At present, the academic circles in China generally believe that China is one of the cradles of world civilization with a history of 4,078 years. Together with ancient Egypt, Babylon and ancient India, it is called "four ancient civilizations".
The first civilization in ancient Egypt (from late 4000 BC to early 2000 BC)
The emergence of civilization-Egypt is one of the cradles of human civilization, which experienced its own Paleolithic and Mesolithic times. Egyptian Neolithic culture (Merimda culture on the western edge of the delta, Fayong culture in central Egypt, Tasa-Badali culture, etc. ) is a mixed culture of agriculture and animal husbandry. Although it is still controversial when and where Egypt's agriculture originated, its agricultural culture was quite developed in 6000-5000 BC, and the use of bronzes laid the foundation for the early emergence of its civilization.
In the early dynasties, according to Manetto, an Egyptian priest who lived at the turn of the 4th-3rd century BC, the first dynasty was founded by the ancient Egyptian king menes. Since then, Egypt has experienced 3/kloc-0 dynasties (before the Greek conquest). Modern egyptologists divide the history of ancient Egypt into several periods, each of which includes several Manieto dynasties. The early dynasties included the 1-2 dynasty, which lasted about 3 100-2686 BC.
According to Manetto, menes was not only the founder of the first dynasty, but also the founder and unifier of the Egyptian state. After establishing his own country in the south, he conquered the delta in the north. In order to consolidate his rule in the north, he established a fortress city-Memphis (formerly known as Baicheng, as the Greeks called it) at the junction of the river valley and the delta, and its patron saint was Puta (the creator of the world, the patron saint of art and handicrafts). Modern archaeology has not found any physical evidence about the existence of menes. Therefore, modern Egyptian antiquarians often regard Narmai or Aha with cultural relics as one person with menes, while some scholars doubt the authenticity of menes.
The ancient kingdom period and the first intermediate period
The socio-economic situation of the ancient kingdom, including the 3rd-6th dynasties, was about 2686-2 18 1 year BC, and its capital was Memphis. The construction of the pyramids began in this period, and the largest pyramid was also built in this period, so the ancient kingdom period is also called the pyramid period.
The ancient kingdom period was a period of great development of slavery economy in ancient Egypt. The unification of the country has created a relatively stable environment for social and economic development; The construction of larger-scale irrigation system provides important conditions for the development of agriculture. All major crops (such as barley, wheat, flax, grapes, figs, etc. What later generations planted in Egypt was already planted during the ancient kingdom. In terms of farm tools, slave owners used heavy plows pulled by two cows economically, which was much more advanced than using simple wooden plows to cultivate land. From the paintings in the tombs of nobles, it can be seen that the agricultural technology is relatively primitive as a whole, but because the silt deposited after the Nile flooded is very fertile, the grain output can still feed the huge ruling class state machine and the vast number of craftsmen in the ancient kingdom.
The royal family controls state affairs: the autocratic monarchy in the ancient kingdom period was not only manifested by the king himself directly controlling the main power of the country, but also by the royal family controlling state affairs, and most senior officials were members of the royal family. In the fourth dynasty, most of wiesel's positions were held by princes. Even in the 5th-6th dynasties, a prince held the post of wiesel. In Sakala, one of the six tombs of princes in the 5th-6th dynasties, as Vesil, both of them served as the head of royal affairs and military commanders. At the end of the ancient kingdom, the kingship weakened and local nobles rose. Some local nobles served as Wessel. For example, in the Sixth Dynasty, a wiesel man named Zawu turned out to be a local aristocrat. However, the reason why Zawu can hold the post of wiesel may be related to his two sisters becoming queens.
The king has unlimited authority over his subjects: in ancient Egypt, the king was above the country and all his subjects seemed to be his slaves. When the subjects see the king, they can only kiss the dust at his feet, and it will be a great honor for a man to be allowed to kiss the king's feet. The attitude towards the king reflected in the inscriptions of some officials in the 5-6 Dynasty (such as Wu Ni and others) fully explained the nature of the relationship between monarch and minister at that time. However, the relationship between officials and kings at the turn of 3-4 dynasties reflected in Mei Teng's epitaph seems to be different, and the inscriptions of Henku and Eby in 5-6 dynasties also seem to show that the relationship between local nobles and kings is different. Perhaps, people like Wu Ni are all cronies appointed by the king, so their attitude towards the king is quite different from that of the local nobles.
The kingship was further deified: the autocratic monarchy strengthened the kingship with theocracy and strengthened the rule of the slave owner class. In the early days and before the ancient kingdom, Horus, the eagle god, was the main protector of kingship. The statue of King Ha Fula of the Fourth Dynasty was created by Horus spreading his wings to protect his head. At that time, the king also had the name (title) of Horus. However, during the ancient kingdom, the worship of the sun god La gradually developed and gained the upper hand in the Fifth Dynasty. According to Weist Karl papyrus, the first three kings of the Fifth Dynasty all claimed to be the sons of Rashin, that is, the descendants of Rashin. Since the third dynasty, the king's name has been written in an oval frame. This frame symbolizes the area where the sun shines, and it also means that the king is protected by the sun god. In the ancient kingdom, many kings had Dora's name at the end of their names. In order to get the support of theocracy, the kings of the ancient kingdom donated a lot of land and labor to the temple. Deifying kingship is not only the requirement of kingship itself, but also the need of the ruling class at that time. The deification of kingship also means the deification of the slave owners' class regime. Therefore, it is also tolerated by the slave owner class. To this end, the slave owners in ancient Egypt kept a whole priestly regiment.
The construction of pyramids
Pyramids are the tombs of ancient Egyptian kings. China calls them "Pyramids" because they are shaped like the Chinese character "Gold". The construction of the pyramids began with Jorsell, the first king of the Third Dynasty. At that time, he asked the famous architect Eamon Hotep to design a grave for him. Eamon Hotep originally designed and built a huge stone tomb in Sakala. But Jossel and Eamon Hotep are not satisfied with themselves and feel that they are not serious enough. So Eamon Hotep added five Mastaba smaller than each other, which became the hierarchical pyramid of Jossel that can still be seen now. The height is 61.2m, the bottom is east-west length123.3m, and the north-south length107.4m.. There are corridors and tombs at the bottom of the pyramid, a memorial temple is built next to the pyramid, and the whole building complex is surrounded by walls. Snefru, the first king of the fourth dynasty, built three pyramids. His first pyramid was in Maidumen, which was originally a hierarchical pyramid. Later, the steps of each floor were filled in to form a pyramid-shaped pyramid; Later, he ordered someone to build a real pyramid in Dashuer, but due to design mistakes, he found that the angle in the middle of the building was too large and had to change the angle, thus becoming a diamond pyramid or an arc pyramid. Of course, Snefru was not satisfied with this, so he ordered another pyramid with a real pyramid to be built in Big Shure. It can be said that the Snefru period was the transition period from hierarchical pyramid to real pyramid. The largest pyramid was built by Khufu, the king of the fourth dynasty (the Greeks called him Qi Hoops), and its architect was Khufu's brother Hemian, whose address was chosen in Kize, on the west bank of the Nile near Memphis. The height of the pyramid is146.5m, and each side is about 230m long. It is said that the pyramids used about 2.3 million stones of different sizes, each weighing about 2.5 tons on average. The mausoleum was originally built at the bottom of the tower, and later a mausoleum was built in the middle of the tower. The entrance of this pyramid is triangular in the north of the tower 13 meters from the ground, so that the weight of the tower body is evenly dispersed and the passage opening will not be crushed.
According to Herodotus, it took 30 years to build pyramid of khufu. Before 10, roads and underground tombs were built to transport stones, and the pyramids themselves were built in the last 20 years, employing 65,438+10,000 people every year.
Next to pyramid of khufu, there are pyramids of two kings of this dynasty, Havela (the Greeks called him Zvlin) and Menkaure (the Greeks called him MacKay Linnus). There is a sphinx of the king not far from the Havla Pyramid, which is about 20 meters high and 50 meters long. It is said that its face is carved in the image of Ha Fula. The ancient Egyptians believed that lions were the guardians of the entrance to heaven.
Around these pyramids, there are also many aristocratic masters, which symbolically embodies the supremacy of absolute monarchy to its vassals.
Ancient India
The World of Buddha and Dream —— Indian Culture
India is close to China, but we know little about this neighbor because of the high Himalayan snow-capped mountains. "Learning from the Western Heaven" has become synonymous with hardship in the ears of China people. Like the Nile in ancient Egypt and the Yellow River and the Yangtze River in China, the Indus and Ganges rivers also gave birth to splendid ancient cultures.
500 thousand years ago, there were ancient ancestors in the Indian subcontinent. They also slash and burn, fish, hunt and gather, and thrive here. By the Neolithic Age about 10,000 years ago, there were settlements all over India, and people began to engage in agriculture, domesticate livestock and make exquisite household appliances. All these provided fertile soil for the birth of splendid ancient civilization. In the South Asian subcontinent, there is an ancient country, the Himalayas are towering, and the Indian Ocean is vast, magnificent and full of vitality. This is India, known as the "country of the moon". Because its territory is shaped like a cow's head, some people call it "the country with cow's head bones".
India, an ancient country with a wandering civilization.
The Ganges River, starting from the Himalayas and passing through an Asian peninsula surrounded by the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, nourishes this land, breeds splendid civilization and becomes a "holy river" of a country. And this lucky country is India, one of the four ancient civilizations in the world.
India is a melting pot of culture. The unique historical background of this country makes it contain many cultural trends from ancient times to modern times, from west to east, from Asia to Europe and so on. In addition, it is a country composed of five ethnic groups, and it is like a big cultural museum. Mumbai, located on the west bank of the capital New Delhi, is the cultural center, while Calcutta has news about culture every day. A variety of music, dance, ballet and comedy dazzle tourists and make them linger.
Living in a noisy big city for a long time, people yearn for returning to the original. The foundation of Indian traditional music is "nature". It praises the relationship between man and man, man and nature, and man and God. The melodies of the four seasons are all reflected in the traditional tune "Lag"-it is said that the ancients wrote the first "Lag" inspired by the singing of birds in the forest and the burning of branches. As for the content of the song, it originated from religious ceremonies in North India. Today, traditional songs still retain the ancient pronunciation, and the singer's sound quality is pure, which makes the song maintain a simple and pure feeling of hymn. Even if you don't understand the lyrics, you can feel the sacredness and tranquility of nature.
——Natyam, one of the oldest dances in India, means "the art of dancing" in Hindi. In addition to emphasizing the rhythm of dance, it also emphasizes that accompaniment music must be pleasant to listen to, consisting of solemn poems and simple music. This is a sacrificial dance, which can fully reflect the feelings of dancers. It was originally performed by the temple dancers in the temple. The key to this dance is to keep your upper body straight, your legs half bent, your knees apart, and your feet like a half-open fan. Although there are strict action norms, in fact, each actor's performance is different, and most of the time the performance is improvisation, so each Natyam's personal style is very strong.
Now, this traditional dance has re-emerged with a retro trend. However, ancient Natyam was generally a solo dance, and now group dance is more popular. A group of graceful dancers in gorgeous traditional costumes danced like fairies in beautiful music, and the effect was better than solo dancing. Today, Natyam has developed into a technical art system.
Delicious food cooked in clay stoves and charcoal fires.
Indian curry is world-famous, and many people think that rice and curry are the main foods and seasonings in India. But in fact, rice is only the staple food in some parts of India, and curry is a strange seasoning for most Indians. In fact, there is no unified style is the biggest feature of Indian food. Moreover, there are not only great differences in eating habits among cities in India, but even every family has an obvious eating style. But in general, chicken, fish and mutton are the most common. Gravy is the main sauce in India and is very popular all over India. Of course, the gravy in every place has its obvious local characteristics. In Indian kitchens, only fresh green peppers and dried red peppers are spicy. So tourists who don't like spicy food don't have to worry about not eating authentic Indian food. For tourists, India's most famous traditional dishes originated from the Indian royal family. Stewed meat, sauce and rice are the basis of three different cooking styles. But after all, royal food can only be eaten in special restaurants and hotels, and ordinary people are not "cold" about it. In the local area, many popular Indian dishes are very common, such as unfermented oatmeal bread coated with green mustard, which has been cooked all night with coal fire. This simple winter snack is regarded as the favorite by farmers and city dwellers. Authentic shortbread and steamed rice cakes are famous in southern cities. As for some coastal areas, in addition to seafood feasts such as crabs, lobsters, tiger shrimps and shellfish, fragrant coconuts are also the most commonly used ingredients.
Clay stove charcoal cooking is a unique cooking method in India. It is very particular about timing. When the furnace temperature reaches 600 degrees Celsius, the difference between cooking is one or two minutes, even one or two seconds, which will affect the success or failure of cooking. The meat made in this way does not need oil, and it is dipped in yogurt when eating. Before the food is served, the creaking charcoal fire and lingering fragrance have made your index finger move.
In addition, in many parts of India, people like to hold food in a large shallow dish called "Tali". When dining with "Tali", do as the Romans do and taste it slowly. Wolfing it will only make the local people laugh.
Soul of Tianzhu-Exhibition of Ancient Indian Bronze Statues
Ancient India is a mythical land with extremely developed religions and philosophies. Therefore, bronze statues in ancient India are often symbols of myths, religious idols and philosophical metaphors, which embody the spirit of the gods. The tradition of bronze statues in India is very long, which can be traced back to bronze dancers in the Indus era from about 2500 BC to 1500 BC. Brahmanism (the predecessor of Hinduism), Buddhism and Jainism appeared in succession in the 9th-6th century BC, which provided an eternal theme for ancient Indian art, including bronze statues. In the Middle Ages of India (7th-/Kloc-0th/3rd century), Indian bronze statues reached their peak.
The earliest civilization in the world-Mesopotamia (Greek means land between two rivers). Civilization (also called "Two Rivers Civilization") originated in Sumer region (middle and lower reaches), a valley between Tigris River and Euphrates River. Mesopotamia was the seat of Babylon, which is in today's Iraq.
From 4000 BC to 2250 BC, the civilization of the two rivers reached its peak, which was called "the land of Shinar" in the Old Testament. The fertile soil piled up on both sides of the two rivers is called "fertile crescent zone" in history (South America, which is as famous as the "Golden Triangle", is called "evil crescent zone"). Because the two rivers will not flood regularly like the Nile, it is necessary to observe the astronomical phenomena to determine the time. Su, who lives in the lower reaches, invented the lunar calendar, divided a year into 12 months and ***354 days based on the moon's profit and loss, and invented the leap month, placing 1 1 day different from the solar calendar. Divide an hour into 60 minutes and take 7 days as a week. He can also calculate fractions, add, subtract, multiply and divide, solve quadratic equations with one variable, and invent 10 decimal method and 16 decimal method. They divided the circle into 360 degrees until π was close to 3. Even calculate the area of irregular polygons and the volume of some cones.
In 4000 BC, Ren Sumei first invented hieroglyphics with ideographic and signifier symbols, because most of these characters were carved on bricks, stones or black basalt. On the clay tablet, "the pen is heavy and the imprint is deep", which looks like a wedge, so it is called cuneiform writing.
Buddhism
Buddhism came into being in the 6th century BC, and its founder was Gautama Siddharta, who was later honored as "Sakyamuni". His disciples called him "Buddha", which means "a man of great understanding". Buddhism advocates the equality of all beings and believes that the root of human suffering lies in human desire. Only by practicing hard and eliminating desires can we achieve "Elysium". [Edit this paragraph] Babylon and Babylon
The earliest civilization in the world-Mesopotamia (Greek means land between two rivers). Civilization (also called "Two Rivers Civilization") originated in Sumer region (middle and lower reaches), a valley between Tigris River and Euphrates River. Mesopotamia was the seat of Babylon, which is in today's Iraq.
From 4000 BC to 2250 BC, the civilization of the two river basins reached its peak. The Old Testament called it "the land of Hina". The fertile soil piled up on both sides of the two rivers is called "fertile crescent zone" in history (South America, which is as famous as the "Golden Triangle", is called "evil crescent zone"). Because the two rivers will not flood regularly like the Nile, it is necessary to observe the astronomical phenomena to determine the time. Su, who lives in the lower reaches, invented the lunar calendar, divided a year into 12 months and ***354 days based on the moon's profit and loss, and invented the leap month, placing 1 1 day different from the solar calendar. Divide an hour into 60 minutes and take 7 days as a week. He can also calculate fractions, add, subtract, multiply and divide, solve quadratic equations with one variable, and invent 10 decimal method and 16 decimal method. They divided the circle into 360 degrees until π was close to 3. Even calculate the area of irregular polygons and the volume of some cones.
In 4000 BC, Ren Sumei first invented hieroglyphics with ideographic and signifier symbols, because most of these characters were carved on bricks, stones or black basalt. On the clay tablet, "the pen is heavy and the imprint is deep", which looks like a wedge, so it is called cuneiform writing.
Hanging gardens are one of the seven wonders of the world. It is said that this garden was built for the Queen by King Nebuchadnezzar II at that time. Because Babylon is located in the desert and the climate is hot. The queen's hometown is warm in spring and cool in summer, which is very comfortable. The queen was ill for a long time because she missed her hometown with rolling hills and lush trees. In order not to make the queen sad, the king ordered the craftsman to build a garden on the rockery. The garden is divided into three layers, with waterways and many exotic flowers and grasses. Seen from a distance, the garden seems to grow in the air, so it is called the hanging garden.
Later, the Nile civilization and the Indus civilization developed under the impetus of the two river civilizations. The Greeks learned mathematics, physics and philosophy from there; Jews learned theology from there and spread it all over the world; Arabs learned architecture from there and used it to educate the whole medieval savage Europe.
Around 2000 BC, the Amorites established the Kingdom of Babylon, with Babylon as its capital. In 1792 BC, Hammurabi ascended the throne, conquered Sumerians and Akkadians, unified the Mesopotamian plain, and promulgated the code of hammurabi, which was the first relatively complete written code in the world, but it was not the earliest, and the earliest was called the Ullner Code. There are 282 code of hammurabi, carved on a 2.25-meter-high black basalt pillar. ..
In 689 BC, the kingdom of Babylon was destroyed by Assyria. In 605 BC, the new kingdom of Babylon destroyed Assyria. Later, the Temple Church came to power and was finally wiped out by Persia in the Iranian plateau in 538 BC. The civilization of the ancient two river basins ended as an independent whole.
What is introduced above is the ancient civilization in the great river basin.
The five ancient civilizations recognized in the world (in descending order)
The beginning of a country/civilization.
Babylon: 4000 BC to 2250 BC.
Ancient Egypt: 3500 BC ~ 2000 BC
Ancient Greece: before 3000 BC ~ 1 100 years.
Ancient India: 2000 BC
China: The Shang Dynasty was founded in 1600 BC. At present, China, which is recognized by the west, has a history of 3,500 years (there is no evidence in the Xia Dynasty, and if Xia is counted, it was founded in 2070 BC).
The four ancient civilizations are generally used to refer to the regions where the four human civilizations were first born, such as ancient Babylon, ancient Egypt, China and ancient India. However, due to the lack of accurate records of ancient civilizations, there is still controversy about its specific birth time in academic circles. Much knowledge of philosophy, science, literature and art that human beings have today can be traced back to the contributions of these ancient civilizations.
The four major civilizations are all built near the easy-to-survive river platform. In the northern hemisphere, the Nile, Yellow River and Yangtze River basins, as well as the Indus River and Ganges River basins, have successively produced four major civilizations in the world.
7000 -4000 years ago, ancient civilization entered the Bronze Age from the Neolithic Age, and then the Iron Age. Slavery is adopted in most social systems, and state power came into being later. Nome civilization in ancient Egypt is the earliest known civilization in the world.
The four ancient civilizations all have their own myths and legends. They used myths to strengthen their autocratic rule. The Pharaoh of ancient Egypt called himself "phoebus apollo", the Babylonian ruler Hammurabi called himself "the descendant of Luna", and the monarch of China called himself the son of heaven.
The four ancient civilizations all have their own calendars, with leap months divided into 12 months every year. Every civilization has created its own writing. Civilizations in the Indus River, the Yellow River and the two river basins all use pottery wheels to make pottery. Pi has been calculated in Egypt and two river basins, Pythagorean theorem has been discovered in Babylon and China, and Arabic numerals have been invented in India.