Ancient Civilizations To borrow from Dr. Seuss's book title, "Oh the Places You'll Go! Here's a coming attraction of the people, places, ideas, and things coming at you: Your 3.2 million-year-old human ancestor Lucy, mummies, pyramids, Cleopatra, "an eye for an eye", the birth of major religions Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, the birth of democracy, the first Olympics, Julius Caesar, gladiators, the invention of writing, paper, and the wheel, kingdoms built of stone in Africa, the Great Wall of China, the introduction of such concepts as zero, time, and monotheism (the belief in one god), Samurai, martial arts, palaces of gold, and even the Sphinx. The study of ancient civilizations and people raises some profound questions. As you explore these civilizations, see if you can make sense of this Sphinxlike statement from author William Faulkner: "The past is never dead. Knowledge of history is empowering. As Seuss promises later in that same book, "Will you succeed?
10 Forgotten Ancient Civilizations History The typical history textbook has a lot of ground to cover and only so many pages to devote to anything before Jesus. For most of us, that means ancient history is a three-dog show—Egypt, Rome, and Greece. Which is why it’s easy to get the impression that, outside of those three, our map of the ancient world is mostly just blank space. 10Aksum The kingdom Aksum (or Axum) has been the subject of countless legends. The Ethiopian kingdom of reality, not myth, was an international trading power. Aksum adopted Christianity not long after the Roman Empire did and continued to thrive through the early Middle Ages. 9Kush Known in ancient Egyptian sources for its abundance of gold and other valuable natural resources, Kush was conquered and exploited by its northern neighbor for nearly half a millennium (circa 1500–1000 B.C.). In the ninth century B.C., instability in Egypt allowed the Kushites to regain their independence. 8Yam 7The Xiongnu Empire 6Greco-Bactria 5Yuezhi 4The Mitanni Kingdom
NOVA - Official Website | The Afterlife in Ancient Egypt share Posted 01.03.06 NOVA Unlike most scholars of the ancient world, Salima Ikram knows her subjects on an intimate, face-to-face basis. Like most ancient Egyptians, this wife of a pharaoh died young. The allure of mummies NOVA: Why do you think people are so fascinated by mummies? Salima Ikram: Part of it is, of course, all that horror movie business. What's the allure of mummies for Egyptologists? Well, I think one reason is very basic: here we are, studying Tuthmosis III, reading his words on temple walls, and you can actually look at him! There's also a lot that we can learn from mummies about ancient disease, medical practices, technology, health, diet, as well as religious beliefs. Rameses V reigned for only five years during the 20th Dynasty (c. 1196-1070 B.C.). Is it fair to say that the ancient Egyptians were obsessed with death? No. What did they think the afterlife would be like? It varied depending on whether you were royal or nonroyal. Did they bury pets in their tombs? Amazing.
Maya - Facts & Summary The Classic Period, which began around A.D. 250, was the golden age of the Maya Empire. Classic Maya civilization grew to some 40 cities, including Tikal, Uaxactún, Copán, Bonampak, Dos Pilas, Calakmul, Palenque and Río Bec; each city held a population of between 5,000 and 50,000 people. At its peak, the Maya population may have reached 2,000,000. Excavations of Maya sites have unearthed plazas, palaces, temples and pyramids, as well as courts for playing the ball games that were ritually and politically significant to Maya culture. The Maya were deeply religious, and worshiped various gods related to nature, including the gods of the sun, the moon, rain and corn. The Classic Maya built many of their temples and palaces in a stepped pyramid shape, decorating them with elaborate reliefs and inscriptions. Serious exploration of Classic Maya sites began in the 1830s.
Daily Life in Ancient Egypt The daily life in ancient Egypt was actually much different than the vision that commonly comes to mind. Relics found in archaeological digs as well as paintings and drawings on pyramid and tomb walls depict images of life in ancient Egypt that was, in some regards, not that much different than life in Egypt today. Family Life Family was important in ancient Egypt, and family life began early for the ancient Egyptians. Men and women both tended to marry young, and most marriages were polygamous with the husband having several wives. The husband usually had a senior or chief wife who was considered higher than the other ones. Children Children were also an important part of the family unit. © Jean-Pierre Dalbéra - Relief of Akhenaten and his family Working Life Peasant life in ancient Egypt was not always enjoyable. The Egyptians were one of the first people to introduce the use of the ox-drawn plow; however the work of plowing, planting and harvesting would have still been very difficult.
The Inca Empire: Children of the Sun When Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro landed in Peru in 1532, he found unimaginable riches. The Inca Empire was in full bloom. The streets may not have been paved with gold — but their temples were. The Coricancha, or Temple of Gold, boasted an ornamental garden where the clods of earth, maize plants complete with leaves and corn cobs, were fashioned from silver and gold. The Mountain Institute, West Virginia This mummified girl was discovered in 1995 on Mount Ampato in the Andes Mountains of Peru at an altitude of over 20,000 feet. The Inca called their empire Tahuantinsuyu, or Land of the Four Quarters. The true history of the Inca is still being written. The Sacred City of Cuzco Cuzco is nestled in a mountain valley 10,000 feet above sea level. And he did something else — which may explain the Inca's sudden rise to power. A new ruler had to create his own income. From the heights of Machu Picchu, the entire Urabamba Valley in the Andes Mountains can be seen. How was this done?
Egyptian Fractions 1 Egyptian Fractions The ancient Egyptians only used fractions of the form 1/n so any other fraction had to be represented as a sum of such unit fractions and, furthermore, all the unit fractions were different! Why? This page explores some of the history and methods with puzzles and and gives you a summary of computer searches for such representations. This page has an auto-generated Content section which may take a second or two to appear. The calculators on this page also require JavaScript but you appear to have switched JavaScript off (it is disabled). 2 An Introduction to Egyptian Mathematics Some of the oldest writing in the world is on a form of paper made from papyrus reeds that grew all along the Nile river in Egypt. [The image is a link to David Joyce's site on the History of Maths at Clarke University.] Some of the papyrus scrolls date back to about 2000 BC, around the time of the construction of the larger Egyptian pyramids. So what was on them do you think? For example, So
Teotihuacan Coordinates: Teotihuacan /teɪˌoʊtiːwəˈkɑːn/,[1] also written Teotihuacán (Spanish teotiwa'kan ), was a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican city located in the Basin of Mexico, 30 miles (48 km) northeast of modern-day Mexico City, which is today known as the site of many of the most architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramids, Teotihuacan is also anthropologically significant for its complex, multi-family residential compounds, the Avenue of the Dead, and the small portion of its vibrant murals that have been exceptionally well-preserved. Additionally, Teotihuacan exported a so-called "Thin Orange" pottery style and fine obsidian tools that garnered high prestige and widespread utilization throughout Mesoamerica.[2] Name[edit] This naming convention led to much confusion in the early 20th century, as scholars debated whether Teotihuacan or Tula-Hidalgo was the Tollan described by 16th–century chronicles. History[edit] Zenith[edit]
The Great Pyramid of Giza Pyramids of Giza, soaring above the city of Cairo, Egypt The Great Pyramid of Giza is the most substantial ancient structure in the world - and the most mysterious. According to prevailing archaeological theory - and there is absolutely no evidence to confirm this idea - the three pyramids on the Giza plateau are funerary structures of three kings of the fourth dynasty (2575 to 2465 BC). According to our present knowledge the Great Pyramid of Giza is mostly solid mass, it’s only known interior spaces being the Descending passage (the original entrance), the Ascending passage, the Grand Gallery, a mysterious grotto, an equally mysterious subterranean chamber, and the two main chambers. The foolishness of the common assumption, that the Giza plateau pyramids were built and utilized by fourth Dynasty kings as funerary structures, cannot be overstated. The attribution to Khufu of the Great Pyramid of Giza is founded solely upon three very circumstantial pieces of "evidence":
Egyptian Mummies The methods of embalming, or treating the dead body, that the ancient Egyptians used is called mummification. Using special processes, the Egyptians removed all moisture from the body, leaving only a dried form that would not easily decay. It was important in their religion to preserve the dead body in as life-like a manner as possible. So successful were they that today we can view the mummified body of an Egyptian and have a good idea of what he or she looked like in life, 3000 years ago. Mummification was practiced throughout most of early Egyptian history. Process The mummification process took seventy days. The embalmers next removed all moisture from the body. Next the wrapping began. As part of the funeral, priests performed special religious rites at the tomb's entrance. Such elaborate burial practices might suggest that the Egyptians were preoccupied with thoughts of death. But why preserve the body? Who Was Mummified For religious reasons, some animals were also mummified.
Sweet Search New clues illuminate mysteries of ancient Egyptian portraits WASHINGTON — Scientists are getting a clearer picture of how ancient Egyptians painted lifelike portraits that were buried with mummies of the depicted individuals. These paintings sharply departed from Egyptians’ previous, simpler artworks and were among the first examples of modern Western portraits, archaeologist and materials scientist Marc Walton reported February 14 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The “mummy portraits” date to more than 2,000 years ago, when the Roman Empire controlled Egypt. Three such portraits of Roman-era Egyptians, found more than a century ago at site called Tebtunis, were created by the same artist, said Walton, of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Many pigments in the portraits probably came from Greece, Walton said. Walton plans to study 12 more Egyptian mummy portraits, as well as paintings of women in pink garb and ones of military gods that have also been found in Egyptian tombs.
History - Ancient History in depth: The Story of the Nile King Tut Revealed By A.R. Williams He was just a teenager when he died. Inside King Tut’s subterranean burial chamber, against a backdrop of sacred murals, Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, removes padding to reveal the young pharaoh’s remains. Clues From Top ... Did the young pharaoh die from a blow to the head? As evidence, they cite an x-ray taken in 1968, which shows a fragment of bone in the skull cavity—emptied by embalmers, according to custom. The maturity of the skeleton and wisdom teeth confirms that Tut was about 19 years old when he died. ... to Bottom About five feet six inches tall (1.7 meters) and slightly built, Tut was in excellent health—well fed and free of any disease that would have affected his physique. Tut’s funerary equipment—including chariots, bows, arrows, and throwing sticks —indicates that he had learned to hunt and fight like a proper pharaoh. Splendor of the Inner Sanctum Guide to the Great Beyond In his defense, Carter really had little choice.