In Search Of The First Civilizations

Author : Michael Wood
Publisher : Random House
Page : 226 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2013-04-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781448141647

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In Search Of The First Civilizations by Michael Wood Pdf

Five thousand years ago there began the most momentous revolution in human history. Starting in Mesopotamia, city civilization emerged for the first time on earth, to be followed in Egypt, India, China and the Americas. The ideals of these ancient civilizations still shape the lives of the majority of mankind. In Search of the First Civilizations (previously published as Legacy) asks the intriguing question: what is civilization? Did it mean the same to the Chinese, the Indians and the Greeks? What can the values of the ancient cultures teach us today? And do the ideals of the West - a latecomer to civilization - really have universal validity? In this fascinating historical search, Michael Wood explores these ancient cultures, looking for their essential character and their continuing legacy. A brilliant exploration. Sunday Times Well-written, gorgeous and guaranteed to induce thought... Wood takes great care to put everything in a large historical perspective, which is actually more disturbing than comforting. New York Post

Author : Glyn Daniel
Publisher : Orion Publishing Group
Page : 174 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : History
ISBN : 1842125001

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The First Civilizations by Glyn Daniel Pdf

An eminent archeologist and prehistorian looks back at the earliest civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China in the Old World, and Mexico, Yucatan, and Peru in the New. What were the origins of the first urban literate societies that came into being? Did the process of civilization take place only once in human history, or did it occur independently in various parts of the world, furthered at certain periods by contacts among different cultures? The answers to these questions are based in archeology, and this classic study draws on a wealth of evidence to discover the truth.

Author : Robert Chadwick
Publisher : Equinox Publishing Ltd.
Page : 269 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2005
Category : History
ISBN : 1904768784

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First Civilizations by Robert Chadwick Pdf

First Civilizations is the second edition of a popular student text first published in 1996 in Montreal by Les Editions Champ Fleury. This much updated and expanded edition provides an introductory overview of the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. It was conceived primarily for students who have little or no knowledge of ancient history or archaeology. The book begins with the role of history and archaeology in understanding the past, and continues with the origins of agriculture and the formation of the Sumerian city-states in Mesopotamia. Three subsequent chapters concentrate on Assyrian and Babylonian history and culture. The second half of the book focuses on Egypt, begining with the physical environment of the Nile, the formation of the Egyptian state and the Old Kingdom. Subsequent chapters discuss the Middle Kingdom, the Hyksos period, and the 18th Dynasty, with space devoted to Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, the Ramesside period. The text ends with the Persian conquest of Mesopotamia and Egypt. First Civilizations also contains sections on astronomy, medicine, architecture, eschatology, religion, burial practices and mummification, and discusses the myths of Gilgamesh, Isis and Osiris. Each chapter has a basic bibliography which emphasizes English language encyclopedias, books and journals specializing in the ancient Near East.

Author : Georg Feuerstein,Subhash Kak,David Frawley
Publisher : Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House
Page : 376 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2005
Category : History
ISBN : 8120820371

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In Search of the Cradle of Civilization by Georg Feuerstein,Subhash Kak,David Frawley Pdf

In this pathbreaking book, the authors show that the ancient Indians were no primitives but possessed a high spiritual culture, which not only influenced the evolution of the Western world in decisive ways but which still hs much to teach us today. India's archaic spirituality is codified in the rich symbols, metaphors and myths of the magnificent Rig-Veda, which is shown to be much older than has been widely assumed by scholars. The present book also unravels the astonishing mathematical and astronomical code hidden in the Vedic hymns. Anyone interested in ancient cultural history, India, archaeo-astronomy or spirituality will find this well researched and cross-cultural work spellbinding and enriching.

Author : Charles Keith Maisels
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 508 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2003-12-16
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781134837304

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Early Civilizations of the Old World by Charles Keith Maisels Pdf

In this new paperback edition of Early Civilizations of the Old World, Charles Keith Maisels traces the development of some of the earliest and key civilizations in history. In each case the ecological and economic background to growth, geographical factors, cross-cultural intersection and the rise of urbanism are examined, explaining how particular forms of social structure and cultural interaction developed from before the Neolithic period to the time of the first civilizations in each area. This volume challenges the traditional assumption of a band-tribe-chiefdom-state sequence and instead demonstrates that large complex societies can flourish without social classes and the state, as dramatically shown by the Indus civilization. Such features as the use of Childe's urban revolution theory as a means of comparison for each emerging civilization and the discussion of the emergence of archaeology as a scientific discipline, make Early Civilizations of the Old World a valuable, innovative and stimulating work.

Author : Denny Rose & Rowan Allen
Publisher : Scientific e-Resources
Page : 372 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2018-05-08
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9781839472756

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Ancient Civilizations of the World by Denny Rose & Rowan Allen Pdf

About 5,000 years ago the first urban societies developed laying the foundations for the first civilizations. Nearly all civilizations share the same few features- they have abundant food surpluses, contained cities, political bureaucracies, armies, defined religious and social hierarchies and long distance trading. Ancient Egyptian culture flourished between c. 5500 BCE with the rise of technology (as evidenced in the glass-work of faience) and 30 BCE with the death of Cleopatra VII, the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt. It is famous today for the great monuments which celebrated the triumphs of the rulers and honored the gods of the land. The culture is often misunderstood as having been obsessed with death but, had this been so, it is unlikely it would have made the significant impression it did on other ancient cultures such as Greece and Rome. Neolithic means "e;new stone"e;, even though agriculture was the crowning achievement of the period. Civilizations started out small. Agriculture at first tended to tie only small groups together. These groups also all settled along rivers, important as a reliable and predictable source of water. As time passed, families usually worked the same plot of land over successive generations, leading to the concept of ownership. Ancient mortars and grinding tools unearthed in a large mound in the Zagros Mountains of Iran reveal that people were grinding wheat and barley about 11,000 years ago. Grass pea, wild wheat, wild barley, and lentils were found throughout the site, including some of the earliest known samples. This was much further east than most sites known for early agriculture. This book furnishes with utmost facility to all classes of readers, the needed information on ancient civilization. The unusual variety of the subject makes this a work of endless fascination.

Author : David Graeber,David Wengrow
Publisher : Signal
Page : 804 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2021-10-19
Category : History
ISBN : 9780771049835

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The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber,David Wengrow Pdf

NATIONAL BESTSELLER NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Renowned activist and public intellectual David Graeber teams up with professor of comparative archaeology David Wengrow to deliver a trailblazing account of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution--from the development of agriculture and cities to the emergence of "the state," political violence, and social inequality--and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation. For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike--either free and equal innocents, or thuggish and warlike. Civilization, we are told, could only be achieved by sacrificing those original freedoms, or alternatively, by taming our baser instincts. Graeber and Wengrow show how such theories first emerged in the eighteenth century as a conservative reaction to powerful critiques of European society posed by Indigenous observers and intellectuals. Revisiting this encounter has startling implications for how we make sense of human history today, including the origins of farming, property, cities, democracy, slavery, and civilization itself. Drawing on path-breaking research in archaeology and anthropology, the authors show how history becomes a far more interesting place once we learn to throw off our conceptual shackles and perceive what's really there. If humans did not spend 95% of their evolutionary past in tiny bands of hunter-gatherers, what were they doing all that time? If agriculture, and cities, did not mean a plunge into hierarchy and domination, then what kinds of social and economic organization did they lead to? What was really happening during the periods that we usually describe as the emergence of "the state"? The answers are often unexpected, and suggest that the course of human history may be less set in stone, and more full of playful, hopeful possibilities, than we tend to assume. The Dawn of Everything fundamentally transforms our understanding of the human past and offers a path toward imagining new forms of freedom, new ways of organizing society. This is a monumental book of formidable intellectual range, animated by curiosity, moral vision, and a faith in the power of direct action.

Author : Glyn Edmund Daniel
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 1970
Category : Civilization, Ancient
ISBN : UVA:X000467495

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The First Civilizations by Glyn Edmund Daniel Pdf

Author : Bruce G. Trigger
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 784 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2003-05-05
Category : History
ISBN : 0521822459

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Understanding Early Civilizations by Bruce G. Trigger Pdf

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Author : John Farndon
Publisher : Hungry Tomato ®
Page : 32 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2018-01-01
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 9781541518803

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The Rise of Civilization by John Farndon Pdf

Take an enthralling journey from the Stone Age onward, and see how our ancestors became great builders and rulers. They grew food, discovered metals, made tools, and invented writing. You will see a mighty civilization in Egypt, wise Chinese philosophy, Maya culture in Central America, the colossal Roman Empire, and much more. Illustrated maps let you compare what is happening across the globe at various moments in time. While the Santorini volcano was wiping out the Minoan civilization, flushing toilets were being invented in the Indus Valley (Pakistan). The Greeks held the earliest Olympic Games while the Zapotec built pyramids in Mexico. Find out where it all started!

Author : John Morris Roberts
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 920 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : History, Ancient
ISBN : STANFORD:36105114147866

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Ancient History by John Morris Roberts Pdf

"A fascinating and highly readable account of humankind's development over 10,000 years in a brilliantly illustrated volume by one of the world's most distinguished historians." -- Publisher's website.

Author : Subhadra Sen Gupta
Publisher : Talking Cub
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2021-10-20
Category : Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN : 9354471757

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The Story of the First Civilizations from Mesopotamia to the Aztecs by Subhadra Sen Gupta Pdf

Description Did you know... The Chinese were the first civilization to introduce the concept of exams? The Indus Valley Civilization was perhaps the cleanest and most organized of all civilizations? There used to be an Inca king who would dust himself with gold? Dive into these and many more nuggets of information about the world's earliest civilizations. Here you will read about the Egyptian rulers who built lavish tombs for their afterlife; about Greece, the first European civilization that gave us philosophers and mathematicians as well as the cherished concept of democracy; the builders and architects and the gladiators and warring emperors of Rome; and about Africa, the continent where gold and libraries abounded. In her unique and engaging style, Subhadra Sen Gupta takes us on a journey around the world, and tells the known and little-known stories about our origins. Well-researched and filled with captivating illustrations, The Story of the First Civilizations will delight and educate readers everywhere.

Author : Chris Scarre,Brian Fagan
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 1022 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2016-03-10
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317296072

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Ancient Civilizations by Chris Scarre,Brian Fagan Pdf

Ancient Civilizations offers a comprehensive and straightforward account of the world’s first civilizations and how they were discovered, drawing on many avenues of inquiry including archaeological excavations, surveys, laboratory work, highly specialized scientific investigations, and both historical and ethnohistorical records. This book covers the earliest civilizations and the great powers in the Near East, moving on to the first Aegean civilizations, the Mediterranean world in the first millennium, Imperial Rome, northeast Africa, the divine kings in southeast Asia, and empires in East Asia, as well as early states in the Americas and Andean civilization. Ancient Civilizations includes a number of features to support student learning: a wealth of images, including several new illustrations; feature boxes which expand on key sites, finds and written sources; and an extensive guide to further reading. With new perceptions of the origin and collapse of states, including a review of the issue of sustainability, this fourth edition has been extensively updated in the light of spectacular new discoveries and the latest theoretical advances. Examining the world’s pre-industrial civilizations from a multidisciplinary perspective and offering a comparative analysis of the field which explores the connections between all civilizations around the world, Scarre and Fagan, both established authorities on world prehistory, provide a valuable introduction to pre-industrial civilizations in all their brilliant diversity.

Author : Dr. Brian Fagan,Chris Scarre
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 576 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2015-08-13
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317350330

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Ancient Civilizations by Dr. Brian Fagan,Chris Scarre Pdf

Drawing on many avenues of inquiry: archaeological excavations, surveys, laboratory work, highly specialized scientific investigations, and on both historical and ethnohistorical records; Ancient Civilizations, 3/e provides a comprehensive and straightforward account of the world’s first civilizations and a brief summary of the way in which they were discovered.

Author : Glyn Edmund Daniel
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 1968
Category : Civilization, Ancient
ISBN : 0140212388

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The First Civilizations by Glyn Edmund Daniel Pdf