From Stone Age to Classical Periods

Human History from the Earliest Records to the End of the Classical Periods:

• Ancient history covers the period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to late antiquity, around 5,000 years.

• The world population increased exponentially during ancient history, from 2 million in 10,000 BC to an estimated 209 million in AD 500.

• Prehistory, the period before written history, is often known as the Stone Age and is divided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic.

• Human migration started in the Lower Paleolithic, with Homo erectus spreading across Eurasia 1.8 million years ago.

• Agriculture was developed in various regions around 9000 BC, with animal domestication happening around 15,000 years ago.

• Writing developed separately in five different locations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, and Mesoamerica.

• The ancient Near East is considered the cradle of civilization, with Mesopotamia being the site of some of the earliest known civilizations in the world.

• The Achaemenid Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great, expanded through building roads and increasing trade, but failed to expand into Greece.

• The Hittites improved iron working and chariot warfare, and their empire stretched from Anatolia to Phoenicia and eastern Anatolia.

• Israel and Judah were Iron Age kingdoms that existed during the Iron Ages and the Neo-Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenistic periods.

• Phoenicia was an ancient civilization centered in modern-day Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, known for its maritime trading culture and invention of the Phoenician alphabet.

• Pre-Islamic Arabia's history before the rise of Islam in the AD 630s is not known in great detail.Overview of Ancient Civilizations

• Archaeological exploration in the Arabian peninsula is limited, and indigenous written sources are sparse.

• Carthage was founded around 814 BC by Phoenician settlers and was a city-state that ruled an empire through alliances and trade influence.

• Ancient Egypt was a long-lived civilization concentrated along the Nile River, reaching its greatest extent during the 2nd millennium BC.

• The Kingdom of Kush was centered on the upper Nile with a capital at Kerma.

• The Axumite Empire was an important trading nation in northeastern Africa centered in present-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia.

• The Nok culture appeared in Nigeria around 1000 BC and mysteriously vanished around AD 200.

• The civilization of Djenné-Djenno was located in the Niger River Valley in the country of Mali and is considered to be among the oldest urbanized centers and the best-known archaeology site in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Dhar Tichitt and Oualata were prominent among the early urban centers, dated to 2000 BC, in present-day Mauritania.

• Peoples speaking precursors to the modern-day Bantu languages began to spread throughout southern Africa, and by 2000 BC they were expanding past the Congo River and into the Great Lakes area.

• Agriculture began in the Indus Valley around 7000 BC, and to the Ganges Valley by 3000 BC.

• The Chinese civilization emerged within the Yellow River valley, with neolithic cultures such as the Longshan and Yangshao dating to 5000 BC.

• The Shang dynasty traditionally is dated to 1766 to 1122 BC, with bronze central to Shang culture and technology.Overview of Civilizations and Cultures from Ancient Times

• China was unified by Qin Shi Huangdi, who ruled with absolute power and enforced legalism philosophy and standardized units of measurement and writing system.

• Han dynasty followed Qin and ruled China for over four centuries, promoting iron agricultural tools, silk production, and paper manufacture but was strained by the rise of aristocrats and faced rebellions.

• East Asian nations such as Korea and Vietnam were also influenced by Chinese civilization and were brought under Han rule by Han Wudi in the second century BC.

• Several large, centralized ancient civilizations developed in the Western Hemisphere, including Mesoamerica and western South America.

• Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations emerged in Greece before the Archaic Period, which saw the expansion of the Greek world and the collapse of the power of old aristocracies.

• The Classical Greek world was dominated by Athens and Sparta, and the Hellenistic period saw the spread of Greek culture and lifestyles into Asia and Egypt.

• Ancient Rome grew out of the city-state of Rome, expanded through the Italian peninsula and the eastern Mediterranean, and became an empire ruled by an emperor by the first century AD.

• The Roman Empire underwent considerable social, cultural, and organizational change starting with the reign of Diocletian and culminating in the eventual collapse of the empire in the West in 476.

• The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age Europe, and the Huns were a nomadic people who formed a large state in Eastern Europe by about AD 400.

• Religion and philosophy played a significant role in the rise of civilization, with institutional sponsorship of belief in gods and supernatural forces.Overview of Ancient History

• Polytheism was the main form of religion during the Bronze Age, with gods having human-like personalities and strengths and weaknesses.

• Early religion was based on location, with cities and countries selecting deities that would give them an advantage over their competitors.

• The Abrahamic religions trace their origin to Judaism, which dates back to 1700 BC.

• Ancient Chinese thinking was dominated by three schools of thought: Taoism, Legalism, and Confucianism.

• In the west, the Greek philosophical tradition spread throughout Europe and the Middle East in the 4th century BC, after the conquests of Alexander the Great.

• Ancient technological progress began before recorded history, with the use of tools, fire, domestication of animals, and agriculture predating written records.

• Medical knowledge advanced during antiquity, with the use of herbs to treat illnesses and wounds, as well as some surgical techniques.

• The ancient Egyptians invented and used many basic machines, such as ramps and levers, to aid in construction processes.

• The Babylonians and Egyptians were early astronomers who recorded their observations of the night sky.

• The Hindu-Arabic numeral system, including the concept of zero, was developed in India, while modern forms of paper were invented in China in the first century AD.

• Water managing Qanats emerged on the Iranian plateau and possibly in the Arabian peninsula in the early 1st millennium BC, spreading slowly westward and eastward.

• Writing was an early development that allowed humans to record information for later use.