Ancient history

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"Ancient" redirects here. For other uses, see Ancient_(disambiguation). The times before writing belong either to protohistory or to prehistory.

Ancient history is the study of the written past^[1] from the beginning of recorded human history until the Early Middle Ages^[2] in Europe, the Qin Dynasty^[3] in China, the Chola Empire in India, and some less defined point in the rest of the world (for example, the Austronesian regions,^[4] and North, Central, and South America). The period following these events include the Imperial era in China^[5] and the period of the Middle Kingdoms in India^[6][7][8]; one might consider the end of antiquity in the Americas to be the start of the colonization of the Americas.^[9] The span of recorded history altogether is roughly 5,000 – 5,500 years, with Sumerian cuneiform^[10] being the oldest form of writing discovered so far. This is the beginning of history by the definition used by most historians.^[11]

The term classical antiquity is often used to refer to ancient history since the beginning of recorded Greek history in about 776 BC (First Olympiad). This coincides, roughly, with the traditional date of the founding of Rome in 753 BC, the beginning of the history of ancient Rome. Although the ending date of ancient history is disputed, Western scholars use the fall of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476,^[12][13] or the death of the emperor Justinian I,^[14] or the coming of Islam^[15] and the rise of Charlemagne^[16] as the end of ancient European history.

[edit] The study of ancient history

The fundamental difficulty of studying ancient history is the fact that only a fraction of it has been documented and only a fraction of those recorded histories have survived into the present day.^[17] It is also imperative to consider the reliability of the information obtained from these records.^[17][18] Literacy was not widespread in almost any culture until long after the end of ancient history, so there were few people capable of writing histories.^[19] Even those written histories which were produced were not widely distributed; the ancients, not having the luxury of a printing press had to make copies of books by hand.

The Roman Empire was one of the ancient world's most literate cultures,^[20] but many works by its most widely read historians are lost. For example, Livy, a Roman historian who lived in the 1st century BC, wrote a history of Rome called Ab Urbe Condite ("From the Founding of the City") in 144 volumes; only 35 volumes still exist, although short summaries of most of the rest do exist. Indeed, only a minority of the work of any major Roman historian has survived.

Historians have two major avenues which they take to better understand the ancient world: archaeology and the study of source texts. Primary sources have been described as those sources closest to the origin of the information or idea under study.^[21][22] Primary sources have been distinguished from secondary sources, which often cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources.^[23]

[edit] Archaeology

Main article: Archaeology

Archaeology is the excavation and study of artifacts in an effort to interpret and reconstruct past human behavior.^{[24][25][26][27]} In the study of ancient history, archaeologists excavate the ruins of ancient cities looking for clues as to how the people of the time period lived. Some important discoveries by archaeologists studying ancient history include:

[edit] Source text

Main article: Source text

Perhaps most of what is known of the ancient world comes from the accounts of antiquity's own historians. Although it is important to take into account the bias of each ancient author, their accounts, are the basis for our understanding of the ancient past. Some of the more notable ancient writers include Herodotus, Josephus, Livy, Polybius, Sallust, Suetonius, Tacitus, Thucydides, and Sima Qian.

[edit] Chronology

[edit] Prehistory

Main article: Prehistory

Prehistory is a term often used to describe the period before written history. The early human migrations^[36] patterns in the Lower Paleolithic saw Homo erectus spreads across Eurasia. The controlled use of fire from ca. 800 kya occurred. Near c. 250 kya, Homo sapiens evolves in Africa. Around c. 70–60 kya, modern humans migrate out of Africa along a coastal route to South and Southeast Asia and reach Australia. About c. 50 kya, modern humans spread from Asia to the Near East. Followed by c. 40 kya, in which Europe was first reached by modern humans. By c. 15 kya, the migration to the New World occurred.

In the 10th millennium BC, Invention of agriculture is the earliest given date for the beginning of the ancient era. In the 7th millennium BC, Jiahu culture began in China. By the 5th millennium BC, the late Neolithic civilizations saw the invention of the wheel and spread of proto-writing. In the 4th millennium BC, the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture in the Ukraine-Moldova-Romania region develops. By 3400 BC, "proto-literate" Sumerian cuneiform is spread in the Middle East.^[37] The 30th century BC, referred to as the Early Bronze Age II, saw the beginning of the literate period in Sumer and Ancient Egypt arise. Around ca. 27th century BC, the Old Kingdom of Egypt and the First Dynasty of Uruk are founded, according to the earliest reliable regnal eras.

[edit] Timeline of Ancient History

Main article: Timeline of Ancient history

[edit] Middle to Late Bronze Age

The Bronze Age forms part of the three-age system. In this system, it follows the Neolithic in some areas of the world. In the 24th century BC, Akkadian Empire^[38][39] In the 22nd century BC, the First Intermediate Period of Egypt occurred The time between the 21st to 17th centuries BC aroundthe Nile has been denoted as Middle Kingdom of Egypt. In the 21st century BC, the Sumerian Renaissance occurs. By the 18th century, the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt begins.

By 1600 BC, Mycenaean Greece begins to develop. Also by 1600 BC, the beginning of Shang Dynasty in China emerges and there is evidence of a fully developed Chinese writing system. Around 1600 BC, the beginning of Hittite dominance of the Eastern Mediterranean region is seen. The time between the 16th to 11th centuries around the Nile is called the New Kingdom of Egypt. Between 1550 BC and 1292 BC, the Amarna period occurs.

[edit] Early Iron Age

The Iron Age is the last principal period in the three-age system, preceded by the Bronze Age. Its date and context vary depending on the country or geographical region. During the 13th to 12th centuries, the Ramesside Period occurred. Around c. 1200 BC, the Trojan War was thought to have taken place.^[40] By c. 1180 BC, the disintegration of Hittite Empire was underway.

In 1046 BC, the Zhou force, led by King Wu of Zhou, overthrows the last king of Shang Dynasty. The Zhou Dynasty is established in China shortly thereafter. In 1000 BC, the Mannaeans Kingdom begins. Around the 10th to 7th centuries, the Neo-Assyrian Empire forms. In 800 BC, the rise of Greek city-states begins. In 776 BC, the first recorded Olympic Games are held. The Ancient Olympic Games origins are unknown, but several legends and myths have survived.

[edit] Classical Antiquity

Main article: Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history, with a focus on the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.

[edit] Before the Common Era

[edit] Early ancient history

[edit] Late ancient history

[edit] In the Common Era

[edit] End of ancient European history

The date used as the end of the ancient era is entirely arbitrary. The transition period from Classical Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages is known as Late Antiquity. Some key dates marking that transition are:

The beginning of the Middle Ages is a period in the history of Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire spanning roughly five centuries from AD 500 to 1000. Aspects of continuity with the earlier classical period are discussed in greater detail under the heading "Late Antiquity". Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the transitional centuries from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world: generally from the end of the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century (c. 284) to the Islamic conquests and the re-organization of the Byzantine Empire under Heraclius.

[edit] Prominent civilization of ancient history

[edit] Southwest Asia (Near East)

Main article: Ancient Near East

The Ancient Near East is considered the cradle of civilization. It was the first to practice intensive year-round agriculture; it gave the rest of the world the first writing system, invented the potter's wheel and then the vehicular- and mill wheel, created the first centralized governments, law codes and empires, as well as introducing social stratification, slavery and organized warfare, and it laid the foundation for the fields of astronomy and mathematics.

[edit] Mesopotamia

Sumer, located in southern Mesopotamia, is one of the earliest known civilizations in the world. It lasted from the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period (late 6th millennium BC) through the Uruk period (4th millennium BC) and the Dynastic periods (3rd millennium BC) until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium BC. The term "Sumerian" applies to all speakers of the Sumerian language. Although other cities pre-date Sumer (Jericho, Çatalhöyük and others, either for seasonal protection, or as year-round trading posts) the cities of Sumer were the first to practice intensive, year-round agriculture (from ca. 5300 BC). The surplus of storable foodstuffs created by this economy allowed the population to settle in one place instead of migrating after crops and herds. It also allowed for a much greater population density, and in turn required an extensive labor force and division of labor. This organization led to the necessity of record keeping and the development of writing (ca. 3500 BC).

Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged when Hammurabi (fl. ca. 1728 – 1686 BC (short chronology) created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad. The Amorites being a Semitic people, Babylonia adopted the written Semitic Akkadian language for official use, and retained the Sumerian language for religious use, which by that time was no longer a spoken language. The Akkadian and Sumerian cultures played a major role in later Babylonian culture, and the region would remain an important cultural center, even under outside rule. The earliest mention of the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad, dating back to the 23rd century BC.

Neo-Babylonian, or the Chaldean, was Babylonia under the rule of the 11th ("Chaldean") dynasty, from the revolt of Nabopolassar in 626 BC until the invasion of Cyrus the Great in 539 BC, notably including the reign of Nebuchadrezzar II.

Akkad was a city and its surrounding region in central Mesopotamia. Akkad also became the capital of the Akkadian Empire.^[42] The city was probably situated on the west bank of the Euphrates, between Sippar and Kish (in present-day Iraq, about 50 km (31 mi) southwest of the center of Baghdad). Despite an extensive search, the precise site has never been found. Akkad reached the height of its power between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests of king Sargon of Akkad. Because of the policies of the Akkadian Empire toward linguistic assimilation, Akkad also gave its name to the predominant Semitic dialect: the Akkadian language, reflecting use of akkadû ("in the language of Akkad") in the Old Babylonian period to denote the Semitic version of a Sumerian text.

Assyria was originally (in the Middle Bronze Age) a region on the Upper Tigris river, named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur. Later, as a nation and empire that came to control all of the Fertile Crescent, Egypt and much of Anatolia, the term "Assyria proper" referred to roughly the northern half of Mesopotamia (the southern half being Babylonia), with Nineveh as its capital. The Assyrian kings controlled a large kingdom at three different times in history. These are called the Old (20th to 15th c. BC), Middle (15th to 10th c. BC), and Neo-Assyrian (911–612 BC) kingdoms, or periods, of which the last is the most well known and best documented. Assyrians invented excavation to undermine city walls, battering rams to knock down gates, as well as the concept of a corps of engineers, who bridged rivers with pontoons or provided soldiers with inflatable skins for swimming.^[43]

Mitanni was a Indo-Iranian^[44] empire in northern Mesopotamia from ca. 1500 BC. At the height of Mitanni power, during the 14th century BC, it encompassed what is today southeastern Turkey, northern Syria and northern Iraq, centered around its capital, Washukanni, whose precise location has not been determined by archaeologists.

For more details on this topic, see Mesopotamia and the History of Iraq

[edit] Persia

Main article: Persia

Elam is the name of an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest Iran. Archaeological evidence associated with Elam has been dated to before 5000 BCE. ^{[45][46][47][48][49][50][51]} According to available written records, it is known to have existed beginning from around 3200 BC — making it among the world's oldest historical civilizations — and to have endured up until 539 BC. Its culture played a crucial role in the Gutian Empire, especially during the Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded it, when the Elamite language remained among those in official use. The Elamite period is considered a starting point for the history of Iran.

The Medes were an ancient Iranian people. By the 6th century BC, after having together with the Chaldeans defeated the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the Medes were able to establish their own empire. The Medes are credited with the foundation of the first Iranian empire, the largest of its day until Cyrus the Great established a unified Iranian empire of the Medes and Persians, often referred to as the Achaemenid Persian Empire, by defeating his grandfather and overlord, Astyages the king of Media.

The Achaemenid Empire was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of Greater Iran, and followed the Median Empire as the second great empire of the Iranian Peoples. The empire was forged by Cyrus the Great. It is noted in western history as the foe of the Greek city states in the Greco-Persian Wars, for freeing the Israelites from their Babylonian captivity, and for instituting Aramaic as the empire's official language. Because of the Empire's vast extent and long endurance, Persian influence upon the language, religion, architecture, philosophy, law and government of nations around the world lasts to this day. At the height of its power, the Achaemenid Empire encompassed approximately 7.5 million square kilometers and was territorially the largest empire of classical antiquity.

Parthia was an Iranian civilization situated in the northeastern part of modern Iran. Their power was based on a combination of the guerrilla warfare of a mounted nomadic tribe, with organizational skills to build and administer a vast empire — even though it never matched in power and extent the Persian empires that preceded and followed it. The Parthian empire was led by the Arsacid dynasty, which reunited and ruled over the Iranian plateau, after defeating and disposing the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, beginning in the late 3rd century BC, and intermittently controlled