Reflections on history

Your April 18, Reflections on History History, they have said, repeats itself. Knowing the origins ofone’s self is a better way to understand the culture and personality of a certain population, because this phenomenon may be repeated again in a cycle and therefore, knowing history shall make you prepared. There are five great civilizations in the ancient world. These are the Mesopotamian, Near Eastern, Hebrew, Greek and Roman civilizations. These civilizations are the first known civilizations in humankind. They were the first humans that have shown organization and knowledge. They were the first humans that proved to the world that we are more than just animals, as we are capable of having social organizations, laws, religion as well as architectural and engineering feats and military tactics. These five civilizations have proven to the world that they are great because of their inventions, tactics, laws and other contributions that still have impact in today’s highly technological world. All of these civilizations have begun in BC times. They all started near rivers and as tribes that have various cultures. These civilizations also had different tribes that made them up into a single civilization (except the Hebrews, which are totally a class of their own), through conquering other civilizations or by taking them in. All of them have significant contributions in today’s life, may it be in the field of religion, engineering, or politics, or any field of knowledge for that matter, that can still be used and be studied upon. The ancient Mesopotamian civilization started in the land between the two iconic rivers in western Asia (also called the Middle East): Tigris and Euphrates. It is now the modern day Iraq. They were the ones who farmed. Instead of hunting for food, these people planted crops and cultivated them. This civilization also ushered bronze working as well as pottery, and these advances in civilizations paved the way for urbanization with the cities Uruk and Ur. Now these civilization spanned for more than a hundred years, innovating mathematics, literature, language, politics, etc. Their civilization lasted long because of these innovations. But then invaders from the Near East, as well as Europeans ended their reign. The Near East civilization is almost similar to Mesopotamian civilization. They practically have the same geographic area. It is the cradle of ancient civilization. Other books might even Mesopotamian civilization under the Near Eastern civilization. Near Eastern civilizations, meanwhile, include most Middle Eastern territories, North African territories, as well as European territories. The Near East civilization saw various different tribes that rose to power as well as collapsed as the civilization took its run. The most prominent figure in the Near East history is Nebuchadnezzar who built the Hanging Gardens if Babylon. The Near East civilization seemingly shows how feeble civilizations are without proper social stratifications, just like the Aramaeans, who imposed language in all of the Near East civilization. They were nomadic. The Near East civilization spanned for almost three thousand years, spanning its area even Europe, like Turkey and Greece, to places like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Persia, Saudi Arabia and other places. The Hebrew civilization started with the said children of Israel. They were told to have descended from Jacob’s twelve sons. When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt (Near Eastern civilization), YHWH, or the God of Israel sent Moses a message to release the Children of Israel from bondage. They went out of Egypt and went back to the ancestral territory of Canaan. For several hundred years, their civilization flourished. Monarchy was established under King Saul and continued under King David and King Solomon. A civil war erupted after King Solomon died and divided the Israel civilization into two factions: Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. After the civil war, they were conquered by the Babylonians, Greeks (via Alexander the Great, who influenced Judaism with Hellenistic philosophy), and the Romans, among others. We see Israelites suffer as slaves under the Roman Empire. The Greek empire is very powerful. It is even significant to this day, as with the Roman empire. The ancient Greek civilization covered the whole Northern Mediterranean. The Greek empire also saw the emergence of city states as well as social structure that is dictated by money. In ancient Greek civilization, the social classes were based on wealth. Slavery is very rampant with Greek Civilization. The males enjoyed most of the privileges in Greek civilization, as the women were considered to be second class citizens. Education in ancient Greece started at age 12 and ends at the age of 18. Usually the students are boys. Ancient Greece also saw various gems in art, as well as literature, with works such as the Odyssey, Iliad and the like published during these times. Plato entered philosophy. Greeks, in science and technology, developed medicine, astronomy, mathematics, astronomy among others. They also have their own mythology. They were conquered by the Romans. The Roman empire is the last of the great ancient civilizations to be discussed. The Greek civilization largely influenced the Roman civilization. This can be observed through their art and architecture, which is highly similar, as well as their sciences and education. Their mythologies are also similar. The greatest contribution of the Roman empire is perhaps in government. They invented The Republic. They have similar aspects of culture as that of Greeks but they were not as innovative as the Romans with this. Unlike the Greeks, the Romans did not just automatically enslave the plebeians. They gave them citizenship. With this setup came the strength of Rome: from the people, for the people, which the Greeks failed at. The fall of the Roman Empire came because of the Germanic tribes from the north. Looking at these facts, we can actually derive commonalities between these civilizations. Obviously, all great civilizations come to an end, whether one likes it or not. The breakdown usually starts within, like in civil wars (as in the Hebrew History) and other civilizations see this weakness as an opportunity to sack their cities. This vulnerability is very telling that a civilization is about to collapse. This can be observed in today’s America. See, America has had a great run with its own civilization, starting with the Native Americans being conquered by the British, to making one whole country by uniting fifty states, and to helping the other European countries win the World War 2. Now America is losing their sheen and it can be seen through their economical collapse. Like the Mesopotamians on the brink of the Bronze Age Collapse. Now instead of people fighting with each other as in civil wars, we see that the Americans are struggling for their jobs and their economic power, as more jobs are being outsourced. The society is crumbling because of capitalism, not because of bloody battles, but still the same in spirit anyway. The other most obvious commonality between these civilizations is the fact that they started out in near rivers or deltas. This implies that agriculture, or food for that matter is a major force in putting up a civilization, and making it successful. Everything just comes after they have satisfied their digestive needs, and the more productive the farming in a civilization is, the more powerful a nation and the more technologically advanced a nation is. All civilizations have a life cycle. All great civilizations have contributions to mankind, such as the wheel, the aqueduct, astronomy, the republic, etc. These contributions are the testament on how powerful and influential these civilizations are, that without them, our lives today will never be the same. And of course, history always repeats itself, only with different faces. Works Cited: Adkins, Lesley; Roy Adkins. Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Print. Coffin, Judith; Stacy, Robert. Western Civilizations Vol 1. New York: WW Norton Publishing Company, 2009. Print.