Exploring the Origins of Early Civilizations

When we think of ancient or disappeared civilizations, Egypt, Greece, Rome come to mind, but in other contexts other thousand-year-old civilizations have developed.

Some have totally disappeared, others have been absorbed by new peoples, others still resist today.

Our species, Homo Sapiens, dates back 300 thousand years, but we learned from our predecessors to use tools.

With the ability to create we have managed to provide for our primary needs: to eat, and have a safe place away from predators.

To be even safer, humans have learned to live in societies with governments, laws, hierarchies and social organizations.

We have created myths and legends to explain our origins, the difficulties of life and the mysteries of the sky and stars.

Early civilizations can be defined by several improvements in their way of life: development of agriculture, complex architectural, political and economic systems, technology, writing and artistic depictions.

With these advances for humanity in mind, we will take a look at seven civilizations in different historical eras and their impact on our contemporary society.

Mesopotamia: the cradle of civilization

Nestled between the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates, Mesopotamia has been defined as the Fertile Crescent due to its abundance of water and arable land.

In particular, on the banks of the Tigris up to the Zagros mountains, important crops and human settlements have developed. The major cities, from Uruk to Ur, from Babylon to Assur, followed one another or coexisted at the head of empires that took control of the area.

The Sumerians, with the Uruk and Ur dynasties, controlled the territory from 2900 to 2350 BC. The Akkadians followed, led by King Sargon, who was succeeded by the Babylonians and Assyrians whose empires coexisted.

We owe the Code of Hammurabi to the Babylonian Empire, a very important collection of laws, and the hanging gardens, born from ingenious hydraulic pumps even before the birth of Archimedes.

Since the Sumerians, the Mesopotamian peoples have learned to control agriculture, inventing the plow and selecting grain. Other conquests concern the numerical system, based on the number 60, and musical instruments.

The most revolutionary aspect was the invention of writing, initially adopted for administrative reasons, but then also used for laws, and poetry. In the famous poems dedicated to Gilgamesh we can recognize some myths that will be taken up in Greek mythology, in the deities of ancient Egypt and in the Semitic cultures of the area.

The remains of temples and ziggurats erected for religious functions testify to architectural and technological advancement.

Ancient Greece: the search for perfection

Archaeological studies have shown that present-day Greece was inhabited since the Paleolithic era, that is, 10 thousand years ago. The Cyclades islands, in the Aegean Sea, were able to develop thanks to their strategic position for trade.

Meanwhile, the island of Crete saw the Minoan civilization flourish, at the center of trade in the Mediterranean, Aegean and Ionian Seas.

The Mycenaeans created the first major civilization in mainland Greece between 1600 and 1100 BC. known for writing, Linear B, and a political system centralized in palaces. They probably disappeared with the invasion of the Dorians who began the Hellenic Middle Ages, a period of decline, abandonment of the cities and return to small rural communities.

It was precisely in this transition period, the archaic period, which goes from 600 to 480 BC. which laid the foundations for the period of maximum splendor of Greek culture: the classical period (510-33 BC)

Inca: the masters of politics

Scholars think that quipu, a set of strings in the Quechua language, were used by the Inca both for keeping accounts and as a means of communication. The way to decipher these writings is still being studied.

All that remains of the Inca civilization comes from paintings on tablets and the stories of the Spanish.

Unfortunately, the magnificent goldsmith’s art was used as currency by the Spanish when they occupied the lands of this great civilization.

The organization of the Inca civilization, which began in the 13th century and ended in the 16th century, was a great surprise to the Spaniards, who encountered a strong political system and a society that observed unwritten rules for the collective good. All this, in the largest empire in the Americas which crossed the entire Andes chain, embracing parts of today’s Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.

The Incas had advanced medical knowledge and were even able to perform brain operations and use anesthesia. Despite this, they could do nothing against the new diseases brought by the Spaniards.

They have left a legacy of architectural wonders, including roads, aqueducts and of course, Machu Picchu, in Peru, one of the largest archaeological sites in the world.

Australian Aborigines: a leap into the Stone Age

If men got there by boat, it would be the first use of navigation in history, given that the settlement of Australia dates back to 65,000 years ago.

Before British colonization there were no official documents on the life of the native Australian peoples.

Written communication could take place via sticks of about 30 cm with engravings, but we cannot speak of writing.

For thousands of years, Australia’s native peoples have lived in unison with their land. Their belief system was based precisely on union with nature and the duty to take care of it.

The main activities were hunting and fruit gathering, given their nomadic nature.

Respect for nature and mastery of fire are the greatest legacies left by the native Australian peoples. Fire was used to keep poisonous creatures such as insects and snakes at bay, and to make the undergrowth fertile.

Social stratification was practically non-existent, as was a hierarchical system of power.

The Mayan civilization: the mathematical genius

During history lessons on Latin America, we learn that, starting from 2000 B.C. the Maya created a complex society, with an established hierarchy, magnificent architecture, and large cities that relied extensively on technology.

When the Russian linguist Yuri Knorosov deciphered the characters on the glyphs adorning buildings, statues and pottery in 1952 it was clear that they were not just ornaments or commemorations.

Knowing the writing, it was possible to trace the ancient Mayan culture contained in every corner of the Mexican state of Yucatan and other southern regions, in Guatemala, El Salvador and Belize.

The signs of their civilization date back to the second millennium BC. and indicate military conquests, great knowledge in the astronomical and mathematical fields, interrupted only by the Spanish conquest in the 16th century.

Ancient Egypt: the best-known ancient civilization

The first colonies were established in the Nile Valley over 5,000 years ago. Menes was the first ruler to unify Upper and Lower Egypt, founding Memphis the capital of a series of dynasties that would rule Ancient Egypt for 3,000 years.

Like many ancient civilizations, advances in agriculture led to the creation of great cities, but not without periods of conflict and eccentric rulers.

The papyrus and hieroglyphics, the pyramids and the Egyptian deity system have been passed down and studied for centuries; there are still new findings.

The Aztecs, the masters of agriculture

Among the civilizations introduced here, that of the Aztecs is the most recent, together with the Inca, and also the least long-lasting.

The people who called themselves the Mexica probably migrated from North America to the Yucatan Peninsula in present-day Mexico in the 13th century.

They were the last nomadic peoples of Mesoamerica and had to lend their military services to the king of Culhuacan to have a piece of land to settle on. They were given the least fertile lands, so they had to invent ingenious aquaculture systems.

A legend has it that the Aztecs identified the territory in which to settle, an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco, thanks to the divine sign of the eagle devouring a snake.

Their complex society produced an elaborate writing system for recording official transactions and the events of daily life.

Every Aztec had to learn to read, write, study mathematics, whether he was man or woman, poor or rich. Depending on their aptitude, they were directed to study medicine, astronomy or history.

As a legacy they left great architectural works, books and codes.

The transition from a nomadic people to an advanced empire was completed in just 100 years, but was marked by military conquests and human sacrifices in favor of the numerous gods who guided their actions.

Our ancestors built great civilizations, based on advanced agricultural, technological, political and social systems that have been passed down to us through architecture, art and writing.