Essays on Ancient Civilizations

Introduction

Rome is believed to date 2,766 years whereby it originated from a small Latin village. Rome grew to be a superpower, dominating the entire Mediterranean for many centuries (Arnason and Raaflaub 35). It was during the rule of the Julio-Claudians that Rome attained its highest levels of wealth and power. It could be referred to as the Golden time of the Roman Empire in terms of arts and literature. However, this period was also marked by notoriety and extravagance. The self-centeredness of the Julio-Claudians was evident, a phenomenon that was apparent in the persisting conflicts of interest and Continue reading...

Influence of Etruscan Literature on Ancient Rome Architecture

The architecture of ancient Rome is often described as distinctive in nature due to its hugely unique characteristics. However, a deeper analysis of this architecture reveals that it was significantly influenced by other civilizations. Ancient Rome architecture was inspired by architectural styles that preceded it and the influence of these civilizations is evident in most of the classic roman architecture pieces. The emergence of Roman civilization was contemporary with of the Etruscans, the Egyptian and the Greek dynasties. However, unlike all these cultures, the importance and relevance of the Rome Empire continued going as the first millennium BCE faded. Continue reading...

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Abstract
Luxor Temple in Egypt rose into prominence as the abode of various royal Egyptian dynasties. The kings honored the so-called god Amon. It became the main city of the kingdom. The Temple was managed by high military priests.
This research report summarizes the key events and historical background of Luxor Temple. It also sheds light on the building, the civilization and the culture prevalent in that period as well as the built environment. Moreover, it gives a comparison with the modern city of Luxor.

Luxor Temple in Egypt: An Introduction

The Luxor Temple was mainly constructed Continue reading...

Art from ancient Egypt is a uniform and unequivocal representation of the bona fide life of the day, the visual indication of societal qualities. It didn't allow the specialists the level of chance of representation that is associated with Western skilled workers (Grimal and Grimal). Representational craftsmanship from the First Dynasty up to the end of the New Kingdom is a record of perpetual degree and additionally reliable visual evidence of the social, political, and religious and venture lifestyles of old-fashioned Egyptian power. Different improvements happened in imaginative works all around the many years achieving low down cases that, Continue reading...

The piece of art reflecting Egyptian civilization is as shown below.

Pic 1: Egyprian Cultural Ornaments.( Freeman Page 57)
In the early Egyptian culture, artwork was used for various reasons but more especially for symbolism purposes (Freeman. 25-45. The main art works during the ancient times were paintings, architecture and sculptures that were mostly inscribed in tombs and caves. The art work has transformed over time with most of the current artwork having a resemblance to the previous ones.
The artwork above is symbolic to the Egyptian culture. The elements in the picture symbolize royalty during the ancient Egypt times when Kings ruled (Bell & Sarah. 15-68). This artwork has been Continue reading...

Discussion Questions

Q1. Hunger As Ideology
We live in a culture where women are encouraged to look a certain way in order to be liked and accepted by men. This image is very narrow in terms of the many different body types that female humans can have. Western cultures values thin, youthful looking, tall women with large breasts. Other societies such as ancient China, show that beauty can be subjective and societally enforced. In ancient China plump women with small feet were the sorts of women that were sought after as men for their beauty.
In Hunger as Ideology reports correctly “ Continue reading...

History of Western Civilization

Western civilization describes the development of human civilization beginning in the Middle East and spreading westwards. Its roots may date back to 9000 BCE when humans existing as hunters and gatherers began to settle into agricultural societies. However, the western civilization, in its more strictly defined European spheres, traces its roots back to classical antiquity. The western civilization had spread to northern America, South America and much of Oceania. In western history, there were three seminal periods: the Classical Greece (Hellenic), the pagan roman empire and the ancient Israel. The Greeks believed in democracy and pursuit of intellectual inquiry. Continue reading...

Abstract

The Lake Moeris Quarry Road built while the Old Kingdom of Egypt between 26th and 22nd centuries B.C. is the oldest paved road of the world and is testimony to the excellent sense of planning and execution of the ancient Egyptians of that period. The 8-miles of the main road was built by placing large stone blocks that were kept on the desert sand and to facilitate passage of sledges filled with blocks of Basalt to the quay of Lake Moeris, and then on to River Nile. Those Basalt blocks were shipped downstream of Nile to construction sites in Continue reading...

Abstract

The strong abilities of Romans to manipulate their physical environment via the development and use of strong military forces has led them to acquire several tracts of land across Europe, with its end as the Roman Empire having become memorable in scholarly works due to its sheer expanse. The magnanimity of the Roman Empire is perhaps best measured by the largeness of its territorial acquisitions. This study finds that the strong military forces of Rome has enabled it to two more consequential forms of physical manipulation – the slaughter of many people supporting Roman rivals and the systemic acquisition of Continue reading...

Essay Outline: Assessing the Success of Ancient Rome through the Manipulation of the Physical Environment by the Romans

Thesis Statement
The success of Ancient Rome in its efforts for territorial expansion and establishing the Roman state lies on the proficiency of Romans in manipulating their physical environment, made through their immensely devastating military power and the effects of their devastation in terms of eliminating population and transfer of land use.

Supporting Point 1:
Immense military power has enabled the Romans to conquer several lands within Europe – first, by conquering the whole of the Italian Peninsula and then by spreading throughout the rest of the continent.
Ancient Rome was divided into three eras – the Kingdom, the Republic and Continue reading...

Hellenistic Greece

Hellenistic Greece is the period between 323 BC and 30 BC. This is the period that marks by diminishing of the Greeks’ dominance and prosperity before the Roman Empire. This is when the influence Alexander on Greeks came to an end due to his death. After the death of Alexander, Roman Empire took over dispersing the Greeks. Hellenistic culture originated when the Greeks mixed with other cultures especially from the Asia and Middle East. One of the notable arts of this age is the Venus de Milo (Kousser, 4). This is a piece of architecture sculpture of a woman Continue reading...

Theoretical Explanations of Two Prominent Pre-Industrial Civilizations: The Mayan Civilization and the Roman Empire from the Lens of Joseph Tainter and Arnold Toynbee

Introduction

Civilizations have characterized much of human history and have laid the groundwork for several innovations on human organization. As humans have learned to congregate in societies, they have developed their respective ways of living based on their understanding on the natural and social environment enveloping them within a given geographical area. Human organization inevitably comes into play, in which positions of authority are recognized and tasked to maintain and improve the political, economic and religious affairs Continue reading...

Introduction

Greek Bronze Age Civilization refers to Aegean civilization that developed around the Aegean Sea in ca. 3000-1200 BC. The civilization is divided into three main periods including Crete, the Greek mainland and Cyclades. The Crete period was referred as the Minoan civilization, the Greek mainland was called the Helladic period, and the Cyclades period merged with the Greek mainland during the early Helladic and with Crete during the Middle Minoan period. Aegean Civilization had two main cultures; the Minoan and the Mycenaean. The Mycenaean era is known as the "Age of Heroes" because it provided the source of the Continue reading...

The civilization of ancient Greece centered on the Aegean Sea, the region that today includes Greece and the western part of Turkey. Ancient Greece was not a single country ruled by one person. Ancient Greece consists of numerous city-states that share a common language and culture. About 800 B.C. Greeks began to form ‘polis’ or city-states throughout the country. Each polis has its own government. Some city-states had a few thousand inhabitants, but some city-states such as Athens have a total population of 250,000. City-states were set up as far from Greece as France and Spain. There were Continue reading...

Ancient Chinese can be said to be one of the main areas where logic initiated, together with Greek and India. This was during the regime of Mohi who was a follower of Confucius. However, they existed under different doctrines. There was also Mo-tzu who made major contributions in the field of logic and linguistics in China. They introduced Hu Shih as a contribution of logic.
Confucius and Mo-tzu had philosophical contribution to linguistic and logical reflections in their cultural tradition of Chinese. Confucius would rectify names as a move in realizing political and moral reforms. Therefore, Hu Shih referred Continue reading...

The original purpose of the Pantheon temple was to honor all the Gods of Ancient Rome. The time was long before the Catholic Church made Rome its headquarters and the people practice a pagan religion similar to the Greeks. Marcus Agrippa commissioned the temple’s construction under the rule of Caesar Augustus in 27 AD. Inscriptions on the frieze of the porch (surrounded by columns) record the facts of the original construction and then mention two reconstructions. The Pantheon was rebuilt for the first time in 202 AD by Severus and Caracalla. The Roman emperor Hadrian had the temple Continue reading...

These were Spirits and were found in Mesopotamia. They were associated with kindness and protection. The Mesopotamian Lama Deities were crafted in obedience to god Shamash, which was also popularly known as the sun god. They were made during the period 2100-2000 BC. Looking at the face, one finds a beautified face that has been made to be extremely sensitive to touch. The beard has been made to be luxurious, and this possibly suggests that the spirit was male. This is because of the beard that is a feature associated solely with males.
The body is hairy and fundamentally Continue reading...

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The Roman Empire came into power after a series of territorial acquisitions that ran across the Mediterranean Sea from Europe to the Asian continent. Upon its emergence as an empire, Rome stabilized itself under a number of emperors and was until the rise of Christianity considered among the most powerful forces with which to reckon. The Roman Empire has also been considered to have had major influence on the functioning of the modern world, a feat accomplished through its governance of Europe and in turn, its environs. From religion to governance, Rome’s ideologies were found to Continue reading...

Egypt is often seen by many tourists and experts as a land with many undiscovered treasures as the country became the home of one of the richest and oldest civilizations since the ancient times. Many would often fly to Egypt to see the remaining evidences of the once powerful civilization and even at the present day, experts find new information regarding the ancient civilization. However, while there are other ancient civilizations scattered around the globe, Ancient Egypt remains as a favorite for debate and study. This growing puzzle of understanding Ancient Egypt continues to deepen even further, driving the Continue reading...

The Christian movement begins in Jerusalem as a minor sect of Judaism that gradually separated from the beliefs of Judaism to spread quickly in the Roman world. Eventually, Christianity emerges as a formidable religion compared to other religions in the day long before the emergence of Constantine. Christianity is the first religion to receive support from the state (Barnes, 2010). This enables the religion to become a crucial force in the barbaric period. The role of historical Christianity in the first seven centuries is to absorb elements of ancient civilization and channel them to the middle Ages (Stark, 2006).
Continue reading...

Introduction

Music therapy is an evidence-based clinical use of musical interventions to achieve individual goals within a therapeutic relationship by a certified practitioner. Music therapy may sound not like a very much practiced medical procedure but that is not true. In fact, music therapy dates back as early as ancient civilizations like Egyptian, Indus valley and old Chinese civilization. Music combined with various dance forms was used at that time to treat various illnesses. Even today music therapy is used to address physical, cognitive, emotional and social needs of an individual. After assessing the problems of a patient, a certified Continue reading...

Marriage is an extremely important institution in the human society in all parts of the world. Indeed, this event marks the beginning of a new bond to be shared between the newly wedded couple. While the customs, traditions and ceremonies pertaining to weddings might differ from culture to culture and country to country, the sanctity of this institution remains the same everywhere. As with any other country in the world, in Egypt too, marriage is regarded as a very important occasion. In fact, it is the Egyptians who are said to be the first to have declared the laws Continue reading...

Introduction

This study seeks to provide concise yet comprehensive information on the value of diplomacy in combating terrorism, which is an issue of grave concern to the international community. Diplomacy, in the context of terrorism, posits invaluable virtues for resolving matters between conflicting parties in international relations. The organization of human beings within communities – a phenomenon that traces back to early history, has rendered the use of diplomatic skills and reasoning, given varying community interests that tend to conflict with one another. It is notable to consider that engaging in warfare has become the predominant method for dealing with international Continue reading...

The miracle of face is a movie that explains the impacts that beauty plays as far as our life is concerned. For example, babies are drawn to beautiful faces, and they tend to spend a lot of time scaring at them. But when it comes to ugly faces, they cannot withstand scaring at them-most of the time they will cry while looking for an escape since they are scared by ugly faces. Research has been conducted, and it clearly depicts that even older individuals are scared when it comes to socializing with scary people. Henry having his eye removed-due Continue reading...

Thesis: Based on Aristotle’s definition of not only a tragic hero but also of tragedy, Shakespeare’s Othello, the Moor of Venice could rightly be described as a tragedy due to the main character’s lack of knowledge as well as due to the play’s depiction of a community and adherence to tragic guidelines.
- Othello as a Tragic Hero
- Noble and Admirable Characteristics
- Common, Human Elements
- The Issue of Race in Separating Othello from Other Characters
- Othello’s Tragic Flaw or Mistake
- Adherence to Greek Tradition
- Presence of the Masses
Continue reading...

Analysis of Lyrics

Viva la Vida is a song by Coldplay which is about a king who rejoiced in life being in power; it is actually about the life of a deposed king who has lost power after a revolution. This song particularly refers to the French revolution or the Roman Empire, after which the king is reflecting his life back then. He has been pondering about how the world was in his hands, that, in just a single command the sea would rise, how his people praised him and sang in his name, how his prosecutors dreaded his presence. Yet, everything Continue reading...

The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poetry that originates from Mesopotamia. It is among the earliest known literature in Mesopotamia. Many scholars believe that it originated from a series of Sumerian poems, and legends about Gilgamesh who is the protagonist. It is known to be the oldest recorded story in the human history that is over 4000 years old.
The story portrays Mesopotamia’s society in the third millennium B.C.E vision of after life. In addition, the story tells shows the reader how the people in Mesopotamia believed in the gods, and offered sacrifices for their prayers to Continue reading...

Hannibal the enemy of Rome goes into history and one of the most prolific military personnel who took the entire Roman Empire by storm and surprise. Since then, the events of his bravado and bluster have been penned down by different authors from time to time. Leonard Cottrell is one of them. He may not bring about the pure definition of being the most ardent historian, rather he was an archeologist and producer of movies in the same genre, yet he provided one marvel in the context of world history. Authenticity, minute details, comprehensive outlook and deep in its Continue reading...

Origin or beginning of the Civilization (part 1)

Greek civilization began during the period between 3000 to 1200 BC (Sansone, 1). This period is known as the Bronze Age. According to Sansone (10), the Greek civilization emerged after the Minoan civilization during the Mycenaean Age and extended up to the period after the Dark Age. As a matter of fact, many historians consider the Mycenaean Age the earliest period of Greek civilization. The Mycenaean civilization is so called since their capital was built at Mycenae. The founder of Mycenaean civilization was King Perseus. The origin of the people who established the Mycenaean civilization is not well known Continue reading...

Abstract

Crude oil, also known as petroleum, is one of the most important natural resources. It is a fossil fuel that is non-renewable and has different components such as hydrocarbon compounds and other materials like oxygen, sulphur, nitrogen, salt and water. It is normally extracted from the ground, under the seas, and on land and is then transported to refineries. Most of the substances are removed in the refinery, and the oil is broken down and blended into useful products (McCants, 1989). Some of these products include medicines, plastics, fabrics, dyes, cosmetics, and transport fuels. Transportation of crude oil is Continue reading...

Essay Questions

- The afterlife was centrally important to ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultures. Describe the ways in which the afterlife affected the art and architecture of these ancient civilizations. Be sure to use specific examples in your answer.
The ancient Egyptian civilization was based on belief in gods of other worlds. However, the Mesopotamian revolution relied on the belief in gods of this world. Therefore, the architecture of the ancient civilizations, especially the Egyptian civilization took place with reference to the gods and belief in the life after death. The Egyptians believed they should adhere to the respect of the Continue reading...

In this paper, we provide a formal analysis of two kinds of vessels that were in ancient China known as bronze vessels. We examine the similarities as well as the differences attendant to the two vessels as well as the impact and the roles that they played in the society. One of the ritual vessels that we consider was known as hu of the Chinese Eastern Zhou Dynasty of the Warring States Period. The other vessel is the ritual vessel guang of the Zhouyuan Archeology Team, Shanxi Province.
The ritual vessel hu is an example of a vessel used Continue reading...

Haniwa Horse

Description of the historical work in Ceramic Media
Haniwa Horse encompasses a small horse hollow terracotta statue placed in aristocratic graves during the Kofun period in ancient Japan (Haniwa uma 43). Haniwa is Japanese word that means circle of clay to refer to the unglazed red clay cylinders put around the burial mounds. Haniwa horse supports the ground on the imperial burial mound to provide stability and support the roof of the tomb.
The artisans of the Kofun era were the first to design the Haniwa Horse during Japan’s Iron Age. The Kofun means an old tomb that Continue reading...

Question one

How did the civilizations of Minoan Crete and Mycenean Greece differ from one another?
The Minoan Crete civilization and the Mycenean Greece civilization differed from one another in the following ways. Firstly, the Mycenaean civilization occurred during the period between 1600 BC and 1100 BC. During this period, the Helladic culture of Greece mainland was being transformed under the rule of Minoan Crete. During the civilization, the Minoans’ societies benefited from trade while the Mycenaean’s only advanced by conquering. The Mycenae-ans defeated both the Minoans and Troy, the city that brought them into power. On the other hand, Continue reading...

(Book Review)

Synopsis

Egypt after the Pharaohs revolves around the period through which Egypt witnessed the coming of the Greeks as well as the Hellenistic culture. It also covers the empire of the Ptolemy -from Ptolemy I to the rule of Cleopatra. The book also explains Egypt’s conquest by Rome, along with scientific and cultural achievements of Alexandria. It also covers the rise of Christianity I Egypt. Moreover, it explains the rich cultural, social, and intellectual formation within the period that comes light through the narrative by Alan Bowman.

Themes

There are four major themes displayed from this book. Firstly, Continue reading...

The Rise of Cities played an important role in society as well as documented history. Cities have risen up in a variety of cultures, from Egypt and Mesopotamia, to Rome, to Western Europe. Even the Aztecs and Mayans saw a Rise of the Cities. Cities marked the epicenter for development and change. The rise of cities in Mesopotamia was a great leap forward for the complexity of society because it essentially helped shape society. With the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flooding annually the farmers eventually came up with the idea of irrigation. For the time period, rivers were portrayed Continue reading...

All civilizations that have ever existed in the world have had their own unique forms of art that distinguish each from the other. This has been evident in trends such as culture, religion, economics and even art and architecture. Art and architecture to a huge extent bring out the cultures of these civilizations in a way that it makes it easier for the current generation to understand the past. Some of these civilizations that have made history include classical Greece, Hellenistic Greece, Etruscan civilization, Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Each of these civilizations had their unique pieces of Continue reading...

Ancient Greece is renowned for being the origin of western civilization. Greeks were the first to introduce the concept of democracy in the world. They were also the pioneers of ground-breaking ideas in the fields of technology and inventions. Ancient Greece did not govern as a single entity. but it had independent city-states within it with their distinctive administrations and militia. Among those states, Athens was the most important. A close examination of history reveals that Athens was the hub of urban activity in Greece and without Athens Greek history will lose its significance making the modern life an Continue reading...

The Roman Empire is one of the most noteworthy segments of the history of the West. It is known for its influence not only among the western countries, but also the rest of the world. Perhaps, the most striking aspect of the Roman Empire is its transition from a Republic to Emperorship, although most historians argue that it was still an empire during the era of the Republic. Following the collapse of the Republic, the Principate emerged (Blois & Spek, 2008). Various factors contributed to this transition, most importantly the crises and civil wars in the Late Republic which eventually Continue reading...

Architecture and art have been a crucial part of the prayer and religion since the beginning of civilization. This includes religions like Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Greece traditional religion among others. This paper will discuss the history of faith and its dependence on art and architecture. The paper will highlight objects of art and architecture depending on their aesthetic, physical and theological value. As many researchers argue that this part of religion showcases the deep discussion that may also unfold the history and other important factors regarding that religion that many might not know or even ignore.
Erzen (122) argue Continue reading...