Ancient Civilisations

Written by Edward Chan, 6PC

Ancient Egypt... and the Fertile Crescent

Egypt, before Pharaoh Menes united it, was in two 'states'. They were named Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. They functioned separately until as mentioned before Pharaoh Menes, from Upper Egypt.

From then on, Egypt began strongly. Their form of government was well-advanced though it was sort of communist. The Pharaoh was the top and ultimate ruler. Next to the Pharaoh is the 'visier' who decides what messages are worthy of the Pharaoh's ears. The people who control each particular area are called monarchs. They keep the taxes which are paid as services to the land because they had no money.

The land around the perimeter of Egypt is very deserty and dry. Egyptians at that time called this area the Red Land. When the Nile floods (called the Akhet or Inundation) between July and September, the rich mud is called the Black Land.

Gods were very important and had a place in everyday life. There were gods for love, death, the sun, women, and joy. Each god had its own shrine and temple, where people told the priest their problems. These problems were taken to a statue at the back of the temple. The statue was of the god or goddess of which the temple was its supposed house. Daily meals were placed in front of the statue so the god or goddess could eat it if he or she decided to.

Egyptians believed in the afterlife. This was when the person died. They would journey through many dangerous places. But the dead can only get to the other world if their physical appearance was saved and special ceremonies held for them.

So the dead people were carefully preserved and wrapped. This was done by removing their intestines, stomach, liver, lungs and brain from the body. The body was then covered in a desert salt called natron.

When 40 days had passed, the body was packed with resin-soaked bandages. Bandaging took 30 days. Then usually the mummy would be placed in a coffin made out of wood, clay or stone. A book was placed on the coffin, which showed how to avoid the dangers of the journeys and how to defeat them.

The tombs of noblemen at Deir-el-Medin, where many paintings have been found.

Those Egyptian pyramids were very well made. They were built so well that they are now the only remaining wonder of the six others. Also, between some stones in the pyramid are so close together, you can't fit a piece of paper between them.

They were built to house the dead body of a Pharoah. Amazingly, the people who built the tombs were normal day to day citizens. This was one way to pay taxes.

Over 70 pyramids were made, though only a few remain. Many paintings have been found in pyramids and no so great tombs. The Greatest pyramid is one of the Giza pyramids. It stands at 148m high.

The Fertile Crescent is an area watered by the Tigris, Euphrates and Nile Rivers. Agriculture was especially good for this area. Wild wheat and barley which hardly gave any seeds were eventually fattened and fertilised them. Eventually the wheat gave a lot more than it used to.

Pottery was popular and cattle bcame domesticated. Jericho was a strong city with highly fortified walls to protect the wheat and barley which they had grown.

Settlements got larger until they recognised the need for trade. One of the earliest developed civilisations were the Sumarians who settled in Mesopotamia.

Ur became one of the city-states of Sumeria. They were strong in trade. Eventually the city-state was destroyed by the Amorites.

The Fertile Crescent and Egypt were very remarkable in their developments.

Ancient Greece

The Greeks were a superior race of thoughtful and advancing people. Their original name was Hellenes and their country, Hellas. When the Romans invaded, they called the land Greece and the people Greeks. These terms we use today came from the Latin Word Graeci.

The Greeks were good in art, sports, mathematics and in legal matters. Many of our words are Greek words, especially if they are related to politics, philosophy or arithmetic. Many names, such as Archimedes, Pythagoras and Thales are well-known for their achievements and theories.

Greece was established when some traders began to get from from the Fertile Crescent and higher regions to trade in Egypt by water (it was almost impossible by land because of deserts)). Some ships were blown off course and landed on various islands in the Mediterranean. Some had misfortunes and a their landing, their ship may have been seriously damaged. So they settled, grew rich and eventually conquered what is now Crete, and their mainland.

They became rich and powerful and began building and thinking. The Greeks were great thinkers. With their spare time they watched plays and dramas of tragedy and comedy (both Greek words). The actors wore masks with either sad or happy (or both) faces to show how their characters felt. Architects built huge amphitheatres to house the plays. The amphitheatres were a circular stadium, with seats as steps. Normal citizens usually took cushions so they could relax more easily.

On the islands they were on, they began to get squashed. So they moved outwards to conquer. The inhabitants of the Fertile Crescent began to get a bit sick of the Greeks so they declared war. Their army was unsuccessful.

The reason was that the Persians, not too used to sea travel, were easily defeated as the Greeks had power on water.

When some armies eventually got past on onto land, they began the great battle, the battle of Marathon. It was thought at Marathon, and the Greeks won. The Greeks, though not so good on land, had the numbers to crush the opposition.

THe name of the battle is familiar because of what happened after. A runner was sent to Athens to tell them that the army had defeated the Persians who were coming to try to attack Athens. He ran the very long distance and on giving the message, he was so exhausted that he collapsed and died. After that, long hard races began to be called 'Marathons' in the memory of that great run. The Greeks fought very well and in the end the Persians admitted defeat.

As the Empire grew, they had a boom of logical thinking and politics. Archimedes was born in Syracuse (now an area in Sicily) born 287 B.C. and died in 212 B.C. He was an inventor and mathematician. He invented the Archimedes screw. This clever device is a huge screw inside a tube, used to raise water to a higher height.

The Archimedes Screw

He also theorised the principle of colume and weight. The principle is that the amount of water displaced is its weight when floating, its volume when sunk. He discovered this in the baths and shouted "Eureka!", which means, "I have found it!".

Pythagoras, B.582B.C. - d.500B.C., was a mathematician and religious reformer. He stated that in any right-angled triangle, the square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of squares on the other two sides.

A comical view of Archimedes' discovery

Pythagoras Theorem

Thales was a philospher. He was born in 640B.C. and died in 546 B.C. Most probably a merchant, he learnt a lot from his voyages from Egypt to Babylon, about maths and geometry. His prior knowledge enabled him to predict the 585 B.C. solar eclipse. From all that he learnt, he was called one of the 'seven wise men'.

Socrates (469 B.C. - 399 B.C.) was a philosopher. Authorities called him a breakaway. He taught logically and liked to prove things. The authorities disapproved this because some of the things he found out contradicted what they believed and other teachings. He was accused 'of refusing to recognise the gods recognised by the state and introducing other new divinities. He is also guilty of corrupting the youth. The penalty is deemed death.' (Xenophon, Memorabilia, 1,1,1).

The Greeks have much more than maths and philosophy. Fabulous monuments and buildings have been made by the Greeks.

Their neverending search for the most appealing rectangular shape led them into producing the 'Golden Rectangle' or 'Golden Ratio'. The Golden Rectangle is an oblong with one side approximately 1.61803398... times the other. The exact number is (1+√5)/2.

A golden rectangle. Taking away a square leaves another one.

Greek people were also very interested in sport. When they were young, they already became aware of the sports around. Boys were allowed to play sports in the palaestra, a shady, sandy, surrounded courtyard. When they turned eighteen they were able to exercise in a men's gymnasium, a comfortable large gym where they would wrestle and box.

Some very athletic people would eventually fo to the Olympic Games. Many different athletes from many different 'city-states' competed every four years. In the time of which ti would be held, all wars between them were stopped. The Olympic Games began in 766 B.C. and stopped in A.D. 393 when they werre abolised by the Roman emperor at that time.

They also invented an alphabet of upper and lower case letters.

Temple at the Elymian City og Segesta. See the similarities of a Golden Rectangle and this.

Advancing always, the Greeks explored and colonised many places around the Mediterranean Sea. Their maths, architecture and theories have influenced us and will continue to in the future.

Ancient Rome

Introduction

Rome, from its legendary starting, became a huge empire spanning right around the Mediterranean. This chapter will describe their nature and thoughts.

The next few pages is a brief history of the creation to the destruction of Rome.

History of Rome

Rome began in about 753 B.C. When some nomades settled on a hill near the River Tiber in what is now Italy. When the village had expanded, they chose a few kings and became a trading centre.

In 509 B.C., the people overthrew the king. They chose to have two consuls, to rule each year. They built up strong armies and defeated their neighbours, gradually gaining the whole of Italy.

The Romans becane strong so the people in Carthage sent an army to try to conquer them. Fighting on water, the Romans had little experience. But eventually they got used to it, and built great ships and won many battles.

The Carthaginians retreated to Spain and built a base there.

In Spain, a leader called Hannibal got together a great army, consisting of many of Rome's enemies and Carthage's army. They marched over the Alps and conquered much of Italy. But Rome cut off its supplies from behind, so Hannibal was forced back. The Romans then sailed to Africa and besieged the city of Carthage. Hannibal sailed back but was too late.

In 73 B.C., Spartacus, a Gladiator slave, escaped with some of his friends. Spartacus, being a Gladiator, defeated many soldiers and released other slaves, which joined his army. Eventually they had about 10,000 men. General Crassus ended and crucified them in 71 B.C.

Julius Caesar defeated Pompey to control the government. He had many enemies and was stabbed to death in the senate.

Caesar's nephew, Octavian, then took control of Caesar's spot. He changed is name to Augustus. After he died, the empire started to crumble. There was not enough money to support the armies which kept the barbarians out. Rome was burnt down and many monuments were destroyed.

Architecture

Most Roman buildings were copied off Greek monuments because Rome admired Greece's work. Romans did not invent the arch, but put it into its greatest use, The dome, though, was a Roman invention. It was made by placing vaulting over a circular area.

Roman officials, when building a new city, lay the streets in blocks. They also built fancy columns some mimicking Greek models.

Plan of Timgad with its insulae or blocks

Aqueducts are used to transport water from one place to another. They covered great distances.

The Pont du Gard, Nimes France (an aqueduct)

The Army

The army was very strict. Warriors were arranged into legionaries, each with 80 men under control of a centurian. They lined up about two metres apart and when the trumpet sounded they would throw their javelins and charged.

Warriors wore anything they could afford, like chain mail, scale armour and plate armour, with usually cheek plates joined to their helmet. Scarves stop the head gear from scratching the neck.

In training, they learn discipline and special techniques such as making a tortoise out of shields to cover themselves.

Roads

Roads in the Roman Empire were nearly always straight. They were built so that the armies could quickly journeu to trouble spots.

Surveyors were used to decide which way to put the road. Most armies build that roads. They would choose a place on the horizon, may be a tree, and mark out the way with stakes with the help of a 'groma'. If there us nothing in the direction they are going in, a team is sent ahead and they light a fire to guide the surveyor.

Then the army digs one metre and fills it with a bed of stones. Above that, they laid gravel and lastly, they put the paving stones on top. Important people use the road and the lower class use the muddy roads next to it if there is any.

Chariot Racing

Chariot races in a circus would very often be dangerous, especially the corners. The circus where the races are held. It is an amphitheatre in a very long oval shape. In the middle there is a long oval 'island'. The chariots go around the island. In earlier times, the laps were signalled by the taking off huge wooden eggs on a high stand. They changed it into small wooden dolphins on a pole, turned upside down after each lap.

The corners were dangerous because the chariot racer usually tries to curve into the inside so to chorten their distance. They might get bumped into a wall and fall, sometimes resulting in what they called a 'shipwreck'.

The Circus Maximus was the largest built. Most stadiums had a special imperial box, where the royals would sit.

Gladiators

Gladiators were slaves or people in debt. Taught at a special school for gladiators, they often wore varying types of armour and weapons. They may fight fierce animals or each other. When they fight each other they decide who to fight by drawing lots.

Their armour is very different, sometimes making the fights very unfair, such as a blind-folded gladiator against a heavily armoued secutor. Another name of a gladiator is the retarius (see the picture as how they dressed).

Food

The food which Romans ate were very different to today. The preparation they used might make one vomit. Bun in those days, many of those foods were considered a delicacy. Some foods are snails, boar's heads, stuffed mice, peacock's eggs, raw vegetables and a meat sauce.

The snails are left alive in milk for two days. They grow fat and then they are taken out of their shells to be eaten. The meat sauce is made with the insides of a fish which is pounded up with honey, herbs, spices and wine.

People eat on low couches lying down, two to a couch. After the people have eaten, they talked about things like whether the chicken or the egg came first, if Caesar will be king, etc.

School

When Roman children are six or seven years old, they must attend a school taught by a school master. They learn to read, write, and do arithmetic. In secondary schools, they learn to speak and communicate properly. Every eighth is a holiday, in which markets are set up. Students write on wax tablets or scrolls.

A thin layer of wax is melted on a peice of smooth flat wood which is written on by a stick with a sharp point on the end. They erase mistakes by using the back of the stick.

On scrolls they use a mixture of pitch, octopus' ink and soot. School masters are strict and frequently they beat their students.

Shops

There were many types of shops in Rome. They even had a laundry for rich people. Slaves brought the dirty clothes to the fullers. The fullers spread the clothes on top of a dome-shaped frame and burn sulphur underneath to bleach it. Some fullers got serious lung problems from the poisonous fumes. The clothes are then put into tubs of water, sodium carbonate and a special type of clay: fuller's earth. It was tread on to get it clean, left to dry and lastely, flattened in a press. Other shops were the bakery, cloth merchants, chemist, butchers, and a shop where hot things are cooked (some people did not have a charcoal stove or any other cooking device). There is also a market day every eighth day where they sell fruit, and other foods. Musicians busk to earn money.

Summary

Rome was a very strong country. Many monuments erected still remain. But their problem was that their borders extended too far, and their enemies were great all around them.

The Dark Ages and the Renaissance

The Dark Ages was a time between about 200 A.D. and 1200 A.D. During this period Rome was destroyed, and land ownership swapped many times.

Rome crumbled under its own glory, as its borders expanded continuously. This meant that population was very thinly distributed all over the empire and also because the birth rate had dropped. The arrangement of this meant that small barbarian groups could easily attack and take village after village, taking chunks so barbarian armies never met the Romans face to face in combat.

The Romans knew this, and paid bribes of land inside the empire, because at the time land was the most useful. Soon the empire was dotted with barbarian tribes, snatching land which once dwelt faithful and patriotic Roman citizens. The border began to get smaller, while barbarian areas were getting larger.

Then the ownership of land seemed to change overnight. The barbarians had to attack inwards, since they would be defeated attacking by sea to get to Rome. But in the end they managed to sack Rome.

The status of Emperors on its high pedestals were pulled unceremoniously down with ropes, as cheers rang out when each statue hit the ground and shattered into pieces. Fire spread throughout the senate house as many terrified people ran out of once seccure houses, only to be cut down by Ostrogoths, destroying anything in their path.

The movement of people through the Roman Empire

Confusion was great. Terrified citizens ran everywhere. When the fires eventually died down, what was left was unrecognisable to its splendour, just hours before. A series of battles destroyed the remainder of the empire.

The Ostrogoths demolished Rome and took the area and what is around Italy. The Visigoths grabbed most of Spain, the Franks took part of modern-day France and the Angles, Saxons and Jutes took the eastern half ofwhat is now the United Kingdom.

Sometimes, a great leader would arise and conquer more land. The Vikings came from modern Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Scandanavia, and part of Finland. They had settled on the shores of deep fjords. Even though where they settled was very fertile, overpopulation and the fact that only the oldest could have his father's land drove many to conquer other lands.

Vikings were even more successful because of their boats. The boats had been perfected by the Vikings, which they called 'Knorrs'. That name meant military worship. Sometimes it was nicknamed warhorse of the waves. It was 24m long 5m wide and 2m tall, and made out of solid oak. The attacked would call it the Drakkar, meaning dragon, as sometimes the prow was carved into a dragon's head.

The borders of Barbarian kingdoms, 526 A.D.

Establishing trading routes, they also raided other ships using their own established routes. Portrayed by old British priests as blood-thirsty, stupid and arrogant people, they were actually quite clever and talented.

Church throughout the fall of Rome and the battles kept literature, reading, poetry and Christianity alive. This kept quite important subjects there, but it created the problem that science was quite restricted by the church.

But after 1200 A.D., beliefs began to change and great leaps in science and technology arose. The use of the watermill and windmill grew rapidly when Rome was still around, slaves did all the heavy work. This newer period was short of man-power.

Some machines with a watermill crushed wheat for flour and lifted buckets from mines. One major development was changing the round movement into side to side or up and down movement. Some machines of these sorts were the cam shaft (a hammer used to forge steel) the batter (a crushing mechanism for iron ore) and pumps (bellows) for use in iron foundries.

As we leave the Dark and Middle Ages, the Renaissance begins. This was a time of great rebirth (what Renaissance actually means). Great people such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo paved the way for sculptures, architecture and painting. Michelangelo extensively studied the human body to give lifelike images to his paintings and sculptures.

The Renaissance was a huge burst of colour and even music.