PolledHistory: World History #1

 Hello! Today marks the beginning of a 6-week series that covers all of world history.

#1 Today: Ancient Part 1 (4000-750 BC)

#2 8 Nov: Ancient Part 2 (750BC-500 AD)

#3 15 Nov: Medieval Part 1 (500-1000 AD)

#4 23 Nov: Medieval Part 2 (1000-1500 AD)

#5 2 Dec: Modern Part 1 (1500-1800 AD)

#6 9 Dec: Modern Part 2 (1800AD-Present)


So today is Ancient Part 1 or very early history. The beginnings of society is very sketchy and unknown. However, some societies and permenant settlements (places where people whould live for an extended amount of time) began to form by around 9500 BC. Geobekli Tepe was a  one of the first settlements that lasted about 1500 years.

Cities formed but no large or particularly impressive state would form. However, technology was advancing, especially with the materials people used. Bronze would begin to be used. And the first true sophisticated empire which had a good amount of territory was along the banks of the Nile river.

The Egyptians in the Middle East began making an empire that was focused on the Nile River and had some great achievements for an early civilization, such as the Pyramids erected by Khufu, a Pharaoh. This Ancient Egyptian civilization is known as Old Kingdom Egypt. There are three ancient Egyptian kingdoms, and this is the first. It is confined to the Nile River but later on other Egyptian kingdoms would have more success integrating desert areas into their territory.

In Mesopotamia, only some distance away, a warlord from Akkad was born and began making conquests, conquering several Sumerian city states. The Sumerians were a people group in Mesopotamia that were also very old and had some presence since  4000  BC. But it would end when Sargon of Akkad conquered it all in circa 2300 BC, forming a two century lasting empire that would rule Mesopotamia - the Akkadian Empire. He is known as the first world conqueror. 

The Akkadian Empire fell because of invasion and political strife. The next major power in Mesopotamia was  Babylon. Babylon was a city conveniently placed in a great location in Mesopotamia. But before we get back to them, let's see how the Old Kingdom of Egypt fell.

The Old Kingdom of Egypt fell with a drought after decades of decline due to famine and warfare. Famine was very detrimental for these early civilization. Back to Mespotamia. Babylon expanded and reached its height under Hammurabi, who wrote the first code of law and  and ruled most of Mesopotamia. It was one of the major Bronze Age powers.

There was also Middle Kingdom Egypt, the second of the Ancient Egyptian kingdoms. It expanded out of the Nile, taking some desert territories. It was more short lasting than its predecessor. It fell  because of the  migration of the Hyksos to Egypt, overwhelming the weaker nation.

The Bronze Age brought the Hittites, who managed to destroy Babylon, and then there were the Mitanni, which had its peak but would then fade from relevance. Meanwhile, in China, dynasties already formed, such as the Xia, lager the Shang, and then the Zhou. Chinese culture and technology continued to grow.

The Middle East reached a very interesting moment in the Late Bronze Age. The Assyrians rose by this time that ruled Northern Mesopotamia but we will discuss their peak in the next episode. The New Kingdom of Egypt would begin, the last Ancient Egyptian state that was completely Egyptian. They had the most success, going further south to modern day Sudan and controlled the Levant. However, things would change in the 1200s BC with the Bronze Age collapse, which many civilizations disintegrating and falling.

The end of the Bronze Age began the Iron Age where people used iron instead of bronze for weaponry, tools and other instruments. The Iron Age included the growth of Assyria as well as the founding of Rome in 753 BC. And that wraps up today's first episode with the founding of Rome

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