The ancient East became the cradle of modern civilization. Here the first states, the first cities, writing, stone architecture, world religions and much more appear, without which it is impossible to imagine the current human community. The first states arise in the valleys of large rivers. Agriculture in these areas was very productive, but this required irrigation work - to drain, irrigate, build dams and maintain the entire irrigation system in order. One community couldn't handle it. There was a need to unite all communities under the control of a single state.

For the first time, this happens in two places at once, independently of each other - in Mesopotamia (the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) and Egypt at the end of the 4th-3rd millennium BC. e. Later, the state arises in India, in the valley of the Indus River, and at the turn of III - II millennium BC. e. - in China. These civilizations received in science the name of river civilizations.

The most important center of ancient statehood was the region Mesopotamia. Unlike other civilizations, Mesopotamia was open to all migrations and trends. Trade routes opened from here and innovations spread to other lands. The civilization of Mesopotamia continuously expanded and involved new peoples, while other civilizations were more closed. Thanks to this, Western Asia is gradually becoming a flagship in socio-economic development. Here appear the potter's wheel and wheel, the metallurgy of bronze and iron, the war chariot and new forms of writing. Scientists trace the influence of Mesopotamia on Egypt and the civilization of ancient India.

Farmers settled Mesopotamia in the 8th millennium BC. e. Gradually, they learned to drain wetlands. In the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates there are no stones, forests, metals, but they are very rich in grain. Residents of Mesopotamia exchanged grain for missing household items in the process of trading with neighbors. Stone and wood were replaced with clay. They built houses from clay, made various household items, and wrote on clay tablets.

At the end of IV millennium BC. e. in the Southern Mesopotamia, several political centers arose, which united in the state of Sumer. Throughout its ancient history, the region of Mesopotamia was the scene of a fierce struggle, during which power was seized by a city or conquerors who came from outside. From the II millennium BC. e. The city of Babylon begins to play a leading role in the region, becoming a mighty power under King Hammurabi. Then Assyria is strengthened, which from the XIV to VII centuries. BC e. was one of the leading states of Mesopotamia. After the fall of the Assyrian state, Babylon is strengthened again - the Neo-Babylonian kingdom arises. The Persians - immigrants from the territory of modern Iran - managed to conquer Babylonia and in the VI century. BC e. establish a huge Persian kingdom.

Civilization of the ancient Egypt owes its appearance to the world's largest river Nile and its annual floods. Egypt was divided into Upper (Nile Valley) and Lower (Nile Delta). Along the Nile, the first state associations arose - nomes, the center of which became temples. As a result of a long struggle, the nomes of Upper Egypt united and annexed Lower Egypt.

China how the state was formed in the Yellow River valley. Another great Chinese river - the Yangtze, flowing to the south, was developed later. The Yellow River very often changed its course, flooding vast areas. To curb the river required hard work on the construction of dams and dams.

Egypt and China, despite their remoteness from each other, have a number of common features, which can be explained by several reasons. These countries initially had an ethnically homogeneous population, the state apparatus was very stable; at the head of the state was a deified ruler. In Egypt, this is the pharaoh - the son of the Sun, in China - van, the son of Heaven. Within the framework of both civilizations, there was total control over the population, which was involved in the performance of heavy duties. The basis of the population of Egypt were community members, who were called "servants of the king" and were obliged to hand over the entire crop to the state, receiving food for this or allotment of land for cultivation. A similar system operated in China.

A huge role in a state of this type was played by priests-officials who controlled the apparatus and distributed food among the entire population. In Egypt, it was the priests who played the main role in the distribution of wealth. The Temples wielded considerable power, allowing them to successfully oppose the Center. Unlike Egypt, in China the religious component of the power of the state apparatus faded into the background.

AT India, in the valley of the Indus River, a proto-Indian civilization developed. Large irrigation systems were created here and large cities were built. The ruins of two cities were found near the modern settlements of Haralpa and Mohen-jo-Daro and. bear these names. Civilization has reached a high level of development here. This is evidenced by the presence of crafts, a sewer system, and writing. However, the writing of the proto-Indian civilization, unlike the hieroglyphs of Egypt and the cuneiform writing of Mesopotamia, has not yet been solved by scientists, and this civilization continues to remain a mystery to us. The reasons for the death of the civilization of Ancient India, which existed for several centuries, are also unknown,

In the second half of the II millennium BC. e. The Aryans invaded India. The Aryan language belongs to the Indo-European language family and is close to the Slavic languages. The Aryans settled in the Ganges River valley, subjugating the local population. The Aryans who came lived mainly in a tribal system. At the head of the tribes were leaders - rajas, who relied on a layer of Kshatriya warriors. The Brahmin priests fought with the Kshatriyas for the first place in society and the state.

The Aryans, not wanting to dissolve among the large local population, were forced to establish a system of varnas. According to this system, the population was divided into four varnas - Brahmin priests, Kshatriya warriors, Vaishya producers, and Shudra - the conquered local population. Belonging to the varna was inherited, and it was impossible to change it. Marriages always took place between members of the same varna.

The varna system contributed to the conservation of Indian society. Since the Varnas took over part of the functions of the state, the state apparatus in India did not become as strong and influential as in other civilizations of the Ancient East.

AT Eastern Mediterranean a new form of civilizations arises, different from the classical river states. The most ancient centers of agriculture and cattle breeding existed here, and the first urban centers appeared here. The city of Jericho in Palestine is known as the oldest city in the world (VIII millennium BC). The Eastern Mediterranean is a region located at the crossroads of major trade routes linking Asia, Europe and Africa.

From the III millennium BC. e. the cities of the Eastern Mediterranean are becoming important centers of transit trade. The rich cities and fertile lands of this region constantly served as the object of claims of large powers - Egypt, Assyria, the Hittite kingdom (on the territory of Asia Minor). The Eastern Mediterranean is divided into three parts - Syria in the north, Palestine in the south, and Phenicia in the center. The Phoenicians managed to become experienced sailors, engaged in transit trade, founded their colonies throughout the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians invented an alphabetic script to help them process trade transactions. This alphabet formed the basis of all modern alphabets.

Phoenicia turned out to be a transitional form of civilization close to the ancient model.



The First Civilization arose in the 62nd century. back.

The Last Civilization stopped in the 41st century. back.

Ancient Oriental include civilizations that developed at the end of the 5th - 2nd millennium BC. in North Africa and Asia.

These civilizations, which developed, as a rule, in isolation from each other, are called riverine, since their origin and existence were associated with the great rivers - the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates, the Indus and the Ganges, the Yellow River and the Yangtze.

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Andm are typologically similar to the states that existed in the II - early I millennium BC. on the Balkan Peninsula and the islands of the Aegean archipelago.

DAncient Eastern civilizations arose independently of each other. They created the first writing systems, discovered the principles of statehood and the norms of coexistence of people who differed ethnically, socially, property, professionally and religiously. Their historical experience was used by civilizations that arose at a later time.

DThe ancient east became the cradle of modern civilization. Here the first states, the first cities, writing, stone architecture, world religions appear.

FROMThe knowledge of the man of the Ancient East was mythological. He saw causal relationships as personal forces endowed with consciousness and will.

ATcountries of the Ancient East, the universe was identified with the state. The ideal that prevailed there can be described by the formula "living righteously, thinking righteously and acting righteously in our righteous community." A quiet person corresponded to the ideal - modest, meek, humble, submissive to the order of things established by the gods.

Pcomplete obedience to the gods (and to the deified ruler) was the basis of moral values ​​and the core of the ideal person. He was opposed to an arrogant, proud and obstinate person. The worst of sins was disobedience to the gods.

TThe ore of the farmer and cattle breeder was recognized as one of the highest values, diligence - the only way to well-being. Poverty was seen as evil, but wealth, if it was not interconnected with selflessness and helping the needy, was usually not considered an absolute good. More significant was, as a rule, the acquisition of the highest good - wisdom.

ToThe orporativity of ancient Eastern societies made the family one of the most important values. Ideas about the norm of family life were associated with consent between spouses, having many children and honoring parents.

PThe first states arise in river valleys. Agriculture in the ancient east was very productive, but this required irrigation systems (drainage, irrigation). The construction of irrigation systems required a large amount of labor. One community could not cope with such work, and there was a need to unite the communities under the control of a single state. For the first time this happens in Mesopotamia (the Tigris River, the Euphrates River), Egypt (the Nile River) at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. Later, states arise in India and China; these civilizations were called riverine.

Hin the Ancient East, the first ever command-distribution system of the economy was formed. Its basis was agriculture (as a rule, irrigation), which separated from the craft at the initial stage of the formation of the state. The economy was natural.

Andthe irrigation economy, which required labor-intensive earthworks, was based on the eastern form of ownership; The state represented by the king acted as the supreme owner of the land. He was the main organizer of the work on the creation and maintenance of the irrigation system, was in charge of the distribution of water and crops. The problem of surplus labor force was solved by the total involvement of community members in the construction of grandiose structures.

Danother type of economy - simple commodity production - was represented by urban craft

PIn the absence of direct (independent of the supreme power) economic, political and cultural ties between communities, the centralized state played a huge role. It was a deified power that controlled, regulated and directed the actions and deeds of people.

OThe new order was the unlimited and uncontrolled power of the king - a living god or chief priest. He was the supreme owner of the land, the supreme commander in chief, the highest authority in court. The backbone of the king's power was the bureaucratic apparatus that ruled on his behalf.

Wman was completely subordinate to the state. It exploited not an individual community member, but the entire community. As users of the land, the community members gave part of the harvest to the state, performed public works and carried out recruitment duties. Farmers were often attached to the land, and craftsmen - to the profession.

Twhat type of statehood is despotic (from the Greek word despot - ruler). The countries of the Ancient East almost did not know social unrest. This was partly due to the fact that there were no ideas about personality. Unanimity reigned in the public mind. The concepts of king and justice merged, and personal property and the social ranks were to some extent protected by tradition and law.

PThe first stage in the development of the states of the Ancient East is associated with the formation of the first centers of civilizations - nome states in Egypt and city-states in Mesopotamia - and covers the end of the 5th - 4th millennium BC.

ATthe second stage - the era of centralized kingdoms - falls on the III-II millennium BC. The civilizations of the Aegean, Transcaucasia, the Iranian Highlands and the Arabian Peninsula that arose at that time were in close contact with the ancient civilizations of the Near East, while the contemporary civilizations of India and China developed in isolation.

DThis era is characterized by the dominance of subsistence farming. The formation of two forms of ownership of land, water and minerals - royal-temple and communal - became the basis for the coexistence of two sectors of the economy - communal and centralized, state-temple.

Tthe third stage - the first half of the 1st millennium BC. - the era of the emergence and death of great empires - such as the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, Achaemenid and Qin. The leading trend in their development was the integration of the regions that made up these superstates and the alignment of their levels of development.

DThis era was characterized by the growth of the role of commodity economy and private property.

Drevnevostochnye society in the Middle East ceased to exist after the campaigns of Alexander the Great (336-323 BC). In the Middle and Far East, ancient civilizations that developed in isolation to a greater extent gradually grew into medieval civilizations (noticeably different from the feudal civilization of Western Europe).

Dthe ancient Eastern society was hierarchical and divided into estates - closed groups of the population with a similar set of duties and privileges; belonging to the estates was hereditary. Each person occupied a strictly defined social niche.

Hand at the top of the hierarchy stood the king and the highest stratum of the nobility, which consisted of tribal, administrative and military aristocracy and priesthood. Officials belonged to the middle strata; the bureaucracy controlled all spheres of life. At the bottom of the social hierarchy were artisans and free communal farmers.

ATIn a number of countries of the Ancient East, the population was divided into castes, which differed from estates in complete isolation from each other.

Drevnevostochnoe society was built on communal collectivism. The community was not only the main production unit, but also ensured social stability. The community had self-government and was closed. It was a privilege to belong to her. Members of the community usually bore collective responsibility for everything that happened on its territory.

TWhat kind of system could exist only with the invariance of its links and with the observance of tradition, which was conceived as absolute truth. The main thing was to reproduce the experience of the fathers, which was considered the highest value. This slowed down the changes in society.

PThe first states appeared in the delta of the Tigris and Euphrates (at the turn of the 5th-4th millennium BC) and in the Nile Valley (at the beginning of the 4th millennium BC) - in areas with a dry and hot climate. At that time, tools made of copper were mastered there. The tribes of the steppe and forest-steppe of Eurasia were only then switching to agriculture, and the tribes of the forest and polar regions lived in conditions of a highly productive appropriating economy based on hunting, fishing and trapping of sea animals.

ATIn the valleys of the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, irrigation was the basis of agriculture. The emergence of a system of dams and canals in Egypt was dictated by the need to bring water to the fields and keep water with fertile silt there for as long as possible during the floods of the Nile. In the swampy Southern Mesopotamia, water was diverted from the fields with the help of canals.

Prare Egyptians appeared in the Nile Valley, which was inhabited by Semitic tribes related to them in language, about 5000 BC. In the first half of the IV millennium BC. tribal communities in Egypt consisted of large patriarchal families. It was headed by the patriarch, followed by his sons and grandsons with children and relatives who did not separate. They worked together on the land that was the property of the community.

Pafter the appearance of dams and canals in the second half of the 4th millennium BC. the harvest has grown. The community received a surplus sufficient for the maintenance of the disabled and for the release of artisans from cultivating the land. Since the surpluses were small, there remained a need for their egalitarian distribution and for the organization of labor to maintain the canal system. These tasks were performed by the priests, who brought the community into contact with the gods. The priests got the levers of managing the economy and, as a result, power over the community.

ToThe operation of tribal communities contributed to their development into nomes - communities where territorial and neighboring ties predominated, based on joint ownership of land, on maintaining a single system of channels and on the veneration of common gods. The center of the nome was the temple, and its high priest was considered the head of the community. He was allocated a plot of land, which was cultivated by community members. Over time, the centers of the nomes became cities.

BLarge patriarchal families broke up into small ones. They consisted of two generations - parents, their unmarried sons and unmarried daughters. Family ties gave way to neighborly ones.

PChanges in agriculture and the collapse of tribal ties within the community led to the emergence of a management apparatus. He was supported by community members. As a result of the wars between the nomes, slavery spread in Egypt and a permanent squad appeared, subordinate to the head of the community - the priest.

Hohms (there were about 40 in Egypt), uniting communities around the local irrigation system, became the first states (sometimes they are called proto-states). The centers of such political formations were the city with the temple of the supreme god, around which artisans settled. The nome was divided into tax districts. The taxes went to the maintenance of the ruler, the administrative apparatus and the squad.

PThe process of state formation in Egypt was completed by the unification of the nomes. At the end of the IV millennium BC. 22 southern nomes formed the Upper Kingdom with its capital in Hierakonpolis. The 20 nomes in the north made up the Lower Kingdom, with its capital at Buto.

BUTThe process of formation of states in the Southern Mesopotamia was taxing. At the end of the 5th millennium BC. it was settled by the Sumerians - a people whose ancestral home is unknown, and whose language is not similar to any of the existing ones. They called themselves blackheads. Later it became the self-name of all the peoples of Mesopotamia.

ATthe beginning of the IV millennium BC. tribal communities of the Southern Mesopotamia owned a network of small canals. Nomov-type communities and a unified canal system appeared later.

CThe center of the community was a temple with granaries and workshops. Settlements clustered around it. This is how the first cities were born. The most ancient of them, the Sumerians considered Shuruppak. The head of the community was the high priest of the temple - en. He was given a plot of land, which was considered the possession of God.

HOm farms of Egypt and temple farms of Mesopotamia were such complex organisms that, due to the need to take into account their activities, writing arose - at the beginning of the 4th millennium BC. - in Egypt, at the turn of IV-III millennia BC. - in Sumer.

Sumerian writing, which developed from the drawing, became the basis of other writing systems in Mesopotamia, Western Asia and Iran. Symbols and their groups denoted syllables, concepts or determinatives (explanations of concepts). This system was called cuneiform, since when writing on clay - the main writing material of Mesopotamia - it was convenient to reproduce signs resembling wedges. This form of signs was also preserved when writing on stone.

EEgyptian writing, like that of the Sumerians, developed from drawing. Each drawing (pictogram, hieroglyph) meant a syllable, a concept, and a determinative. The writing material was a kind of paper made from papyrus stalks, so the pictorial form of signs has been preserved.

RThere are three types of Egyptian writing: ceremonial hieroglyphics, cursive-hieratic (priestly writing) and cursive-demotica (folk writing). Later, an alphabet of 21 characters appeared, denoting consonants, but it was not widely used.

Ethe Egyptians believed that "knowledge came out of Egypt", the birthplace of science. They determined the time of the flood of the Nile by the stars. On this basis, the Egyptians identified the signs of the Zodiac, divided the year into 365 days, and the day into 24 hours. From the experience of dividing land plots and calculating crop volumes, knowledge of the basics of geometry and algebra emerged. The tradition of mummification of the bodies of the dead contributed to the development of anatomy and surgery. The Egyptians were the first to smelt glass, which was based on knowledge of chemical processes. The word chemistry comes from the name that the Egyptians endowed their country with - Ta-Kemet (Black Earth). These sciences were the sum of practical knowledge and were not supported by theory.

CCivilizations of the Ancient East:

Dvurechye, Mesopotamia, Mesopotamia. Unlike other civilizations, it was an open state. Many trade routes passed through the Mesopotamia. The Mesopotamia was constantly expanding, involving new cities, while other civilizations were more closed. Here appeared: a potter's wheel, a wheel, metallurgy of bronze and iron, a war chariot, and new forms of writing. Farmers settled Mesopotamia in the 8th millennium BC. Gradually, they learned to drain wetlands.

Dvureche was rich in grain. Residents exchanged grain for missing household items. Clay replaced stone and wood. People wrote on clay tablets. At the end of the 4th millennium BC, in the southern Mesopotamia, the state of Sumer arose.

ATAbout the 2nd millennium BC, the importance of Babylon, where King Hammurabi ruled, increases. From the 14th to the 7th century BC, Assyria was strengthened, and it was replaced by the Neo-Babylonian state. In the 6th century BC, Babylon was conquered by the Persian kingdom.

Egypt. It was located in the valley of the Nile River, which was divided into upper and lower. The first state associations were called nomes. As a result of a long struggle, upper Egypt annexed lower Egypt. In Egypt, the positions of the priesthood were strong.

Toitaly. Formed in the valley of the Yellow River. The Yellow River often changed its course and flooded vast areas. At the head of the state was a deified ruler. In China, there was total control over the population, the population performed heavy duties.

AndIndia. Formed in the valley of the Indus River. The largest irrigation systems and large cities were created here. Craft was at a high level of development, sewer systems were created. The supreme governing body was Parshiat - Brahmans - King. In the second half of the millennium BC, the Aryan tribes invaded India and settled the Ganges River. They installed the Varna system.

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And much more, without which it is impossible to imagine the current human community. The first states arise in the valleys of large rivers. Farming in these areas was very productive, but this required irrigation work - to drain, irrigate, build dams and maintain the entire irrigation system in order. One community couldn't handle it. There was a need to unite all communities under the control of a single state.

For the first time, this happens in two places at once, independently of each other - in Mesopotamia (the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) and Egypt at the end of the 4th-3rd millennium BC. e. Later, the state arises in India, in the valley of the Indus River, and at the turn of III-II millennium BC. e. - in China. These civilizations received in science the name river civilizations.

The most important center of ancient statehood was the area Mesopotamia. Unlike other civilizations, Mesopotamia was open to all migrations and trends. Trade routes opened from here and innovations spread to other lands. The civilization of Mesopotamia continuously expanded and involved new peoples, while other civilizations were more closed. Thanks to this, Western Asia is gradually becoming a flagship in socio-economic development. Here appear the potter's wheel and wheel, the metallurgy of bronze and iron, the war chariot, and new forms of writing. Scientists trace the influence of Mesopotamia on Egypt and the civilization of ancient India.

Farmers settled Mesopotamia in the 8th millennium BC. e. Gradually, they learned to drain wetlands. In the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates there are no stones, forests, metals, but they are very rich in grain. Residents of Mesopotamia exchanged grain for missing household items in the process of trading with neighbors. Stone and wood were replaced with clay. They built houses from clay, made various household items, and wrote on clay tablets.

At the end of IV millennium BC. e. in the Southern Mesopotamia, several political centers arose, which united in the state of Sumer. Throughout its ancient history, the region of Mesopotamia was the scene of a fierce struggle, during which power was seized by a city or conquerors who came from outside. From the II millennium BC. e. The city of Babylon begins to play a leading role in the region, becoming a mighty power under King Hammurabi. Then Assyria is strengthened, which from the XIV to VII centuries. BC e. was one of the leading states of Mesopotamia. After the fall of the Assyrian state, Babylon is strengthened again - the Neo-Babylonian kingdom arises. The Persians - immigrants from the territory of modern Iran - managed to conquer Babylonia in the VI century. BC e. establish a huge Persian kingdom.

Civilization of the ancient Egypt owes its appearance to the world's largest river Nile and its annual floods. Egypt was divided into Upper (Nile Valley) and Lower (Nile Delta). Along the Nile, the first state associations arose - nomes, the center of which became temples. As a result of a long struggle, the nomes of Upper Egypt united and annexed Lower Egypt.

China how the state was formed in the Yellow River valley. Another great Chinese river - the Yangtze, flowing to the south, was developed later. The Yellow River very often changed its course, flooding vast areas. To curb the river required hard work on the construction of dams and dams.

Egypt and China, despite their remoteness from each other, have a number of common features, which can be explained by several reasons. These countries initially had an ethnically homogeneous population, the state apparatus was very stable; at the head of the state was a deified ruler. In Egypt, this is the pharaoh - the son of the Sun, in China - Van, the son of Heaven. Within the framework of both civilizations, there was total control over the population, which was involved in the performance of heavy duties. The basis of the population of Egypt were community members, who were called "servants of the king" and were obliged to hand over the entire crop to the state, receiving food for this or allotment of land for cultivation. A similar system operated in China.

A huge role in the state of this type was played by priests-officials who controlled the apparatus and distributed products among the entire population. In Egypt, it was the priests who played the main role in the distribution of material goods. The Temples wielded considerable power, allowing them to successfully oppose the Center. Unlike Egypt, in China the religious component of the power of the state apparatus faded into the background.

AT India, in the valley of the Indus River, a proto-Indian civilization developed. Large irrigation systems were created here and large cities were built. The ruins of two cities were found near the modern settlements of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro and bear these names. Civilization has reached a high level of development here. This is evidenced by the presence of crafts, a sewer system, and writing. However, the writing of the proto-Indian civilization, unlike the hieroglyphs of Egypt and the cuneiform writing of Mesopotamia, has not yet been solved by scientists, and this civilization continues to remain a mystery to us. The reasons for the death of the civilization of Ancient India, which existed for several centuries, are also unknown.

In the second half of the II millennium BC. e. The Aryans invaded India. The Aryan language belongs to the Indo-European language family and is close to the Slavic languages. The Aryans settled in the valley of the Ganges River, subjugating the local population. Aryans who arrived lived mainly in a tribal system. At the head of the tribes were leaders - rajas, who relied on a layer of Kshatriya warriors. The Brahmin priests fought with the Kshatriyas for the first place in society and the state.

The Aryans, not wanting to dissolve among the large local population, were forced to establish a system of varnas. According to this system, the population was divided into four varnas - Brahmin priests, Kshatriya warriors, Vaishya producers, and also Shudras - the conquered local population. Belonging to the varna was inherited, and it was impossible to change it. Marriages always took place between members of the same varna.

The varna system contributed to the conservation of Indian society. Since the Varnas took over part of the functions of the state, the state apparatus in India did not become as strong and influential as in other civilizations of the Ancient East.

AT Eastern Mediterranean a new form of civilizations arises, different from the classical river states. The most ancient centers of agriculture and cattle breeding existed here, and the first urban centers appeared here. The city of Jericho in Palestine is known as the oldest city in the world (VIII millennium BC). The Eastern Mediterranean is a region located at the crossroads of major trade routes linking Asia, Europe and Africa.

From the III millennium BC. e. the cities of the Eastern Mediterranean are becoming important centers of transit trade. The rich cities and fertile lands of this region constantly served as the object of claims of large powers - Egypt, Assyria, the Hittite kingdom (on the territory of Asia Minor). The Eastern Mediterranean is divided into three parts: in the north - Syria, in the south - Palestine, in the center - Phoenicia. The Phoenicians managed to become experienced sailors, engaged in transit trade, founded their colonies throughout the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians invented an alphabetic script to help them process trade transactions. This alphabet formed the basis of all modern alphabets.

Ancient Greece - the cradle of Western civilization

The oldest civilization in Europe arose on the islands of the Aegean Sea and on the Balkan Peninsula and is known as the Crete-Mycenaean civilization (after the names of the centers - the islands of Crete and Mycenae, cities in southern Greece). The Crete-Mycenaean civilization was a typical ancient Eastern civilization that existed in II thousand BC e. Crete, like Phoenicia, became famous as a maritime power with a mighty fleet. The death of the Crete-Mycenaean civilization is associated with a number of natural disasters and the invasion of Greece and the islands of the Aegean Sea by northern tribes. This invasion led to the establishment of more backward tribal relations on the ruins of civilization. 12th-9th centuries BC e. and are known in Greece as the Dark Ages.

VIII-VI centuries BC e. Ancient civilization begins to form in Greece. The emergence of iron and related tools played a major role in its development. In Greece, there is not enough land for cultivation, so cattle breeding was widely developed here, and then handicrafts. The Greeks, familiar with maritime affairs, were actively engaged in trade, which gradually led to the development of the surrounding territories along the coast. Due to the catastrophic lack of land resources, the Greeks were forced to establish colonies in Italy, Asia Minor, and the Black Sea region.

With the division of labor and the emergence of a surplus product, the tribal community is replaced by a neighboring community, but not a rural one, but an urban one. The Greeks called this community a polis. Gradually, the policy was formalized into a city-state. There were hundreds of policies in Greece. Colonies were also created according to this pattern. Within the framework of the policy, a fierce struggle took place between the tribal nobility, who did not want to cede their power, and the demos, the ignoble members of the community.

The Greeks were aware of their unity - they called their homeland Hellas, and themselves - Hellenes. They had a single pantheon of Olympian gods and pan-Hellenic sports competitions. However, all this did not prevent them from regularly fighting among themselves.

One of the main features of the Hellenic culture is the principle of competitiveness and the desire for superiority, which is not typical for the civilizations of the East. There was a situation in the policy when its power was dependent on the citizens, on whom, in turn, certain duties were imposed, but at the same time significant rights.

Greece was not united by one policy - this was prevented by their fragmentation and disunity. As a result, Greece was conquered first by Macedonia and then by Rome. But the Roman state, which conquered Greece, experienced the strongest influence of Greek culture. The achievements of Greek culture eventually formed the basis of all European culture and civilization.

Anthropology, ethnography, mythology about the ancient past of man.

The problem of the origin of man has always interested people. From time immemorial there has been a continuous struggle between idealists and materialists on this question. There are many theories explaining how man appeared and how he developed.

Even at the beginning of the 19th century, people believed that their appearance had remained unchanged since the appearance of man. Of course, it was known that different peoples differ from each other in culture, way of life, customs. But all of them were considered the descendants of the first man and the first woman who were created by the gods, regardless of whether they were the gods of Christians, Muslims or followers of the teachings of the Buddha. When human bones were found during excavations that differed from modern ones, they were considered the remains of especially strong people or, conversely, sick people. In the 40s. in Germany of the 19th century, the bones of one of the ancestors of modern Neanderthal man were found, who were mistaken for the remains of a Russian Cossack, a participant in the Napoleonic wars, and one respected scientist said that these were the bones of a sick old man, who was also hit on the head several times.

In 1859, Charles Darwin's book "The Origin of Species" was published, which did not talk about the origin of man, but suggested that man, like other living beings, could also change, develop from simpler forms to more complex ones. From that moment on, a struggle begins between those who considered it possible for a human to originate from an ape, and their opponents. Of course, it was not about gorillas, chimpanzees or orangutans known to us, but about some extinct species, ancestors common to humans and monkeys.

From the point of view of anthropology, there are three signs, the development of which shows that we are dealing with a person:
upright posture
hand development
size and structure of the brain.

These signs do not appear simultaneously, but sequentially, in the process of evolution. Let's say, in comparison with the improvement of bipedalism, the development of the hand was late. It is assumed that the formation of a brush type close to modern coincides with the appearance of hand axes; a noticeable increase in the mass of the brain also belongs to the same time.

It is not known where and when the evolution of great apes, which lasted for many millions of years, led to the appearance of man. It most likely happened in Africa. 3.5 - 1.8 million years ago, creatures already roamed its steppes, which were called Australopithecus - southern monkeys. From the point of view of sociology, one of the most important features of a person is the manufacture of tools. According to the latest data, the systematic production of tools begins 2,600,000 years ago. Long bones and horns of antelopes are found at the sites of Australopithecus remains, which have traces of processing and were used as percussion instruments. Australopithecus were terrestrial creatures with a developed hand. The average volume of their brain was more than 500 cm3, which, in relation to body weight, significantly exceeds the corresponding indicators of modern great apes. It is generally accepted that Australopithecus were the main source species of human origin.

In 1960, the English paleontologist L. Leakey discovered the bones of an ancient man along with a number of stone tools in the Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania. This species was named "Homo habilis" ("handy man"). Homo habilis moved on its feet, their average brain volume was approx. 650 cm3, and his hands were adapted to not only hold a stick or stone, but also to make tools. The tools found during excavations are not repeated - therefore, Homo habilis did not yet know how to train the next generations. These ancient people did not yet know how to speak; like monkeys, they gave each other signals with cries, gestures, grimaces. In addition to plant foods, they ate the meat of animals that they probably hunted.

About 1 million years ago, a new species appeared - "Homo erectus" ("straightened man"), pithecanthropus, that is, ape-man, the remains of which were first discovered on the island of Java, and then in many parts of Africa, Asia and Europe. This creature still resembled its animal ancestors. It was covered with hair, had a low forehead and brow ridges that protruded strongly forward. But the size of his brain was already quite large (up to 860 cm3), approaching the size of the brain of a modern person. The hands were better developed. Tools of labor at this time acquire stable forms, differ in workmanship, and have a functional orientation. Among these tools are large axes, scrapers, stone chisels. They could chop, cut, plan, dig, kill animals, skin them, butcher carcasses. The development of labor skills, the ability to think, plan their activities, allowed these people to adapt to life in various climatic conditions. They lived in the cold regions of Northern China and Europe, in the tropics of the island of Java, in the Steppes of Africa. Pithecanthropus Chinese - Sinanthropus, discovered in a cave near Beijing, had an average brain volume of up to 1200 cm3. Sinanthropes lived in caves and already systematically used fire. In the caves where Sinanthropes lived, bonfires of enormous thickness were found (perhaps the sites were in one place for thousands of years). Pithecanthropes already knew how to speak. And yet, both their physical development and the development of culture went very slowly: Pithecanthropes, like the tools they created, almost unchanged, existed for about a million years.

During the existence of Homo erectus, the ice age began. Due to the formation of glaciers, the level of the World Ocean dropped, land "bridges" appeared between previously separated water areas, through which people were able to penetrate, for example, to the already mentioned island of Java.

About 250 thousand years ago, an ancient variety of Homo sapiens ("reasonable man") appeared - Neanderthal (named after the German Neandertal valley, where his remains were first discovered). He already differed little from modern man, although he was roughly built, had a low forehead and a sloping chin. But these people adapted better to the harsh natural conditions of the ice age than their predecessors, the Pithecanthropes, who eventually died out.

Neanderthals began to populate the previously deserted areas of southern Europe, Asia, and Africa. They dared to fight for dwellings with cave bears, whose height reached 2.5 m, length - 3 m. Huge accumulations of bear bones were found in caves in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and other countries.

The shape of tools became more correct and varied. Tools in different areas of the Earth inhabited by Neanderthals were no longer as identical as before. A large number of small guns appear. Items decorated with patterns were found in the parking lots. Burials appear, which indicates the emergence of ideological ideas. It was at this time that one of the features of human culture began to take shape - its diversity. At the same time, some signs of physical differences between the inhabitants of different regions appear, and races are formed.

It is still not entirely clear how the Neanderthal was replaced by a modern type of man. It is known that he appeared as if suddenly in Europe, Southeast Asia and Africa. Approximately 40 thousand years ago, Neanderthals disappear from the face of the earth and are replaced by modern humans - Homo sapiens. For the first time, the remains of these people were found near the French town of Cro-Magnon - therefore they began to be called Cro-Magnons. This type of people is also called "Homo sapiens sapiens" ("twice reasonable man") in comparison with the Neanderthal, which is just "Homo sapiens neandertalensis" ("reasonable Neanderthal man"). These people no longer had the features that gave their predecessors a somewhat bestial appearance: their arms became less powerful, their foreheads were higher, they had a chin protrusion. These people inhabited all continents, except, of course, Antarctica. On the "bridges" that arose due to glaciation, they penetrated into Australia. This happened, as is believed, 20 thousand years ago. Probably, 40 - 10 thousand years ago America was settled: one of the ways people penetrated there was the bottom of the current Bering Strait, which was dry land.

The technique of making stone tools reaches a very high level. Many of them were now made from regular-shaped plates, which were separated, "squeezed out" from the prismatic-shaped cores. Plates of different sizes were subjected to additional processing, blunting the edges or removing thin scales from the surface using a bone or wooden tool. Some knife-like plates were so sharp that they could be shaved. Bone tools - awls, needles - began to be widely used.

The transition from the human herd to the tribal and neighboring community.

The evolutionary biological prototype of society is the herd. Primitive society is the longest period in the history of mankind. Sociogenesis begins with herding, i.e. the process of the formation of society. The primitive human herd is sometimes called the "great community". The ancestral community was, apparently, a small group of people (20-40 adults), wandering from place to place in search of food. It is possible that such ancestral communities sometimes united into larger ones, but this association could only be accidental.

Labor in the herd was extremely primitive, instinctive, bestial. The tools were sticks, clubs, stones. Often these tools were not processed in any way. There was practically no division of labor.

Natural caves, grottoes and sheds were used as dwellings. It is assumed that human herds moved seasonally across the feeding territory, however, in some cases, the richness of the fauna made it possible to use this territory for a long time, therefore, there have been cases when a camp was used in the same place for several years or even several generations. However, such a long-term use of the fodder territory became possible only with the development of hunting. It is important to note that if gathering was a traditional occupation and passed to man from his anthropoid ancestors, then hunting played an important role not only in the biological, but also in the social development of man. Being the basis of the economy, it rallied the primitive team, demanded a clearer organization and coherence of life. The objects of hunting, depending on the fauna of a particular region, were various animals. In the tropical zone, these were hippos, tapirs, antelopes, wild bulls, and even such large animals as elephants. In the more northern regions, they hunted horses, deer, bison, wild boars, and sometimes killed predators - cave bears and lions, whose meat was also eaten.

Hunting for large animals, especially those that lived in herds, is hard to imagine without a driven method. The hunter's armament was too weak for him to kill a large animal directly (with the exception of weak and sick animals that lagged behind the herd). Probably, the animals were frightened by noise, fire, stones, and, as the location of many sites shows, they were driven to a deep gorge or a large cliff. Animals fell and broke, and the man had only to finish them off. That is why it was hunting, and, above all, the hunting of large animals, that was the form of labor activity that most of all stimulated the organization of the fore-community, forcing its members to show collectivism.

A special issue is marriage and family relations during the period of the primitive human herd. Scientists believe that during this period there was no regulation of sexual relations, but it is possible that the primitive human herd inherited from the animal associations that preceded it a harem family consisting of several adults (up to two dozen) headed by a leader. If this theory is correct, then the primitive human herd must have consisted of several harem associations, regrouping from time to time due to the death of their heads, fights over women, etc., and generally less stable than itself.

An important achievement in the period of the primitive human herd was the "taming" of fire.

40-30 thousand years ago, a new stage began in the history of mankind - the Upper (Late) Paleolithic. At the turn of the Lower and Upper Paleolithic, the process of the biological formation of man ends, and the area of ​​\u200b\u200bhis habitat expands. The primitive human herd is being replaced by a fundamentally new organization - a clan, or a tribal community. It is characterized by: collective ownership of the products obtained, and in the conditions of a producing economy, of the main means of production - the land; joint solution of issues of organization and management of the team; joint education of its young members. The number of members of the tribal community significantly exceeds the number of members of the primitive human herd.

Settling around the globe, people adapted to different climatic conditions. In addition to natural shelters, people at this time begin to use artificial structures - dugouts up to 2-3 m deep and about 6 m in diameter. Wood, bones of large animals, skins of mammoths, rhinos were used as building materials. In the center of the dugout, as a rule, there was a fire, and holes were dug in the floor for supplies. The need to create an artificial habitat was caused by a certain complication of human life associated with the onset of a general cooling.

A natural (between the sexes) division of labor appears, which gradually becomes more and more clear - the division of labor by gender is added to the division by age.

It is known from ethnographic materials and other sources that the genus appears in two forms: maternal and paternal. The initial form of the genus is called maternal. Its origin had its historical roots:

Occupation of women due to the natural division of labor mainly became gathering, a more reliable source of food.

The woman was the keeper of the hearth, which was the center of the life of the team.

Due to the disorder of family and marriage relations, kinship was reliably established along the mother's side - the so-called matrilineal line of reference of kinship.

At this time, the first regulation of marriage and family relations appeared: marriage relations now become possible only outside the clan (the tribe has always had an even number of births). Such marital relations are called exogamous (from the Greek exo - outside and gamos - marriage), in contrast to the endogamous ones accepted in the primitive human herd (endon - inside and gamos - marriage). The child was brought up in the mother's family.

The tribe had its own, rather vast territory on which it lived, hunted and which it protected from the encroachments of other tribes.

During the Mesolithic period, the most important change in the development of hunting takes place - the invention of the bow and arrow, which made it possible to hunt birds, small animals, and fast-running animals. There was an opportunity to hunt at a distance, without coming close to the object of hunting. Thus, hunting has become less dangerous than before, and at the same time the amount of food obtained has increased, food has become more varied. At the same time, harpoons, nets, crushed boats appear. The process of domestication of animals begins. In some areas (where wild cereals grew), agriculture is gradually beginning to develop. The most ancient area where gathering and farming were combined is the area of ​​Palestine, where agriculture arose approximately 11-10 thousand years BC. e. The transition from an appropriating economy to a producing economy occurred during the Neolithic period and was called the "Neolithic Revolution".

From the period of the emergence of a producing economy, uneven development of the tribes begins to be observed. Along with the tribes of farmers and pastoralists, the tribes of hunters and gatherers continue to survive.

Agriculture and cattle breeding originated under the conditions of the maternal clan, however, their development leads to its replacement with the paternal clan. The ratio of male and female labor has changed, the development of agriculture and cattle breeding has put the man in a privileged position. The increase in the role of male labor has also led to a change in family and marriage relations. The development of private property, the main producer of which was a man, required its transfer to direct heirs, so it became necessary to keep track of kinship on the paternal side. Because of this, the conditions of local marriage changed, and the woman began to move into her husband's family. Marriage became patrilineal. The size of the family was determined by the situation in the household, as a rule, it was a large patriarchal family in which several generations of relatives live together.

The first major social division of labor takes place - the separation of agriculture and animal husbandry into separate types of activity, which significantly increased labor productivity. The improvement of labor tools leads to the appearance of a surplus product, i.e., a product produced in excess of what is necessary, exceeding the immediate needs of a person to maintain his existence. In some cases, even primitive hunters got more food than they could consume, but in the event of an unsuccessful hunt, primitive people might not have enough of the necessary product. With the transition to a productive economy, the regular appearance of a surplus product became possible, which led to the implementation of the second major social division of labor - the allocation of handicrafts.

The occupation of agriculture, which assumed a sedentary lifestyle, led to an increase in the average size of the community, the emergence of a territorial community and, as a result, rather large permanent settlements, and then cities, which numbered tens or even hundreds of residential buildings, places of worship, workshops; the city was usually surrounded by a moat. For the production of building materials, the construction of houses, temples, fortifications, skillful workers and architects were required. This is how the third major social division of labor arose - the allocation of construction as a special type of activity of groups of people.

The fourth major social division of labor was the allocation of elders, priests, military leaders. Families appear, from among which leaders are regularly nominated - a tribal nobility is being formed.

In the process of labor activity, people begin to use metal. Of great importance is the use of bronze (an alloy of tin and copper). Copper and tin are not ubiquitous, so centers of metallurgical production stand out and intertribal ties are strengthened. Later, the appearance of iron will lead to the expansion of sown areas. In this case, the slash-and-burn method will be actively used.

The emergence of the oldest world civilizations.

Approximately in the III-II millennium BC. e. part of humanity has made a giant breakthrough - moved from primitive to civilization. A qualitatively different world began to be created, although for a long time it still had many connections with primitiveness, and the transition to civilization itself, of course, was carried out gradually, starting from the 4th-3rd millennia BC. e.

Already in the III millennium BC. e. centers of civilization arose in Egypt, in the valley of the Nile River, and in Mesopotamia - between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The foundations of the Egyptian and Babylonian civilizations were laid there. Somewhat later - in the III-II millennium BC. e. - In the valley of the Indus River, Indian civilization was born, and in the II millennium - Chinese (in the valley of the Yellow River). Around the same time, the Hittite civilization was formed in Asia Minor, the Phoenician civilization in Western Asia, and the Hebrew civilization in Palestine. At the turn of III-II millennia BC. e. in the south of the Balkan Peninsula, the Cretan-Mycenaean civilization appeared, from which the ancient Greek civilization grew. In the first millennium BC. e. the list of ancient civilizations has been replenished: the civilization of Urartu was formed on the territory of Transcaucasia, on the territory of Iran - the powerful civilization of the Persians, in Italy - the Roman civilization. The zone of civilizations covered not only the Old World, but also America, where in its central part (Mesoamerica) the civilizations of the Maya, Aztecs and Incas developed. However, here the development of civilization was noticeably delayed: it began only at the turn of our era.

Scientists have long paid attention to the fact that all ancient civilizations arose in special climatic conditions: their zone covered territories with a tropical, subtropical and partly temperate climate. This means that the average annual temperature in such areas was quite high - about + 20 ° C. Its largest fluctuations were in some areas of China, where snow could fall in winter. Only a few thousand years later, the zone of civilizations began to spread to the north, where nature is more severe.

Many civilizations of the Old World were born in river valleys. Rivers (Tigris and Euphrates, Nile, Indus, Yangtze and others) played such a huge role in their lives that these civilizations are often called river civilizations. Indeed, the fertile soil in their deltas contributed to the development of agriculture. Rivers linked together different parts of the country and created opportunities for trade within it and with its neighbors. But using all these advantages was by no means easy. The lower reaches of the rivers usually swamped, and a little further away the land was already drying up from the heat, turning into a semi-desert. In addition, the course of the rivers often changed, and floods easily destroyed fields and crops. It took the labor of many generations to drain the swamps, to build canals for a uniform supply of water to the entire country, to be able to withstand floods. However, these efforts paid off: yields increased so dramatically that scientists call the transition to irrigated agriculture an agrarian revolution.

The most important feature of the new stage in the development of mankind, after the Neolithic revolution, was the creation of states. In the IV - II millennium BC. e. they occur over a vast area from the Mediterranean to the Pacific Ocean. The history of these states from the end of the 4th millennium BC. e. until about the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. is called the history of the Ancient World and is conditionally divided into three stages:
end of IV millennium BC e. - the end of II millennium BC. e. (Early Antiquity)
end of II millennium BC e. - the end of the 1st millennium BC e. (the heyday of ancient states)
first half of the 1st millennium AD e. (epoch of late antiquity)

In the history of ancient states, two main variants of development are distinguished - ancient Eastern and ancient (Greece, Rome), each of which has its own specifics.

The chronological boundaries of the period of the first civilizations (the end of the 4th millennium BC - the end of the 2nd millennium BC) coincide with the Bronze Age, or the Bronze Age. The very first states on earth appear in the valleys of large rivers - the Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, where it was possible to create irrigation (irrigation) systems - the basis of irrigated agriculture. In the valleys of these rivers, people were much less dependent on natural conditions than in other places, and received stable crops. The construction of irrigation complexes required the joint work of a large number of people, its clear organization and was one of the most important functions of the first states, the initial form of which was the so-called nomes.

It has already been said that in the East the transition from primitive to civilization was accompanied by the development of irrigation agriculture. The creation of irrigation systems required the organization of the collective labor of a large number of people, the efforts of the entire country as a whole. It was also difficult to keep the canal system in order. All these works could not be carried out without a rigid organization, without a strong centralized authority. As a result, in all ancient Eastern civilizations, a special form of the state - despotism - developed.

In different civilizations, it could have some differences, but its essence was the same: at the head of the state was a ruler who had full power and was considered the owner of all the land. This type of power was realized through an extensive administrative system, i.e., the apparatus of officials, which covered the entire country. Officials not only collected taxes from the population, but also organized joint agricultural work, construction, monitored the condition of canals, recruited recruits for military campaigns, and carried out court.

Such a state structure was very durable and stable: even when large empires fell apart, each of them reproduced despotism in miniature.

The kings occupied a completely exclusive position in a despotic state. The king was considered, at least formally, the sole owner of all lands, during wars he was at the head of the army, he was the highest authority in court, taxes flowed to him, he organized irrigation work, he was the high priest, initiated into all the sacraments. The stability of the despotism was also supported by faith in the divinity of the king. In Egypt, for example, the pharaoh was called not only the Lord of the Two Lands, that is, Southern and Northern Egypt, but also the living incarnation of the god Horus, the lord of heaven. Subsequently, the pharaoh was endowed with a "solar name" - he became the god Ra. His palace was considered a temple. His name was forbidden to be spoken, for it was believed to have a special magical power that should not be wasted.

In China, the emperor was called the Son of Heaven, the supreme deity.

In the ancient Indian religious book of the Veda, it was written that the king was created from particles of the body of various gods, "and therefore he surpasses all created beings with brilliance ... Like the sun, he burns the eyes and heart, and no one on earth can look at him. By to his [supernatural] power, he is fire and wind, he is the sun and moon, he is the lord of justice ... ".

All these titles were not just flowery metaphors by which the king exalted himself over his subjects. Not figuratively, but in the literal sense for the ancient people, the king was a god in human form. This belief dates back to primitive times, to mysterious rituals in which the leader of the tribe, who is also a priest, played the role of a creator who creates world order out of chaos. As in the primitive era, in ancient civilizations, the belief that the king (leader) had magical powers, on which the well-being of his people depended, was preserved. This power extends to the subjects even after the death of the king, or rather, after his transition to another world. Therefore, during the funeral of the king, great importance was attached to the correct performance of all funeral rites. Giant pyramids were built in Egypt in order to equip its new "dwelling" as best as possible: after all, the prosperity of the country depended on the afterlife bliss of the "great god".

These ancient notions faded into the past very slowly: the belief that the king was a god was gradually obsolete (in China, already in the 1st millennium BC, the idea appeared that an unrighteous king could be replaced), but the belief that the royal power is sacred, will remain for a long time.

Society structure

The society in ancient civilizations, in contrast to primitive times, was heterogeneous; different social strata appeared in it. This was due, on the one hand, to the fact that a state was formed that required a special apparatus for administration. On the other hand, in a civilized society, professional, functional differences intensified (handicraft was separated from agriculture, trade arose, etc.), property stratification grew. Already in antiquity, a complex structure of society began to take shape, which subsequently became more and more differentiated and branched out.

A feature of Eastern societies was their strict hierarchy: each social stratum occupied its well-defined place and differed from others in its social significance, as well as duties, rights and privileges.

Therefore, society in ancient civilizations is often depicted as a pyramid. On top of it stands the king, then comes the highest stratum of the nobility, consisting of priests, tribal and military aristocracy. These were the most privileged strata in society. Representatives of the nobility occupied high government posts, they had vast lands at their disposal. These lands could be taken from the communities, and most often they were given as gifts by the king or won during wars.

A high position in society was also occupied by a large apparatus of officials, so learning brought great practical benefits.

A special layer was made up of merchants, who were supported by the state, interested in the supply of foreign and rare goods. Thanks to the merchants, an economic connection, still very weak, was established between the individual regions.

Warriors constituted a separate category of the population. While serving in the standing army, they received supplies from the state. After successful campaigns, the distribution of lands and slaves was organized, in addition, the soldiers lived by plundering the occupied lands. In peacetime, they were often involved in hard work: for example, in Egypt, warriors worked in quarries.

Artisans were quite numerous, most of them lived in cities, but there were also artisans (obviously dependent) who worked in workshops belonging to temples, the king or the nobility, under the whip of overseers.

The main part of the society was made up of free community members-peasants. The rural community, both in ancient civilizations and in the Middle Ages, right up to the industrial revolution, was the main production cell. It is rooted in the distant past, in the era of primitiveness, when people were grouped first into tribal, and then into neighboring communities. On the basis of the primitive neighboring community, a rural community was formed. However, family ties could also be preserved in it.

The main economic unit in the community was a large patriarchal family, which had its own house, property, sometimes slaves, and a personal plot. From the community, she received an allotment of land and used the harvest from it, but such allotments were considered the property of the entire community.

All members of the community were bound by mutual responsibility: this meant both mutual assistance and responsibility for the crimes committed by any of its members. The community, for example, had to compensate for losses from theft, pay fines for the guilty, if they themselves could not do this.

The state imposed a number of obligations on the community: to monitor the condition of the irrigation system (on its site), to take part in drainage work, the construction of canals, and to supply recruits in case of war. In addition, each member of the community had to pay a tax to the state, i.e., the king, who, as already mentioned, formally owned all the land.

Despite the rather heavy duties, belonging to the community was a privilege: free community members had much more rights than those who lost their land. The way of life of the community had its own characteristics: it was closed economically, that is, it lived by subsistence farming, it produced everything necessary for its existence. The state intervened in her life mainly when it was necessary to collect taxes or wage war. This isolation of the community was reinforced by the right of self-government. Controversial issues were resolved at community meetings. Even with regard to religion, the community was completely independent: almost every locality had its own special deities and cults.

A person in the community felt himself, first of all, a part of a collective, and not an individual who could build his own life independently of others. And so expulsion from the community was seen as a severe punishment.

However, not all the peasantry belonged to communities; many were deprived of their allotments, as the process of property stratification was going on in the community, albeit very slowly. The peasants who found themselves outside the community, as a rule, worked on lands owned by temples, the nobility, or the king himself. They also received an allotment, but on other grounds, as if for rent; at the same time, they not only had to pay dues, but also did not have the right to leave their plots.

Slavery existed in ancient Eastern civilizations. Slaves, as a rule, were part of a large patriarchal family, so this type of slavery is usually called domestic. The labor of slaves was also used on lands and in workshops belonging to the nobility, in palace and temple facilities, in mines and construction. This type of slavery is called patriarchal. This name is based on the word "patriarch", that is, the head of the family. The slave, as it were, is seen as a junior, not a full-fledged member of a large family, works together with his masters, who, although they consider him their property, do not see him as just a living tool of labor, they recognize for him some rights of a human person.

Mostly prisoners of war became slaves, but there were also internal sources - for example, debt slavery, which grew as the community stratified. However, debt slavery was not necessarily lifelong: having worked off his debt, yesterday's slave again became a free man. The number of slaves could be very significant: say, in China in the 3rd century. BC e. the slave trade took on such proportions that markets were created for the sale of slaves. Egypt in the 2nd millennium BC. e. even middle-class people had slaves: artisans, gardeners, shepherds.

The labor of slaves remained in the East complementary in relation to the labor of free and dependent peasants and artisans: it did not play a decisive role in economic life.

At this stage, in all states, although with some peculiarities (for example, in Egypt), there were two sectors of the economy associated with types of land ownership - one of the most important characteristics of economic development, especially in the early stages of human history, when the basis of the economy was Agriculture. First of all, there was a communal sector of the economy, where land ownership belonged to the territorial communities, and movable property was the private property of the community members who cultivated the allotments of land allocated to them. In addition, there was also a state sector of the economy, which included lands belonging to the state represented by the king, as well as lands granted to churches: formally free, but powerless, the so-called royal people worked here. Both in the state and in the communal sector, the labor of slaves was used as an auxiliary, and a patriarchal type of slave-owning relations was formed.

However, as the studies of Russian and foreign archaeologists and historians have shown, slavery was not the economic basis, the main characteristic feature of the Bronze Age civilization. The bulk of the products were created by community members and artisans, as well as dependent state or temple workers. Another feature of the economic structure of the Bronze Age is the hierarchy of property relations. At the top of the pyramid was the supreme almighty ruler (pharaoh, king), who shared power with the priests.

The emergence of private property, money circulation, classes, the state - social inventions - became the hallmark of this time. A serious stimulus for increasing the efficiency of labor was private property inherited by members of one's family (usually through the male line).

Communal property ensured survival and slow progress in conditions of high uncertainty and variability of the natural environment, low labor productivity, and the absence of surplus product. But now it has become a brake on development. Workers who used more efficient technologies for cultivating land, raising livestock, processing agricultural products, making handicrafts, building houses and structures, who regularly produced a surplus product, did not want to equalize the result of their more fruitful labor with other members of the community.

The development of regular exchange required the creation of a universal equivalent in which the value of diverse goods would find its expression and materialize. Having experienced many different contenders for this role (bundles of shells, pebbles, cattle, etc.), mankind in the Bronze Age secured the role of a measure of value, a means of circulation and accumulation for metallic money - gold and silver.

Several economic levels were formed: grassroots - an agricultural, pastoral or artisan family, a neighboring community, semi-commodity or commodity slave farms; regional - in separate territories, state - on a national scale. A stable market was formed (it did not cover, however, food and clothing for the bulk of the population, but included the sale and purchase of slaves) on the scale of individual countries, and commodity flows were formed between countries.

The fifth major social division of labor took place - groups of people stood out who, on a professional basis, performed the functions of the state and supported the rule of law (pharaoh, king, courtiers, military leaders, judges, policemen, etc.). The state also assumed some economic functions: organizing the construction of irrigation facilities, pyramids, temples, protecting property relations, regulating money circulation (minting money), etc.

The richest people in the state had the opportunity to invite architects, sculptors, artists, dancers, chroniclers, astrologers; there were schools of scribes with professional teachers. This was the sixth major division of labor.

Man in the face of the law

In all ancient civilizations, written codes of laws were created. This was a big step forward compared to the primitive society, where customs were in effect. They evolved gradually, over hundreds of centuries, turned into a tradition that all members of the clan had to obey.

The laws created in the most ancient civilizations have a number of common features. And the first thing that strikes modern man is the difference in punishments depending on the social status of the criminal. For example, everywhere in those days, the ancient primitive custom, which received the force of law, was preserved, according to which a person who inflicted bodily harm on someone should be repaid in the same way. However, if the perpetrator occupied a privileged position in society, he simply paid the victim a monetary reward.

Such differences were especially clear in India. A person who belonged to the highest caste of Brahmin priests was not executed, even if he was "mired in all sorts of vices." Such a brahmin, according to Indian laws, simply had to be sent out of the country, without inflicting bodily harm on him, with all his property. But, if a sudra (a representative of the lower caste of servants) dared to offend a brahmana with swear words, they cut out his tongue.

The state stood guard over the interests of the upper strata of society: the most severe punishments awaited those who opposed the authorities, committed crimes against priests and temples, harmed or stole the property of the king and his entourage, sheltered runaway slaves, etc.

The inequality that reigned in society extended to the family. In all ancient civilizations, except for Egypt, where the remnants of the traditions of matriarchy have been preserved, the law supported the patriarchal structure of the family. This meant that all property was at the disposal of the head of the family, who had the right to organize economic activities in his small "state", to punish his "subjects" (younger family members: wife, children, younger brothers and sisters). The despotic structure of the patriarchal family is beautifully illustrated by the fact that children could legally be sold into slavery, usually for non-payment of debts.

The role of religion in the life of the most ancient civilizations of the East.

Religion played a huge role in the spiritual life of Eastern civilizations. Religious ideas developed and changed along with the development of man himself, but the most ancient beliefs, dating back to primitiveness, retained their power for a long time. Throughout almost the entire life of the ancient eastern civilizations, religious ideas and the surrounding world itself were embodied in the form of myths.

A man who stepped into the era of civilization, nevertheless continued, as in primitive times, to feel himself a part of nature. This is confirmed by the myths of many peoples, which tell that man came from different parts of nature: his flesh is from the earth, his blood is from water, his bones are from stones, his breath is from the wind, and his eyes are from the sun.

On the other hand, nature was endowed with human features. Animals and birds, heavenly bodies, stones, trees, springs - all this was considered animated and similar to a person.

The gods were also closely associated with nature and embodied her forces, good or evil. The most ancient beliefs underlay the cult of animal gods that flourished in Egypt. Each region had its own patron gods, who originated from primitive totems.

Of great importance in the system of mythological ideas was, of course, the image of the afterlife. Death was perceived as a transition to another world, not much different from the earthly one. The Egyptians, for example, believed that somewhere in the west lies the mysterious world of the dead; people there lead the same life as on earth. A dead person, in order to get there, must overcome obstacles and protect himself from evil demons.

In the era of antiquity, the foundations of astronomy, medicine, and mathematics were already laid, and many discoveries made in those days still amaze scientists. However, the sprouts of rational consciousness, timid attempts at scientific understanding of the world were not opposed to mythology, but were intricately intertwined with it. Therefore, for example, in the prescriptions of doctors, prescriptions of a purely medical nature coexisted peacefully with magical formulas, which, in the opinion of doctors, were just as necessary for the health of the patient.

Cities and temples were centers of knowledge, centers of enlightenment, since it was in them that educated, literate people who created a written culture concentrated. The priests at that time were also scientists who held the most intimate knowledge in their hands. The spread of written culture also took place because the state needed a constant influx of literate people to replenish the administrative apparatus. Usually they were recruited from among those who studied in schools and temples. Of course, these schools were often entered, guided by practical interests, seeking, for example, to occupy the advantageous position of an official. But regardless of this, in ancient civilizations, the circle of people who possessed knowledge and were able to develop this knowledge was slowly expanding.

New image of the world

So, the first natural science knowledge did not destroy the mythological picture of the world, although it gradually undermined it. The most decisive blow to the mythological consciousness was inflicted in the 1st millennium BC. e., approximately from the 8th to the 2nd centuries. there was a major revolution in the spiritual life of mankind. Some historians call it revolutionary. In this era, independently of each other, almost simultaneously, many civilizations of antiquity (but not all) began to build a new system of ideas about the world. The destruction of the mythological perception of the world, with its calm stability and a sense of eternal repetition in the life of nature and people, forced a person to solve new complex issues. Having ceased to feel like a part of nature, he began to look at himself differently, felt himself as a person, but at the same time realized his loneliness, the horror of the world around him and his helplessness. The disharmony of life opened before him, and the man tried to understand its laws, to develop a new attitude towards it. And most importantly, an image of an ideal world began to be created, in many respects the opposite of reality, an image in which humanity sought to realize what the world, people and relations between them should be like. Now death is no longer perceived as a simple continuation of earthly existence. The ideal of a just and harmoniously arranged life is transferred to the other world. A clear moral system of coordinates is being created: the sinfulness of the earthly world is opposed to the purity of the heavenly one. In this era, religions of salvation are formed, based on a detailed ethics, with the help of which one can be freed from sins, rebuild oneself and life in such a way that it meets the high requirements of divine justice. God now personifies not the mysterious forces of nature, but justice, the highest ideal of goodness. In order to get his favor, you need not resort to magic, but to improve yourself or the world around you.

In India, the salvation religions were Buddhism and Hinduism; Confucianism is born in China; in Iran, Zarathustra preached the doctrine of the world as an arena for the struggle between good and evil; in Palestine, the prophets Elijah, Isaiah and Jeremiah denounced the people and kings of Israel and opened the way to moral purification. Various philosophical schools originate in Greece.

Recommended literature:

• Khachaturyan V. M. The history of world civilizations from ancient times to the end of the twentieth century. 10 - 11 cells. M.: Bustard, 2000.

In the 4th millennium BC. in the swampy lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates, the first urban settlements founded by the Sumerians appeared.

The Sumerians managed to push back the swamps, create regional irrigation systems, which became the economic basis for highly developed agriculture. Politically, there were many city-states in Sumer, due to the lack of need for a single irrigation network.

The unification took place after the rise of the city in Northern Mesopotamia - Akkad. Its ruler Sargon (2316 - 2261 BC), having created the most powerful army for that time, managed to subjugate all the Sumerian cities to his power, and then expanded the borders of his country from the Persian Gulf to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The first world empire in history arose.

The territory of Mesopotamia was very often subjected to invasions by numerous warlike nomadic tribes, who lived in large numbers on its borders. This is how the Akkadian kingdom perished.

In the protracted struggle of individual city-states, the leading role passes to Babylon (XIX - XVI centuries BC). King Hammurabi (1792 - 1750 BC), the most talented ruler and creator of the legislative code, gained particular fame.

Since that time, Babylon for 2 thousand years has become one of the greatest cities in the world with a million people, a "wonder of the world."

Ancient Egypt

At the end of the 4th millennium BC. Civilization develops in the Nile River valley. Favorable geographical conditions contributed to high yields. Then the first state formations, the nomes, were born. However, the rational use of the Nile floods required the creation of a unified irrigation system.

This very soon led to political centralization. Quite quickly, small nomes united into two large states: Upper (South) and Lower (Northern) Egypt. At the very end of the 4th millennium BC. Pharaoh Narmer of Upper Egypt managed to subjugate the whole country. After that, Egypt is almost always a centralized state.

A unified irrigation system was created, which became the basis of the prosperity of Egypt for three millennia.

The geographical environment predetermined not only the unity of Egypt, but also its isolation from other countries - wide deserts stretch on both sides of the Nile Valley. Nevertheless, Egypt repeatedly had to repel the raids of nomads. Sometimes nomadic tribes seized power over the country for a while (Hyksos, Libyans). However, more often the Egyptians themselves made trips to neighboring Nubia, Sinai, Palestine, Libya.

Egypt reaches the pinnacle of political power in the 16th-14th centuries. BC. The Egyptian pharaohs subjugate almost the entire eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, reaching the Euphrates.

From the 8th century BC. The power of Egypt is weakening. The country is seized successively by the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans. Nevertheless, in world history there are few countries whose stable development would span more than 3 thousand years.

Indo-Europeans

In the 4th - 3rd millennium BC. in the steppes of southern Ukraine and in the north of the Balkans, a group of peoples was formed who spoke related languages. Subsequently, the speakers of these languages ​​settled in wide areas from Western Europe to India. Hence the name of the family of languages ​​- Indo-European. This family of languages ​​includes Germanic, Romance, Slavic, Baltic, Iranian, Indian and some others.

In the 3rd millennium BC. Indo-Europeans are mastering agriculture and cattle breeding, but they have not yet formed a state. The Indo-Europeans tamed the horse and actively used it. This was one of the reasons for their mobility. For several thousand years, they have been developing vast territories from the Atlantic to China, from the Siberian taiga to the Indian Ocean.

The Indo-Europeans became one of the nomadic peoples, who, starting from the turn of the 3rd - 2nd millennium BC. in search of prey fell on the borders of ancient civilizations.

Hittites

The oldest language of the Indo-European group, known to us from the preserved and deciphered writing, is Hittite. Hittites at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC are fixed in Asia Minor (modern territory of Turkey). They create here a powerful state that existed from the 18th to the 13th centuries. BC.

At this time, the Hittite state has a noticeable influence on the entire Middle East policy. The Hittites owed this to their victorious army. The military successes of the Hittites are largely due to the use of military innovations: riding horses and weapons made of iron.

The Hittites strengthened their power so much that one of their kings managed to capture Babylon and completely plundered it (1595 BC).

In the struggle for the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, the Hittites clashed with Egypt. One of the most grandiose battles of antiquity near the city of Kadesh (1296 BC) did not give an advantage to either side. The Egyptian pharaoh was forced to sign peace and call the ruler of the Hittites his "brother".

In the XIII century. BC. The Hittite state fell under the blow of the "peoples of the sea", who attacked the Eastern Mediterranean. The history of the state of the Hittites, their language and culture were soon forgotten.

Ancient Phenicia and Israel

The eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea is the richest region for archaeological excavations. Agriculture and cattle breeding have been cultivated here for a long time. However, local natural and geographical conditions (sun-scorched plateaus and deserts, mountainous terrain, relative natural poverty) did not contribute to the early formation of states in the region.

At the end of the 2nd - the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. the city-states of Phenicia enter their heyday. The Phoenicians were talented navigators and, for trading purposes, sailed all over the Mediterranean, went out into the Atlantic Ocean, sailed for tin to Britain, and circled Africa. At this time, they practically monopolized all Mediterranean trade. For example, even Egypt conducted all foreign maritime trade only through the Phoenicians.

The Phoenician navigators were the first to establish colonies on the remote shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The most famous of them was Carthage, founded in the 9th century. BC.

In the XIII century. BC. on the territory of modern Palestine, ancient Jewish tribes appear, which begin to conquer the local lands. At the beginning of the X century. BC. they captured Jerusalem, which became the capital of their emerging state - Judea. It reached its greatest prosperity under King Solomon (about 965 - 935 BC), who became famous for his wisdom and the construction of the famous Jerusalem temple in honor of the god Yahweh. However, by the end of his reign, part of the Hebrew tribes separated from Judea and formed another state - Israel.

The period of relative prosperity ended when powerful neighbors became interested in the territories of Judea, Israel, and Phoenicia. These territories successively pass under the rule of Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia. For strategic purposes, the conquerors resettled the Hebrew population several times deep into their own territory. The most famous was the "Babylonian captivity" (587 - 539 BC).

Assyria

10th century BC was marked in the Middle East by the emergence of new powerful states. The greatest power was achieved by the kings of Assyria, a region in the north of Mesopotamia. They created a first-class disciplined army, which used many of the military achievements of that time. Assyrian intelligence played a major role in military success. The Assyrians entered world history as cruel conquerors. The cities that resisted were completely destroyed. The horror that flew ahead of the advancing Assyrian armies was their main ally.

The Assyrians managed to capture almost all of Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, Phoenicia, Israel. However, the state, quickly created on the basis of military force and fear, disintegrated even faster. Within a few years, it was destroyed by the former conquered peoples who united against it. In 612 BC the capital of the country - Nineveh was taken and the Assyrians were waiting for the fate of their former victims.

Persia

At the turn of the XII - XI centuries. BC. Iranian-speaking tribes (the Indo-European language family) begin to settle in the territories south of the Caspian Sea.

In the VIII - VII centuries. BC. in the area of ​​ancient Middle Eastern civilizations, militant nomadic tribes invade from the north, mainly from the regions of the modern Ukrainian and southern Russian steppes - Medes, Cimmerians, Scythians, etc., terrifying. They also spoke dialects of the Iranian language group.

From the end of the 8th century BC. in the south of modern Iran, the region of Pars (Persia) begins to grow. In 558 BC Cyrus from the Achaemenid dynasty became the king of the Persians. His active conquests began, and after 20 years all Mesopotamia submitted to Cyrus. His successors expanded the borders from Egypt and Asia Minor to India and the Amu Darya.

The empire collapsed as a result of the campaign of Alexander the Great (330 BC).

Indian civilization

A developed agricultural civilization arose in the Indus River Valley. It existed from the 26th to the 18th centuries. BC, and then for unknown reasons fell into decay and disappeared. It is known that this was not connected with the invasion of the conquerors. Perhaps this was the result of soil salinization, which made agriculture impossible.

Information about this civilization is limited to archaeological sources, since the writing of the Indians has not yet been deciphered.

Agriculture and handicraft reached a high level. Large ports testify to the developed trade. Luxurious palaces and temples were built in crowded fortified cities, which indicates a far-reaching process of social differentiation.

ancient india

In the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. Aryan tribes belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-Europeans came to Northern India. Aryans basically independently passed the way of the formation of civilization. Rajas were at the head of numerous small states. But the Aryans continued to feel their common origin, which was largely facilitated by the Rig Veda, a collection of religious texts revered by all the Aryans.

Ancient India reached its peak during the reign of Ashoka from the Maurya dynasty, who united all of Northern India in the middle of the 3rd century BC. BC. Advances in agriculture in the middle of the 1st millennium BC and high rice yields contributed to the population boom. To strengthen the state, Ashoka actively relied on Buddhism. However, soon after his death, a period of fragmentation and civil strife again sets in.

Ancient China

Chinese civilization was significantly removed from other centers of the formation of civilizations. At the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. in the valley of the Yellow River, a state is formed, headed by the Shang-Yin dynasty, which is replaced by the Zhou dynasty.

In the 8th century BC. The Zhou state breaks up into several kingdoms, which enter into a fierce internecine struggle among themselves. However, this did not prevent the process of forming ideas about the unity of the Chinese ethnos.

The unification of China takes place in 221 BC. under Emperor Qin Shi Huang. His power was a vivid example of a centralized state. However, his personal qualities as a tyrant contributed to the demise of the dynasty a few years after his death.

The Han dynasty became the head of the country, during which Ancient China entered the zone of its highest power. The success of agriculture and the economy led to an increase in the population to 60 million people. The Han Dynasty waged numerous wars of conquest. The territory of the empire is increased by three to four times. Korea, Vietnam and other countries fall under its influence. The Great Silk Road connected China with India, the Middle East and even Europe.

However, the wars undermined the strength of the country and the Han dynasty was overthrown by a popular uprising in the 2nd century. AD