ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

First civilizations as River Valley Civilizations. Bronze Age civilizations which flourished in different partsof the world between 5000 BC and 500 BC. The Indus Valley civilizations or the Harappan culture 3500 to 1500 BC. The Tigris-Euphrates civilization of Mesopotamia, the modern Iraq (350 0 BC to 1000 BC) The Nile Valley Civilization in Egypt (4000-525 BC) The Hwang-Ho or the Yellow River civilization in China (3000-500 BC) Civilization of Egypt is believed to be the oldest. The archaeologists were able to find hug pyramids, the mysterious sphinx, ruins of temples and tombs, Ehypt is known as the daughter of Nile. Herodotus, the greek historian aptly called Egypt, the gift of Nile 2. Political Condition :The innumerable tribal chieftains (Nomes) were gradually merged into two kingdoms. Egypt was united under one Pharaoh. The kings were believed to have descended from Sun God. The pharaoh was the chief justice, chief priest and chief commander. The foremost among Egyptian kings of this period were Thutmose I, and Thutmose III. Emperor Thutmose III was known as the Napolean of Egypt. 3. Socio-Economic Condition :Three classes namely the aristocracy, the middle class and the slaves. The position of women was a unique one. They practiced monogamy and endogamy. Agriculture was the main occupation. They knew the art of making several articles of metal particularly of bronze. Shipbuilding became an important trade. 4. Contribution of Egyptian Civilization Religion:Religion dominated the political, economic, intellectual and social life of the Egyptians. Their principal gad was the Sun Gad, Amon or Aton or Ra; the other important gods and goddesses were Osiris, Isis and Horus. They believed that man would have a resurrected life, and a trial by god. This religious belief inspired them to mummify their corpses and to construct pyramids (Tombs of the Pharaohs) to preserve dead bodies. The great pyramid of Gizeh built for the Pharaoh Cheops (Khufu) is 481 feet high. The mummy was placed in a wooden coffin and it was sealed in a stone box called Sarcophagus. 5. Art and Architecture:Egypt was the earliest home of art, architecture and sculpture. The sphinx is a mythological animal with the head of a man and body of a lion. The Greek historian and the father of history Herodotus wrote that 30,000 men worked for 20 years to complete the structure of the pyramid of Pharoah Cheops (Khufu) at Gizeh. 6. Writing :The ancient writing of Egypt was known as Hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphic a Greek word, meant Holy picture. The cycle of Zodiac is a gift of Egyptians to the science of Astronomy and Astrology.

7. The Sumerian Civilization of Mesopotamia:The great Mesopotamia civilization comprises the Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian cultures. Flourished in a region between two rivers, i.e, Euphrates and Tigris, hence the name Mesopotamia (meso-in between, potam-rivers; i.e, the land between two rivers). Have their source in the mountains of Armenia. The valley between these two rivers is in the shape of crescent and the region is fertile, hence is known as the fertile crescent 8. Political Life The word Sumerian means black headed. Sumer was their chief city state, so they were called Sumerians. Bab IIu was made the capital of Amorite by king SUMMU ABU Amorites were called Babylonians and their powerful king was Hammurabi. Nebuchad nezzar built the famous Hanging Garden. 9. Social Life The society was divided into three strata, the farmers, labourers and the slaves. The social regulation was based on religion. 10. Cuneiform Script The Sumerians evolved a system of writing with wedge shaped letters called cuneiform. They wrote on wet clay tablets. They used nearly 350 signs. Their writings were from right to left. One of the most famous of these is the Epic of Gilgamesh. 11. Religion Religion played an important role. Their chief god was Marduk and his queen Nanshe. Ishta the mother of the gods. Hammurabi was the greatest of the Babylonian rulers. He is famous in history a a warrior, conqueror, administrator and builder. The code of Hammurabi is the first written code of laws known to history. This had earned Hammurabi the title The worlds first Law giver. The Laws were engraved in Semitic Language of the Amorities on a piece of stone. 12. The early Chinese Civilization or The Hwang-Ho Valley Civilization The Hwang-Ho is called the Yellow river because it brings the yellow alluvial soil on both sides. It is known as the Sorrow of China. The Chinese people belonged to the Mongol race. 13. Political history of ancient china Fu Xi was the first known king. The Shang dynasty (1766-1122.BC) unified the territories of Yellow river. Wu-Wang introduced many reforms, and the Chou Age is known as the classical Age of China. 14. Socio-Economic condition The Chinese society was divided into the privileged and unprivileged classes. The officials were chosen from a class known as Mandarin who were selected through a series of public examinations. After the spread of Confucianism, there was marked change in the society. 15. Religion and Philosophy Chinese believed in ancestor worship and made offerings to them. They believed that a mythological dragon was protecting their land and people. Chinese thinker LaoTse condemned ritualistic practices, and advised people to go with nature. 16. Chinese Script Their writing was done on bones or tortoise shells. Silk pieces were also used for writing. Ink was invented in 5th Century AD. The Chinese pencils were made of bamboo. Theories of Lunar and solar eclipses were also developed. They made some scientific inventions like the water Mill, the Mariner compass, the

gun powder and paper currency. One of the noblest contributions of ancient China was its art of block printing. 17. Civilization of Europe Greek and Roman civilization Greek Civilization Greece is situated in the Balkan Peninsula on the south eastern part of Europe, Balkan Peninsula is separated from Asia Minor by Aegean Sea. One of the significant features of Greek civilization has been their city states. Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes etc. 18. Contributions of ancient Greece to World culture In the field of language and literature the contribution of Greece is unparalleled. The lliad and Odyssey are the great epics written by a blind poet Homer. Herodotus, Thucydides and Plutarch were famous historians. The most famous Greek philosophers were Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Plato was the student of Socrates. He wrote the book The Republic. Socrates is regarded as the father of Western philosophy. Herodotus is known as the father of history. Hippocrates is considered as the father of western medicine. Ptolemy as geographer and astronomer believed that the earth was the centre. Pythagoras was a great mathematician, astronomer, astrologer and philosopher. The best example of Greek architecture is the temple dedicated to goddess Athena in Parthenon. Myron and Phidias were the famous sculptors. Olympiad festival is the inspiration for the international Olympics of modern times. 19. The Roman civilization The Apennine peninsula in the middle of the Mediterranean region had been the cradle of the Roman civilization. That peninsular territory is called Italy and the name Italy is of Greek origin. The river basins of po and Tiber were the centres of civilizational kingships were given up and republics were established. By 6th century B.C. it became a Republic. The Senate was the legislative wing of the Republic. The common people who had no property were called Plebians. These codes engraved in slabs of woods were known as the Laws of Twelve Tables. Octavious Caesar became the undisputed master of the Roman Empire. He was given the title of Augustus meaning the magnificent. He ruled for forty one years. He completed the work which Caesar started. His age is called Golden Age of Rome. 20. Contribution of the Roman civilization of the world The Roman Law developed in three main branches as (1) The civil Law, (2) The peoples Law (3) The Natural Law. These Laws were codified by a later ruler Justinian and that code is known as the corpus Juris Civils or Justinian code The Roman concept of Pax Romagna ensured rule of law. The Romans developed their own alphabet and their language was known as Latin. Livy wrote History of Rome. Another famous historian was Tacitus. His Annals and Histories is a trust worthy. In the field of science, the Romans improved the medical science, Pliny, the elder wrote a Natural History which contains scientific facts. Ptolemy a Greek and a great astronomer and geographer lived in the Roman empire. Galen was the greatest physician of his time.

PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD 1.Pre-historic period *Palaeolithic Age-Old Stone Age (BC 10000 years ago) *Neolothic Age-New Stone Age (BC 10000-BC 4000) *Chalcolithic Age-Copper Stone Age (BC 3000-BC 1500) *Iron Age-Iron Age (BC 1500-BC 600) 2. Old Stone Age: (Palaeolithic Age) Old stone age and New stone age. He was a nomad. He lived in the jungle. He took shelter on the branches of trees, in holes and caves. He discovered fire by using the flint stone. The primitive man was scared of thunder and lightning and worshipped them. He used stones, branches of trees, bones and horns of the animals as weapons. Since he could not find food in one place he went from place to place in search of food. When he did not find vegetables, fruits and roots, he hunted animals. In the Pimpet Ca cave in Madhya Pradesh we see a painting. 3. Places in India where the Old stone age tools were found: Soan River bank at Madhya Pradesh, Pimpet Ca, Maheshwa (Madhya Pradesh), Luni Valley in Rajasthan, Pagalkhat, (Karnataka), Karnool caves, Renigunta (Andhra Pradesh), Vadamadurai, Athirambakkam, Pallavaram, Kanchipuram, Vellore, Thiruvallur (Tamil Nadu). 4. New Stone Age: (Neolithic Age) The first animal he tamed was dog, which helped him in hunting. During this age, he used polished, carved, sharp stone weapons. Wheel was invented. Copper was the first metal used by him. Places where New stone age weapons were found: Tirunelveli, Thandikkudi, Pudukottai, Tiruchirapalli and Salem. 5. Copper Age: (Chalcolithic Age) He made tools out of copper as well as small stones. So this age is known as Chalcolithic Age. The Harappan culture belonged to this age. 6. Iron Age:The period when the tools were made up of iron was called Iron Age. Household articles and agricultural implements were made out of iron. Vedic period belonged to the Iron Age. Places where the stone age weapons were found in Tamil Nadu: Old stone age weapons Pallavaram, kanchipuram, Vellore, Thiruvallur. New stone age weapons Tirunelveli, Salem, Pudukottai, Tiruchirapalli, Thandikkudi (Hills of Kodaikanal) Alloys: Iron + Chromium = Silver Copper + Lead = Bronze Copper + Zinc = Brass Iron + Manganese = Steel 7. In 1921, archaeologists found out that it was the ancient city of India. Harappa in Sindhi means Buried City. This civilization flourished in India about 4700 years ago. Likewise, the ruins of the cities were found in Mohenjo-daro, Chanhu-daro, Kalibangan and Lothal. The most important structure found in the citadel was the Great Bath. It was built of kiln-fired bricks and sealed with a lining of bitumen.

8. The science and technology such as construction, selections of lands measurement of plots, foundation, selection of quality building materials and geometrical figures were in use. 9. Terracotta seals: Hundreds of rectangular seals were discovered here. Pictographic writings were written on them. The script had not been deciphered yet. On the terracotta seals, bulls, cart, dove, boats and a figure of a human meditating are seen. 10. Occupation In the Indus Valley there were agriculturists, artisans, traders, weavers, potters and blacksmiths. Agriculture was their main occupation, they cultivated wheat and barley. 11. The land mass between the Himalayas and Cape Comorin is hailed as our Grand Old country of Bharath by Bharathiyar in his Ode to child. 12. Bavanandhi Munnivar, the author of Nannool describes Tamil Nadu as follows. Venkata hills on the North, Cape Comorin on South and the land between these two is Tamil Nadu. The Tamil we speak can be appreciated as Senthamizh, Paeynthamizh and Muthamizh. 13. Before prehistoric period, the Indian Ocean on the south of Cape Comorin was a land mass. It was called as Kumari Kandam. The river Fahruli ran on this land mass whichw as eight to ten times bigger than South India. Kingdom would have been the ancient pandyan kingdom. 14. The Continent LemuriaThere was a big land mass connecting Africa and Australia, which was called Menuria after the name of the monkey Lemur. It was believed that human beings evolved from the Menurs. The language of the people was ancient Tamil. The land where thir decendents lived was called Tamil Nadu. 15. Historic period The historic period of Tamil Nadu began from the Sangam age. This period lasted for 400 years from BT 200-AT 200. Some consider that it was between BT 300-AT 300. BT-AT was calculated based on the birth year of Thiruvalluvar ie 31 B.C. Thiruvalluvar was born 31 years before Christ. Scholars call Tamil a classical language, because it had developed without the help of other languages. 16. The seven chieftains were called as kadaiyelu vallalgal. The famous among them were Pari, Ori, Kari, Nalli, Elini, Pegan and Aay. 17. There were discrimination according to their occupations. There was sect system but they were not discriminated according to their birth. Untouchability was not in practice. 18. Women had the privilege of choosing their life partners. Parents agreed to that. The rituals, raising of holy fire and chanting of mantras were not in vogue. Women were not treated as per the Vedas. 19. As building of temples was not in practice, the Sangam people worshipped the stones erected in memory of the dead soldiers which were known as Hero Stones or Nadukkal and their ancestors.

20. They celebrated harvest festival, Pongal festival the festival of Spring season. In the capital they celebrated Indiravizha. They did not know about the festivals of the Puranas.