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Do not be misled by thinking that ancient peoples were dumb or boring because they lacked the technology of modern society.  The Egyptians, for example, cleverly built the massive pyramids using techniques that no one to this day can figure out or duplicate.  In 2600 B.C., they constructed the pyramid of Khufu containing 6 million tons of stone extending to a height of 481 feet.  The workmanship was superior to anything we do today: the rock base was virtually flat, not varying in elevation by more than a half-inch; its orientation is precisely aligned with the points of a compass; its stones were perfect fits.  Inside was a chapel, a causeway, and a temple.  It amazes architects to this day.  We would not be able to duplicate it, and no one knows how the Egyptians were able to build these intricate structures 4600 years ago.  Many other cultures, from Mesopotamia to Greece to Rome to India to China, invented things and discovered knowledge that no one today is smart enough to duplicate.  Can you build a useful wheel, or make paper?

Do not be misled by thinking that ancient peoples were dumb or boring because they lacked the technology of modern society.  The Egyptians, for example, cleverly built the massive pyramids using techniques that no one to this day can figure out or duplicate.  In 2600 B.C., they constructed the pyramid of Khufu containing 6 million tons of stone extending to a height of 481 feet.  The workmanship was superior to anything we do today: the rock base was virtually flat, not varying in elevation by more than a half-inch; its orientation is precisely aligned with the points of a compass; its stones were perfect fits.  Inside was a chapel, a causeway, and a temple.  It amazes architects to this day.  We would not be able to duplicate it, and no one knows how the Egyptians were able to build these intricate structures 4600 years ago.  Many other cultures, from Mesopotamia to Greece to Rome to India to China, invented things and discovered knowledge that no one today is smart enough to duplicate.  Can you build a useful wheel, or make paper?

    

    

A word about terminology: "B.C" means "Before (the birth of) Christ" and "A.D." means Anno Domini (Latin for "in the year of our Lord") or simply "After (the birth of) Christ."  The "1st century B.C." means the 1st century before Christ, counting backwards, which are the years 100-1 B.C.  The "6th century B.C." is thus 600-501 B.C.  The 20th century (A.D.) included the years A.D. 1901-2000.  Because A.D. means "in the year of our Lord," the truly proper form is to put the date after the A.D., as in A.D. 2006.  Dates are based on the birth of Christ, and it is wrong to erase Christ from the annotation, as school textbooks do with "BCE" for "Before the Common Era" and "CE" for "Common Era."  To convert from a public school textbook, remember that BCE = B.C. and CE = A.D.

A word about terminology: "B.C" means "Before (the birth of) Christ" and "A.D." means ''Anno Domini'' (Latin for "in the year of our Lord") or simply "After (the birth of) Christ."  The "1st century B.C." means the 1st century before Christ, counting backwards, which are the years 100-1 B.C.  The "6th century B.C." is thus 600-501 B.C.  The 20th century (A.D.) included the years A.D. 1901-2000.  Because A.D. means "in the year of our Lord," the truly proper form is to put the date after the A.D., as in A.D. 2006.  Dates are based on the birth of Christ, and it is wrong to erase Christ from the annotation, as school textbooks do with "BCE" for "Before the Common Era" and "CE" for "Common Era."  To convert from a public school textbook, remember that BCE = B.C. and CE = A.D.

World history divides into four sections:  Ancient History (Creation-A.D. 500), the Middle Ages (A.D. 500-1500), the Pre-Modern Era (A.D. 1500-1900), and the Modern Era (A.D. 1900-Current).  The Renaissance (A.D. 1300-1600), including the Reformation, overlaps with the Middle Ages and Pre-Modern Era.  Note that dates are not precise in this course: the further back in time we go, the less we know about the actual dates of key events.  For events before 1000 B.C., historians barely know a date within a few hundred years of its actual occurrence!  

World history divides into four sections:  Ancient History (Creation-A.D. 500), the Middle Ages (A.D. 500-1500), the Pre-Modern Era (A.D. 1500-1900), and the Modern Era (A.D. 1900-Current).  The Renaissance (A.D. 1300-1600), including the Reformation, overlaps with the Middle Ages and Pre-Modern Era.  Note that dates are not precise in this course: the further back in time we go, the less we know about the actual dates of key events.  For events before 1000 B.C., historians barely know a date within a few hundred years of its actual occurrence!  

Ancient history is everything before about A.D. 500 or 600, when every major religion except Islam was established.  Ancient history created civilization and achieved many of the greatest intellectual breakthroughs of all time.  Literature, drama, mathematics, philosophy, language, etc., were all created and developed during ancient history, which is why this time period is emphasized so much in education.

Ancient history is everything before about A.D. 500 or 600, when every major religion except Islam was established.  Ancient history created civilization and achieved many of the greatest intellectual breakthroughs of all time.  Literature, drama, mathematics, philosophy, language, etc., were all created and developed during ancient history, which is why this time period is emphasized so much in education.

[[Image:Cuneiform images.jpg|right]]

[[Image:Cuneiform images.jpg|right]]

When did mankind first begin?  There is no reliable evidence of man existing before 3500 B.C.  The oldest writing was a pictographic tablet called a "cuneiform" (pronounced kyu-NEE-uh-form) dated to perhaps 3400 B.C. from Sumer (SOO-mur) in Southern Mesopotamia (where Iraq is today).  Cuneiform looks like chicken-scratches featuring wedge-like or arrow-shaped characters.  Although Cuneiform was a primitive writing style it continued in use until shortly before the birth of Christ.  Originally pictographs (e.g., to write "foot", you would draw a foot), cuneiform developed into 600 stick-based symbols or figures, with each one developing multiple meanings (e.g., the symbol for "foot" also developed the meanings of "to go" or "to stand," depending on the context).<ref>http://i-cias.com/e.o/cuneiform.htm</ref>  For those who "text message" on cell phones, notice how each key has multiple possible letters and how the phone resolves the ambiguity and forms words depending on how the letters fit together to form a word.  Cuneiform had only 600 symbols, but their multiple meanings were resolved by seeing how they fit together to form sentences.  Cuneiform was not an alphabet or western-style script; the oldest script-based language is from the Indo-Aryan language, and one dated to 1550 B.C. was found in the Sinai.

When did mankind first begin?  There is no reliable evidence of man existing before 3500 B.C.  The oldest writing was a pictographic tablet called a "cuneiform" (pronounced kyu-NEE-uh-form) dated to perhaps 3400 B.C. from Sumer (SOO-mur) in Southern Mesopotamia (where Iraq is today).  Cuneiform looks like chicken-scratches featuring wedge-like or arrow-shaped characters.  Although cuneiform was a primitive writing style, it continued in use until shortly before the birth of Christ.  Originally pictographs (e.g., to write "foot", you would draw a foot), cuneiform expanded to 600 stick-based symbols or figures, with each one developing multiple meanings (e.g., the symbol for "foot" also developed the meanings of "to go" or "to stand," depending on the context).<ref>http://i-cias.com/e.o/cuneiform.htm</ref>  For those who "text message" on cell phones, notice how each key has multiple possible letters and how the phone resolves the ambiguity and forms words depending on how the letters fit together to form a word.  Cuneiform had only 600 symbols, but their multiple meanings were resolved by seeing how they fit together to form sentences.  Notice that cuneiform was not an alphabet or western-style script; the oldest script-based language is from the Indo-Aryan language, and an example dating back to 1550 B.C. was found in the Sinai.

Historians feel that spoken language originated in southeastern Europe near the Black Sea, not far from the Ararat mountain range cited in the Bible in connection with Noah.  Using population estimates, we know that about 300 million people existed in the world at the time of Christ, and extrapolating backwards yields only one family in the year 3300 B.C.  The oldest trees do not predate this time; the oldest sequoias, which never die of old age, are no older than 2000 B.C.

Historians feel that spoken language originated in southeastern Europe near the Black Sea, not far from the Ararat mountain range cited in the Bible in connection with Noah.  Using population estimates, we know that about 300 million people existed in the world at the time of Christ, and extrapolating backwards yields only one family in the year 3300 B.C.  The oldest trees do not predate this time; the oldest sequoias, which never die of old age, are no older than 2000 B.C.