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Ancient history, which is everything before about A.D. 600, created or discovered all the major religions today except Islam.  Ancient history created civilization and achieved many of the greatest intellectual breakthroughs of all time.  Literature, drama, mathematics, philosophy, language, etc., were all created in ancient history.

Ancient history, which is everything before about A.D. 600, created or discovered all the major religions today except Islam.  Ancient history created civilization and achieved many of the greatest intellectual breakthroughs of all time.  Literature, drama, mathematics, philosophy, language, etc., were all created in ancient history.

When did mankind first begin?  There is no reliable evidence of man existing before 3500 B.C.  The oldest writing is a pictographic tablet called a “cuneiform” dated to about 3400 B.C. from Sumer (SOO-mur) in Southern Mesopotamia (where Iraq is today).  These cuneiforms look like chicken-scratches featuring wedge-like or arrow-shaped characters.  The oldest western-style script is from the Indo-Aryan language, and one dated to 1550 B.C. was found in the Sinai.  The oldest verified civilization dates to about 3000 B.C.  We can also extrapolate backwards from modern populations to estimate that only about 300 million people existed in the world at the time of Christ, and extrapolating backwards further yields only one family in the year 3300 B.C.  Languages can be traced backwards to about 3000 B.C., and some experts reconstruct a point of origin in southeastern Europe near the Baltic, not far from the Ararat mountain range cited in the Bible in connection with Noah.  Old trees never predate this time either; the oldest sequoias, which never die of old age, are only 4000 years old.

When did mankind first begin?  There is no reliable evidence of man existing before 3500 B.C.  The oldest writing is a pictographic tablet called a “cuneiform” dated to about 3400 B.C. from Sumer (SOO-mur) in Southern Mesopotamia (where Iraq is today).  These cuneiforms look like chicken-scratches featuring wedge-like or arrow-shaped characters.  The oldest western-style script is from the Indo-Aryan language, and one dated to 1550 B.C. was found in the Sinai.  The oldest verified civilization dates to about 3000 B.C.  We can also extrapolate backwards from modern populations to estimate that only about 300 million people existed in the world at the time of Christ, and extrapolating backwards further yields only one family in the year 3300 B.C.  Languages can be traced backwards to about 3000 B.C., and some experts reconstruct a point of origin in southeastern Europe near the Black Sea, not far from the Ararat mountain range cited in the Bible in connection with Noah.  Old trees never predate this time either; the oldest sequoias, which never die of old age, are only 4000 years old.

No “civilization” has been found that is older than about 3000 B.C.  By “civilization” we mean order and hierarchy in the way of life.  Some type of political system or government is usually necessary to have a civilization.  A structure similar to a city or town is necessary to bring together people, jobs, buildings or religious centers.  Usually there are different classes of people, such as rich and poor.  Some historians say there must be an agricultural surplus also:  enough food to feed the people so that some workers could spend time in jobs other than farming.  In a nutshell, a civilization must have cities, skilled (non-farming) workers, social and government institutions, writing to maintain records such as property ownership, and advanced technology.  Memorize the oldest dates for the ancient civilizations:

No “civilization” has been found that is older than about 3000 B.C.  By “civilization” we mean order and hierarchy in the way of life.  Some type of political system or government is usually necessary to have a civilization.  A structure similar to a city or town is necessary to bring together people, jobs, buildings or religious centers.  Usually there are different classes of people, such as rich and poor.  Some historians say there must be an agricultural surplus also:  enough food to feed the people so that some workers could spend time in jobs other than farming.  In a nutshell, a civilization must have cities, skilled (non-farming) workers, social and government institutions, writing to maintain records such as property ownership, and advanced technology.  Memorize the oldest dates for the ancient civilizations: