§ 7. The most ancient states

Ancient Egypt.

The inhabitants of Egypt created one of the first civilizations. The Egyptian state was located in the Nile Valley - a narrow strip of land on both banks of the river from 1 to 20 km wide,
expanding in the delta.
Once a year, the Nile overflowed its banks, and a stream of water, destroying everything in its path, filled the valley. The floods were a disaster for the inhabitants of the valley, but they brought particles of fertile silt. The land here produced unprecedented harvests, but for this it was necessary to create complex irrigation structures.
The first states in Egypt are called nomami. In the 4th millennium, about 40 nomes were formed in Egypt. The needs of agricultural development led to the unification of the entire Nile Valley. Gradually, only two large states remained - Upper and Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt (southern kingdom) was located in the upper reaches of the Nile, Lower Egypt (northern kingdom) was located in the lower reaches of the Nile. Around 3000 B.C. ruler of Upper Egypt Mine managed to unite the country. The rulers of Egypt are called pharaohs.
The history of Ancient Egypt is divided into Early (3000 - 2800 BC), Ancient(2800 - 2250 BC), Average(2050-1750 BC), New(1580-1085 BC) and Later(1085 - 525 BC) kingdoms, ruled by pharaohs of approximately 30 dynasties.
The main occupation of the Egyptians was agriculture. The soft Nile silt was loosened with a hoe or a light plow. The Egyptians used a wooden sickle with microliths for a long time. Later, tools made of copper and bronze appeared.
Egyptian documents speak of artisans of many dozens of professions. Their work was considered more difficult than labor
farmers.
Even in ancient times, communities in Egypt disappeared, and the entire population was united under the rule of the pharaoh. Every year, officials held a review of children who had reached working age. They selected strong young men for the army, and appointed the smartest as junior priests. The rest were distributed among various specialties. Some became farmers, some became builders, some became craftsmen.
Initially, farmers worked on the farms of the pharaoh, the nobility and temples as part of work groups. Later they were given a plot of arable land. The work of artisans was also organized.
In the households of the pharaoh, the nobility and the temples there were also slaves, usually foreigners. For a long time there were few of them. Only during the New Kingdom the number of slaves increased; they began to work in craft workshops and in the fields.
State power in Egypt had the character despotism. The pharaoh ordered the construction of irrigation structures, the construction of cities, fortresses, temples, established laws, and was the high priest. He commanded an army and at its head fought with enemies. Pharaoh was revered as a living god.
The period of the Old Kingdom was the time of greatest power of the pharaohs. However, over time, the central power weakened, and the state disintegrated into nomes. After 200 years, Egypt was united under the rule of the ruler of one of the southern nomes with the capital in Thebes. The period of the Middle Kingdom began. Central power strengthened significantly under the pharaohs of the 12th dynasty. Conquest campaigns to the south began To gold-rich Nubia. Around 1680 BC Hordes of Hyksos nomads descended on Egypt from Asia. The Middle Kingdom split into separate nomes that paid tribute to the Hyksos. Only Thebes did not submit.
In the fight against the Hyksos, the Theban pharaohs relied on simple warriors, who were provided with small plots of land. Pharaoh Ahmose managed to expel the nomads from Egypt. Ahmose became the founder of the 18th dynasty. The period of the New Kingdom begins with this dynasty. The pharaohs of the New Kingdom waged constant wars. As a result of the campaigns, almost all of Nubia was annexed. In Asia, the armies of the pharaohs reached the Euphrates. A huge tribute and slaves came to Egypt. The state reached its greatest power under the pharaoh of the 18th dynasty AmenhotepIII. However, over time, powerful powers emerged in Western Asia and began to fight Egypt. With varying success, this struggle continued for about two centuries. Eventually, Egypt's forces were exhausted. In the country itself there was a struggle between the pharaohs, nobles and priests. As a result, by the 8th century. BC. Egypt again disintegrated into nomes. In the VI century. BC. it was conquered by Persia.
City-states Sumer.
At the same time or even a little earlier than in Egypt, a civilization arose in Southern Mesopotamia (Interfluve) - in the lower reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. This land had extraordinary fertility. The origin of civilization here was associated with the need to build and use irrigation structures.
Different peoples lived in Mesopotamia. Semitic tribes lived in the north. In the south, the first tribes appeared, the linguistic affiliation of which scientists cannot establish, since they did not leave writing. These tribes began the agricultural development of the south of Mesopotamia. In the V -IV millennia BC. came here Sumerians- people also of unknown origin. They built cities, created the oldest writing in the world - cuneiform. The Sumerians are considered inventors of the wheel.
In the 4th millennium BC. Sumerian cities became the centers of small states similar to the Egyptian nomes. Sometimes they are called city-states. Among them, the largest were Uruk, Kish, Lagash, Umma, Ur. The history of Sumer is divided into three periods: Early Dynastic, Akkadian And Late Sumerian.
In the Early Dynastic period, the center of power in each city was the temple of the main god. The high priest (ensi) was the ruler of the city. The people's assembly continued to play a significant role. During wars, a leader (lugal) was elected. The role of the Lugals intensified, which was facilitated by frequent wars between city-states.
Sometimes the Lugals managed to subjugate neighboring states, but unlike Egypt, the unity of Sumer was fragile. The first serious attempt to create a unified state was made in the 14th century. BC. Garfish. He came from the lower classes of society, was a Semitic who settled more and more in Sumer, Sargon became the founder and ruler of the city of Akkad. He relied on the inhabitants of the Sumerian city-states, dissatisfied with the omnipotence of the priests and nobility. The Akkadian king united all these cities under his rule, and then conquered vast lands as far as the Mediterranean coast. Sargon introduced uniform measures of length, area and weight for all cities. Canals and dams were built throughout the country. The kingdom of Sargon and his descendants lasted about 150 years. Sumer was then conquered by mountain tribes living east of Mesopotamia.
In the 21st century BC. the inhabitants of Mesopotamia managed to throw off the heavy yoke of the mountaineers. The kingdom of Sumer and Akkad arose (the so-called 111th dynasty of Ur). This kingdom is known for its centralized organization of power and economic life. All workers in the state were united into groups by profession. They worked on state land under the control of officials. Kingdom of Sumer and Akkad around 2000 BC. e. was captured by the nomadic Semitic tribes of the Amorites.
Soon the Sumerians merged with the Semites and other peoples of Mesopotamia. The Sumerian language remained the language of writing, science, and culture for many centuries.
Babylonian kingdom.
Laws of Hammurabi. At the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. The city of Babylon on the Euphrates, where the kings of one of the Amorite dynasties ruled, is strengthened. Under the Tsar Hammurabi(1992 - 1750 BC) the Babylonians conquered most of Mesopotamia. Babylon turned into a huge city with magnificent palaces and temples, multi-story buildings and wide streets.
We have detailed information about the life of the Babylonian kingdom thanks to the famous laws of Hammurabi. This is an extensive and thoughtful set of laws that served as a model for subsequent legislation in many countries of Western Asia. The law was based talion principle - The punishment is equal to the crime (“an eye for an eye”).
According to the laws of Hammurabi, all the land in the country belonged to the king. Communities and nobles were considered users of the land. A fairly large role in economic life was played by completely powerless slaves from among the captives. There was another source of slavery: they sold their children, and sometimes themselves, into slavery for debts. However, the law limited debt slavery. Free people were divided into two categories - full-fledged and dependent people. It is assumed that full-fledged people were members of communities, and dependent people worked on plots received from the king. In 1518 BC. Babylonia was conquered by the Kassite nomads.
Eastern Mediterranean in antiquities.
The ancient Eastern civilization had a unique form in the areas adjacent to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The most important trade routes ran here - from Egypt to Mesopotamia, from Asia and Africa to Europe.
A narrow strip of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the territory of modern Lebanon and part of Syria was called Phenicia. Here was one of the oldest centers of agriculture. Thanks to the presence of many minerals, crafts flourished. But over time, the main occupation of the inhabitants of Phenicia became international trade. The Phoenicians sold their goods - wood, resin, purple fabrics, glass, metals. Intermediary trade was even more important for them.
Several city-states led by kings arose in Phenicia. Initially the city took precedence Bible, had ancient ties to Egypt. Later the city rose Shooting gallery Its king spread his influence to other cities, although the Phoenicians never formed a unified state. For a significant part of their history, Phoenician cities were dependent on Egypt, and later on the states of Western Asia, but retained internal autonomy.
The Phoenicians became famous as brave sailors. Back in the 2nd millennium BC. they reached the Iberian Peninsula, where the city of Hades arose, which became the center of mining and trade in silver and tin. At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. Phoenician colonies spread throughout the Mediterranean coast. Mostly residents of Tire moved to the colonies, but they became independent states, although they retained ties with Tire. The largest of these states was Carthage.
The Phoenicians are the creators of the world's first alphabet. The letters of the Phoenician alphabet denoted only consonant sounds. The Phoenician alphabet was borrowed and improved by the ancient Greeks. Through them, the alphabet came to the Romans, becoming the basis of most modern writing systems. The Slavic and later Russian alphabet were created on the basis of the Greek alphabet.
The Phoenicians had comprehensive connections with other people of the Eastern Mediterranean - ancient Jews. In the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. part of the Amorite tribes of Mesopotamia moved west. The settlers formed a new people who called themselves “Ibrim” (Jews), which meant “those who crossed the river.” The farmers of the Eastern Mediterranean fought with these nomadic newcomers and partially mixed with them. Later the Jews encountered here Philistines - newcomers from Europe. From the name “Philistines” comes the word Palestine.
From about the 13th century. BC. Jewish (Israeli) tribes became the dominant force in Palestine. In addition to cattle breeding, they began to engage in agriculture. At the end of the 11th century. folds up Kingdom of Israel and Judah led by the king Saul. It experienced its heyday in the 10th century. BC e. under the kings Davide and his son Solomon. Then it split into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Later, powerful neighbors dealt brutal blows to these states. In the 8th century BC. The kingdom of Israel perished. In 587 BC. capital of Judea Jerusalem was captured by the king of Babylon, and many Jews were taken to Babylonian member. Later, the Kingdom of Judah was reborn as a dependent state.
During the period of the existence of the Kingdom of Israel, the legends of the ancient Jews began to be recorded in special books. The collection of these books later became known as the Bible.

§ 8. Great powers of the Ancient East

Prerequisitesemergence of the first powers.
From the middle of the 11th millennium BC. The first large and strong states emerge, uniting many peoples under a single government. They appeared as a result of the conquest of one people by another. The rulers of such states dreamed of conquering the whole world. Large and powerful states are usually called great powers. Their inner life was largely subordinated to the task of waging wars of conquest.
During the wars, enormous wealth ended up in the hands of the victors, thousands of prisoners were turned into slaves, vast lands, and conquered lands were imposed with tribute. The main spoils went to the kings and their associates, the nobility. However, ordinary warriors also suffered a lot. Thousands of scribes and architects worked at the courts of the kings. Culture flourished in the great powers, books were copied, libraries were created, and outstanding works of art appeared. To maintain power over vast lands, rulers had to improve old and look for new forms of government, create new laws, build roads, fortresses, and cities. Different peoples got to know each other better and adopted achievements. The economy developed successfully within the framework of a single state.
Thus, the consequences of the emergence of great powers are contradictory. On the one hand, war, violence, destruction, on the other - the development of the economy, statehood, and culture.
Two innovations that appeared in the Middle East in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC made possible the birth of major powers. Firstly, the Indo-European tribes that came from the north brought with them a domestic horse. Now huge armies could quickly move over long distances. Horse-drawn chariots became an effective weapon of war. Secondly, people learned to make iron products. Armed with accessible and powerful iron weapons, the armies turned into a formidable force.
Hittite kingdom.
The creators of the first military power were Hittites. This Indo-European people came from the north to the eastern regions of Asia Minor (perhaps the ancestors of the Hittites once left there to the north). They created several states, which in the 18th century. BC. united into a single kingdom with its capital in the city Hattusa.
The basis of the Hittite economy was agriculture and cattle breeding. In the mountains they mined and processed metals. It is believed that it was in the Hittite kingdom that people were the first in the world to learn how to smelt iron.
In the 17th century BC e. The Hittites captured northern Syria. In 1595 BC. they took Babylon. The power of the Hittites over the conquered peoples was rather soft. The Hittite king put his relatives in charge of the captured cities and regions. The new rulers maintained the old order and only paid tribute to the king.
Ancient Egypt offered powerful resistance to the Hittites. Success leaned first to one side, then to the other. Finally peace was made between them. The Hittites began to receive grain from Egypt, and the Egyptians exported iron, silver and timber from Asia Minor. One of the reasons for the rapprochement between the Hettons and the Egyptians was the strengthening of Assyria, another power whose center was in the north of Mesopotamia. The Assyrians reached the borders of the Hittite kingdom. However, the Hittite rulers managed to stop their onslaught.
It is still unknown exactly how the Hittite state perished. No documents about this have survived. It is believed that this death is associated with the invasion of the “Sea Peoples”. Most likely, the peoples of the sea are the inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula, the western part of Asia Minor and the adjacent islands, which in the XIII - XII centuries. BC. They carried out raids on ships in the countries of the Middle East. Perhaps the sea warriors reached Hattusa and wiped the city off the face of the earth. Following this, the Hittite state itself quickly collapsed.
Assyria and Urartu.
Assyria initially occupied a small territory. Its center was the city of Ashur on the Tigris. The Assyrians were engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding, and trade. Assyria either expanded its influence or fell in line with its neighbors. In the XIV century. BC. Assyria captured Babylon. But at the turn of the XI - X centuries. BC. Assyria was destroyed by nomads. In the area of ​​Lake Van in Transcaucasia lived tribes whom the Assyrians called Urartians. Existed since the 14th century. BC. union of Urartian tribes in the 10th century. BC e. turned into the kingdom of Urartu. Assyria constantly attacked these areas, which accelerated the unification of the Urartians. They themselves began to go on campaigns of conquest. Urartu flourished in the 8th century. BC.
During the period of Urartu's power, the Assyrian kings were repeatedly defeated by her in wars. These failures caused discontent among all segments of the population. In 746 BC. King Tiglath-Pileser III came to power and took decisive measures to strengthen the state and army. The king provided the warriors with weapons and armor, and military spoils became their source of livelihood. All weapons were made of iron. With this army, Tiglath-pileser and his heirs made many campaigns and captured
vast lands.
In 714 BC. The Assyrian army defeated the Urartians. The Assyrians also conquered all the states of Syria, Palestine, Babylon, and part of Egypt. The conquerors resettled entire peoples, trying to mix them up, make them forget their roots and break their hope for freedom. The Assyrians became famous for their incredible cruelty. They exterminated the inhabitants of entire cities, cut off the hands, feet, ears, tongues of thousands of prisoners, and gouged out the eyes. However, neither resettlement nor torture could prevent constant uprisings.
The plundered wealth and income from the conquered lands allowed the Assyrian kings to launch extensive construction and maintain many scribes, artists, and scientists at their court. A new capital was built - Nineveh. Assyrian scribes studied and copied Sumerian and Babylonian clay books. It was thanks to the Assyrians that many ancient texts from Mesopotamia have reached us. In Nineveh, under King Ashurshapal, the largest library of clay tablets.
By the end of the 7th century. BC. Assyria's military achievements were borrowed by its opponents. The collapse of the Assyrian power was "rapid. In 626 BC, the Assyrian governor of Babylon proclaimed himself king. He entered into an alliance with Media, a state in northern Iran. The allies stormed and destroyed Ashur and Nineveh. The last Assyrian troops were exterminated and 609 BC
Persian kingdom.
After the defeat of Assyria in Western Asia (two huge powers came together - Median And Neo-Babylonian kingdom. The founder of the Neo-Babylonian state was the Chaldean Nabopolassar, who led the uprising against Assyria. The Babylonians, under him and his son Nebuchadnezzar II, conquered Assyria, Syria and Palestine. Babylon was decorated with magnificent palaces, walls, and gates. Then the famous ones appeared hanging gardens, which the Greeks erroneously attributed to Queen Semiramis.
To the east of Babylonia was Iran, the “land of the Aryans.” This name appeared after the Aryan-Indo-European tribes arrived there. The Aryans in Iran mixed with the locals and formed several nations. The main ones were called Medes and Persians. The Persians were part of the Median kingdom, although they had their own king.
Persian king CyrusII liberated his country from the rule of the Medes, and then conquered Media itself. The Persian kingdom arose. In the east, the Persians reached India and Central Asia. In the west they captured Syria and Palestine. Phenicia, the Lydian kingdom in Asia Minor, famous for its gold mines. On the western coast of Asia Minor there were Greek cities that also recognized the power of the Persians. In 539 BC. e. Cyrus's troops marched against Babylon and captured it.
Cyrus died during a campaign against the nomadic tribes of Central Asia. His son Cambyses conquered Egypt. Then turmoil broke out in the Persian state, Cambyses died. A distant relative of Cyrus came to power DariusI. He restored the unity of the state, conquered the Central Asian tribes and part of India. Only Darius's campaign against the Scythians, who roamed the Northern Black Sea region, and the raid on Greece ended in failure.
The power of Darius I was much larger in size than all previously existing states. The king divided it into regions - satrapies, but headed by satraps, who judged the population, collected taxes, and looked after the economy. In the Persian kingdom, roads were laid to the most remote regions, a state post office, The monetary system was updated, which contributed to the flourishing of trade.

§ 9. India and China in ancient times

Ancient civilizations of the Indus River Valley.
The first settlements of farmers and pastoralists in India arose in the 4th millennium BC. in the Indus River valley. By the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. Here a civilization takes shape (the Harappan civilization). The most ancient Indian cities amaze with their size. Some of them were home to 100 thousand people. Obviously, these cities were the centers of states, such as the Egyptian nomes. The buildings had bottoms or three floors. From the crowbars, dirty water was drained out of the city through brick channels. In addition to wheat, barley, peas, melons, and then cotton were grown in the Indus Valley.
Residents of the cities invented writing, but have not yet been able to decipher it. Most scientists associate this civilization with Dravidians. Some researchers believe that the Dravidians appeared in India after the construction of cities that were founded by unknown peoples, perhaps related to the Sumerians.
The decline of India's ancient civilization began approximately 600 years after its emergence. At the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. The first fools are dying. The last of them disappeared after 1500 BC. The cause of the death of civilization is unknown. Some scientists suggest that the climate gradually worsened, others that the Indus changed its course and stopped irrigating the fields of the townspeople, and others that the jungle began to attack the cities.
"Aryan Conquest".
In the 2nd millennium BC. part of the Aryan tribes came to Iran, the other (Indo-Aryans) moved to India. Previously, it was believed that it was the Aryans who destroyed the Harappan civilization. Now it has been proven that the first cities died 500 years before the arrival of the Aryans. Nevertheless, the Aryans waged brutal wars with the Dravidians, exterminated and enslaved them. These wars are described in the sacred books of the Aryans - Vedah - collections of hymns in honor of the gods. Over time, the Aryans merged with the local peoples. The conquerors adopted farming techniques from them, and they began to speak
in the Aryan language.
Varnas and castes.
After the arrival of the Aryans, numerous states were formed in northern India led by the Aryan leaders - the Rajas. A feature of Aryan society was its division into varnas, but the main occupations and responsibilities - priests (brahmins), warriors and rulers (kshatriyas) And pastoralists (vaishyas). After coming to India, the partitions between the “varkam” became impassable. Members of the third varna, in addition to cattle breeding, began to engage in agriculture and crafts. A fourth, lower varna of sudras—servants—appeared. It included local residents who recognized the power of the Aryans.
Later, the inhabitants of India were divided into even smaller groups according to their occupation. These groups were called castes, they existed along with the varnas. There were castes of blacksmiths, weavers, fishermen, traders, etc. Some people occupied such a low position that they were not included in any castes (dead cleaners and V sewage, executioners). They lived outside the villages so as not to desecrate the rest of the inhabitants.
Later the rights and duties of each varna were written down in Manu. Manu is the progenitor of all people, who established order on earth. The laws of Manu were not laws of punishment for crimes, like the laws of Hammurabi. This is a collection that establishes the rules of command. The laws determined the relationships between members of various varnas. The Brahmins came first. However, in reality, kshatriyas were often much more powerful than brahmanas. There were also rich people among artisans or farmers, and even in the Shudra varna. On the contrary, over time, many impoverished Brahmins appeared, leading a beggarly lifestyle.
Indian society.
Barley, wheat, and cotton grew in the Ganges Valley. Here they first learned to grow sugar cane. Indian cotton fabrics were famous everywhere. The community played a huge role in the life of India. The Indians had to do many jobs together: clearing fields of tropical trees, building irrigation structures, fighting predators, etc. Fields, canals, and dams remained in the joint ownership of the entire community. Often the Indians worked as a community.
Indian states.
In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. the western regions of Northern India were conquered by the Persian king Darius I. Attempts to create a strong state intensified in India. After a long struggle, the ruler of the state Magadha captured some neighboring kingdoms. This is how the first Power arose in India. The development of the economy in the large state has accelerated significantly. In the 4th century. BC e. as a result of a coup to power To Magadeki came kshatriya Chandragupta, who founded the state and dynasty Mauryan.
The Mauryan state reached its greatest prosperity under the grandson of the founder of the new dynasty, the king. Ashoke (268 - 231 BC). He managed to conquer almost all of India, with the exception of the extreme ego. Ashoka is known not only as a conqueror, but also as a wise, just ruler. Taxes were reduced, overly harsh laws were repealed, and measures were taken against abuses by officials. Hospitals and shelters for the poor were opened. After the death of Ashoka, the weakening of the Mauryan power and its collapse began, which was accelerated by the attack of neighbors. In the 1st century AD In the area where India, Afghanistan and Central Asia meet, the Kushan state arose. Its rulers managed to conquer a significant part of Northern India. Later the Indians managed to free themselves from their power. By the beginning of the 4th century. AD in India there were many small states, which were then reunited under the rule of the Magalha state.
The birth of ancient Chinese civilization.
Ancient Chinese civilization arose in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. At first, the ancestors of the Chinese inhabited only the valley of this river. Later they settled in the Yangtze River valley, where the ancestors of modern Vietnamese lived in ancient times, and then in more southern lands.
The soil in the Yellow River valley and its tributaries was very soft and fertile, but the river often changed its course, destroyed fields and washed away entire settlements along with their inhabitants. The construction of dams, dams and canals was necessary not only for the development of agriculture - the possibility of life in those places depended on it.
States of Shang and Zhou.
In the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. In the Yellow River Valley lived the Shang tribe, which was one of the first to master agriculture. The Shang united several tribes into an alliance. This union turned into the state of Shang (Yin) led by the king (wang). The Shan state waged fierce wars with its neighbors. Their main goal was to capture prisoners for sacrifice. Archaeologists have found graves containing tens of thousands of beheaded people.
Gradually, the beginnings of a state also began to emerge among neighboring tribes. The Zhou tribe offered especially strong resistance to the Shang state. Its ruler united other tribes to fight the bloody Shang state. Shan was destroyed. In the new state of Zhou, human sacrifices were stopped. However, many useful achievements of the Shan people in Zhou were preserved. The Zhou Wangs began to call their country Celestial Empire or The middle kingdom. At the beginning of the 8th century. BC e. Zhou fell into decline. The governors of the regions declared themselves Vanir. only formally recognizing the supreme power of the Zhou ruler (the period of “many kingdoms”).
Unification of China.
At the end of the 5th century. BC e. The Vanirs of the seven kingdoms declared themselves “sons of heaven” and rulers of the Celestial Empire. A fierce struggle began between them (the period of “warring states”). In the end, the state became stronger Pat, in western China. In 230 - 221 BC. its ruler defeated six states and completed the unification of the country. He took the name Qin Shi Huang - first Emperor of Qin.
The territory of the Qin state no longer occupied not only the Yellow River Valley, but also the Yangtze Valley, the conquest of the southern lands was underway, during the reign of Qin Shi Huang, taxes from the population were increased; the slightest crime turned not only the criminal, but also his entire family into slavery. Slaves worked on the ruler's farms and in government jobs.
In the north lived the nomadic tribes of the Xiongnu, who carried out
devastating raids on China. Xin Shi Huangdi began to build Great Wall to protect against them. the great Wall of China became one of the grandest structures in the world. It stretches for 4 thousand km. But the wall did not provide complete protection from nomads.
State of Han.
The uprising of the people began almost immediately after the death of the brutal Qin Shi Huang in 210 BC. In 207 BC. (an army under the command of the head of the peasant community, Liu Bang, captured the capital of the state. The Qin rulers were destroyed. A new unified power emerged, led by the descendants of Liu Bang - the state of Han.
Many laws were relaxed and taxes were reduced. The first (the period of existence of the Han state became a time of prosperity (the economy and culture of Ancient China. New lands were developed, (dams and canals were built, cities grew, trade arose The Great Silk Road, connecting China with distant countries in the west. One of the main tasks of the state remained the fight against the Xiongnu tribes. The conquest of the southern lands continued.
Wars led to increased taxes and stricter laws. The disobedience of the nobility grew. Uprisings of the poor broke out (uprising of the “red-browed”, “yellow armbands”) and speeches of the nobility. In the end (eventually, the Han state perished, in the 3rd century AD three new kingdoms arose in China.
Society and government in Ancient China.
The main occupation of the Chinese was agriculture. Rice became one of the main plants. Sericulture was mastered. Tea was grown in China. At first it was considered a medicine, and then became widespread as a food product.
The family was considered the basis of society in the Zhoui Han states. Family interests prevailed over personal ones. Sons were obliged to continue their father's line, and often their father's occupation. The family revered their ancestors.
In the ancient Chinese states there was a complex and quite perfect order of government. Its foundations were laid during the transformations carried out by the thinker Shang Yanshi in the state of Qin during the “warring states” period. Howled (the rights of the nobility were limited, 12 ranks of nobility were introduced. Shang Yang opened the path to higher positions for any person. Officials were completely subordinate to the ruler. To strengthen the power of the king, Shang Yang fought against honoring parents. He declared: an official who honors his parents is betraying his sovereign.
In the Han state, the order of government created by Shang Yang was largely preserved, but punishments for respect for parents were abolished. The rulers sought for officials to treat them as their fathers, and the inhabitants of the country treated the officials the same way.

§ 10 Ancient Greece

In the south of the Balkan Peninsula is Greece, the birthplace of the first European civilization. Greece is rugged with mountain ranges. People here lived in small areas surrounded by mountains, but usually with access to the sea. All adjacent islands, as well as the western coast of Asia Minor, also belonged to Greece.
Greece is rich in mineral resources, which contributed to the development of crafts and trade. The land here was not very fertile. True, grapes and olive trees grow well. The abundance of islands, harbors and bays contributed to the development of navigation.
The legendary ancestor of the Greeks was the king Hellene. Therefore, they called themselves Hellenes, and their country Hellas. The Hellenes were not the first inhabitants of the southern Balkans. In ancient times they lived here peyavzgi, who were the first in Europe to master agriculture. Greek tribes then lived in the north, off the banks of the Danube. From about 2000 BC. Some of them began to move to the south. From the 12th century don l. all of Greece was inhabited only by Greeks.
Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations.
Archaeologists discovered the first traces of a productive economy in Europe on the island of Crete, which had v, antiquity connections with the countries of Western Asia. The oldest civilization in Europe also developed on Crete. It is called Minoan after the name of the mythical ruler Minos. Initially, four small states arose on the island, the center of which was the ruler’s palace.
In the city Knossos The largest of the palaces has been excavated and is considered the palace of Minos. The palace had about three hundred rooms, its walls were decorated with frescoes. The most famous is the image of playing with bulls: a young man performs intricate movements on the bull’s horns and on its back. Obviously, this was a ritual associated with the worship of the bull - the main assistant of the ancient farmers.
The kings, their entourage, and servants lived in the palaces. Farmers' settlements were located around the palaces. Cretan palaces were not surrounded by walls. The island was protected from invasion by a strong fleet. According to myths, Minos created a huge fleet that dominated the eastern Mediterranean.
Myths and archaeological evidence say that the kings of Crete conquered the population of neighboring islands and mainland Greece (the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur). Since 1500 BC in the south of Greece, freed from the power of Crete, its own civilization is taking shape. By city name Mycenae it is called Mycenaean. The creators of the Mycenaean civilization - Achaean Greeks - borrowed many of his achievements from Crete.
The centers of the Mycenaean states, as in Crete, were palaces. But they, unlike the Cretan ones, were heavily fortified. The Achaeans fought long wars among themselves. However, sometimes they created large associations. It was precisely this association that led the famous Trojan War culminating in the capture of the rich city of Troy (Ilium) in Asia Minor around 1180 BC, at the very end of Mycenaean times. These events are reflected in the poem Homer's "Iliad" And "Odyssey".
Dorian conquest.
In the 12th century. BC. tribes living in the north of the Balkan Peninsula Greek Dorians rushed south and destroyed the Archean states. Most of the Dorians returned, some settled in the Peloponnese. Greece after this I returned again to the times of the birth of civilization. This zigzag in development had serious consequences.
In most Greek states, naming power disappeared over time, but there. where it was preserved, it was very limited. The country consisted of self-governing communities. The rulers were elected by full members of the community. A special type of city-state that developed in Greece is called policies. TO Polis retained many features of community self-government.
Ancient Greek polis.
The largest city-states in Greece were Athens And Sparta(from 200 to 350 thousand inhabitants). There were also very small policies in which only a few hundred people lived. The most common were policies with a population of 5-10 thousand people, including women, children, slaves and foreigners. There could be from 1 to 2 thousand full citizens (male warriors). The bulk of the population lived in the city, which was the center of the policy.
The polis was inhabited by its citizens - members of the community and migrants from other places (meteks). A small group of citizens consisted of aristocrats (nobility) - owners of large plots of land, large workshops, and ships. They had many slaves. The main population of the polis was the demos (parod) - small farmers, artisans and traders.
The People's Assembly of full citizens adopted laws and had supreme power in the polis. Officials were elected by the people's assembly for a specified term.
Great Greek Colonization.
By the 8th century. BC e. The population of Greece increased greatly. The infertile land of Hellas could not feed all the inhabitants. Because of this, a struggle flared up within the policies for land. From the 8th century BC. The “surplus” population began to move to the colonies.
The Greeks either negotiated with local tribes, who were called barbarians or conquered lands for themselves. Barbarians, as a rule, traded profitably with newcomers. Mass migrations and the creation of colonies continued until the 6th century. BC. This time was called the period of the great Greek colonization. There was three directions of colonization: western(Sicily, Southern Italy, Southern France), northern(northern coast of the Aegean, Marmara and Black Seas), southern(Africa).
Many colonies grew rapidly and became rich. They brought grain, metals, and slaves to Hellas. Wine, olive oil, and handicrafts were exported to the colonies. The exchange of goods contributed to the flourishing of crafts and agriculture in Greece. Acquaintance with other peoples enriched Greek culture. The main significance of colonization was to relieve social tension within the policies. But the Greeks failed to avoid internal struggle.
Tyranny.
Starting from the 7th century. BC. in many Greek city-states the struggle between the demos and the aristocracy is intensifying. In a number of policies, power ended up in the hands of the leaders of the demos, who became the head of the state. They were called tyrants (rulers). The tyrants contributed to the development of crafts and trade. On their orders, new ships were built and colonies were founded. However, the reign of the tyrants remained in memories as a dark time. Many tyrants became famous for their cruelty. But the tyrants undermined the influence of the aristocrats.
Athens.
Athens was the center of the Attica Peninsula, united into a single state by the legendary King Theseus. Kings and Athens did not have a halo in ancient times. In the VIII-VII centuries. BC. power in the polis belonged to aristocrats who owned vast lands and turned impoverished fellow citizens into slavery for the debts. As the demos strengthened, its struggle for land and the abolition of long-term slavery intensified. This struggle weakened the Athenian state and its army.
In 594 BC. FOR reconciliation of the parties archon was elected ruler Solon, which was respected by both aristocrats and demos. He forbade debt slavery, freed the Athenian slaves. The land plots were returned to the debtors. Citizens Solon divided into four digits according to the size of the property. A person’s place in the army and his political rights depended on his rank.
The next stage of the struggle between demos and aristocrats is associated with tyrannyPisistrata, who carried out transformations for the development of economics in the interests of the demos. In 510 BC. The tyrant Hypius was overthrown, the son of Pisistratus, who, unlike his father, oppressed the people. Soon the leader of the demos became the ruler of Athens Cleisthenes. He divided the entire territory of Attica into 10 regions, each and; which consisted of three districts located in different parts of the peninsula Cleisthenes created Council of Five Hundred. It equally included representatives of all 10 regions, regardless of their financial status. The council was annually replenished by lot with citizens over 30 years of age. The Council of Five Hundred dealt with current affairs and prepared them for discussion at people's assembly. At the national assembly, all officials were elected, including
strategists who were commanders of the army and navy, and
They were also the actual rulers of the polis.
The flourishing of democracy in Athens, and with it the rise of their economy and power, are associated with the name of the first strategist Pyraclas(444 - 429 BC). Under him, payment for the service of officials was introduced, which gave low-income citizens the opportunity to engage in politics. After Pericles, a fee was even introduced for attending a public meeting.
Sparta.
The region in the south-eastern Peloponnese, Lakonika (Demon Lake), was conquered by the Dorians, who built their city of Sparta there. Part of the local population was enslaved and began to be called helots. The Spartan conquerors were forbidden to lock themselves in with any grandfather other than a military man. The Spartan's land plot was cultivated several times and Gothic families. They delivered a strictly defined amount of food to their master. The Spartans turned the demolition state into a military camp. They later conquered the neighboring region of Messenia. Approximately in the VIII-VII centuries. BC. and Sparta were introduced
(called -laws of Lycurgus. According to them, all dogs (including the elders) walked alike, wore the same rough clothes, and had the same veins. and that one. Gathering at a common table, the men ate simple food. Gold and silver coins were prohibited.
The highest authority was the People's Assembly - appeal. Apella laws were not discussed, but only accepted and or turned away. Played the main role and management adviceGerontov(old people) - gerusia. 28 people over 60 years of age were recruited to the positions of geronts two kings received power by inheritance. The kings left their army. Sparta was the most powerful military polis of Hellas. Raising warriors was the main task of the state. Sparta is an example oligarchic polis, in which power belonged to the aristocracy.
From the second half of the 6th century. BC. Sparta became the center Peloponnesian League. By the middle of the 5th century. BC. This union included almost All policies of the Peloponnese and a number of policies of Central Greece.
Greco-Persian Wars.
In the VI century. BC. The Persians conquered the Greek city-states of Asia Minor. In 50 (1 BC, an uprising of these cities broke out, but King Darius I suppressed it. Athens sent armed assistance to the rebels. For this, in 490 BC, the search for Daril landed in Attica near the town of Marathon. In during a fierce battle the Athenians led by Miltiades managed to defeat superior enemy forces.
10 years later, Xerxes, the son of Darius I, marched a huge army and fleet (Phoenician) against Greece. Most of the city-states, led by Athens and Sparta, united against a common danger. IN Thermopylae Gorge In northern Greece, a small Hellenic force led by the Spartan king Leonidas held back Xerxes' advance for several days. After the death of Leonidas, the Persians occupied Central Greece.
The Greek fleet, in which half of the ships were Athenian, stood at the island Solomin. September 28, 480 BC A decisive naval battle took place here. In the narrow strait, most of Xerxes' ships died not in battle, but in collisions with each other. The remnants of the fleet and most of the army, led by Xerxes, left Greece. The decisive land battle took place near a small town Shatei in 479 BC Allied Greek militia lured the Persians into a trap and destroyed them. On the same day, the Greeks defeated the Persian fleet at Cape Mycale. The Greco-Persian Wars continued until 449 BC. The Persians recognized the independence of all Asia Minor policies.
As a result of the victory in the Greco-Persian wars, Athens was especially strengthened, and stood at the head Athens Maritime Union, uniting mainly democratic cities. Over time, the Athenians began to interfere in the internal life of the allies. Cash contributions from policies to the treasury of the union turned into tribute to Athens.
After the war, the number of slaves in Greece increased significantly. Slave labor was widely used in crafts and mining.
Policy crisis.
The unity of Hellas was short-lived. In 431 BC. e. broke out Peloponnesian War between the Peloponnesian and Athenian maritime leagues. Fierce hostilities ended in 404 BC. victory of Sparta. The Athenian Maritime League was dissolved. The dominance of Sparta was established in Greece. The Spartans interfered in the affairs of other city states and found oligarchic rule everywhere. In response, a coup took place in Thebes against the Spartans and their local oligarch minions. The uprising was led by Epamnond. In 371 BC. at the Battle of Leuctra he defeated the previously invincible army of Sparta. During the wars, the policies mutually weakened each other.
At the same time in the 4th century. BC. within the city-states themselves there are estates called crisis of the policy. As the economy develops, inequality between citizens increases. Many lost their livelihoods and went bankrupt. It has become commonplace Mercenary: Citizen militias are being replaced by soldiers hired for money.
Macedonian conquest Greece.
To the north of Greece was Macedonia, where a population related to the Greeks lived. In the middle of the 4th century. BC e. king ascended the Macedonian throne PhilipII,
a fan of Hellenic learning, an outstanding diplomat and commander. Philip created the famous Macedonian phalanx, turning his army into a formidable force.
Many in Greece hoped that Philip would restore order in their country and stop the strife. Other Greeks, led by the Athenian Orator Demosthenes, called for a unification of forces to fight Macedonia. The decisive battle between the Greeks and Macedonians took place in 338 BC. near the town of Chaeronea. The Greeks were defeated, Hellas fell under the rule of Philip. The king began preparations for war with Persia, but was killed in 336 BC.
HikingAlexander the Great.
Philip's son became king of Macedonia Alexander - great commander of antiquity. He suppressed the anti-Macedonian uprising that broke out in Greece and continued preparations for war with Persia. His campaign in Asia began at the end of March 334 BC. The first battle took place on the river Granik. The Persian army did not resist for long. Alexander marched across Asia Minor, capturing one city after another. The Persian king Darius III fought a battle on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea near the town of Issus. At the height of the battle, Alexander, seeing that the Persian king was left almost without protection, ordered an attack on him. Darius barely escaped with his life.
Almost all Phoenician cities submitted to Alexander without resistance. Only Tire was taken after a long siege. Soon the army moved to Egypt. Here Alexander was welcomed as a liberator from the Persian yoke, and the priests proclaimed him pharaoh. The decisive battle of the Macedonian-Persian War took place on October 1, 331 BC. near the village Gaugamela in Mesopotamia. Darius had twenty times more strength than Alexander. The Persians almost won, but Alexander again struck his main blow where Darius was, who again fled. Victory was for Alexander's soldiers. In the capital of Persia they captured countless treasures. Darius soon died.
However, not all lands of the Persian state recognized the power of the new conqueror. It was with great difficulty that we managed to conquer Central Asia. In 327 BC. Alexander led his army into Indian territory, which was not part of Persia. On the eastern bank of the Indus River, the conquerors defeated the army of King Porus. However, when it became clear to the Macedonians that a war with the state of Magadha was ahead of them, they rebelled. Alexander was forced in 325 BC. e. to turn back.
In 324 BC. Alexander made Babylon his capital. He planned new campaigns, but in June 323 BC. The 32-year-old conqueror suddenly fell ill and died.
Hellenisticstates.
After Alexander's death, a struggle began for his legacy between the generals and the king's relatives. The collapse of the state was inevitable. The conquered lands were too large. Alexander did not even restore the order of government that existed under the Persians.
The states created by Alexander’s generals were not strong either. However, some of them lasted quite a long time. They are called Hellenistic kingdoms. The Greeks and Macedonians, as well as numerous local peoples, lived in these kingdoms. In 15 Hellenistic states a very interesting culture arose, combining Greek and Oriental features.
Egypt was one of the first isolated possessions of Alexander the Great. His satrap from 323 BC. became the Macedonian commander Ptolemy Lag. In 305 BC. he proclaimed himself king. All subsequent Egyptian bets also bore the name Ptolemy. Ptolemy I also captured Palestine and part of Syria, his son Ptolemy II continued his conquests and annexed vast territories in Asia Minor. Ptolemy I expanded and decorated the city of Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great, which became the capital of the Ptolemaic kingdom. The highest government positions were occupied by Greeks, but Egyptians were also recruited.
The largest Hellenistic kingdom was founded by the commander of Alexander the Great, Seleucus. Seleucid State included Iran. Mesopotamia. Syria, part of Asia Minor and India. True, Indian possessions were quickly lost. The Selenknlov kingdom was very warlike.

§ 11. Ancient Rome

Royal Rome. Legends connect the founding of Rome with fugitives from the Path taken by the Achaean Greeks. The noble Trojan Aeneas wandered for a long time after the fall of the city, then landed at the mouth of the Tiber and became the king of the Latins - a people in which the Trojans and local residents united. Aeneas' descendant Romulus founded it in 754 - 753. BC. the city of Rome and became its first king. Under him, the population of Rome consisted of his companions - young men. By cunning they kidnapped the girls of the Sabine tribe. The kidnapped women reconciled their fathers and husbands. The Romans and Sabines united into a single community.
After Romulus, six more kings ruled Rome. The Sabine Numa Pompilius reigned for 43 years and became famous for his love of peace. But his successors Tull Gostilni and Ankh Marcius launched an attack on neighboring lands. The next king, Tarquin the Ancient, was an Etruscan. Under him, Rome grew significantly.
To make important decisions, the kings convened a national assembly. It elected a king, adopted a law granting him empire (power), and approved the decisions of the people's assembly. senate(council of elders). The descendants of the first members of the Roman community were called patricians(from Lat. patсr - “father”). This was the Roman aristocracy. Plebeians settled in Rome later than the patricians and initially were not part of the community, did not participate in the national assembly and did not have the right to land. The sixth Etruscan king of Rome, Servius Tullius, included the plebeians in the Roman community. They had to serve in the army. But they never learned the right to participate in the national assembly and other habits. The seventh king, Tarquinius, famous for his cruelty, was overthrown in 510 BC.

Governance in the Roman Republic.
The struggle between patricians and plebeians. After the overthrow of the tsarist government, the Roman state finally acquired the features of polis administration. The time after the overthrow of Tarquin and before the establishment of imperial power is called the period of the Roman Republic.
The people's assembly was considered the highest body of the state. It
could declare war or make peace, adopt and repeal laws, and elect all senior officials. But none could be adopted by the people's assembly without discussion in the Senate. The Senate consisted of 300 people.
The state was directly governed by officials who were elected by the people's assembly for a period of one year. The chief of these officials I joined consuls. Two consuls governed the state, commanded troops, judged citizens and compiled lists of members of the Senate. In case of emergency, a person was appointed for 6 months dictator, who had unlimited rights, the consuls were subordinate to him.
Only patricians were elected to all government positions. They also captured most of the former royal lands. From these lands, the patricians provided plots to the plebeians for a fee. However, the plebeians fought hard for their rights. Over time, they began to make up the majority of the Roman army. The patricians were forced to make concessions. A position was created people's tribune. The plebeians elected two tribunes of the people who could suspend the decisions of the Senate and the People's Assembly (veto").
The plebeians also demanded that laws be written down to prevent abuses by the patricians. After much discussion, the laws were engraved on 12 copper boards (tables) and put on public display. Laws 12 tables confirmed private ownership of land and all other property of citizens.
In the middle of the 4th century. BC. At the proposal of the people's tribunes Sextius and Licinia, laws were passed to allocate the plebeians
plots from lands annexed by that time to the Roman Republic as a result of conquests. Another law determined that from now on one of the consuls must necessarily be a plebeian. Roman citizens could no longer be turned into slaves for debt. The struggle of the plebeians with the patricians was stopped by the adoption at the beginning of the 3rd century. BC. a law according to which plebescites (decisions of plebeian assemblies) were binding on all citizens, including patricians.
The patricians and plebeians ceased to quarrel with each other. Their elite united into the class of senators - members of the Senate. Average farmers, traders and generally wealthy people were called horsemen. The rest of the poor townspeople made up the plebs (in the new meaning of the word). All citizens of Rome, regardless of position, were considered equal before the law.

Roman conquests.
In the VI-V centuries. BC. Rome begins to conquer neighboring territories. The basis of Rome's strength was the army - legions, consisting of all citizens - members of the policy. The Romans managed to repel the invasion of the Gauls (Celts), who poured in in the 4th century. BC. to Italy. They gradually conquered Italy and by the beginning of the 3rd century. BC. became its complete masters.
The most difficult test for the early Roman Republic was 2nd Punic War with Carthage - Phoenician state in North Africa. Having been defeated in the long 1st Punic War (the Romans called the Carthaginians Punes), having lost the fleet and possessions in Sicily and Sardinia, Carthage did not come to terms with this. The Carthaginians captured part of Iberia (modern Spain). In 218 BC. Carthaginian commander Hannibal On vacation, he made an unprecedented trip to Italy, crossing the Alpine mountains. He defeated the Romans in northern Italy, and in the spring of 217 BC. on the shore of Lake Trasimene he defeated them again. However, Hannibal's forces were melting, and the Roman army was growing stronger. In 216 BC. The 87,000-strong Roman army met Hannibal's 54,000-strong army near the town of Cannae. The Romans struck at Hannibal's weak center, but were drawn into a pocket between his strong flanks. The trapped Romans tried to resist, but soon the battle turned into beating them.
It seemed. Rome cannot escape destruction. But emergency measures were taken and the war continued. The Romans began to win victories. The young talented commander of Rome Publius Cornelius Sewn conquered the Carthaginian possessions in Iberia. In 204 BC. Scipio landed in Africa. Hannibal was forced to leave Italy. In 202 BC. Scipio defeated Hannibal at the Battle of Zama. Carthage made peace with Rome, accepting all the conditions of the victors. During 3rd Punic War in the 11th century BC. Carthage was destroyed, and then Macedonia and Greece and a number of other lands were captured.
The Romans turned the conquered lands into provinces -"the estates of the Roman people." They were headed by governors from among the officials of Rome. The local population was taxed and part of their land was taken away from them. In an effort to divide the inhabitants of the provinces, the Romans used the “divide and conquer” method. Cities and communities loyal to them received advantages and benefits, while others were deprived of them.
The consequence of long wars, which enriched some of the Romans and ruined others, was the weakening of the army: impoverished citizens could no longer arm themselves at their own expense, and many rich people did not want to shed blood in battles. Roman general consul Guy Mari at the end of the 2nd century. BC. was the first to recruit volunteers—Roman citizens and allies of Rome—to serve in the legions. The soldiers received weapons, pay for their service, and after their completion they were promised plots of land. The combat effectiveness of the Roman army again sharply increased. But having lost direct contact with the Roman community, the warriors turned into executors of the will of their commanders.

Romansociety during the Republic.
A strong family was considered the basis of Rome's strength. This head was the sovereign master of his household. The younger ones unquestioningly obeyed the elders, the elders took care of the younger ones. A woman-mother enjoyed great rights and respect.
After the Punic Wars (the period of the Late Roman Republic), the “corruption” of the virtuous morals of the Romans became noticeable. The thirst for enrichment was the main goal of part of the top of Roman society. New conquests promised them new income. On the contrary, the poor had little interest in conquest. After all, while they served in the army, their farms went bankrupt, their families became poor.
The Romans of the Late Republic were more educated than their ancestors. Many of them knew Greek, and their children were raised by Greek teachers. The Romans adopted from the Greeks a passion for luxury and feasts. “Damage” of morals was observed even among plebeians. Slave labor became increasingly important.

Civil wars.
In the 1st century BC. started in Rome civil wars. The dictator seized power Cornelius Sulla, who carried out the mass extermination of his opponents in Rome. Then he left for the war in Asia Minor. Supporters of democratic rule, led by Gaius Marius, gathered an army and in 87 BC. took Rome, killing Sulla's followers there. Marius restored the former republican order. But he soon died, and Ulla returned to Italy. After a two-year war, in 1982 he
AD took Rome, destroying hundreds of his opponents.
An important event during the Late Roman Republic was slave revolt under the leadership of Spartak, coming from
Thrace. It began with a speech in 74 BC. gladiators and soon spread throughout Italy. The army of Spartacus, to whom thousands of slaves fled, inflicted a number of defeats on the legions. With great difficulty the Romans, under the leadership Licinia Crassus managed to defeat in 71 BC. rebels.
Civil wars and uprisings of the first half of the 1st century. BC. led to the weakening of republican institutions of power. In 60 BC. an agreement was concluded triumvirate between the most influential politicians of Rome - Gneem Lompey, Lchcinism Kras-som And Julius Caesar. The Senate was pushed out of power by the triumvirs. Soon Gaius Julius Caesar became governor of the provinces in Gaul, where he became famous as a commander, having conquered in 58 - 51. BC e. Transalpine Gaul to the Rhine River. In 53 BC. e. Crassus died in the war, and Pompey entered into an agreement with the Senate and opposed Caesar. In 49 BC. a new civil war began. Caesar defeated Pompey and became the sole ruler of Rome. His power was approaching that of the king. However, in 44 BC. e. he was stabbed to death in the Senate by the conspirators.

BirthRoman Empire.
After the death of Caesar, a struggle developed both between supporters and opponents of the republic, and between contenders for supreme power. One of these applicants was Caesar's great-nephew Guy Octavian. He entered into an agreement with Markim Anthony, assistant to Julius Caesar. Together they defeated in 42 BC. e. supporters of the republic. Octavian received the heart of the Roman Empire under his power, and Antony the east. A clash between them was inevitable. Octavian strengthened his power in Rome, Antony married the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra. The war between Octavian and Antony ended in 30 BC. the death of Anthony and Cleopatra and the capture of Egypt by the Romans. In 29 BC. e. Octavian received the title of emperor from the Senate and the People's Assembly. Until the end of his life (14) AD) headed the Roman state. The Emperor who received title Augustus(in Latin, sacred, exalted), became the head of the Senate, as a tribune of the people had the right of veto on all decisions of the Senate, people's assemblies and other government bodies. He commanded the army for life.
Periods of principate and dominance. With the accession of Augustus, the period of the Principate began in the history of Rome (27 BC - 193 AD). Formally, republican institutions were preserved - the Senate, people's assemblies, and other elected bodies. In fact, power belongs to the emperor and his officials. The successors of Octavian Augustus (Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Claudius) became famous for their terror against all those dissatisfied with the new order. They themselves also died at the hands of the conspirators. By the end of the 1st century. AD the election of emperors was actually in the hands of the troops. The commanders, relying on their legions, fought for power. As a result, the Romans began to suffer defeats in wars with their neighbors. The situation returned to normal under the emperor Trajans(98-117 AD), who ruled taking into account the opinion of the Senate. Trajan waged constant wars in order to restore the shaky prestige of Roman weapons. The war in Dacia was long and difficult. In 113, Trajan began a war with the Parthian kingdom, which had been successfully resisting Rome in the East for several centuries. The Romans occupied Armenia, Mesopotamia and reached the Persian Gulf. But the emperor’s armies also began to revolt. In 117 Trajan was forced to withdraw his legions from Mesopotamia. He died soon after. Trajan's successor emperor Adrian abandoned conquest politics and sought to strengthen the internal position of the empire. The state of the state was quite stable for a long time, which is why it is called the “golden age” of the Roman Empire.
In III and. The Roman Empire again entered a period of crisis. Its provinces were often ruled by independent rulers. Germanic and other barbarian tribes invaded the territory of the state. Only towards the end of the 3rd century. the situation began to change. The last stage in the history of the Roman state began, known as the period of dominance (284-476). During this period, republican authorities were transformed into ordinary state institutions, their members became officials subordinate to the emperor. The emperors themselves turned into rulers similar to oriental despots.
A powerful bureaucratic apparatus was created. The state actively intervened in the economy. By the end of the 4th century. a significant part of the land suitable for agriculture was concentrated in the hands of large landowners - tycoons. Peasants fled to them from state lands to escape taxes. In the land of tycoons they became columns. The tycoon gave them a house and land. For this, the colonel gave him a share of the harvest. Slaves also began to be converted into colons. Colon, unlike the slave, was interested in the results of his labor and worked much better.
At the beginning of the period of dominance, the Roman state became somewhat stronger. The attacks of the Germans were repulsed, the fallen provinces were returned. Under the Emperor Diocletians(284-305) carried out reforms that strengthened imperial power, the economy and order in the country. Diocletian's successor Konstantin continued to strengthen the empire. He moved the capital to the east of the empire, which suffered less from barbarian raids and was more economically developed.
The Greek city occupied an exceptionally convenient position shish. where grandiose construction took place. In 330 proclaimed the new capital of the empire - Constantinople. Here, shortly before his death in 337, Constantine was baptized. Christianity, which spread in the empire from the 1st century, received equal rights with other religions of the empire according to the Edict of Milan (313). In 394, by edict of Emperor Theodosius, it became the state religion.

Fall of the WesternRoman empires.
IN 395 The Roman Empire split into Western and Eastern. The Western Roman Empire found itself in a particularly difficult situation. It was rocked by uprisings and invasions of barbarian tribes. There were not enough forces to protect the borders. In 476, the barbarian Odoacer deposed the last Western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, sending the royal regalia to the eastern emperor.

§ 12. Culture and religion of the Ancient World

Features of the culture and religious views of the Ancient East.
Under culture understand the achievements of people, the fruits of their activities. These are both tools and the ability to work with them. This includes everything created by man - fields, cities, buildings, sculptures and paintings, legends, fairy tales and literary works, songs and dances. The concept of “culture” includes the knowledge of people, their customs, habits, and ideas about the structure of the world. Religion, science, art are the most important parts of culture.
Culture arose with the advent of man. However, the culture of primitive people differs from the culture of civilized peoples. One of the most important differences is the presence of writing, which first appeared in the Ancient East. The Sumerian and Egyptian writing systems arose approximately simultaneously. They had a lot in common: written signs conveyed both individual words and syllables and sounds. It took many years to learn to read and write. Writing materials had a significant influence on the development of writing - papyrus in Egypt, clay in Mesopotamia. Egyptian writing was called hieroglyphic, and Sumerian writing was called cuneiform. Following the example of the Sumerians, cuneiform writing arose among many other peoples of Western Asia. The original writing systems developed in India and China. Chinese hieroglyphic writing became the basis for the formation of Japanese writing, Koren.
Writing initially served to record sacred hymns in honor of the gods, then they began to record tales about gods and ancient heroes. Literature was born on the basis of these tales. One of the most famous and oldest literary works was the legend of Giyagamesh. Legends about this king of the Sumerian city of Uruk existed in oral form for many years. The story about Gilgamesh's exploits for the benefit of his native city, about his friendship with Enkndu, and his futile search for immortality belongs to the pinnacle of world literature. Ancient tales of the Aryan tribes who migrated to India. formed the basis of great poems "Mahabharata" And "Ramayana". Over time, works appeared whose heroes were ordinary people.
Nowadays very few architectural monuments of the Ancient East remain. In first place here, undoubtedly, is "Egypt. The Great pyramids but still amaze with their grandeur and mystery. Many palaces, temples, and tombs have also been preserved in Egypt. In Luxor (Thebes) there is a huge palace of Amenhotep III. There are also magnificent temples with many columns in the form of bunches of papyrus. The remains of architectural structures of Mesopotamia are also striking in beauty. The 12 m high gate of the goddess Ishtar in Babylon is lined with blue glazed bricks And decorated with images of animals.
Sculptural images of gods and people have been preserved (also most in Egypt). On the walls of the tombs, paintings and reliefs depicted the scenes of the afterlife.
Egyptian sculptures and reliefs were made according to certain to the canons. For example, a person’s face, elbows and legs were depicted in profile (from the side), and eyes and shoulders were depicted from the front (from the front). The figures of gods and pharaohs were larger in size than the figures of mere mortals. Everyone's eyes were depicted as enlarged. During the era of Pharaoh Ekhnadon, there was a departure from many canons. The characteristic features of specific people were not only not hidden, but also emphasized. The bust of Akhenaten’s wife, the beautiful Nefertiti, is world famous.
In the ancient eastern states, scientific knowledge. They are inextricably linked with economic activity. For example, farmers must know exactly when to sow and when to harvest. To do this you need to be able to count time. Time cannot be calculated without observing the celestial bodies by the Sun. Moon, planets and stars. This is how I was born astronomy - science of celestial bodies. Hundreds of cuneiform tablets containing records of astronomical observations have been preserved in Mesopotamia. The priests learned to predict eclipses of the Sun and Moon. Many elements of the SChS1P time that appeared in Ancient Mesopotamia have survived to this day.
Another science well known to the ancients was medicine. The Egyptians were especially successful here. Thanks to the manufacture of mummies, the human structure was well studied. It is assumed that there were even medical schools in Egypt. The doctors of Ancient China were also famous. They discovered the methods of acupuncture. diets, therapeutic exercises.
In Sumer, they developed ways to determine a person’s fate based on his zodiac sign; in Egypt, they predicted the future using fortune telling. These aspects of ancient Eastern culture remain almost unchanged to this day, sometimes continuing to determine the lives of our contemporaries.
The art of the Ancient East is inextricably linked with religion.
in all ancient eastern states there was a complex pantheon of gods, each of which was “responsible” for a certain natural phenomenon or sphere of human activity. Usually there was a main, supreme god. Ideas about the afterlife fate of man were developed. This was especially important in Egypt, where concern for preserving the bodies of the dead led to the emergence of mummification techniques.
The development of ancient Eastern societies led to changes in the sphere of religious ideas. The first ones are born monotheistic religions, caused by a radical restructuring of a person’s idea of ​​the world and his place in it. One of the attempts to establish such a religion is associated with the activities of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten. He ordered all his subjects to wink the sun god, who was called Aton. However, it was not possible to establish monotheism in Egypt. Only the religion of the ancient Jews - Judaism For a long time it was the only monotheistic religion. However, Judaism. like most ancient beliefs, it remained a national religion.
The first world religion was Buddhism, originated in India in the VI-V centuries. BC. World religions spread among different nations. Some scientists refer to world religions and Zoroastrianism, appeared among the ancient Indo-European peoples of Central Asia and Iran.
Religious beliefs played a huge role in the history of Ancient India. Here the evolution of the Vedic religion of the ancient Aryans into Brahmanism took place, and then into Hinduism.
Original religious and ethical teachings were created in Ancient China. Great Chinese Sage Confucius(551 - 479 BC) preached a strict hierarchical order, sanctified by tradition, which forms the basis of the life of society. Senior contemporary of Confucius Lao Tzu became the creator Taoism.

Peculiarities of culture and religious views of Drovney Greece andAncient Rome.
The ancient Greeks left a deep imprint in all areas of culture. Suffice it to say that Greek writing is the basis of most modern alphabets.
Ancient Greek architecture had a huge impact. The most important thing in any building, according to the Greeks, was harmony - consistency and harmony of all its parts. Architects developed construction rules and determined how different parts of the building should relate, such as the height and thickness of a column with the size of the roof. These rules are called orders—"in order." There were two main orders - Doric And Ionic. Some of the most beautiful buildings in the world are located in Athens, on the Acropolis. The main temples of the Acropolis are Erechteppn And Parthenon. The Parthenon, according to legend, contains the secret of divine harmony, established by its creators - the architects Ictinus and Kallicrates.
Greek sculpture is no less famous. By the 5th century BC. The Greeks learned to perfectly depict the human body in sculpture. The great sculptor of Hellas was an Athenian Fidia. He was especially glorified by the statue of Athena for the Acropolis and the statue of Zeus; Temple of the city of Olympia. The family of sculptors was also famous in Athens Nrixiteley. One of the Praxithedes owns a statue of the goddess of love Aphrodite, with whom young men fell in love as with a gray-haired maiden.
In ancient Greece, it originated from festivals in honor of Dionysus. Until now, on the siennas of the whole world the plow of tragedy Aeschylus, Sophocles. Euripides and comedy Aristophanes. In their works they raised eternal themes that concern people thousands of years later. Greek literature is also represented by the great poems of the legendary Homer “Iliad” and “Odyssey”, philosophical poems Hesiod, lyrics of Sappho, Pindar and others. Ancient Greece became the homeland philosophy. The foundations of ideas about the general laws of the world are laid Thales, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Democritus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. The Greeks became the ancestors of many other spiders. Huck, Herodotus is called the “father of history”, since in his writings the question of the laws of historical development was first raised. The work of Herodotus was continued by Thucydides and other historians.
Another contribution of the Greeks to world culture was the Olympic Games - sports competitions held once a year in honor of the king of the gods Zeus in the city of Olympia.
The culture of Greece had a tremendous influence on the culture of ancient Rome. The Romans, who had long been students of the Greeks, later themselves reached great heights in this area.
Among the Roman poets, a special place was occupied by Lucretius Carus, author of the philosophical poem “On the Nature of Things”, and Catullus, the greatest master of Roman poetry. One of the first works written in Latin prose was the work Cato " about agriculture." The most outstanding writer of the 1st century. BC. was Varro. Caesar's Notes on the Gallic War and Notes on the Civil War are accounts of wars and at the same time a striking example of Roman fiction.
Close associate of the first Roman emperor Octavian Augustus Maecenas looked after the talented posts of his time. It was then that the great Roman poets created Virgil And Horace. At the request of Augustus, Virgil wrote the poem "Aeneid", which is considered the pinnacle of Latin poetry. Horace was the author of several collections of songs - odes. The poet lived during the same period Ovid, master of love lyrics. One of the prominent writers of the 2nd century BC. was Apuleius. The novel “Metamorphoses, Go Golden Ass” brought him fame.
The Romans achieved the greatest mastery in all their knowledge of sculptural portraits. They sought not only to accurately depict a person, but also to show his inner world.
The surviving Roman architecture dates mainly from the imperial period. Amphitheater in Rome - Coliseum displaced about 50 thousand spectators. Triumphal arches and equestrian statues were erected in the squares. Particularly majestic was the Roman Forum of Trajan, the temple of “all gods” - Pantheon.
The Romans achieved great success in many sciences, including history. The brightest representatives of this science were Polybipus, Titus of Livia, Cornelius Tacitus. In Roman times, the Greek created his famous “Parallel Lives” Plutarch. The religious ideas of the ancient Greeks and Romans were similar. They worshiped many gods, personifying various forces of nature, patronizing various types of human activities. The gods were inextricably linked with nature and people. The main gods, according to the Greeks, lived on Mount Olympus, which is why their religion is called Olympian. The Romans were very practical about religion, so they could worship the gods of other nations if they brought them good luck. Thus, in the first centuries of our era, the cult of the eastern gods spread in Rome.
In the 1st century AD in the east of the Roman Empire a new creed arose - Christianity. It developed as a movement in Judaism, but its spread is associated with a deep crisis of previous ideas about the world. Christianity recognizes only one God, who is the absolute ruler and creator of the world. This God is separated from the world and from man. Man himself is created in the image and likeness of God and is the crown of the rest of the world. Such a doctrine testified to the final separation of man from nature and the separation of the individual from the collective. Christianity has become a world religion. Unlike Judaism, it promised salvation to all people regardless of nationality and social origin.
Christianity was originally the faith of the poor, the slaves. Roman authorities persecuted Christians. However, their ranks grew. They united into communities led by bishops. The unification of all communities was called Christian church. The same word denoted Christian churches. By the second half of the 3rd century. Christianity turned into a powerful force, there were many Christians among the soldiers, wealthy people and officials were also baptized. At the end of the 4th century. Christianity became state religion of the Roman Empire.
From the very beginning, many movements arose in Christianity, whose representatives fought fiercely among themselves. Thus, the doctrine of the Trinity caused controversy. God appears to Christians as the unity of God the Father, God the Son (Christ) and God the Holy Spirit. All three persons of the Trinity are equal and one. This dogma entered Symbol of faith - a brief set of doctrines adopted at the First Ecumenical Council in the city of Nicaea in 325. However, the struggle within the Christian church continued after the Council of Nicaea.

QuestionsAndtasks
1. What are the modern views on human anthropogenesis? How did people populate the earth?
2. Describe the main sources of our knowledge about the ancient history of mankind. What are the achievements of the Paleolithic era? What was the social organization of the Paleolithic era?
3. What is the Neolithic Revolution? What were its consequences for economics and the social structure of society?
4.What changes took place in the life of primitive tribes during their transition to civilization? What are the reasons for the emergence of states?
5. What are the features of the development of ancient states in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea?
6. What were the reasons for the emergence of the great military powers of antiquity? What role did they play in the development of humanity?
7. What are the features of the ancient states of India and China?
8. What was the special path of development of ancient Greek civilization?
9. What is a policy? How was management organized in the policy?
10. Describe the main city-states of Ancient Greece
11 Name the main achievements of the ancient Greeks.
12. What are the main stages in the development of the Roman state?
13. What allowed the Romans to create a huge power?
14. Why did the transition from republic to empire occur? As it was
was governance organized in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire?
15. What were the reasons for the death of the Western Roman Empire?
16. Give a description of the culture of the Ancient East. Name the famous cultural monuments of the countries of the Ancient East.
17. What is the contribution of the ancient Greeks and Romans to world culture? Name the monuments of Ancient Greece and Rome that you know.
18. What are the features of the religions of the Ancient world?
19. Describe Christianity as a world of monotheistic religion.

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Camel rider. China

At the end of the 3rd century. BC e. in China there is a unified centralized state the founder of which was Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259–210 BC). During the next Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) (“Han” became the self-name of the Chinese), Confucianism established itself in China as a state ideology. Under his influence, a special privileged class of officials appeared - shenypi (Chinese - learned men), which included persons who passed a tough exam for an academic degree and then received the right to hold government positions. With the strengthening of the position of Shenypi in China, a centralized bureaucratic empire emerged, ideologically based on Confucian foundations and Buddhism.

Cultural heritage of the Ancient East

Each ancient Eastern civilization made a significant contribution to the development of world culture. The cultural heritage of the Ancient East includes the invention of writing and numerical symbols (digital symbols), the calendar, the beginnings of scientific knowledge, architectural monuments, works of fiction, and the first laws regulating public life.

Thanks to writing, the transfer of accumulated knowledge from generation to generation became sustainable, and an education system was formed. The spread of writing and its use in office work and in concluding trade transactions led to a transition from complex forms (hieroglyphic and cuneiform) to simpler and more accessible (letter). The first phonetic alphabet, which arose in the Middle East, in Phenicia, formed the basis of modern alphabets - Greek, Latin, Cyrillic, etc.

The first literary works also appeared in the East. This includes the heroic Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh, and works of various genres created by the Egyptians. Around 900's BC e. In Palestine, the compilation of the texts of the Pentateuch (Torah), which tells about the history of the Jewish people, began. At the turn of the 2nd–1st centuries. BC e. Sima Qian's Historical Notes were created, which described China's past.

The ancient Eastern achievements in medicine were significant. By mummifying the dead, the Egyptians became familiar with the structure of the human body, compiled descriptions of diseases and pharmacological prescriptions. The papyrus, which is a textbook on anatomy and surgery, has survived to this day. The acupuncture technique, which originated in China, is successfully used in medicine to this day.

Astronomical observations, which allowed the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Chinese to predict river floods and determine the time of solar and lunar eclipses, stimulated the development of mathematical knowledge. In Mesopotamia, the sexagesimal notation system was used, and the year was divided, as it was in the ancient Egyptian calendar, into 12 months. In the countries of the Ancient East, using mathematical calculations and technical skills, monumental architectural structures were created, and fine art - painting, bas-reliefs, sculpture - was developed.

Monuments of ancient Eastern civilizations - pyramids, temples, statues, paintings, jewelry - amaze the imagination: some with their grandeur, others with their vivid artistic depiction.

The Ancient East became the cradle of civilizations that arose in Egypt, Western, Southern and Eastern Asia. European civilization, through Antiquity, adopted the cultural achievements of the peoples of Mesopotamia and Egypt. The cultural achievements of Indian and Chinese civilizations became known to the European world much later, already in the modern period.

Questions and tasks

1. Where and when did the most ancient civilizations originate?

2. What do the civilizations of the Ancient East have in common and what are their main differences from each other?

3. What is despotism? What are its main features?

4. Consider one of the religious and philosophical teachings of the Ancient East. What are its features?

5. What contribution did ancient Eastern civilizations make to world culture?

§ 3. Ancient Mediterranean

Ancient Greece

In Ancient Greece, located in the south of the Balkan Peninsula, the islands and the Asia Minor coast of the Aegean Sea, unlike Egypt, Babylon and China, there was no single state. The ancient Greeks, who called themselves Hellenes, were united by language, religion, culture, but not by state power. The origins of ancient Greek civilization go back to the Cretan-Mycenaean (III–II millennium BC) and Homeric (XI–IX centuries BC) periods. During the Homeric period, the main source of knowledge about which is the poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” there was a tribal system in Greece. The tribes were led by military leaders - basilei (later bass ideas began to be called kings).

Palace at Knossos. Minoan civilization. Crete, Greece

In the VIII–VI centuries. BC e. in Ancient Greece (Hellas) a system of city-states developed - policies. Their formation took place on the basis of territorial communities, which included the city itself and its rural surroundings. The polis simultaneously emerged both as a state and as a civil collective of land owners. State affairs were decided by full-fledged citizens at public assemblies, where laws were adopted and officials were elected, who were entrusted with the administration of the state and the organization of legal proceedings, and issues of foreign relations were resolved, including waging war and concluding peace. The citizens of the polis were bound into a single community by economic and political interests and collective concerns; in case of war, they formed the people's militia. All citizens had strictly observed rights and were endowed with responsibilities, according to which a citizen was distinguished from a non-citizen, a free Hellene from a slave.

Funerary stele of Aristocles. Marble. VI century BC e. Athens, Greece

By design, the policies were democratic and oligarchic. In oligarchic (mostly aristocratic) policies, economic and political power actually belonged to a narrow circle of the richest and most noble members of the community. The landowning nobility was not the only owner of the material resources of the policy and therefore could not concentrate all the political power in its hands. Craftsmen and traders played an important role in the economic life of many policies. The polis was the most perfect form of political organization in this historical period.

The most powerful states of Ancient Greece were Athens and Sparta. Athens was predominantly a trade and craft city-state with democratic governance, the supreme power in which belonged to the people's assembly. At the people's meeting, the most important issues in the life of the polis were decided, officials were elected, and citizens deemed dangerous to the state were expelled from Athens by secret ballot. In Sparta, which subjugated the entire Peloponnesian Peninsula, all land was divided into equal plots, which were in the hereditary ownership of families of full citizens of the state. Sparta was led by two kings who belonged to two ruling dynasties. Their power was limited to a council of elders, consisting of representatives of noble families. The People's Assembly did not play a significant role in the governance of Sparta.

In the first half of the 5th century. BC e., after the victory of the Hellenes in the Greco-Persian wars, Athens became the most economically developed and powerful polis of Ancient Greece. Military successes demonstrated the superiority of the free civil society over the powerful eastern despotism, strengthened the influence of democratic forces in the city-states, and strengthened the hegemony of the Greek states in the Mediterranean basin. During the Greco-Persian Wars, the Athenian Maritime League was created - an unification of most city-states. The dominance of the Athenians at sea secured the use of trade routes and established closer economic ties between various parts of Hellas and the Greek colonies. Maritime trade became increasingly important in the economy of Ancient Greece.

The economic and cultural prosperity of Athens occurred during the reign of an outstanding political figure, strategist (commander-in-chief) Pericles (443–429 BC). His name is associated with the complete democratization of the Athenian political system, as well as the construction of an architectural ensemble crowned with the temple of the goddess Athena - the Parthenon, and the so-called Long Walls, which connected the city fortifications of Athens with the port of Piraeus.

Hellenism. Historical significance of ancient Greek culture

Ancient Greek culture had a huge influence on the culture of neighboring countries and peoples. The spread of this influence was facilitated by the conquests of Alexander the Great (356–323 BC). Weakened by many years of war between the two strongest city states - democratic Athens and aristocratic Sparta - Greece became easy prey for its northern neighbor - Macedonia. Thanks to the pooling of economic resources and military forces of the Greek city-states and Macedonia, Alexander managed to defeat the Persian Empire and annex vast lands in Asia and Egypt to his kingdom.

After the death of Alexander the Great, the power he created collapsed, marking the beginning of the emergence of the so-called Hellenistic states and the spread of Greek culture all the way to Central Asia. The centers of Hellenistic culture, which represented a synthesis of ancient Greek and eastern civilizational elements, were the Ptolemaic states in Egypt, the Seleucids in the Middle East, and the Pergamon and Pontic kingdoms in Asia Minor. Hellenistic culture was not uniform in all the states formed after the collapse of the empire of Alexander the Great. But its common feature in religion, morals, architecture, and art was the combination and interweaving of Greek and local features. So, for example, the cult of Zeus in Egypt was identified with Amon, in Phenicia - with Baal, in Babylon - with Bel. The cult of the Egyptian goddess Isis spread throughout almost the entire Hellenistic territory. There was also a wide exchange of experience in all types of material production. Period Hellenism lasted until the conquest of the Eastern Mediterranean and Egypt by the Romans (1st century BC).

It is difficult to find at least one area of ​​culture that did not develop in Ancient Greece. The concepts of “democracy”, “aristocracy”, “oligarchy”, “despotism”, “tyranny” and many others came into the international political vocabulary from the ancient Greek language. Whatever science we talk about, its roots go back to Ancient Greece. We call Herodotus (490/480-425 BC) the “father of history”, Strabo (64/63 BC – 23/24 AD) – the “father of geography” . The history of philosophy begins with the names of Heraclitus (late 6th–5th centuries BC), Plato (428/427-348/347 BC), Socrates (470–399 BC). ) etc. Let us recall the names of Aristotle’s works (384–322 BC) - “Politics”, “Metaphysics”, “Physics”, “Ethics”, “Rhetoric”, “Poetics”. Physicists, mathematicians, engineers trace their ancestry to Archimedes (287–212 BC), doctors – from Hippocrates (460–370 BC).

L. von Klenze. Acropolis. XIX century

Ancient Greece made no less a contribution to all types of artistic culture than to science. From childhood we are introduced to the world of ancient Greek mythology, to the world of gods (Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, etc.) and heroes (Hercules, Theseus, Achilles, etc.); epic poems are usually associated with the name of Homer. We say “theater”, “stage”, “tragedy”, “comedy” and recall the ancient Greek playwrights Aeschylus (525-456 BC), Sophocles (496-406 BC), Euripides (480–406 BC), Aristophanes (445–385 BC). In museums around the world, we never cease to admire the proportions and grace of ancient Greek sculptures.

Roman world of the Mediterranean

In the 3rd century. BC e. A formidable military-political force appeared in the Western Mediterranean - the Roman state, which by that time had extended its influence to most of the Apennine Peninsula. Emerging as a city-state, Rome was initially ruled by elected kings, but already at the end of the 6th century. BC e. royal power was abolished, and the management of the polis was declared a “public matter” (lat. -republic). In the state structure of the Roman Republic one can find features of different forms of government - monarchical (elected consuls who had full civil and military power), aristocratic (the Senate - the supreme body of power) and democratic (people's assembly). For a long time, the republic was ruled by aristocrats (patricians), but over time, the struggle between patricians and plebeians - incomplete citizens who stood outside the clan community and did not have the rights to own communal land - led to the establishment of civil equality.

After three wars (264–146 BC) with Carthage, a city-state founded by the Phoenicians in North Africa, Rome, having defeated its rival, became the undisputed ruler of the Western Mediterranean. Even the brilliant Carthaginian commander Hannibal (246–183 BC), who managed to transfer military operations to the territory of Italy, failed to crush Rome. The Romans owed their victories in numerous wars primarily to the organization of military affairs. The Roman army consisted of the people's militia, but despite this, it was distinguished by high professionalism. Every Roman citizen was required to undergo military service, and evading it could lead to deprivation of civil rights. Military service was a prerequisite for holding public office. The courage of legionnaires (soldiers), flexible military tactics and exceptional discipline were the key to the success of the Roman army. When entering Rome at the head of the legions, commanders who won major victories were given a solemn honor - a triumph; they were addressed with respect - “emperor”.

Roman forum. Modern look

Thanks to the conduct of victorious wars, Rome constantly increased its territory and expanded the scope of use of slave labor. No other power in the ancient world had so many slaves. In the territories of the conquered countries, turned into provinces, a common economic and sociocultural space was formed: uniform orders were established, new cities were built according to a certain model, temples and theaters were built, the Latin language spread and the Roman way of life was established.

During the 3rd–1st centuries. BC e. as a result of almost continuous wars, one of the greatest empires, stretching from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to Armenia and Palestine and from the Rhine and Danube to the Sahara. During the heyday of the empire (30 BC - 3rd century AD), about 25 million people lived on its territory - representatives of almost 400 nationalities.

The need for strict centralization of management led to fundamental changes in the government structure. Roman Republic at the end of the 1st century. BC e. was transformed into an empire founded by Octavian Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD), great-nephew and adopted son of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar (49-44 BC) . Formally, the republican order was preserved, but the functions of the Senate, especially in the financial sphere, in the field of foreign policy and provincial administration, were increasingly limited to the head of the empire. The emperor - the princeps (the first person in the state) - concentrated in his hands the highest civil (lifelong tribune of the people) and military power and ruled with the help of the bureaucratic apparatus subordinate to him. This order of government was called the principate.

The first two centuries of the Roman Empire were a period of further territorial expansion and economic expansion. But even at this time, she had difficulty in holding back the onslaught of the Germanic tribes on her borders in Europe, and the Parthians (Persians) in Asia. The Roman Empire was shaken by uprisings in the provinces and military coups that placed new emperors on the throne. The need for social support forced the authorities in 212 to grant the inhabitants of the provinces the rights of Roman citizens.

Statue of Emperor Augustus from Prima Porta. I century Rome, Italy

From the 3rd century. the empire entered a period of political, economic and social crisis. Political, since the emperors were no longer able to govern a country torn apart by social contradictions and they became increasingly dependent on the army. Economic, since slaves were not interested in the quality and results of their work, and defense costs were not covered by income. Taxes were now partially paid in agricultural and handicraft products. The economy (agriculture, crafts, trade) fell into decay, money depreciated and inflation grew. During the crisis, kolonat, a new form of agricultural production, developed. The colones received a land allotment from the latifundist on a leasehold basis. They ran their own farm on it, the rent was calculated from the share of the harvest. Economic ties between provinces, cities, and local markets were severed; economic life was naturalized, the center of which moved to large agricultural estates - latifundia and villages with a predominance of non-market orientation. The social crisis manifested itself in growing contradictions between different social groups, as well as between Rome and the provinces. Constant invasions of Germanic tribes worsened the situation of both the authorities and the population. The emperors were forced to hire some barbarians to protect them from others, giving them the right to settle in the border provinces.

Roman cultural heritage

Roman culture was greatly influenced by Greek culture. For example, Roman philosophy developed the ideas of the main directions of Hellenistic philosophy; the formation of Roman literature and theater was also influenced by Greek models. In a certain sense, this is why we can talk about unity antique culture, especially since the creators of science, literature and art in Ancient Rome were not only Romans by origin, but also representatives of other peoples of the Mediterranean. Among them were the Egyptian Greeks Ptolemy (90-160) - an astronomer and geographer, Euclid (III century) - a mathematician and astronomer (classical geometry is called Euclidean), Heron of Alexandria (c. 1st century) - the inventor of many complex mechanisms.

At the same time, the culture of Rome had certain characteristics. Thus, in Roman science, applied knowledge played a dominant role: military and construction science, agronomy, medicine, and jurisprudence. Not a single army of the Ancient world had such a set of combat vehicles (throwing, etc.) and sapper equipment (for building temporary bridges, etc.) as the Roman one. Engineering and construction has reached a high level. 80 thousand km of cobblestone roads with stone bridges and tunnels connected the provinces both with each other and with Rome. Some of these roads, bridges and viaducts (ground-mounted stone water pipelines) have survived to this day. Architectural masterpieces are the Roman Forum, the Arc de Triomphe, the Colosseum and the Pantheon. The body of encyclopedic knowledge was “Natural History” by Pliny the Elder (23/24-79). Essays on agriculture contain information and advice on both its rational economic organization and agricultural technology.

The treatment of wounded legionnaires contributed to the accumulation of medical knowledge. Roman surgical instruments are not much different from modern ones in their purpose and form. The first holistic anatomical and physiological description of the human body belongs to the physician and naturalist Galen (130–200). His teaching, which summarized the knowledge of ancient medicine, was a guide for doctors right up to modern times.

In Rome, as in Greece, great importance was attached to oratory. The most famous rhetorician was Cicero (106–43 BC), known not only for his political but also judicial speeches. Rome became the first state in history in which a special law approved the practice of interpreting legal provisions in the opinions and writings of lawyers, which laid the foundation for jurisprudence as a science. Roman law served as a model for the formation of European law.

Initiation into the Dionysian Mysteries. Fresco detail. II century BC e. Villa of Mysteries, Pompeii, Italy

The time of greatest flowering of ancient Roman poetry was the reign of Octavian Augustus, when Virgil (70-19 BC), Horace (65-8 BC) and Ovid (43 BC) worked. – 18 AD). The biographical genre is represented by the famous “Comparative Lives” of the Greek Plutarch (45-127). In the fine arts of Rome, monumental painting and sculpture played a dominant role. The Roman sculptural portrait is more individualized and dynamic than the ancient Greek one.

The first highly developed civilization on the territory of Europe was the ancient Greek civilization, which spread its influence throughout the Mediterranean, and during the Hellenistic period also into Western and Central Asia. The Roman Empire became the largest world power of antiquity. The cultural heritage of Rome and Greece influenced not only the formation of European medieval culture, but also the culture of the Renaissance.

Questions and tasks

1. How did the structure of the ancient polis differ from the structure of the states of the Ancient East?

2. What is the difference between aristocratic and democratic forms of government?

3. Compare the relationship between the state and the individual in ancient Eastern societies and policies of the ancient world.

4. List the main achievements of ancient science and technology. Name the most prominent scientists and inventors.

5. What contribution did ancient civilization make to world culture?

6. What would you especially note in the heritage of ancient artistic culture?

The ideals that illuminated my path and gave me courage and courage were kindness, beauty and truth. Without a sense of solidarity with those who share my beliefs, without the pursuit of the ever-elusive objective in art and science, life would seem absolutely empty to me. The first halls in historical museums are always dedicated to the Ancient East, but I was lucky, I was born in Turkmenistan on the territory of the former Parthian state and learned about the east not from museum exhibits.

Ancient Eastern history dates back to approximately 3000 BC. Geographically, the ancient East refers to countries located in South Asia and partly in North Africa. A characteristic feature of the natural conditions of these countries is the alternation of fertile river valleys with vast desert areas and mountain ranges. The valleys of the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, Ganges and Yellow Rivers are very favorable for agriculture. River floods provide irrigation for fields, and a warm climate provides fertile soil. However, economic life and life in the northern Mesopotamia were structured differently than in the southern one. Southern Mesopotamia, as it was written before, was a fertile country, but the harvest was brought only by the hard work of the population. Construction of a complex network of water structures that regulate floods and provide a supply of water for the dry season. However, the tribes there led a sedentary life and gave rise to ancient historical cultures. The source of information about the origin and history of the states of Egypt and Mesopotamia was the excavations of hills and mounds formed over a number of centuries on the site of destroyed cities, temples and palaces, and for the history of Judah and Israel the only source was the Bible - a collection of mythological works. Rulers of the ancient East. For the history of the Hittite kingdom of Asia Minor, historical science had only material monuments discovered in 1830-1861 during excavations of the city of Hattusham. The main merit in the field of collecting written and material monuments and studying the history of Urartu belongs to the Russian scientist M.V. Nikolsky and B.B. Piotrovsky, they gave science the first history of the kingdom of Urartu. Scientists draw historical data about the ancient period of the countries of India and China only from later works of Indian and Chinese writing. For India, these are religious texts and records of the ancient Indian epic; for China, the works of ancient philosophers

FORMATION OF STATES IN THE SOUTH MEVORICHE. AKKADA AND SCHUMMER

The southern Mesopotamia was formerly called Sennar; the Sumerians lived in its coastal part, some tribes of which penetrated into the northern part and founded the city and kingdom of Mari on the Euphrates. Later, a nomadic pastoral tribe from Arabia came to the north of Sennar and founded the city of Akkad. These tribes brought with them a culture of life different from the Sumerian one. In terms of physical type, the Sumerians differed sharply from the Akkadians. Sumerians are chubby people with slanted eyes, their heads and faces are always shaved. In contrast, the Akkadians are tall, bearded people with long, narrow faces and aquiline noses. This is how two social systems were formed, which later became Summero - the Akkadian kingdom.

SCHUMMER

The Sumerian settlers lived in a tribal system. The basis of agriculture was irrigation canals, ponds, reservoirs, and each clan community provided itself with water supplies. However, it was difficult to determine exactly the required amount of water for irrigation: excess or deficiency was equally bad; the most reasonable thing in these conditions was to direct irrigation from one place. And not to trust it to each community, to dig through canals as they please, temples become such a center of agricultural management. Gradually, temples began to control the life of neighboring cities and villages. Collect taxes and distribute provisions in difficult times. Historians called this management of the temple community. Usually the city arose around a temple dedicated to the local god. And as mentioned earlier, the city was ruled by the priests of the temple. The most famous cities of Summer were: UR, URUK, NIPPUR, KSHY, LAGASH and UMMA. At that time, Summer was not a single state, but represented areas separated from each other by the Euphrates and swamps, which made the cities of Summer unprotected from attacks by warlike neighbors. The center of each region was the strongest and richest city. To protect themselves from the attacks of ill-wishers - neighbors, a city militia was recruited, and the “lugal” led the wars. Gradually, through deception or military action, power in the Sumerian cities passed to military leaders. Using the wealth of the city's temples, the Lugali waged wars with neighboring cities, destroyed dams, killed thousands of people, and shortly before 2300 BC. e. The unrest in Sumerian cities became destructive. But seven centuries of Sumerian history left a rich culture that became a model for the entire territory of Mesopotamia. The Sumerians learned to build houses from clay bricks and cover the roofs of houses with reeds. To catch fish, they used small round boats made of reeds, which were coated with resin on the outside. It was the abundance of clay from which they built houses, sculpted toys and utensils, that suggested the idea of ​​writing on clay tablets. It was difficult to write on viscous clay, and the characters turned out in the form of triangles of different sizes. Later such writing would be called cuneiform. The oldest records were found in temples, church ministers wrote down on them: how much grain and meat was produced and how much was given to workers for food, how much remained at the disposal of the temple. The Sumerians before the Greeks were the best mathematicians and astronomers of antiquity. The Sumerian pyramids were built before the Egyptian temples and have survived to this day. The Sumerian idea of ​​the gods, the beginning of the world, and human destiny was reflected in many religions. Sumerian traditions were adopted by the ancient Jews, and they were later recorded in the Bible. The knowledge accumulated by the ancestors was passed on to young men in numerous temple schools, where they taught wisdom, observing the starry sky, mathematics, and construction. These people were creators and could not fight, so the Summers never managed to create a unified state. Sargon did it, he was an Akkadian. The Akkadians are also tribes from Mesopotamia, on the northern side, they maintained close relations with the Sumerians, caravan routes passed through the lands of Akkadia. Taking advantage of the strife between the Lugals, Sargon strengthened himself in the north of Summer, created a strong army, armed it with long-range bows and captured the south of the country. He did not accept any title from the Sumerians or his country. And he began to call himself the king of Sumer-Akkad. A new capital, Akkad, was built. Sargon established control over all temple households, and in return gave rich gifts to the temples. A powerful Sumerian-Akkadian kingdom arose, which lasted 100 years. After the formation of the kingdom, the Sumerians gradually began to mix with the Akkadians and other steppe peoples. At the same time, Sumerian culture spread widely in Mesopotamia and outlived its people for many centuries.

KINGDOMS OF AKKAD

Since the middle of the third millennium, there has been a steady increase in the productive forces on Shinar. This was especially clearly visible in its northern part, where soil conditions were more favorable for agricultural crops and where gardening began to develop alongside field cultivation. Date palm gardens appeared, which have not only food value, but also industrial value. Date pits burned slowly and produced a lot of heat; they were used in forges instead of coal, and the wood was used for carpentry. So, in the north of Shinar, agriculture became the main occupation; in the south, with its huge pastures in the wetlands, cattle breeding remained the main occupation. In this regard, internal trade began to develop; it was conducted by temples through their sales agents. In the north at this time the Semitic rulers of Akkad strengthened. The city of Akkad was located between the Euphrates and the Tigris in the place where the rivers converge closest to each other. Between the Tigris and Euphrates, in the area of ​​Akkad, there ran a caravan road, connecting in the west with caravan routes to Arabia, and in the east with caravan routes to the mountainous region of Zagros. The central position of Akkad provided great benefits to the ruler of Akkad, who took possession of the regions of Opis and Sippar. The kingdom of Akkad, after its formation by Sargon in 2369, lasted about 180 years. One of the main conditions for the unification of Shinar into one state was the economic situation, which led to the division of production in the north and south and necessitated the establishment of permanent economic connections and exchange between Sumer and Akkad. The Sumerian-Akkadian kingdom collapsed under the onslaught of the Kitian nomads. The new dynasty that united Summer and Akkadia came from the city of Ur. Its rulers recreated the kingdom of Sargon and continued his policies. They took control of the temple farms, established supreme ownership over all the fields of Mesopotamia, but the kings of Ur brought state centralization to its extreme limits and half of the country's population turned into slaves. The rulers of Ur often got involved in long wars, leaving their kingdom unprotected and in 2000 BC. e. The Summerian-Akkadian kingdom disappeared from the political map of Mesopotamia, destroyed and plundered by Amorite nomadic tribes.

BABYLONIAN CULTURE

After the defeat of the Summerian-Akkadian kingdom, the territory of Shinar was divided between the Amorites, who strengthened in Akkad and formed the Amorite kingdom with its capital in Isin, and Semitic nomadic tribes in the north. But the kings of Isin were weak; at the end of the third millennium they succumbed to the kings of Babylon. Then Babylon was an insignificant city and only in 1894 BC. it became the largest state in Mesopotamia. The existence of the ancient Babylonian kingdom for 300 years is a wonderful era in the development of Mesopotamia. At this time, the nationality and Babylonian culture emerged; it absorbed all the cultural achievements of Akkad and Sumer. The ancient Babylonian kingdom did not know internal strife. Rulers of the ancient East. The unity and strength of the ball was achieved due to the fact that the Babylonian kings relied on their Amorite tribal communities, also by that time Mesopotamia had become a single state that maintained friendship with its neighbors, and the Code of Hammurabi was created as the only set of rules and laws of 282 articles for residents kingdoms. A special occupation of the population of the ancient Babylonian kingdom was agriculture. Large-scale cattle breeding, as before, was developed only in the south in wetlands. Wheat, barley and sesame were sown from field crops, and date palms from garden crops. The king was the supreme owner of all lands. Of these, 1 - 2% were private property, 80 -90% were community property, the rest of the land was at the direct disposal of the king. Tenants paid 2/3 of the harvest. Craft was no longer just a service factor; in cities, artisans had their own shops where they accepted and fulfilled orders. Trade in the ancient Babylonian kingdom received significant development. Large trade was carried out by kings and temples. They traded: grain, livestock, silver, copper. They brought back slaves, a bale. There was a shortage of labor. By 1800 BC. Babylon turned into a blooming garden. One of the wise kings of Babylon was Hammurad, since his reign this kingdom was the cultural and scientific center of Western Asia. Many achievements of the ancient Babylonians have entered modern life: we divide the year into 12 months, the hour into minutes, and the circle into 360 degrees. Kings and conquerors changed, and the Babylonians collected libraries and trained young scribes. In 689 BC. Babylon. By order of the Assyrian king it was destroyed. But the city was rebuilt and acquired new significance. Instead of narrow streets, streets were now paved, 5 km long, dividing the city into regular quarters. A seven-step temple was built, similar to a pyramid 91 km high. And the main entrance to the city was decorated with gates dedicated to the goddess Ishtar; the city itself was guarded by two defensive walls, each 6-7 m thick. The “Hanging Gardens” were considered one of the seven wonders of the world; they were planted on cascade terraces and created the effect of hanging trees. In general, Babylon, according to scientists, was the most powerful kingdom in Mesopotamia. But in 539 BC. surrendered to the Iranian king Cyrus without resistance. The culture of Babylon had a huge influence on the culture of Syria, Phenicia and Palestine, and further east to Iran. The high development of the culture of Babylon is evidenced by excavations at the site of the cities of Ur and Lagama, the material evidence found there suggests that the peasants lived in adobe huts, and the land was cultivated with a primitive plow harnessed to a pair of oxen. To irrigate fields and gardens, special water scoops were used, which still exist today. They resemble our well crane. The main means of communication in the southern Mesopotamia were the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and canals specially built for transport, which were connecting routes between the rivers. Transportation of goods was carried out on large rowing ships, reminiscent of modern barges. There was also a change in writing, now instead of a combination of horizontal and vertical wedges, ideographic signs were written, here the signs denoted not words and concepts, but the sounds of speech, but the wedge-shaped letter never turned into the alphabet, and looking ahead I will say that only in the sixth century BC AD The Persians who conquered Mesopotamia were able to create an alphabet. The religious views of ancient Babylonian society influenced literature, science, and fine arts. In total, 100 different gods were worshiped in Babylon, not counting the spirits of rivers, lakes, mountains, etc. The most revered Gods: Enlil - God of the earth, Anul - the main God of Uruk, God of the sky, Ea - the main God of Eridu, God of the sea. In the third millennium, the priests united them into a “trinity” that rules the world. The guardians of the cults were the priests. During the ritual, the priests were assisted by the entire temple staff, from singers, musicians to dancers and poets. The positions of priests were inherited and were always well paid. As for literature, its content is in one way or another connected with religion, most of it is associated with liturgical and magical texts, the rest of the finds tell about mythological legends. Myths tell about the origin of the world, people, agriculture, and settled life. The highest achievement of Babylonian fiction is the epic poem about Gilgamesh, the legendary king of Urun. The poem depicts him in the image of a giant hero, handsome and sage; two parts in him were from God, and one from man. Together with his friend, he accomplished a number of feats, he became so famous that the goddess Ishtar fell in love with him, and Gilgamesh rejected her, for which the goddess Ishtar struck Enkida, Gilgamesh’s friend, with illness and death. Then Gilgamesh decides to comprehend the secret of life and death. He decides to travel to the land of the gods. He met Ut-Napishtim there, who told him how he himself received immortality: during his reign in Shuruppan, the gods were angry with people and sent a global flood to them (you can see how this myth resembles our biblical legends), all people died and remained Ut-Napishtim alone with his wife and children, when the water receded, the gods took him to themselves. In conclusion, Ut-Napishtim asks Gilgamin: “Which of the gods will introduce you to the host of immortals?”, but no one was found. Then Gilgamin tries to overcome death by magical means, but this also fails. Gilgamin returns to his homeland and calls Enkidu from the land of the dead to find out the fate of the dead. The end of the poem is lost, but still the meaning of the poem is great. This first poem does not solve problems of life and death, but is critical of religion. Works of moralizing literature were also found, one of the most interesting is “Conversation between a Master and a Slave,” which reflects the decomposition of the slave-owning elite. The works of secular literature include royal records of historical content. They tell about who, when, dug the canal, built the dam, or talk about the accession of the next king to the throne, about his reforms, about victories in wars, etc. Here we see how interest in literature has increased and what a powerful leap the inhabitants of Mesopotamia have made in this area from clay tablets with calculations of the amount of grain to the most interesting poems. When describing the ancient Babylonian culture, one cannot fail to mention the scientific knowledge of this people, especially since it had practical applications in everyday life and the economy. The astronomy techniques of the ancient Babylonians are the basis of Greek and Arab astronomy, which in turn formed the basis of European astronomy. The guardians of this knowledge were the priests. They imagined the universe like this - the Earth is a round mountain standing in the middle of the world's oceans, the celestial sphere rises above the earth, like an overturned thicket, above it there is a celestial dam - the dwelling of the gods. Eclipses of the moon and sun were explained by the fact that the moon and sun were obscured by evil spirits. By the beginning of the second millennium, Babylonian astronomers identified five planets - Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn. And the stars were distributed among the constellations, then twelve constellations “on the path of the sun” were identified from all of them. (zodiac constellations) Based on astronomical observations, a calendar system was developed. Practical needs led at the beginning of the second millennium to the development of mathematical knowledge; they knew the four rules of arithmetic: squaring and taking the square root; some geometric provisions that were used in measuring areas. But the big obstacle on the way is the decimal number system - one, 60, 3600 with auxiliary divisions 10,600. This system was obtained during the development of time counting: 7 - days of the lunar phase 12 - number of months in a year 12 * 5 = 60 The presence of this number shows a connection with the primitive system of counting by fingers. The sexagesimal system was finally developed in connection with the measurement of the apparent daily circular path of the sun across the sky. The Babylonians calculated that if you place disks equal to the solar one along the daily path of the sun, you will get 180 of them, and 360 in a day. Everything came down to the formula: the sun takes 360 steps in its circle per day. This division began to be applied to any circle; it was later borrowed by the Romans and passed into European geometry - dividing a circle into 360 degrees. The Babylonians divided the month into 4 parts according to the phases of the moon, the seven-day week was established according to the seven great gods - the sun, the moon and five planets visible to the naked eye, the days of the week were named after these gods. The seven-day week of the Romans became the property of all European peoples. In general, Babylon, according to scientists, was the most powerful kingdom in Mesopotamia. But in 539 BC. e. Without resistance, Babylon surrendered to the Iranian king Cyrus. Cyrus destroyed the last representatives of the reigning house and declared himself king of Babylonia. He published a manifesto in which Cyrus promised to preserve the old order in Babylonia, honor its gods and promote the development of the city. It is impossible to ignore the history of the development of the northern part of Mesopotamia, located along the middle reaches of the Tigris. There are 350 km. North of Babylon in the 3rd millennium, Semitic immigrants from Akkad founded settlements with the cities of Assur, Kerkuk, and Nuzi. Rulers of the ancient East. Even then, Assur had trade relations with its neighbors - the Asia Minor region of Cappadonia, this was explained by the fact that Babylon, Syria and Palestine did not have their own metal deposits. I have already mentioned that the natural conditions of the northern Mesopotamia differ significantly from the southern one. Here the Tigris and Euphrates are at a great distance from each other, approximately 400 km, so their spills are not so common. Also, the mountains here approach the Tiger itself. Due to these conditions, agriculture in Assyria depended on rain. And the tribes living in the mountains were engaged in cattle breeding and hunting. The presence of iron in the mountains was of particular importance for Assyria. Iron tools and weapons created advantages in technology and military affairs for the Assyrians. The Assyrian kingdom flourished in the 15th century. The basis of Assyrian society was communal life. In addition to cultivating their lands, communities had to work on the construction of canals, temples and palaces. In the XIV - XIII centuries. The first collection of Assyrian laws appeared, which supported private land ownership. Fines and criminal penalties were established for violation of private property rights. The main enemies of Assyria since the end of the 12th century. There were Arameans. They advanced from Syria to the Euphrates and founded the strong kingdom of Bit-Adini. From here the Arameans began devastating raids into Assyria. Following the Arameans, an enemy appeared from the north - tribes living in the region of present-day Armenia, the Assyrians called them Urartians. By the 10th century, the pressure on Assyria began to weaken, because Some of the Arameans settled in the valleys, built their own settlements, gradually they mixed with the local population and the invasions were no longer renewed. Assyria recovered from devastation and disasters and at the end of the 10th century. The Assyrian kings themselves went on the offensive against the mountain tribes and Urartians. Thousands of slaves were invited to Assyria. Then the foundation of the future great Assyrian power was laid. From the middle of the 13th century. Assyria is ruled by the most outstanding kings who have shown the talent of commanders: chariots with charioteers armed with spears; cavalry and infantry armed with spears, shields and bows. In addition, there were special units of excavators (building siege structures), builders of pontoon bridges on wineskins, and sapper units. Not only slaves, but also hired foreigners were warriors. Tiglath and Sargon carried out the main campaigns of conquest. The first conquered all of Syria with Damascus and annexed Babylonia to Assyria. Inflicted a heavy defeat on the kingdom of Urartu, which was formed in this era. Sargon, having secured support from Syria and Palestine, destroyed the Israeli state and the Hittite principalities. And he completely defeated the army of Urartu. In 671, Sargon's successor, Asargadon, subjugated Egypt. Due to frequent wars, changes occurred in the economic life of Assyria: with the influx of huge masses of military booty and tribute, trade grew rapidly. However, the conquest of Egypt was the last military success of the Assyrian power since the middle of the seventh century; its power was in decline and Assyria was perishing, weakened by the internal crisis and uprisings of the conquered countries. In 605, the remnants of the Assyrian army were destroyed, and Assyria came under the rule of the Median king. All that remained of the cities were the ruins of palaces, but the works of art that decorated the buildings were well preserved. Among such works, a special place is occupied by winged bulls depicting spirits. The influence of Egypt is noticeable in them, but in some respects the Assyrian artists surpassed their teachers. In general, one cannot speak of a completely independent Assyrian culture. The basis of the Assyrian people were people from Akkad, which is why we find Babylonian elements in religion and literature. The Assyrian religion features the same gods who served in Babylonia. One of the last kings, Ashubanipal, collected a library of Summerian and Babylonian literary works in his palace. Moreover, the “books” were arranged by subject and year of publication. The king sent messengers to the temples to replenish the library. The result was a library that preserved everything significant that was created in Mesopotamia over the two and a half thousand years of the country's history. Architecture also developed: already in the 9th century, the Assyrians began building palaces decorated with images of military operations and the world life of kings with their gardens, ponds and wives, entourage and slaves. The Assyrians loved precision in detail, unlike the Babylonian artists, where art was symbolic.

URARTU

And yet there was a time when the power of the Assyrian power was undeniable; in the Anterior Arya there was a people who won the fight against the formidable Assyria; we are talking about the tribes that inhabited the mountain valleys of Transcaucasia. The history of the kingdom of Urartu is of particular importance because... it included the southwestern regions of Transcaucasia and Armenia, in the area of ​​lakes Van and Urman. The first mention of the tribes of Urartu dates back to the first half of the 13th century BC. e., then eight small countries were described conquered by the Assyrian king Salmonassar I. But the Urartian tribes fought for independence in the first half of the 9th century. Became a unified Urartian kingdom. Numerous signatures inscribed on the rocks with wedge-shaped signs borrowed from Assyria, which have survived to this day on the territory of Armenia, tell about him. The population of Urartu lived in a tribal system. The kings captured large areas of land. New fortresses were built in the kingdom; one of them is on the banks of the Araks in Armenia. The fortress was surrounded by basalt walls. Urartu reached its greatest power in the eighth century under the kingdom of Sadur II. He defeated the Assyrian king Amurnirapi. But after the death of Sadur, unrest began and some regions began to be disconnected from Urartu, and the power of the Urartian kingdom finally fell in 714. at the hands of Sargon. After the fall of the kingdom of Urartu, dominance on its territory temporarily passed to the Armenian tribe. In the II century. BC. The unification of the Armenian lands took place and the Armenian kingdom was formed. The economy and culture of the kingdom of Urartu were similar to those of Assyria. Gardens and vineyards were planted on royal and temple lands, and lakes - reservoirs and a network of canals were built to irrigate them, supplying water to fields, mountain settlements and fortresses. Along with agriculture, cattle breeding and horse breeding were developed. Craft workshops existed only at temples and palaces; artistic works of artisans were distributed through merchants outside the kingdom of Urartu. The masters of this kingdom were skilled blacksmiths and inventive builders. Some cities had a regular rectangular layout and were built according to a pre-constructed plan. The style of local buildings was similar to later Greek. The inventions of Urartian engineers and builders were adopted by the peoples of Western Asia. The culture of the kingdom of Urartu was created under the influence of Assyrian culture. The wedge-shaped script was borrowed from the Assyrians. Bronze objects were cast using a special method that differed from the Assyrian technique, but the decoration was made according to Assyrian models: winged bulls adorned the king’s throne, and bronze dishes were decorated with winged female figures. This style subsequently spread widely in Western Asia. So, the history of Urartu, which spanned 300 years, is full of bright events, and the confrontation between Urartu and Assyria played an important role in the history of Western Asia. It was the Urartians who forced the Assyrians to rebuild their economy on a military scale. And the desperate struggle of the Babylonian kingdom with the Central Asian powers gave time for the creation of a state for the peoples of the Iranian Plateau. Many scientists believe that the civilization of ancient Greece would not have developed if the Assyrian armies had reached the shores of the Aegean Sea!

EGYPT

Egypt was a narrow valley of the Nile River. Mountains rise from the west and east. The western mountains separate the Nile Valley from the Sahara Desert, and behind the eastern mountains stretches the shores of the Red Sea. In the south, the Nile Valley runs into the mountains (of present-day Nubia). Here the Nile's flow is blocked by steep rapids. In the north, the valley widens and ends with the Nile Delta. This geographical location is significantly better compared to Mesopotamia. The mountains were rich in building stone - granite, basalt, limestone. Gold was mined in the eastern mountains. In the Nile Valley, valuable tree species grew - tamarisk, sycamore trunks of which were used in shipping. The Nile flows into the Mediterranean Sea - the main artery of the countries of the ancient world. And the conditions for agriculture in Egypt were more favorable than in Mesopotamia. Thanks to the Nile floods, the soil of Egypt was fertilized and the flood provided abundant irrigation. The moss-covered land was fertile, so the Nile was deified by the aborigines. The cult of the Nile is still religiously observed today. Thanks to the mountains and sea surrounding the valley, Egypt did not experience devastating invasions like Babylonia in its history. The main occupation of the ancient population of the valley was farming, hunting and fishing. The first grain cultivated in Egypt was barley, then wheat and flax began to be grown. Just like in Mesopotamia, irrigation structures were built in Egypt in the form of pools with walls made of knocked down earth and coated with clay. During a spill, water flowed into the pools, and people disposed of it as needed. To maintain this complex system, regional control centers called “nomes” were created. They were ruled by norms (they gave instructions on the preparation of fields for sowing, monitored the harvest and distributed the harvest to the population throughout the year. The Egyptians rarely prepared food at home, it was customary to take grain to the canteens, several villages were fed there. A special official made sure that the cooks did not steal and the stew was poured out equally. The abundance of grain in the country made it possible to free people from working in the fields and use them as builders and warriors. The head of the Egyptian army was the pharaoh. In the conquered country, a person loyal to Egypt ascended to the throne. The main goal of the war was war booty - slaves , cattle, rare wood, ivory, gold, precious stones. For example, copper was brought from the Sinai Peninsula. The wealth accumulated by the pharaohs made it possible to build a lot, majestically and beautifully as no one in the Ancient East could. In general, the history of Egypt is usually divided into several periods.

ANCIENT KINGDOM III-VI DYNASTY

Characterized by a slave system. Peasants were a small stratum of society and lived in communities. The rest of the population was the top of the government and those close to them - nomes, priests, etc. In the ancient kingdom, private property and temple land ownership developed rapidly. The country was ruled by a priestly senate, and the pharaoh was the executor of this power. The capital of Egypt during the reign of the founder of the Third Dynasty was Memphis. The two dynasties of the ancient kingdom (III-IV) were long-lived and ruled for 200 years. The time of their reign was marked by the construction of majestic pyramids, which, due to their size, were considered one of the wonders of the world until the end of the 19th century. Its height reached 146.5 m. In one complex with the royal borders there is a huge statue of the sphinx. All these buildings were not only subordinated to religious chains, but also political ones, as evidence of power and magnitude. Historians claim that the pyramids took 40 years to build, of which 20 years were spent extracting the material and 20 years for the construction itself. Given the low level of technology, the construction of pyramids was labor-intensive, and a large number of workers died. Popular discontent began to grow and subsequent dynasties built smaller pyramids, and their dignitaries generally abandoned this privilege. Ultimately, popular discontent led to the fall of the Fourth Dynasty. Dan, by the end of the IV dynasty, the power of the pharaoh weakened, and the temples became the rulers of entire regions. At the same time, the custom of hereditary transfer of the position of nomarch was strengthened.

A period of unrest. Dynasties VII-XI During their reign, the power of the pharaohs passed into the hands of the priests of Ra and the process of weakening the central government further intensified. Now each temple began to strive for independence. During the “unrest” four dynasties were replaced. The unity of Egypt was broken and it broke up into separate nomes. There was armed struggle everywhere. Slaves and peasants rebelled. They destroyed the tombs of rulers and other structures.

Middle Kingdom of the 11th and 12th Dynasties After a period of unrest and collapse that lasted for about the 3rd centuries, Egypt again united into one kingdom. Unity was dictated by living conditions: Violation of the unified irrigation system, which led to the decline of agriculture, which threatened famine and death of Egypt. The process of unification began in the gentle city of Nut-Amon (Thebes). However, during the 11th dynasty, the unification was not strong and unrest began again in the north because residents of poor neighborhoods huddled in adobe dwellings, backbreaking labor on the lands and construction sites of the ruling elite could not ensure the existence of the peasant. The exactions of the priests became unbearable, the peasants were confiscated from their crops, which he was taking to the market, and from their donkeys, and they beat him mercilessly. This tense situation led to the fall of the 12th Dynasty. It was followed by an era of uprising of peasants, artisans and slaves, who destroyed the social system of the middle kingdom.

Troubles and domination of the Hyksos. Dynasties XIII-XVII This period lasted 80 years. The state of Egypt in this era is described in one literary monument, “The Speech of Ipuwer.” It tells about the greatest disaster that befell Egypt, as a result of the misrule of the king and the people's forgetting of the fear of the gods and the duties imposed by religion. The mass uprising of peasants sweeping all of Egypt is depicted. The rebels settled in the houses of the masters, and they were forced to work for themselves. The tsar's house was left without income, the temples without offerings. But from the records it is not clear what kind of power the peasants organized, but the fact that the revolutionary movement was not well organized can be traced. And the bloody internal struggle continues in the country. Nomadic tribes took advantage of this circumstance. The conquerors are called "Hyksos" in Egyptian writings. The capital of the Hyksos lasted 150 years and was overthrown by the first Pharaohs of the New Kingdom.

The New Kingdom of the XVIII - XX Dynasties After many years of struggle, the liberation and unification of Egypt was completed in 1560 by the Theban king Ahmose. Eleu managed to unite Egypt in fact, because. the people helped him. Changes were made to the system of government of the country: two viziers were appointed, one for the south, the other for the north. All local state and municipal authorities were required to submit periodic reports to the vizier. The military system was transformed, the number of troops was reduced, but the troops were formed into garrisons throughout the country, the ranks of the command staff received land plots. The army of Ahmose was a faithful support of his power. Ahmose's campaigns were the beginning of great campaigns of conquest that led to the formation of the great Egyptian military power. Palestine and Syria were conquered. Their final conquest was continued by their follower, Pharaoh Thutmose III. He continued his campaigns on the Nile and the west, and subjugated part of Libya. At the end of his reign, Thutmose made a campaign into Nubia and moved the Egyptian border south to the four cataracts of the Nile. This is how the great Egyptian military power was created by Tatmose III. It lasted 200 years, but the last few years were spent in a fierce struggle to preserve it and ended in its collapse.

The period of the collapse of Egypt XXI-XXVI dynasties In 1071, the high priest of Amon Herihor overthrew Pharaoh Ramesses XIII and proclaimed himself pharaoh. Thus began the XXI Dynasty. In 941, Egypt was again united under the rule of the Libyan dynasty and then under the rule of the Ethiopian dynasty from Nubia, which in the middle 8th century. Detached from Egypt. Ethiopian rule lasted until 671, when Egypt was conquered by Assyria. But the Assyrian power also lasted for 20 years. The prince of the Sais nome in the Delta Psametikh, a descendant of a noble Libyan family, freed Egypt from the subjugation of Assyria and united all of Egypt, thus began the last dynasty and for 125 years Egypt last existed as an independent state. The era of the Sans dynasty was the heyday of Egyptian trade and the rise of Egyptian culture. At first, literature was independent of religious basis. Numerous expeditions along the Nile and sea voyages fed the artistic imagination of sculptors, the abundance of building and sculptural stone in architecture, sculpture and artistic craft. Writing appeared very early in Egypt at the end of the 5th millennium BC. - signs in the form of pictures denoted entire concepts and short phrases. Over time, the meanings of the signs changed and more simplified signs appeared - hieroglyphs. Egyptian writing in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. served as the basis for the Phoenician alphabetic letter, which contained only twenty-four characters. Technology and science. Huge pyramids were built according to pre-prepared plans and calculations of architects. The scope of construction work required preliminary calculations in large numbers. In this regard, a system of signs developed to indicate the numbers 1, 10, 100, in the decimal system up to 10,000,000. Egyptian astronomers studied the sky and compiled lists of stars according to their relative positions. The Egyptian calendar was solar, through observations over a number of years it was established: the moment of coincidence of the sunrise and Sirius is repeated after 365 days, and from here a year of 365 days was established. They divided it into twelve months, with 3 days in the month and an additional 5 days at the end of the year for holidays. But such a year was 6 hours behind the solar year, and therefore, over the centuries, the Egyptian calendar diverged from the usual one and aligned only after 1460 years. Subsequently, the Egyptian calendar was borrowed from Rome by Julius Caesar, he introduced an improvement into it by establishing leap years of 366 days for every four years. The Egyptians achieved significant success in medicine. The custom of embalming corpses and their autopsy made it possible to study human anatomy. This circumstance, in turn, provided the basis for the development of physiology and scientific medicine. Egyptian doctors looked for the causes of diseases in changes in blood vessels. The history of ancient Egypt as an independent state ends in 528. When it was conquered by Kombiz and since then it has lost its independence for a long time.

PHOENICIA

This is a narrow coastal part of Syria. In ancient times, there were up to 10 coastal cities located here. The cities were inhabited by the same people. The Greeks called them Phoenicians. They were famous as traders and sailors, and their art and culture date back to the second half of the fourth millennium BC. The ancestors of the Phoenicians were tribes in the southern regions of Palestine. They were divided into a number of communities closely related to the Arab Edomites and the Israelite Jewish tribes. In the second half of the 4th millennium, tribes began to move to the northern regions along the Mediterranean coast. These tribes founded the cities of Gebal, Sidon and Ugarit. The first king was Keret in Sidon. He had his own army, but since the Phoenician kingdoms did not unite into one state, each city had its own ruler. During the 1.5 period from the founding of the Phoenician kingdoms until the conquest of Palestine and Syria by Thutlios III, the Phoenician kingdoms were independent. During this era, the first place was occupied by the kingdoms of Gebal and Ugarit. Gebal had constant trade relations with Egypt and Crete. Cities flourished and were built with temples and palaces. The merchants lived in stone houses, richly furnished and with family tombs in the basements. But the middle of the second millennium begins the dependence of the Phoenician kingdoms on Egypt and on the Hittites, who conquer Syria. Since that time, Phenicia has been in decline. And with the weakening of Egypt and the decline of the Hittite kingdom at the end of the 13th century, the Phoenicians were able to regain their independence. And Tire becomes the main city of the Phoenician kingdom. He had a large fleet and conducted brisk trade throughout the Mediterranean Sea. The city itself turned into an impregnable fortress, withstanding the fight against the Assyrians. Carthage joins the previous positions of Tire, which soon also becomes an independent state. The period of independence of Phenicia ended in the 8th century. And since then, in turn, it came under the rule of the great ancient powers - Assyria, Chaldea, Persia, Macedonia, Seleucids and Rome. The economic system of the Phoenician cities is not from the system established in Syria. The main occupation of the population was agriculture; they planted bread and grapes. Foreign merchants bought surplus grain. The peasants lived in a communal system, the communities supplied the king with grain, flour, wine and livestock. Work was also introduced for the king's house. In the coastal parts of the kingdom, working communities remained. The property of the Phoenician kingdom was trade. In the first half of the second century, a large layer of merchants appeared in the Phoenician kingdoms. They conducted purely intermediary trade. Among the wide variety of goods brought for sale or exchange to different countries from the products of Phenicia itself, bread, wine, and Lebanese timber are mentioned. All other goods were bought or exchanged in other countries. This is how the Phoenician merchants gained fame as the first traders of the then world. I have already mentioned that the Phoenicians were also famous as the best and bravest sailors. Already at the end of the 4th millennium, they undertook long sea voyages to the southwest to Egypt, and north along the Aegean Sea to the major centers of the Cretan-Mycenaean world. And since the 2nd millennium they cross the Mediterranean Sea and reach Spain and reach the Strait of Gibraltar. The writings of the navigator Hanno, who sailed to the western coast of Africa to present-day Cameroon, have reached us. But, as history tells, sea voyages were undertaken by the Phoenicians only for peaceful purposes; when the opportunity presented itself, they resorted to robbery and robbery of tribes. At those points where they received valuable goods or where it was possible to arrange intermediate stations for ships, the Phoenicians founded their colonies, which later became large trading cities. Shipbuilding was widely developed in the cities of Phenicia - Tire, Sidon and Gebala. They built ships for the kings of other states, for example for the Persian kings. The culture of Phenicia is very original. We learn about it from excavations in Ras Shaler and at the site of Gebal. Religion is characterized by two directions: state and folk or peasant. In each kingdom there were cults of state gods - Baal and Baalat. For example, in Gebal these are Adonis and Ashtarta, in Tyre - Melqart, etc. And the peasant religion is characterized by the cults of the gods of vegetation and fertility. As a rule, the patron gods of the kingdoms were also endowed with the functions of fertility gods. Everywhere the main holiday of the official cult was the holiday associated with the beginning of the agricultural season. Phoenician literature developed religious themes. Almost all works were ritual texts. Phoenician writing originated at the beginning of the 2nd millennium in the form of hieroglyphs. Later there was a transition to an alphabet of 28 wedge-shaped signs denoting consonants. I already wrote about the significance of this writing in the section on Egyptian culture. In Gebal and Ugarit, many examples of Phoenician art were discovered - statues and figurines of deities, various objects made of gold and silver, bronze and wood. They say that Phoenician artists began by imitating Egyptian models, and then moved on to reworking motifs borrowed from Egypt in a local style. As a result, by the beginning of the 2nd millennium, the Syrian style had developed. And in the second half of the second millennium, the works of Phoenician artists were influenced by examples of Hittite and Cretan-Mycenaean art. The composition on the sarcophagus of the Gebal king Archiramus is considered highly artistic. Phoenician art had a great influence on the art of other Syrian countries and Palestinian peoples, especially Israeli-Jewish art.

Hittite kingdom

Formed at the beginning of the 2nd millennium. Its territory was the region of Asia Minor, located along the Galis River, with its capital - the city of Hattus. There lived many different tribes related to Asian origin. The Hittite language has much in common with the languages ​​of the Indo-European peoples. From clay “tablets” deciphered by the Czech scientist B. the Terrible, we learn about one of the first kings of the Hittites: Tabanu, who ruled at the beginning of the 2nd millennium, and Murmila I. The latter, during the reign of the king of the first Babylonian dynasty, invaded Babylon and plundered the city, then it was taken away many prisoners. He also made a successful campaign in Syria. After Murmil, a troubled period begins. Civil strife among members of the royal house over the throne weakened the Hittite kingdom. But order was quickly restored under Telepin. He suppressed the uprising, and the instigators of the unrest were sold into slavery. From the middle of the 15th century, the Hittite kingdom again became a strong military power, its squads conquered the entire territory of Asia Minor and strengthened themselves in Syria. Around 1200, Asia Minor, like Egypt, Palestine and Syria, was subject to invasion by “sea peoples” and in the 8th century. were finally destroyed by King Sargon. The main occupation of the Hittites was cattle breeding. But they also grew bread and grapes. The social structure of the Hittite kingdom has much in common with the structure of the Old Babylonian kingdom. There are 21 articles on slavery in the Hittite law records. Hittite culture is represented by monuments of writing, art and architecture. The Hittite script was hieroglyphic, created by the Hittites themselves. His beautiful signs look like drawings. Like other ancient peoples, the religion of the “tops” and the people were different. Only the cult of the goddess Mother Nature was revered by all the Hittite people. The development of Hittite fine art was influenced by Babylonian-Assyrian art. The relief sculptures reflect the Hittite folk type, and the images of domestic and wild animals differ sharply in their massiveness from the light figures of Assyrian art. Statues depicting the king, sphinxes, and lions are distinguished by the roughness of their images. The ruins of the Hittite capital Hattushama testify to the high level of Hittite building art. The Habiru tribes, Jewish tribes united in the 2nd millennium BC, begin to invade Syria and Palestine from across the Jordan. under the name Israel. Their unification ends in Palestine with the formation of the first Israeli kingdom. In addition to the Canoanites, part of the Argoreans settled in the northern part of Palestine. After the resettlement, the Israeli tribes retained their tribal way of life, but soon there was a transition from cattle breeding to agriculture. Tribal communities are turning into rural communities. The tribes begin to live settled lives. In the XII-XI centuries. The Palestinian coast is captured by the Philistines. They were armed with iron swords and armor. Having captured the Palestinian coast, the Philistines built the fortified cities of Gaza and Azat there, forming several principalities. The fight against the Philistines united the Israelite tribes into one state. The Bible describes the reign of Saul and David and the unification of Southern and Central Canaan. After expelling the Philistines, David made several trips to the north. David made the city of Urishamere (now Jerusalem) the capital of his kingdom; the sanctuary of the god Judah was built there. David's successor was his son Solomon. Solomon's kingdom was divided into 12 districts. Each district was ruled by a city chief. He collected taxes and sent them to the king's house. He established trade relations not only with Phenicia, but also with Egypt, Syria and Arabia. From these countries they received horses, slaves, gold, silver, precious stones, and fragrant oils. He started a large harem, one of his wives was the daughter of the pharaoh. Life for ordinary people was also difficult, as in many states of Syria and Palestine. Slaves built magnificent temples, and ordinary peasants were taken to forced labor. Gradually, dissatisfaction with Solomon began to grow. The movement against Solomon was led by Jerabeam, a noble man who supervised the work on the king’s house. Solomon wanted to execute Jerabiam, but he managed to escape to Egypt. After the death of Solomon, the leaders of the northern tribes contributed to the division of Canoan into two kingdoms: Judah, in which the Davidic dynasty was preserved, and the kingdom of Ephraim (Israel), in which dynasties often changed. In 722, the Assyrian king Sargon destroyed the capital of Israel, Shomeron, and the kingdom of Israel ceased to exist. The Kingdom of Judah lasted longer, almost a century and a half. After the fall of the kingdom of Israel, the kings of Judah were forced to recognize the supreme authority of the Assyrian king over themselves. By this time, the influence of Assyrian culture was spreading in Judah, penetrating even into religion: the stones of heavenly bodies were introduced into the Jerusalem temple. The kings of Judah paid heavy tribute to Assyria. Kings changed, but neither reforms nor the nationalization of religious cults saved the kingdom of Judah. External wars were added to the peasant revolts. The Egyptian pharaoh Necho moved against Judah. In 586 Jerusalem was destroyed. The temples were burned, and the entire population, except the poor, was taken into slavery in Babylonia. The kingdom of Judah ceased to exist.

Culture of Israel and Judah

The Israeli people created their own culture, which subsequently influenced European culture. The Christian religion in Europe arose under the influence of the Jews, and the plots and images of biblical literature served as a source of inspiration and creativity for many works of European poets, writers and artists. The religion of Israel and Judah also has much in common with the Phoenician religion. For example, the main god of Judah, Jahave, and Elyon are the same person, they are endowed with the same functions. The rituals of folk religion were located according to the annual cycle of agricultural work: the holiday of the beginning of the harvest, harvesting fruits, etc. A great literature was created in Israel and Judah. In the field of mythology, it was imitative: myths about the origin of the world and the first people were taken from Babylonian mythological poems. In the field of narrative literature there were original works, such as stories about the origins of the Israelite tribes and their history before the formation of the kingdom. They are based on folk tales and legends. In Judah, stories about kings David and Solomon were compiled for the purpose of glorifying them. At the court of the Israeli kings there were chroniclers who described the lives of the monarchs, and with the appearance of the prophets they recorded their legends and sayings. The literature of that time included worldly wisdom, folk tales and songs. The collection of wedding songs has gained worldwide fame.

The origins of Indian culture

A special feature is the sharp isolation of India from other countries. It is separated from the north by the Himalayas, from the west by the Arabian Sea, from the east by the Bay of Bengal, and from the south by the Indian Ocean. Therefore, India's development was slow and very isolated. But despite this, the Dravidian culture is superior to the Egyptian, and in some respects, even to the Sumerian. The Dravidians tamed camels, buffaloes and horses 1000 years earlier than the Near Eastern peoples. Already in the 4th millennium they were familiar with the making of bronze, while the Summerians switched to it in the 3rd, and the Egyptians in the 2nd millennium. The level of construction among the Dravidians was also higher than that of the Sumerians. The Dravidians built houses from baked bricks, while the Sumerians built houses from raw bricks. The high level of civilization of the peoples of India is confirmed by the presence of water supply and sewerage in the cities. The ancient tribes of India knew how to make boats and oars and traded with Babylonia through Elam. Along with trade, crafts developed. They produced bronze weapons and jewelry. The dishes were made on a potter's wheel, covered with a thin glaze and painted with several colors of paint. The Dravidian religion has retained its primitive forms. They considered the bull to be a sacred animal. However, the dominant form of religion was the cult of the elements, the forces of nature. The Dravidians created their script in the form of pictograms with 400 characters. They counted using the decimal system, just like the Egyptians. At the end of the 3rd millennium, Aryan tribes related to the Persians came from the Central Asian steppes to the Upper Indus Valley. At this time, the Aryans were far behind the Dravidians in cultural development, despite this they became the dominant class, and the Dravidians turned into servants, into a lower race, as the Aryans believed. As a result, the cultural development of the Dravidians was slowed down. “The Dassu tribes live around us, they do not make sacrifices, they do not believe in anything, they have different rituals, they cannot be considered people,” says the Vedas. With the development of the division of labor, the nobility began to stand out from the common people. Gradually, this division of society turned into castes. There were 4 castes: Brahmans - priests Kshatriya - military Vaishya - peasants Shudra - servants. Moreover, religion supported divisions into castes. According to Brahmanical teaching, the soul of a person after death moves into some creature. The character of a creature depends on a person’s behavior during life: if he fulfilled all religious and state regulations, then his soul will move into a brahmana, if he has sins, then into a vaishya, if there are many sins, into a sudra. As for other forms of ideology, by this period the Indians knew an alphabetic script of 51 letters. In the field of mathematics, the decimal number system was developed - zero was invented. They had extensive knowledge of medicine: surgeons were especially skilled. They could cut out tumors, remove eyesores, and in linguistics the Indians surpassed all ancient Eastern peoples: dictionaries and other works on grammar were compiled. In the VI century. A new religion began to emerge in India - Buddhism. Spiritual culture in India is flourishing, philosophy and temple literature are emerging. Buddhist temples carved into rocks amaze with their enormous size, rounded lines, geometric shapes and images on the vault. Thanks to Indian traders, Buddhism spread to Korea, Japan, Tibet, Mongolia and China.

ANCIENT CHINA

China, with its colossal size, resembles India, and is equal in area to Europe. The culture of China developed in accordance with natural conditions, for example, the Great Plain of China became the birthplace of the Ancient Chinese civilization. In 1893, bronze weapons and utensils were already found in China. Economy of this period: the development of hunting and cattle breeding. By the end of the 2nd millennium BC. Irrigation and plow farming begins to play an important role in the economy. Wheat, barley and rice were cultivated. Since the mulberry tree was cultivated in China, it became the birthplace of sericulture and paper. The technical process of processing silkworms was kept secret, the disclosure of which was punishable by death. Only 2.5 thousand years later, sericulture penetrated into Japan and Persia. Pottery and trade gradually developed. The function of money was performed by a precious shell - cowrie. In the 18th century A patterned writing arose, with about 30,000 characters. They wrote on bamboo sticks, split into pieces, thus forming a vertical line, characteristic of Chinese writing. In conclusion, I would like to highlight the importance of Eastern culture for European countries. So, the eastern peoples were the first in history to create powerful states and luxurious temples, books and irrigation canals. From the Sumerians we inherited knowledge about the creation of the world and the principles of constructing irrigation structures. From Babylon - dividing the year into 12 months, the hour into minutes and seconds, the circle into 360 degrees, the principles of arranging libraries. Egypt taught the world to mummify corpses and gave physiology and anatomy. From the Hittite language came Slavic, Germanic, and Romance. The Phoenicians compiled the glass formula and were the first to stretch a thread of trade relations across the Mediterranean Sea. They determined the seasons. The Bible came to us from Judea. The military art of Assyria gave rise to the modern construction of pantons and hovercraft. The works of the great philosophers of China are still studied in all educational institutions of the world.

Nature told the woman: be beautiful if you can, wise if you want, but you must certainly be prudent.

LECTURE No. 5

§ 4. Great powers of the Ancient East.

Prerequisites for the emergence of the first powers. From the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. As a result of the conquest of many others by one people, large and strong states are formed. The rulers of such states even dreamed of conquering the whole world. The internal life of the great powers was largely subordinated to the task of waging wars of conquest.

During the wars, enormous wealth and thousands of prisoners ended up in the hands of the victors. The conquered lands were subject to tribute. The main spoils went to the kings and their associates, the nobility. However, ordinary warriors also suffered a lot. Culture flourished in the great powers and outstanding works of art appeared. To maintain power over vast lands, rulers had to improve old and look for new forms of government, create new laws, build roads, fortresses, and cities. Different peoples got to know each other better and adopted achievements. The economy developed successfully within the framework of a single state.

The consequences of the emergence of great powers are contradictory. On the one hand, war, violence and destruction, on the other - the development of the economy, statehood, and culture.

The birth of great powers in the Middle East was made possible thanks to two innovations that appeared here in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. Firstly, the Indo-European tribes that came from the north brought with them the domesticated horse, and now large armies could quickly move over long distances; drawn by horses, chariots became an effective means of combat. Secondly, people improved their ability to make various products, including weapons from iron.

Hittite kingdom. The creators of the first great power wereHittites . This Indo-European people came from the north to the eastern regions of Asia Minor (possibly the ancestors of the Hittites once inhabited this region). They created several states, which in the 18th century. BC. united into a single kingdom with its capital in the city of Hattusa.

The basis of the Hittite economy was agriculture and cattle breeding. In the mountains they mined and processed metals. It is believed that it was in the Hittite kingdom that people were the first in the world to learn how to smelt iron.

In the 17th century BC. The Hittites captured northern Syria. Around 1595 BC Babylon was taken by them.

The power of the Hittites over the conquered peoples was relatively soft. The Hittite king usually placed his relatives at the head of the captured cities and regions. The new rulers maintained the established order and only paid tribute to the king.

Egypt offered strong resistance to the Hittites. Success leaned one way or the other. Finally, peace was concluded between the Hittites and the Egyptians. The Hittites began to receive grain from Egypt, and the Egyptians exported iron, silver, and timber from Asia Minor. One of the reasons for the rapprochement between the Hittites and the Egyptians was also the strengthening of Assyria, another power whose center was in the north of Mesopotamia. The Assyrians reached the borders of the Hittite kingdom, but its rulers managed to stop the enemy onslaught.

It is not known exactly how the Hittite state died, since no documents about it have survived. It is believed that this death is associated with the invasion of the “Sea Peoples”. “Peoples of the Sea” are the inhabitants of the south of the Balkan Peninsula, the west of Asia Minor and adjacent islands, who in the XIII - XII centuries. BC. They carried out raids on the countries of the Middle East on sea ships. Apparently they reached Hattusa and razed the city to the ground. Following this, the Hittite state itself quickly collapsed.

Assyria and Urartu. Assyria initially occupied a small territory centered on the city of Ashur on the Tigris River. The Assyrians were engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding, and trade. At the end of the 15th - beginning of the 14th centuries. BC. Assyria managed to subjugate Babylon.

At the same time, in the area of ​​Lake Van in Transcaucasia lived tribes whom the Assyrians called Urartians. In the 10th century BC. the union of Urartian tribes turned into the kingdom of Urartu. Urartu flourished in the 8th century. BC.

Since the 8th century. Assyrian kings were repeatedly defeated by the Urartians. In 745 BC. a king came to power in AssyriaTiglath-pileser III , who took decisive measures to strengthen the state and troops. He provided the warriors with iron weapons and armor; the army was supported by the state. With this army, Tiglath-pileser and his heirs captured vast lands of Western Asia. In 714 BC. Assyrian kingSargon II defeated Urartu, although he did not completely subjugate.

To strengthen their power over vast lands, the conquerors resettled entire peoples, sought to mix them up, make them forget their roots and break their hope for freedom. The Assyrians became famous for their incredible cruelty. They exterminated the inhabitants of the cities without exception, cut off the hands, feet, tongues and ears of thousands of prisoners, and gouged out the eyes.

However, neither resettlement nor torture could prevent the uprising of the conquered peoples.

The plundered wealth and tribute collected from the conquered lands allowed the Assyrian kings to launch grandiose construction projects and keep many scribes, artists, and scientists at their courts. Assyrian scribes copied, among others, Sumerian and Babylonian texts, and it was thanks to them that these texts have survived to this day.

By the end of the 7th century. BC. Assyria's military achievements were borrowed by its opponents. The collapse of the Assyrian power was rapid. In 626 BC. The Assyrian governor of Babylon proclaimed himself king. He made an alliance with Media, a state in northern Iran, and began a successful war with Assyria. The last Assyrian troops were exterminated by the allies in 609 BC.

Median-Persian kingdom. After the disappearance of Assyria, two new powers emerged - the Median and New Babylonian kingdoms. The Babylonians conquered Assyria, Syria, and Palestine. Under King Nebuchadnezzar II, Babylon was decorated with magnificent palaces, walls, and gates. At the same time, the famous Hanging Gardens appeared, which the Greeks mistakenly attributed to Queen Semiramis.

To the east of Babylonia was Iran - translated as “the country of the Aryans”. The Aryans in Iran, mixing with the local inhabitants, formed several nations. The largest of them were the Medes and Persians. Persia was part of the Median kingdom, but had its own king.

Persian kingCyrus II in 550 – 549 BC. freed himself from the rule of the Medes, and then annexed Lydia, a state in the west of Asia Minor, famous for its gold mines, to his possessions. A Median-Persian power arose, which waged constant wars of conquest. In the east, the Persians reached Central Asia and India. The Greek cities of Asia Minor submitted to the authority of the Persian king. In 539 BC. Cyrus took Babylonia.

In 530 BC. Cyrus died during a campaign against the nomadic Indo-European tribes of Central Asia. His son and successor Cambyses in 525 BC conquered Egypt, but soon a power struggle broke out in the Persian state, andCambyses died. The throne was seized by a distant relative of Cyrus IIDarius I (522 - 486 BC). He restored the unity of the state, conquered the Central Asian tribes and part of India. Only Darius's campaign against the Scythian tribes living in the Northern Black Sea region and the campaign against Athens ended in failure.

In size, the power of Darius I was much larger than all previously existing states. It was divided into areas -satrapies headed bysatraps , who judged the population, collected taxes, and looked after the economy. Roads were laid in the kingdom, a state post office was established, and the monetary system was updated, which contributed to the flourishing of trade.

Indian powers. In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. In India, after a long struggle, the ruler of the state of Magadha captured some neighboring kingdoms. In the 4th century. BC. a kshatriya came to powerChandragupta who founded the dynastyMauryan .

Magadha reached its greatest prosperity under the grandson of the founder of the dynasty, the king.Ashoke (268 - 231 BC). He managed to conquer all of India with the exception of the extreme south. Ashoka is known as a wise and just ruler. Under him, taxes were reduced, overly harsh laws were repealed, measures were taken against the abuses of officials, hospitals and shelters for the poor were opened. After the death of Ashoka, the weakening and then the collapse of the power began.

In the 1st century AD at the junction of modern northern India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia, the largestKushan kingdom . Its rulers also pursued an aggressive policy.

Unification of China. Empires of Qin and Han. At the end of the 5th century. BC. The Vanirs of the seven kingdoms that existed in China declared themselves “sons of heaven” and rulers of the entire Celestial Empire. The period beganwarring kingdoms " The state turned out to be the strongestQin in western China. In 230 - 221 BC. its ruler completed the unification of the country and took the nameQin Shi Huang - First Emperor of Qin.

The Qin state occupied the Yellow River and Yangtze valleys and led the conquest of the southern lands of China. During the reign of Qin Shi Huang, taxes were increased. For the slightest crime, not only the criminal himself, but also his entire family were enslaved. Slaves worked on the ruler's farms and in government jobs.

Tribes of nomads lived north of ChinaXiongnu who carried out devastating raids on the surrounding territories. To protect against these invasions, Qin Shi Huang in 221. BC. ordered the construction of a stone wall to begin.the great Wall of China became one of the most grandiose buildings in the world. It stretched for 4 thousand km, but the wall did not provide complete protection from nomads.

After the death of Qin Shi Huang in 210 BC. Rebellions broke out throughout the Qin Empire. In 207 BC. rebel army under the command of the headman of the peasant communityLiu Bang captured the capital of the empire - Xianyang. The Qin rulers were destroyed. A new empire arose led by the descendants of Liu Bang - the stateHan .

In the Han Empire, some laws were relaxed and taxes were reduced, but in general the policy was aimed at unifying China. One of the main tasks also remained the fight against the Huns.

The first period of the existence of the Han Empire was marked by the flourishing of economy and culture. It is not for nothing that the Chinese still call themselves Han. New lands were developed, dams and canals were built, and cities grew. In the II century. BC. aroseThe Great Silk Road , connecting China with distant countries in the west.

In China, although it was complex, there was a perfect order of government. Its foundations were laid even before the unification of the country by the thinkerShan Ian (390 - 338 BC). The rights of the nobility were limited, 12 ranks of nobility were introduced, which any person, even from the bottom of society, who had talents, could pass through. Officials were completely subordinate to the ruler. To strengthen the power of Wang, Shang Yang fought against the veneration of his parents. He said: an official who honors his parents betrays his sovereign.

In the Han state, the order of government created by the thinker was largely preserved, but punishments for respect for parents were abolished. The rulers sought for officials to treat them as their fathers, and the inhabitants of the country treated the officials the same way.

Over time, taxes increased and laws became stricter in the Han Empire. The nobility became disobedient, uprisings of the poor broke out (uprisings of the “red brows”, “yellow armbands”, etc.). At the beginning of the 3rd century. AD The Han state perished.

QUESTIONS AND TASKS

1. What were the reasons for the emergence of the great powers of antiquity? What role did they play in the development of humanity?

2. Why did the Hittites create the first military power?

3. What was the strength of the Assyrians? How did they try to maintain their power over the conquered peoples?

4. What countries and peoples were part of the Median-Persian kingdom? How was the administration of this kingdom organized?

5. Tell us about the great powers of Ancient India.

6. How was China unified? What were the differences between the Qin and Han empires?

7. Make a comparative table revealing the common features and features of the development of three or four powers of the Ancient East.

The Ancient East is a bizarre cocktail of different states, peoples and tribes. His lands extended from the northern coast of Africa to the Pacific Ocean. The original culture and impressive history of the Ancient East had a huge impact on the development of all mankind.

General characteristics of the Ancient East

The cradle of the first eastern states were the fertile valleys of the largest rivers, the Euphrates, Tigris and Nile. In these territories, small communities arose Great powers of the Ancient East:

• Babylon;
• Ancient Egypt;
• Assyria;
• Persia.

A similar development took place on the Hindustan Peninsula and in China, where the largest centers also arose in the lowlands of the Yellow, Ganges, and Indus rivers.

Rice. 1. Ganges River.

Ancient ethnic groups created writing, built cities, and formed powerful states with a unique culture, architecture, and art. Centers of statehood were created in Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. This whole motley and diverse world of large countries and small settlements is the Ancient East.

All these states existed in different time periods. The very first eastern civilizations were formed in the 4th century BC. e., and ceased to exist at the beginning of the 4th century, when the troops of the famous commander Alexander the Great subdued the vast expanses of ancient states.

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The characteristic features of the states of the Ancient East were forever lost with the penetration of Greek culture. Ancient civilizations began to emerge on the conquered lands: the kingdom of Pergamon, Cappadocia, the Pontic kingdom, and Bithynia. In India and China, ancient powers existed until the 5th century, until they were replaced by a feudal system.

Table “States of the Ancient East”

Natural and climatic conditions

Different regions of the Ancient East had their own characteristic natural features, but they were all united by common features:

• subtropical climate with mild winters and very hot, dry summers;
• presence of large river basins;
• varied terrain with alternating fertile valleys, mountain ranges, plateaus and rocky deserts.

Such large rivers as the Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, Ganges, Indus, Yangtze, and Yellow River played a huge role in the formation of ancient eastern states. Thanks to the presence of fertile, well-moistened soil in their vast basins, successful economic activity became possible.

Cities and government

Already in the 3rd millennium BC. e. In the Ancient East, large settlements began to emerge with impressive structures, defensive fortifications and a large number of inhabitants.

Cities are a fundamentally new phenomenon in the early history of civilizations. Religious worship, handicraft production, and trade were concentrated in them.

The first ancient Eastern cities had a competent layout, with a defensive tower and residential areas divided into quarters. Even then they were provided with a water supply and sewerage system. The houses were one-story, two- and even three-story.

Rice. 2. Ancient cities.

With the emergence of cities, state power began to develop. The form of government in the Ancient East was eastern despotism, which was characterized by a monarchy unlimited by any laws.

State administration was carried out through the work of a huge apparatus of officials. Under their leadership, work was carried out in the fields and in craft workshops, quarries and mines were developed, trade and construction were carried out.

Within the framework of eastern despotism, the ruler - van, pharaoh, king - was considered not only the only person endowed with absolute power, but was also recognized as a divine vicegerent, a superman. The deification of the personality of the ruler was the most important feature of despotism in the Ancient East.

Culture of the Ancient East

The Ancient East is the birthplace of writing. Its earliest variety was hieroglyphic writing, which originated in Egypt, China, and Mesopotamia. After some time, an alphabetic writing system was formed in Phenicia, adopted by the ancient Romans and Greeks.

Rice. 3. Writing of the Ancient East.

The Ancient East also became the cradle of world religions - Buddhism and Christianity, which incredibly quickly conquered the entire planet. This was facilitated by the appeal of these religions to representatives of all social groups and their interethnic nature.

The peoples of the Ancient East made a huge contribution to the development of world architecture. Monumental pyramids, majestic temple complexes, ziggurats built in ancient times still amaze with their power and beauty.

In the large ancient eastern states, scientific knowledge was greatly developed, especially in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and agronomy. Many cultivated plants were bred here, without which the modern world cannot imagine its existence: wheat, flax, cotton, grapes, tea and many others.

Doctors could not only treat serious illnesses, but also perform operations. People divided time into years, months and days. Literature, painting, and sculpture were well developed.

What have we learned?

When studying the topic “Ancient East” in the 10th grade history program, we briefly examined the general characteristics of the ancient Eastern states and learned what events had a significant impact on their formation. We found out how cities were built, the political system, culture and art were formed in the Ancient East.

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