mother goddess and her companion, the young god. The sacred animal of this god was the bull. Priests enjoyed special power. They carried out religious ceremonies and ruled the city.
5. The emergence of ancient civilizations.
The development of agriculture and cattle breeding, the emergence of crafts, the construction of ancient cities testify that man began to actively transform nature. He began to create an artificial habitat. The organization of society has become more complex. There were people who controlled other people.
Around the middle of the 4th millennium BC. e. began the transition of mankind from primitive to civilization.
The indicators of this transition were the emergence of the first states, the development of cities, writing, and new forms of religious and cultural life.
Civilization is a higher stage in the development of human society, following the primitive.
The word "civilization" comes from the Latin word "civilis", meaning "civil, urban, state". Civilization is the opposite of a disorganized, wild state of life, a rough behavior of a person who does not consider others.
Ancient peoples created on their lands large organized communities with a highly developed culture and religion, which are called civilizations. The history of the Ancient World can be represented as the coexistence and change of various civilizations.
Researches of scientists have shown that the most ancient civilizations originated in the valleys of the largest rivers. Here, in the fertile valleys of the Nile, the Euphrates. Tigris, Indus and Huang He, large masses of people rushed. They created their cities and settlements on their shores, which then united into states.
Despite great distances and differences in development, ancient civilizations were interconnected. Their interactions led to a certain unity of the Ancient World in the presence of different civilizations and cultures.
6. From the Bronze Age to the Iron Age.
The earliest civilizations arose in the Copper Age. In the future, people invented bronze - an alloy of copper and hell. Bronze was stronger and harder than copper. From it began to make weapons, shields, knives, blades for plows and sickles, and other tools. Luxurious dishes, vases, statues, decorations for palaces and temples were smelted from bronze. The Bronze Age, which began at the end of the 4th millennium BC. e., continued until about the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e.
From the first half of the 1st millennium BC. e. iron began to replace bronze. People highly appreciated the possibilities of the newly discovered metal. The Iron Age has arrived. The development of iron gave impetus to the technical development of ancient civilizations.
IN AND. Ukolova, L.P. Marinovich, History, Grade 5
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Civilizations were born and disappeared in different places and in different periods. Some lived more, others less. There have been at least two "dark ages" in history when civilization essentially disappeared from most of the planet (1200-700 BC and 400-900 AD).
The ability of human society to self-organize and produce food in large quantities were prerequisites for the emergence of civilization. The availability of food contributed to population growth only if it was well organized. For 5000 years, from 8000 to 3000 years. BC, the first settlements turned into real civilizations in the Middle East, Anatolia, Iran, India, Pakistan and China. Important stages on the path to civilization were artificial irrigation, city-states, trade, metalworking and writing.
IRRIGATION
It is no coincidence that the river valleys of the Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, Indus and Huang He were the cradles of civilization. Obviously, people realized early on that the land in these areas was rich, but the main source of wealth was the fertile layers of soil that were washed away annually during floods. The valleys were useless to early farmers until they learned to control floods or adapted to them. The birth of civilization was partly connected with the management of the water level in the rivers and the realization of the potential of the earth.
Thanks to extensive archaeological excavations, the history of the civilizations of the Tigris, Euphrates and Nile is best known. These three rivers carry water from the highlands inland to the sea through very dry regions. The contrast between the land near the river and at some distance is impressive. The desert is only a few hundred meters from the Nile. The land near the river is rich, but in order for it to flourish, it was necessary to provide irrigation for those parts of the valley that were not directly adjacent to the river.
The implementation of large irrigation projects required significant efforts of the community and good organization of the business. The fact that irrigation began to be introduced is a confirmation of the fact that effective authorities appeared, although at that time there was still no written language. After irrigation began, food production in the river valleys improved dramatically, and these areas became the richest and most densely populated on Earth.
The relative prosperity of these areas contributed to the specialization of labor, the development of the arts and made it necessary to organize defense against potential enemies.
CITY STATE
In the summer, floods occur on the Tigris and Euphrates. People had to learn to regulate the water level in these rivers through dams and canals in order to cultivate the land. Nothing came easy in Mesopotamia. With the exception of land, there was little natural wealth. Clay was the building material. To succeed, the inhabitants there had to be resourceful. It is no coincidence that many of the major technological innovations of the era, including the invention of the wheel, took place there. In 5000 - 3000 years. BC. the plains along which these two rivers flow were inhabited by people. Large settlements in the area were separated from each other, first physically by moving rivers and swamps, and then politically.
By 3500 B.C. the inhabitants of the river delta, the Sumerians, created the first civilization. Their main city was Ur, located in the lagoon of the Persian Gulf, where its inhabitants, along with agriculture, were engaged in sea and river trade. The royal tombs at Ur dating back to 2600 BC contain impressive treasures, including golden vases bearing the names of kings, helmets made of gold leaf, golden axes and daggers used for decorative purposes, and a large number of silver and copper vases. . Some royal tombs had large crypts in which the assistants of the monarchs were buried, apparently with the aim of accompanying them in the afterlife. These tombs testify to the serious social stratification in the ancient cities.
The first Sumerian king known to history is Ur-Nammu who built the huge ziggurat of Ur. Later kings restored this gigantic mud-brick structure and it still exists today. Massive walls were built to protect Ur, but they were demolished by the Elamites who captured the city around 2000 BC.
The city-state was the typical unit of political organization in the Near East and the eastern Mediterranean until the end of antiquity. Such cities often coalesced into empires that lasted until the arrival of the Romans. Egypt was the main exception to the succession of city-states, but its relative isolation made this case unique.
TRADE
Large-scale trade was paid for by the surplus agricultural production that appeared after the river valleys began to be irrigated. The trade in surplus contributed to the specialization of labor. People who lived near certain raw materials could devote themselves to the craft and sell the results of their labor for food. The inhabitants of the mountains in the vicinity of Ur exchanged metal tools and ore for food. The location of the first civilizations on the banks of rivers and seas accelerated trade, since transport by water was cheap. Pottery could be transported by sea over long distances. The Lebanese cedars were brought by ships to Egypt, where timber was in short supply.
Trade contributed to the development of the economy. The comparative advantages of the production of different regions allowed all participants in the trade to benefit.
Trade accelerated the spread of ideas. Traders who found themselves in areas of other cultures quickly spread new ideas and discoveries. The countries that actively participated in trade were usually the most advanced.
METALWORKING
According to the data known to us, metalworking began in the south of Turkey, in the north of Syria. Hammered copper pieces found there date back to 7000 BC. Prolonged hammering makes the metal harder, but also brittle, and therefore useless. Calcining on fire restores its malleability and again makes it suitable for human needs. It seems that the calcination process was invented by man at a very early stage.
The first major breakthrough in metallurgy was the discovery of casting - the extraction of metal from ore at high temperature. This greatly expanded the use of copper, since copper ore was much more common than raw copper. By 4000 B.C. small objects made of copper were widespread in the Middle East.
The second important step in the development of metallurgy was the discovery of bronze around 3000 BC. This alloy of copper and tin was harder than copper and more suitable for the production of tools, it was easier to cast the necessary forms from it.
In Thailand, metalworking originated in 4000 BC, and bronze appeared there before 2000 BC. In the Andes of South America, metalworking began around 2000 BC. It is believed that this event occurred independently of the processes in the Middle East.
Iron has been known since 3000 BC, but man managed to adapt it to his needs much later. Some of the early pieces were made from meteoric iron. Ancient trade documentation contains evidence that in the 2nd millennium BC. iron was considered a more valuable metal than silver. One of the two ceremonial daggers found in the tomb of Tutankhamen from 1323 BC is made of iron (the other is made of gold). The use of iron became more common after 1200 BC. during the first Dark Age, in part because the cessation of trade limited access to copper and tin. Without these metals, blacksmiths had to make do with iron ore, improve their handling skills, and, ultimately, they mastered this cheaper metal.
WRITING
Apparently, writing was invented in order to keep trade records in the early city-states.
Writing appeared in Mesopotamia on the eve of the Bronze Age around 3000 BC. Early writing was pictographic: each drawing represented an object. For example, a drawing of a horse's head meant a horse.
The main material for writing in Mesopotamia was a clay tablet. The discovery of a large number of surviving tablets has allowed historians to trace the transformation of pictographic writing into cuneiform. In this writing system, the drawings gradually turned into sets of wedge-shaped lines, which were drawn on clay with a special tool. Since clay tablets are much better preserved, we know a lot about the cultures that used cuneiform. Immediately after 3000 B.C. different types of writing appeared in Egypt, most likely under the influence of Mesopotamia. The most famous Egyptian script was hieroglyphics - a special pictographic script - used primarily for inscriptions in temples. Hieroglyphs were easier to depict on papyri in documents and in everyday life.
Anthropologists and archaeologists generally agree that our civilization first arose in the Middle East 7 or 8 thousand years ago and then spread throughout Asia, Africa, and finally into Europe and the Americas. Such was and remains the orthodox view, and although the details of this emergence continue to be specified and debated, it seems to be as firmly established a fact as possible in history.
But what if this assumption is wrong?
And while it seems absurd to suggest otherwise, could science be missing something? While no one disputes that it is possible to find traces of the rise of modern civilization in the Middle East, does this fact in itself prove that this was the only case on our planet? In other words, could a civilization have traveled this path earlier without leaving any records of itself, or is such an opinion clearly beyond the scope of the possible?
Science, at its worst, is a rigid system that does not want to consider anything outside the sphere of influence of established generally accepted views, which leads to stagnation in knowledge and extinguishes the spark of scientific research. At its best, when it is ready to acknowledge that there is much that is new in the world, science can be the beacon of progress.
What if science were willing, just this time, to overcome religious barriers and dare to consider the possibility that civilization is a recurring phenomenon rather than a one-time occurrence? What if, as the works of Plato and numerous flood myths suggest, our civilization is not the first to reach the pinnacle of stature and power, but only the very last to do so? We live in a world of wonder and mystery that is waiting for us to see things in a new way. Wouldn't the legend of Atlantis be an invitation to do so?
Thus, the next step in the search for Atlantis is to find out if there is at least a hypothetical possibility that humanity could create an advanced civilization in the distant, prehistoric past. In order to do this, it is first necessary to understand how civilization arises in the first place, and for this we must add to the world of archeology, anthropology and oceanography a science that is completely different from them. The time has come to turn to the science of human nature, which we call sociology, to see if the human ability to create communities was inherent in primitive people, or whether we managed to acquire it through thousands of years of evolution. In essence, we should do nothing less than investigate the question of why we have become civilized at all.
THE RISE OF AGRICULTURE
In fact, the process during which Homo sapiens moved from a nomadic life of forest hunters to a settled existence and the creation of communities remains unclear. We don't know exactly when or how it all started, but at some point in the distant past, people noticed that seeds that fell to the ground had a tendency to sprout and grow. At first it seemed very strange, but because people continued to fight for food in order to feed their families, it dawned on some of them that, having determined from which seeds edible plants were obtained, it made sense to grow them and, in ultimately benefit. At first, this may have been only a way to supplement their meager diet, especially in areas where there was little game, but soon the fruits, vegetables, and grains harvested by the people became staples, with meat only occasionally supplementing the diet. In the end, when people realized that growing their own food is much more practical (if not always easier) than collecting them or hunting, Homo sapiens stopped wandering and, taking up agriculture - the basis of civilization - was born.
Such a dramatic change in lifestyle led to the emergence of other things. Around this time, people discovered that edible plants could be grown from just seeds. In addition, they realized that some of the more docile animals of the forests and savannahs could be captured, rather than killed outright, and kept alive until food was needed. Later, when people became convinced that these animals could produce offspring and increase meat supplies, another occupation of the former hunters was animal husbandry, which offered an alternative to hunting elusive, fast-moving game all day long or foraging for berries and roots. Now they always had meat on hand, as well as vegetables and fruits.
Between these two discoveries - that plants come from seeds and that some animals can be domesticated - humans gained the ability to provide nutritional needs at their own discretion, ending nomadic existence. This did not guarantee an easy life - farming is hard work - but it did improve the short and brutal life of hunter/gatherers.
New ways of obtaining food not only made a settled person from a nomadic hunter, but also had a profound impact on the whole society. Now that people were able to provide for their needs without hunting, the need to move to new places to hunt was gone, allowing people to live more gigi less permanently in one area. And although some decided to remain hunters, earning food with the help of dexterity and dexterity, the majority preferred to settle down and provide for themselves by cultivating the soil or cultivating livestock.
But even for those who continued to hunt, the situation has changed. They soon realized that they needed farmers and shepherds to survive, just as they needed hunters. When hunting was unsuccessful, hunters could turn to farmers to cover their losses, while farmers could depend on hunters or shepherds for food during times of drought. Hunters could diversify their diet by trading bread with farmers for skins; and the farmers, in turn, could purchase meat and milk from the shepherds. Thus, at that time there was a spontaneous integration of three specialties, in each of which people found ways to satisfy the needs of others, thereby improving their own conditions of existence.
THE APPEARANCE OF THE ARTISER
Of course, this is not the end of progress, as there is a huge difference between the emergence of a few primitive agricultural communities and a fully developed civilization. Civilization requires different levels of development and social heterogeneity, and this has been made up for by what is known in anthropology as the artisan.
As farmers, herders and hunters (together with fishermen in most areas) integrated their capabilities, it became clear that someone had to perform other necessary functions. Farmers needed storage for their crops, shepherds needed fences to keep their flocks from scattering, fishermen needed boats and nets, and hunters needed better and more efficient weapons. Everyone needed houses and, most importantly, a means of exchanging goods. And if at first they could provide themselves with all this on their own, then later they realized that the needs did not correspond to their abilities, and other specialists were required to provide certain services that they were no longer able to provide for themselves.
This is how builders, artisans, blacksmiths, masons and, finally, merchants appeared, who supported the work of the socio-economic mechanism not only by providing hunters, farmers and shepherds with the necessary tools, but also by ensuring the availability of their goods for everyone (of course, for a certain cost) . Later, when farmers, hunters, fishermen and shepherds realized that by creating communities they could better protect themselves and their goods from envious neighbors, as well as create more favorable conditions for trading, villages began to appear. These villages naturally needed protection from outside enemies, as well as some form of central direction and control of it all, so a professional military and a ruling class soon emerged. Soon, villages began to grow into cities, cities united and nation-states arose, and as a result, civilization began to flourish.
The important thing here is that we have seen how one change naturally and steadily leads to the next, which in turn leads to further innovation requiring additional specialization. For example, a fisherman needs a boat but lacks the skills and materials to build one himself, so he turns to a local boat builder for help. The boat builder, in turn, needs tools and materials, so he turns to a blacksmith to make a tool and instructs the village lumberjack (another craftsman) to chop and hew trees so that he has the raw materials to build his boat. The blacksmith, of course, also needs raw materials to make the tools needed by the boat builder (as well as the lumberjack to fell trees). So he goes to the miners to extract ore from the earth that will provide him with the base metals he needs to make tools (and even then, the blacksmith will need someone to invent the appropriate tools so that he knows what he has to do). Thus, everything interacted and intertwined in a single and inevitable process, which we later called civilization.
I do not mean that this process was quick. In fact, the transformation from forest hunter/gatherer to farmer took many centuries, followed by the emergence of service providers, which took even longer (and only when the need for action arose). For the most part, this progress turned out to be inevitable and self-sustaining; after the first simple discovery had been made that seeds planted and sprouted would provide a quite reliable source of nourishment, the division of labor and the rise of civilization became inevitable.
QUESTION "WHY?"
Of course, all this explains what happened, but it does not explain why it took Homo sapiens more than 9,000 years to notice that edible plants come from seeds - a process that is absolutely obvious even to the most casual observer - and begin the process of civilization formation that inevitably follows. . Could the process of basic observation and direction of humanity along the path of civilization really take so long?
It may indeed have taken so long for this to happen - for reasons we can only speculate - but then the question arises as to why humanity has been capable of such things at all. Elephants, for example, have not achieved similar results in creating city-states, despite millions of years of evolution. Dolphins, arguably the most intelligent animals on the planet after humans, similarly showed no signs of progressing towards even more advanced levels of communication or social structure. Why then should humans be the only animal capable of abandoning their traditional, natural way of life - as a hunter-gatherer - to live in mud-brick houses and work the land for 18 hours a day?
And yet this is exactly what humanity has done, demonstrating that of all the animals on the planet, we are the only ones willing and able to globally change our lives - if, in fact, not our very essence - in a relatively short period of time. But was this ability to change our core being just a consequence of the increased brain capacity given to us along with feelings and self-awareness - and also ways and stimulus - or something else? In other words, what prompted ancient people to root out their wanderlust and settle in densely populated lands, and more importantly, why did it take them so long to get around to it?
Consider the question from the point of view of logic. Science tells us that modern man arose about 100,000 years ago. She also says that ancient man did not differ from modern Homo sapiens in terms of the volume of the skull and the presence of a thinking process (in fact, he was modern Homo sapiens). It follows that the very first modern humans were not supposed to be smarter or, for that matter, dumber than we are. In this regard, there is no conclusive reason that ancient people should not have had the same ability for abstract and creative thinking as their modern counterparts, and the same ability to invent abacus, wheels, fire or computers, which they have now. In fact, if we accept the assumption that ancient Homo sapiens had the same brain functions as his brethren, for what reason we then think that he could not or did not use these thinking skills in order to get out of the jungle much earlier, what did it end up doing? Even if he was guided in the beginning only by the power of his own deductive thinking and observational skills, is this less than what our distant ancestors started with when they started organizing communities 7 thousand years ago? Could we have been blinded by a kind of intellectual conceit that makes us refuse to admit that our distant ancestors were as smart as we think we are?
Of course, the ego does not prove that civilizations arose spontaneously in the distant past, but it does show that there is no logical reason why they could not or, more importantly, why they should not have done so. After all, the ability to notice that plants come from seeds should have been around just as long ago - if not earlier - than the more abstract detection of fire, so what's the problem then? From another perspective, what could have prevented Homo sapiens from transcending its original hunter/gatherer historical role until relatively recently?
The problem, moreover, is complicated not only by the question of why it took so long for civilization to arise, but also why it appeared on its own among different cultures dispersed throughout the world. The traditional view that civilization originally arose in Mesopotamia and spread further is no longer considered indisputable, especially since modern discoveries have proven that civilization is a global rather than a regional phenomenon. Although civilization may have first developed in Mesopotamia (as far as we know), there is no evidence that it caused later civilizations in China, Egypt, or the Americas. In fact, quite the opposite is happening: there is evidence that city-states arose independently in different places and at different times, independently of each other, and developed independently of any influence.
So, what was the beginning of all this "civilization" about 7 thousand years ago? What did happen 5,000 years BC? e., what prompted man to become civilized after almost 100 centuries of apparent indifference and primitive ignorance?
SPACE HYPOTHESIS
One of the explanations put forward by someone suggests that the reason this process took so long was because humanity was unable to push itself into action, and therefore some external influence was required to set in motion the mechanism of change. In addition, it has been suggested that this missing component - the "spark" that primitive man needed to start the process of civilization - was provided by aliens who visited our planet sometime in the distant past. This view first gained popularity in Erich von Däniken's bestseller Chariots of the Gods in 1968, and has been a constant presence in many Atlantis writings ever since.
The theory mostly revolves around the assumption that aliens from outer space either genetically improved advanced primates hundreds of thousands of years ago to create modern humans, or they simply accelerated the natural evolution of humans by introducing them to highly advanced technology, thereby jumpstarting the emergence of civilization. However, if it is possible - or, as some would say, plausible - that humankind has been visited by space aliens in the past, this explanation is unlikely to seem credible or unproven and, in fact, may create more problems than it solves. Let us assume that advanced non-terrestrial cultures were ready - and received the approval of other space nations - for such a significant intervention in human evolution. Then the question arises how they could get ordinary forest dwellers to take part in the process of becoming a civilization, if they were not smart enough to figure out how to create a civilization themselves. It seems as far-fetched as forcing a chimpanzee to learn how to play the guitar.
Given that the earliest Homo sapiens were somehow encouraged to become "civilized," we are faced with a second problem. Due to the fact that many terrestrial civilizations arose on their own without coming into contact with each other (at least until they reached a certain level of development), we would have to wonder why this space aliens decided several times repeat the same process with different peoples, instead of creating one civilization into which all other "primitive" peoples and cultures would merge. This, at least, would be much easier and faster - to acquaint all those living on Earth with civilization and get the additional advantage of being able to avoid many of the difficulties (such as the battle for resources, land, power, and so on) that are characteristic of competing societies in enclosed space. Couldn't the highly advanced space aliens have found a better way, or perhaps they enjoyed the many inevitable wars and conflicts that resulted from their "experiments"?
The theory of human genetic improvement has its own problems. One of the most serious is its conflict with the theory of evolution. The progressive development of primates can be seen quite clearly in the fossil record, logically turning any fragmentary information about "greater primates" into an easily distinguishable structure; however, no particular leap in their development has yet been noticed. As far as science knows, over hundreds of thousands of years, Homo sapiens evolved naturally from the earliest developed primates, so the hypothesis of genetic manipulation is controversial and completely useless in order to understand how people first mastered the idea of civilization.
In this regard, until there is evidence of the participation of external influences, we will proceed from the assumption that human beings themselves, without outside help, are able to “start” civilization, and, moreover, this ability is really inherent in them. And the question is not how this innate ability manifested itself, but rather when it happened. Here again the story of Atlantis comes into play.
The period of primitiveness in certain areas of the earth ended at the turn of IV-111 millennia BC. It was replaced by a period that is called civilization. The very word "civilization" is connected with the word "city". City building is one of the first signs of the birth of civilization. Civilization finally took shape after the emergence of states. Gradually, a culture characteristic of civilization was formed. A huge role in this culture and in all life began to play writing, the emergence of which is also considered the most important sign of the transition to civilization.
By the end of the period of the Ancient World (5th century AD), the area of distribution of civilization was a strip of land from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Outside this strip lived tribes that did not have their own states. The area of civilization was expanding, although there was also a reverse movement due to wars and natural disasters.
Civilization among different peoples had their own differences. It was influenced by natural and climatic conditions, the circumstances of the historical path of peoples, etc. Historians talk about different ancient civilizations. Sometimes this term denotes the history of a separate people, state (ancient Egyptian civilization, Sumerian civilization, Chinese civilization, Greek civilization, Roman civilization, etc.). However, the civilizations of the Ancient World had a lot in common, which allows us to combine them into two models - ancient eastern civilization And ancient civilization.
Ancient Eastern - the first civilization. Its oldest form was the state in the valleys of the great rivers - the Nile, Euphrates and Tigris, the Indus, the Yellow River. Then states developed outside the river valleys. All ancient Eastern countries were characterized by a large role of state power, the enormous power of monarch rulers. The predominant population was the peasantry, united, as a rule, in communities. Slavery played a secondary role.
Ancient civilization developed later. It mainly covered the Mediterranean region. True, the first states here are also attributed to the ancient Eastern civilization. However, then, for reasons that are not entirely explainable, development took a different path. The features of self-government began to predominate in the state structure of the ancient states. Ancient states are called policies. The rulers in the policy were elected at popular meetings, the role of state bodies was performed by the former community structures, for example, the council of elders (Areopagus, Senate). However, over time, the polis device was replaced by monarchical power. In ancient states, a significant part of the population lived in cities. Along with agriculture, handicrafts and trade acquired great importance. Slave labor played a significant role.
