Civilizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Civilizations - Essay Example The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, which is largely known as modern-day Iraq, Egypt, India, and China were the first to qualify as classical civilizations of the axial age. According to the majority of famous historians, a civilization is basically a process in which people belonging to a specific area shape their cultural and religious beliefs. By the same definition, the ancient Greeks qualified themselves as a unique civilization with one remarkable difference, which was the dominating priesthood that claimed a control on the sole lines of communication with the powers of mystery. In this paper, we will discuss the environmental, economic, and socio-political attributes of Greece, Roman Civilization, India, and China and compare them in order to highlight similarities and differences, which influenced the development in human history. Along with the discussion on similarities and differences, we will also discuss the decline of these famous civilizations in order to get a b etter understanding of the causes of their decline. The Axial Age The period from 800 B.C. to 200 B.C.E. is generally known as the Axial Age. It was the period when a large number of today’s most famous religions were introduced to the people of that time. Modern day Iraq, Greece, and Persia are some of the most prominent civilizations of the Axial Age. At this time, the politics of the whole world mostly revolved around the area of the Middle East, which was the most stable area of that time. In that age, the civilization of Greece was reaching its peak in all aspects of life whether it was philosophy, politics, culture, or any other aspect of a good civilization. Muesse found that the rise of Zoroastrianism in Persia, emergence of Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism on the Indian subcontinent, and the introduction of Daoism and Confucianism in China are some of main religious development s related to the Axial Age.1 Major Ancient River-Valley Civilizations Let us now discuss th e environmental, economic, and socio-political attributes of the ancient civilizations of Greece, Roman Empire, India, and China in detail. There are remarkable coincidences which allowed these ancient societies to attain a high degree of development which qualified them to be called as civilizations. It was a coincidence that all of these ancient civilizations were located in highly fertile geographical regions of the world. This was a strategic similarity because without the fertility of the soil, these ancient civilizations would not be able to develop further from their previous precarious existence. The locations of Greece, China, India, and Rome allowed the people to develop quickly from a hunting or gathering way of life to a more peaceful and respectable way of life. Mesopotamia itself lied between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates that encompassed parts of northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran. Gunnell states, â€Å"They developed in the valley betwee n the Tigris and Euphrates, along the Nile, the Indus and Ganges, and Yellow Rivers respectively†.2 Both rivers had origins in the Armenian region of modern-day Turkey fed by tributaries from the Zagros mountains. The early people of Mesopotamia used to harness the fertility of soil only if they had