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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 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.

When did mankind first begin? There is evidence that the introduction of stone tools by early man began between 2.2 and  2.6 million years ago. 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, but which, of course, do succumb to diseases, forest fires, and animal damage, 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, but which, of course, do succumb to diseases, forest fires, and animal damage, are no older than 2000 B.C.