Culture of Ancient civilizations (their general characteristics). Why is the knowledge of ancient civilizations methodically destroyed? Common in the cultures of ancient civilizations
1. Culture of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia
2. Features of the attitude of the ancient Egyptians: religion, magic, mythology.
3. Sacralization of the power of the pharaoh. Theocracy and the funeral cult.
4. Cultural heritage of Mesopotamia in the history of mankind.
A new step in the development of culture was made by the great civilizations of the Ancient East - Egypt and Mesopotamia.
When studying the culture of Ancient Egypt, it is necessary to point out that this culture was of a religious nature, in addition, it was characterized by a despotic form of government, that is, the concentration of power in the hands of one person - the pharaoh, revered as the heir of God on earth. The division of the world into the earthly and the afterlife is characteristic, which is an improved version of the earthly world, in connection with which, the earthly life of a person was only a preparation for the future afterlife, but it was predetermined by the gods.
Considering the culture of Ancient Egypt, one cannot fail to mention the achievements of art: architecture, sculpture, literature, painting.
The ancient Egyptian civilization went through all the regular stages of development: from emergence to prosperity and decline. But all the conquests of ancient Egyptian culture were of lasting importance for the further progressive development of human culture.
Simultaneously and in parallel with the civilization of Egypt in the interfluve of the Tigris and Euphrates (Mesopotamia), centers of other ancient cultures arose and developed: Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, Assyria. However, since there are many cultural similarities between them, scientists often describe three types of culture as stages of development of one civilization. Speaking about the culture of Mesopotamia, it should be noted that it was in this cultural era that a revolutionary revolution took place in the history of mankind - from agriculture to the creation of an urban culture and the formation of a state. An equally significant achievement of the Sumerian-Akkadian culture was the improvement of writing.
The cultural heritage of the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia was used and processed in the era of the creation of a much higher civilization and was of enduring importance for the further development of world culture.
Questions for self-control
Give the periodization of ancient Egyptian culture.
What inventions were made by the ancient Egyptians?
What are the distinctive features of Egyptian art?
What is the contribution of the culture of Mesopotamia to the development of world culture?
Zamarsky V. Their Majesties pyramids. M., 1986.
History of the Ancient East. M., 1983.
Korostovtsev M.A. Religion of Ancient Egypt. M., 1976.
Kramer S.N. The story begins in Sumer. M., 1991.
Culture of Ancient Egypt. M., 1976.
Oppenheim A.L. Ancient Mesopotamia. M., 1990.
Culture of Ancient India and Ancient China
Main features and value system of Indo-Buddhist culture.
Art, architecture and literature of Ancient India.
Ritual, Ethics and Ceremonies in Ancient China.
The peculiarity of Chinese art: the trinity of calligraphy, poetry and painting.
India and China are the most ancient civilizations that exist today, having much in common with the culture of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia: traditionalism, ritualism, canonicity, and the close relationship of culture with religious and philosophical views.
Considering the culture of Ancient India, it should be noted that all the main religions of the world are represented in India, which characterizes the rather complex ideological and social structure of Indian society and inevitably affects the diversity of Indian culture. In addition, Indian religions have created in art a unique atmosphere of movement, the flickering of life, and contributed to the strengthening of the principle of incompleteness. The originality of Indian art lies in the originality of thinking - religious and artistic. Music, literature, theater and dance are no less striking.
Unlike other oriental cultures, Chinese culture is more rational and pragmatic. The development of the spiritual culture of Ancient China is a long-term process of the formation of a generic mythological consciousness, and subsequently a religious worldview and the first philosophical concepts. It should be noted that two philosophical and religious teachings - Confucianism and Taoism - played an important role in the culture of China.
When considering the ritual, ethics and ceremony in Ancient China, it is advisable to use the works of the Sinologist and culturologist, Professor of Tamkang University V.V. Malyavin.
Studying the culture of Ancient China, one should pay attention to literature, fine arts, theater, arts and crafts.
Questions for self-control
Name the religious and philosophical systems of Ancient India.
What are the main features of the culture of Ancient India?
What are the features of the mentality of the ancient Chinese?
What is the originality of Chinese art?
What inventions and discoveries were made in ancient China?
Bongard-Levin G.M. Ancient Indian civilization. M., 1980.
Vasiliev L.S. Cults, religions, traditions in China. M., 1970.
Guseva N.R. India: Millennia and the Present. M., 1971.
Ancient civilizations. M., 1989.
The art of management / Comp., Trans., Entry. Art. and comments. V.V. Malyavin. M., 2003.
Chinese Civilization. / Ed. V.V. Malyavina, M., 2000.
Kochetov A.N. Buddhism. M., 1965.
Culture of Ancient India. M., 1975.
Myths of Ancient India. Literary presentation by V.G. Erman and E.N. Temkin. M., 1975.
This ancient agricultural civilization began to form in the 4th century. BC. The history of the state and culture of Egypt is divided into several periods: Early, Ancient, Middle and New Kingdom. Early Egypt was the time of the formation of the slave system and the despotic state, during which the religious beliefs characteristic of the ancient Egyptians were formed: the cult of nature and ancestors, astral and afterlife cults, fetishism, totemism, animism and magic. Stone began to be widely used in religious construction. The Ancient and Middle Kingdoms were characterized by the strengthening and centralization of the bureaucratic apparatus of government, the strengthening of the power of Egypt and its desire to expand its influence over neighboring peoples. In cultural development, this is the era of construction, surprising with the size of the tombs of the pharaohs, such as the pyramids of Cheops, etc., the creation of unique art monuments, such as the sphinxes of the pharaohs, portrait relief on a tree. The grandeur of the largest of the Egyptian pyramids - the pyramid of Cheops, which has no equal among the stone structures of the whole world, is evidenced by its dimensions: 146m - height, and the length of the base of each of the 4 faces - 230m. The new kingdom was the last period of external activity of Egypt, when he fought wars in Asia and North Africa. At this time, the architecture of temples especially flourished.
Among the greatest achievements of artistic creativity of this period are the image of Queen Nefertiti from the sculpture workshop in Akhetaton, the golden mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamun and the painting of tombs in the Valley of the Kings near Thebes. They continued the tradition of depicting the head and legs of the figure in profile, and the torso in the front, characteristic of the Ancient East. This tradition disappears in the final period of the fall of Egypt, when it is conquered by Persia. The religious and mythological system of the ancient Egyptians about the construction of the world was formed within the boundaries of a peculiar worldview. All the many fragmented religions were gradually reduced to a certain divine hierarchy, where the cult of the god Ra (the most important among all deities) merged with the cults of other gods. In ancient Egypt, where only the pharaoh stood above society, all other citizens were considered equal before the creator and the law, women were equal with men. Belief in individual immortality gave rise to such a phenomenon in the culture of the ancient Egyptians as the desire to leave a memory of themselves for centuries, they built monuments-tombs, marked with hieroglyphs. If in the era of the Old Kingdom only the pharaohs could enter the “kingdom of the dead” by building a pyramid for themselves, then from the time of the Middle Kingdom everyone had the right to build their own tomb. In ancient Egypt, all special knowledge was concentrated in a small group of people, which consisted of the caste of priests that dominated society. The priests effectively used the data of astronomical observations accumulated over time to control the masses, discovering the frequency of solar eclipses and learning how to predict them. In ancient Egypt, for the first time in the world, practical medicine arose, the decimal system of arithmetic reached a certain development. The ancient Egyptians also possessed some elite knowledge of algebra.
The discovery of hieroglyphs as a written language contributed to the development of such genres of literature as myths, fairy tales, tales, prayers, hymns, laments, epitaphs, stories, love lyrics and even philosophical dialogues and political treatises; later, religious drama and secular theater appeared. The rapid development of art in ancient Egyptian society led to the emergence of 1 in the world of written aesthetic and philosophical reflections. It was here that humanism arose for the first time in the history of world culture. The cultural heritage of Ancient Egypt played its historical role in the formation and development of world culture.
Culture of Ancient India
The early Indian civilization was created by the ancient indigenous people of North India in the 3rd century. BC. Its centers, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro (now Pakistan), maintained ties with Mesopotamia and the countries of Central and Central Asia. The inhabitants of these places have achieved great skill, especially in the depiction of images of small forms (figurines, engravings); their amazing achievement was a plumbing and sewerage system that no other ancient culture had. They also created their own original, still undeciphered writing. A striking feature of the Harappa culture was its unusual conservatism: over the centuries, the layout of the streets of ancient Indian places did not change, and new houses were built on the places of old ones. A characteristic feature of Indian culture is that we encounter numerous religions that interact with each other. Among them, the main ones stand out - Brahmanism and its forms, Hinduism and Jainism, Buddhism and Islam. Ancient Indian culture reached its true flourishing in the era of "Rigvedi" - a large collection of religious hymns, magic spells and ritual customs created by the priests of the Aryan tribes, which appeared in India after the so-called. “The great migration of peoples”.
At the same time, Brahmanism was formed as a kind of synthesis of the beliefs of the Indo-Aryans and the religious ideas of the previous local pre-Aryan population of North India. In the era of "Rigvedi" the Indian phenomenon began to take shape - the caste system. For the first time, the moral and legal motives for dividing Indian society into four main “varnas” were theoretically substantiated: priests, warriors, common people-farmers and servants. A whole system of regulations for the life and behavior of people of each varna was developed. According to this, marriage was considered legal only within the limits of one varna. The result of such relations between people was the following division of varnas into an even larger number of small castes. The formation of castes is the result of a thousand-year evolution of the interaction of different racial and ethnic groups in a single cultural system of ancient Indian society, where a very complex social structure was formed. Olympus in Hinduism symbolizes the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, which represents the cosmic forces of creation, saving and destruction. Buddhism was a peculiar reaction of the population that did not belong to the castes of the priests and opposed the inequality of castes. According to the teachings of Buddhism, the mission of human life is the attainment of nirvana.
Islam was strikingly different from all previous religious views. First of all, the Muslim tribes possessed military technology and a strong political system, but their main belief was based on the concept of "grouped brotherhood", which united by a bond of deep respect all those who accepted this faith. All Indian literature, both religious and secular, is filled with hints of sexual content and the symbolism of explicit erotic descriptions. In the Middle Ages, the very process of cosmic creation was depicted as a marriage of God and Goddess, so figures on the walls of temples were depicted in various poses. In the culture of Ancient India, the originality of cultural trends and philosophical thought are closely linked. Philosophical views that shared the religious division of light are included in Brahmanism, Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. All philosophical views played an important role not only in the history of Indian culture, but also in world philosophy and science. Achievements of various branches of ancient Indian science - mathematics, astronomy, medicine and natural history - are closely connected with them. It is known that Indian scientists in the distant past have outstripped some of the discoveries made by European scientists only during the Renaissance or at the present time. The artistic culture of ancient Indian society is inextricably linked with its traditional religious and philosophical systems.
Ideas typical of the religious beliefs of the ancient Indians inspired creativity in architecture, culture and painting. For posterity, huge statues of Buddha, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, a cat, were made of metal. are surprising for their colossal size. The perception of light through the spiritual prism of the beliefs of these religions is the frescoes of the cave temples of Ajanta and rock compositions in the temples of Ellora, the cat. combine the traditions of sowing. and south. type of structure of temples in dr. India. In some details of these monuments of art, one can feel the influence of art and other ancient times. east civilizations. This was due to the location of India on the Great Silk Road, along the cat. not only caravans with goods went, but also there was a cultural exchange. In this process, India played a cultural role, expanding the civilized influence of Buddhism in other ancient times. country.
Culture Dr. China.
The most ancient. the period of Chinese civilization is considered the era of the existence of the Shan state, a slave country in the Yellow River valley. Its capital was the city of Shang, which gave the name. country and ruling dynasty of kings. Later it was conquered by other Chinese tribes, called. new kingdom of Zhou. Subsequently, it split into five independent principalities. Already in the Shang era, ideographic writing was discovered, cat. through long improvement, it turned into hieroglyphic calligraphy, and a monthly calendar was also drawn up in basic outline. During the early imperial era, Dr. K. introduced into the world. culture such discoveries as a compass and a speedometer, a seismograph. Later, typography and gunpowder were invented. It was in Kazakhstan that paper and movable type were discovered in the field of writing and printing, and guns and stirrups were discovered in military technology. Mechanical was also invented. hours and there was a technical. improvements in the region. silk weaving.
In mat-ke, an outstanding Chinese achievement was the use of decimal fractions and an empty position to designate 0, the calculation of the number P, the discovery of a method for solving equations with two and three unknowns. Tree. the Chinese were educated astronomers and made one of the world's first star charts. Since the ancient Chinese society was agrarian, the centralized bureaucracy had to solve complex technical issues related primarily to the use and protection of water resources, therefore, the high development in Dr. K. achieved astronomy, knowledge of calendar calculations and astrological forecasts, mother, physics, and hydraulic engineering in their engineering use. It was also important to build forts, aimed primarily at protecting the outer borders of the empire from the invasions of warlike nomads from the North.
Chinese builders became famous for their grandiose structures - the Great Wall of China and the Great Canal. Chinese medicine has achieved many results over the course of 3 thousand years of history. In dr. K. was first written "Pharmacology", for the first time began to carry out surgical operations with the use of narcotic. means, for the first time used and described in the literature methods of treatment with acupuncture, moxibustion and massage. Ancient Chinese thinkers and healers have developed an original doctrine of "vital energy". On the basis of this teaching, the ph-fsko-health-improving system "wushu" was created, which gave rise to the therapeutic gymnastics of the same name, as well as the art of self-defense "kung fu". The peculiarity of the spiritual culture of Dr. K. is largely due to the phenomenon known in the world as "Chinese ceremonies." These strictly fixed stereotypes of ethical and ritual norms of behavior and thinking were formed on the basis of the cult of antiquity. The place of the cult of the gods was taken by the cult of real clan and family ancestors. And those gods, whose cult has survived, have lost the least resemblance to people, becoming abstract deities-symbols, for example. Sky.
The most important place in Chinese spiritual culture is occupied by Confucianism - ethical-polit. doctrine of f-fa idealist Confucius. His ideal is a highly moral person based on the traditions of wise ancestors. The Teaching divided the community into “higher” and “lower” and demanded that everyone fulfill the obligations assigned to him. Confucianism played a significant role in the development of Chinese statehood and the functioning of polit. culture of imperial China. Ch. the force that opposed Confucianism in politics and ethics was legalism. The Legists, being realists, put the law, power and authority of the cat as the basis of their doctrine. must be supported by cruel punishments. Confucianism relied on morality and antiquity. traditions, while legalism put administrative regulations in the first place. Under the influence of the characteristic trees. Chinese society of religious, ethical-f-fs and socio-polit. views developed and all of his classic. liter. Already in the earliest collection of poetry Dr. K., the famous "Book of Songs", cat. was created for a long time on the basis of folk songs, sacred tunes and trees. hymns, the feats of ancestors are sung. In the 2-3 centuries. in K. comes Buddhism, a cat. quite noticeably influenced the traditional Chinese culture, it manifested itself in the literature, figurative art and, especially, in the actor. Buddhism has existed in China for two millennia and has changed markedly in the process of adapting to a specific Chinese civilization. On the basis of the synthesis of his ideas with Confucian pragmatism, Ch'an Buddhism, a cat. later spread to Japan and got the form of Zen Buddhism. The most transformations of Buddhism manifested themselves in a peculiar way. Chinese art, cat. as nowhere else in the world relied on traditions. The Chinese never took on the form of an Indus. Buddhas created their own image. The same thing happened with the nature of the temples. Taoism also played a significant role in Chinese culture, with a cat. connected with the development of science and technology dr. K. A special role in cultural contacts of K. with the outside world was played by the "Great Silk Road", cat. not only trade, but also cultural exchange between China and other countries took place, which influenced Chinese culture.
Hellenic culture
The Greeks worshiped deities representing various forces of nature, social forces and phenomena, heroes - the mythical ancestors of tribes and clans, the founders of cities. In the myths, layers of different eras have been preserved - from the ancient worship of plants and animals to anthropomorphism - the deification of man, the representation of the gods in the images of young, beautiful and immortal people. A significant place in Greek mythology was occupied by legends about heroes - children of gods and mortals. Mythology became a significant element of Greek culture, on the basis of which literature, philosophy, and science later developed. Literary education was based on the works of Homer, Hesiod, Aesop. One of the greatest acquisitions of the culture of Dr. Gr. there are works by Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey", lyric poetry arose, one of the first lyres. poets are considered Archilochus. On the island of Lesbos, Sappho worked, the work of the cat. was the pinnacle of dr. Gr. In the 7th century. BC. stone buildings appear. Ch. way these are temples.
In the process of forming gr. Actors emerge in 3 main directions: Doric (used mainly in the Peloponnese, characterized by simplicity and severity of forms), Ionic (lightness, harmony, decorativeness), Corinthian (refinement). Temples arch. period: Apollo in Corinth and Hera in Paestum. In the sculpture of arch. period, the main place is occupied by the image of a bang. Gr. Artists are trying to master the correct construction of the body of the bang, to learn how to convey movement. The human body has undergone a thorough geometric study, as a result of the cat. rules were established for the proportional relationship of its parts. Historians believe that the theorist of proportions is the sculptor Polycletus. The anthropocentricity of ancient Greek culture presupposes the cult of the human body. The cult of the body was so great that nudity did not evoke a feeling of shame. As soon as the famous Athenian beauty Phryne, accused of committing a crime, threw off her clothes before the judges, they, blinded by beauty, justified her. The human body has become the yardstick for all forms of Greek culture. Painting ch. arr. known to us from vase paintings. In the 6th century. black-figure painting dominates; figures are depicted on a yellow surface with black varnish. At the end of the 6th century. red-figure painting appears, when the figures remain in the color of clay, and the background is black-lacquered. drama is developing. The emergence of gr. theater was associated with the cult of the god of wine Dionysus. Actors performed in goatskins and therefore this genre was called "tragedy" ("song of the goats").
Famous playwrights were Aeschylus ("Chained Prometheus"), Sophocles ("Antigone" and "Oedipus the King"), Euripides ("Medea", "Electra"). From prose genres in the classical period rhetoric flourishes - the ability to clearly express one's thoughts, convincingly defend one's position. Sculptors mostly depicted gods. The most prominent sculptors were Phidias, Polycletus and Lysippos (court sculptor of A. Macedon). The creation of Phidias was the statues of Athena in the Parthenon and the Olympian Zeus in Olympia. Polycletus is the main representative of the Peloponnesian school. The most famous sculpture of the master is "Dorifor", a young man with a spear. In the 4th century. BC. gr. sculpture tends to convey the individual characteristics of the character of the bang. In the 5th century. BC. - time of the fracture in gr. painting, the transition to a volumetric image. Greek agon - struggle, competition personified the characteristics of a free Greek. The most vivid expression of the ancient agon was the famous Olympic Games. The origins of the first Olympiads are lost in antiquity, but in 776. BC. the name of the winner in running was written on a marble plaque for the first time, and this year is considered the beginning of the historical period of the Olympic Games. The site of the Olympic festivities was the sacred grove Altis.
In the famous temple of Olympian Zeus, there was a statue of a god created by Phidias and considered one of the seven wonders of the world. In the sacred grove, trade deals were concluded, poets, orators, and scientists spoke to the audience, artists and sculptors presented their paintings and sculptures to the audience. The state had the right to promulgate new laws here. The Academy of Athens, a grove dedicated to the Athenian hero Academy, became famous for the fact that the torch race began from here later. The dialectic (the ability to conduct a conversation) originates in the Greek agon. Greek culture is festive, outwardly colorful and spectacular. In literature during the Hellenistic period, attention to man is growing. The comedy was a success. The rapid growth of cities, the desire of rulers to glorify the power of their states, contributed to the development of actors, especially the art of urban planning and types of art associated with decorating buildings - mosaics, decorative sculpture, painted ceramics. Basilicas, gymnasiums, stadiums, libraries, as well as palaces of kings and dwelling houses appeared. In the region. sculpture during this period, there were 3 schools. 1. Rhodes school (drama). Sculptural groups "Laocoon" and "Farnese bull". 2. Pergamon School. Sculptural frieze of the altar of Zeus and Athena in Pergamum. 3. Alexandria school. The image of the goddess Aphrodite. Painting, especially landscape painting, reached great development. The culture of Hellenism was the final stage in the development of the culture of Dr. Greece.
Archaic period.
In the history of Dr. Gr. 8-6c. BC. characterized by great changes in households. activities, social. life, culture. One of the greatest acquisitions of the culture of Arch. period there are works by Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey". In the 7-6 centuries. BC. there was gr. lyrics, one of the first lyres. poets are considered Archilochus. In the first floor. 6c. BC. on the island of Lesbos created Sappho, the work of the cat. was the pinnacle of dr. Gr. In 8-6c. in dr. Gr. there was a rise in the creative arts and actors. In the 7th century. BC. stone buildings appear. Ch. way these are temples. In the process of forming gr. Actors emerge in 3 main directions: Doric (used mainly in the Peloponnese, characterized by simplicity and severity of forms), Ionic (lightness, harmony, decorativeness), Corinthian (refinement). Temples arch. period: Apollo in Corinth and Hera in Paestum. In the sculpture of arch. period, the main place is occupied by the image of a bang. Gr. Artists are trying to master the correct construction of the body of the bang, to learn how to convey movement. Painting ch. arr. known to us from vase paintings. In the 6th century. black-figure painting dominates; figures are depicted on a yellow surface with black varnish. At the end of the 6th century. red-figure painting appears, when the figures remain in the color of clay, and the background is black-lacquered. Generalization of knowledge about the environment. the world were the basis for the development of f-fi. Thales was the founder of the Miletsk school of physics, who believed that the fundamental principle of the world is water, from a cat. everything arises in the cat. everything turns. “Apeiron”, indefinite, eternal matter, air, fire, was also considered the fundamental principle. Ancient Greek. f-f and mathematician Pythagoras founded a f-fskoy school in Yuzh. Italy. According to his f-fi, the world consists of quantitative patterns, cat. can be calculated. The merit of the Pythagoreans was the development of theorems, the theory of music, built on numerical ratios, the establishment of a number of countless regularities in the world. The idealistic line in f-fi, founded by the Pythagoreans, was continued by the Eleian f-fs school. The victory over Persia gave Gr. complete power in Sredr'e. War production, trade, and the use of slave labor contributed to the development of all branches of culture.
Classic period.
In cl. period drama develops. The emergence of gr. theater was associated with the cult of the god of wine Dionysus. Actors performed in goatskins and therefore this genre was called "tragedy" ("song of the goats"). Famous playwrights of this period were Aeschylus (“Chained Prometheus”), Sophocles (“Antigone” and “King Oedipus”), Euripides (“Medea”, “Electra”). From prose genres in the classical period rhetoric flourishes - the ability to clearly express one's thoughts, convincingly defend one's position. Among the f-fskie problems in cl. During the period, the understanding of the essence and place of man in the world is advanced on the 1st plane, consideration of the problems of being and the fundamental principle of the world continues. A materialistic interpretation of the problem of the fundamental principle was put forward by Democritus, having developed the doctrine of atoms. Ancient Greek. the sophists taught that “man is the measure of all things,” and the essence of things depends on their connection with the person. Socrates saw the way to the attainment of truth in self-knowledge. Plato to explain being developed the theory of the existence of "ideas". Plato also paid considerable attention to the issues of the state, he proposed a project of an ideal polis controlled by f-fs. Aristotle made his contribution to physics, natural history, history, literature, state law, the foundations of formal logic. Astronomy, medicine, geography, mechanics, history developed. The ancient Greek made a contribution to medicine. physician Hippocrates. Gr. claim in cl. period reached its highest development. Sculptors mostly depicted gods. The most prominent sculptors were Phidias, Polycletus and Lysippos (court sculptor of A. Macedon). The creation of Phidias was the statues of Athena in the Parthenon and the Olympian Zeus in Olympia. Polycletus is the main representative of the Peloponnesian school. The most famous sculpture of the master is "Dorifor", a young man with a spear. In the 4th century. BC. gr. sculpture tends to convey the individual characteristics of the character of the bang. In the 5th century. BC. - time of the fracture in gr. painting, the transition to a volumetric image. Damn gr. culture competitiveness. Gr. agon - struggle, competition personified the characteristics of a free Greek. The most vivid expression of the ancient agon was the famous Olympic Games. In the Greek agon, dialectics originates - the ability to conduct a conversation.
Hellenism.
The period from the beginning of the campaign of A. Macedonian to the East to the conquest of Egypt by Rome is called Hellenic. It is characterized by the expansion of relationships and interactions gr. and east. cultures. Having lost the policy limitation, gr. culture absorbed the East. e-you. These changes found their manifestation in religion, f-fi, literature. New faculty schools arose. The most famous in this period are the teachings of the Stoics (founder Zeno) and the philosophy of Epicurus (follower of Democritus). In literature during the Hellenistic period, attention to man is growing. The comedy was a success. The rapid growth of cities, the desire of rulers to glorify the power of their states contributed to the development of actors, especially the art of urban planning and arts related to the decoration of buildings - mosaics, decorative sculpture, painted ceramics .. Basilicas, gymnasiums, stadiums, libraries, as well as palaces appeared. kings, residential buildings. In the region. sculpture during this period, there were 3 schools. 1. Rhodes school (drama). Sculptural groups "Laocoon" and "Farnese bull". 2. Pergamon School. Sculptural frieze of the altar of Zeus and Athena in Pergamum. 3. Alexandria school. The image of the goddess Aphrodite. Painting, especially landscape painting, reached great development. The culture of Hellenism was the final stage in the development of the culture of Dr. Greece.
Egypt
This ancient agricultural civilization began to form in the 4th century. BC. History
state and culture of Egypt is divided into several periods: Early, Ancient, Middle and New Kingdom. Early Egypt was the time of the formation of the slave system and the despotic state, during which the religious beliefs characteristic of the ancient Egyptians were formed: the cult of nature and ancestors, astral and afterlife cults, fetishism, totemism, animism and magic. Stone began to be widely used in religious construction. The Ancient and Middle Kingdoms were characterized by the strengthening and centralization of the bureaucratic apparatus of government, the strengthening of the power of Egypt and its desire to expand its influence over neighboring peoples. In cultural development, this is the era of construction, surprising with the size of the tombs of the pharaohs, such as the pyramids of Cheops, etc., the creation of unique art monuments, such as the sphinxes of the pharaohs, portrait relief on a tree. The grandeur of the largest of the Egyptian pyramids - the pyramid of Cheops, which has no equal among the stone structures of the whole world, is evidenced by its dimensions: 146m - height, and the length of the base of each of the 4 faces - 230m. The new kingdom was the last period of external activity of Egypt, when he fought wars in Asia and North Africa. At this time, the architecture of temples especially flourished.
Among the greatest achievements of artistic creativity of this period, the image of the queen
Nefertiti from the sculpture workshop in Akhetaton, the golden mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamun and the paintings of tombs in the Valley of the Kings near Thebes. They continued the tradition of depicting the head and legs of the figure in profile, and the torso in the front, characteristic of the Ancient East. This tradition disappears in the final period of the fall of Egypt, when it is conquered by Persia. The religious and mythological system of the ancient Egyptians about the construction of the world was formed within the boundaries of a peculiar worldview. All the many fragmented religions were gradually reduced to a certain divine hierarchy, where the cult of the god Ra (the most important among all deities) merged with the cults of other gods. In ancient Egypt, where only the pharaoh stood above society, all other citizens were considered equal before the creator and the law, women were equal with men. Belief in individual immortality gave rise to such a phenomenon in the culture of the ancient Egyptians as the desire to leave a memory of oneself for centuries,
they built monuments, tombs, marked with hieroglyphs. If in the era of the Old Kingdom only the pharaohs could enter the “kingdom of the dead” by building a pyramid for themselves, then from the time of the Middle Kingdom everyone had the right to build their own tomb. In ancient Egypt, all special knowledge was concentrated in a small group of people, which consisted of the caste of priests that dominated society. The priests effectively used the data of astronomical observations accumulated over time to control the masses, discovering the frequency of solar eclipses and learning how to predict them. In ancient Egypt, for the first time in the world, practical medicine arose, the decimal system of arithmetic reached a certain development. The ancient Egyptians also possessed some elite knowledge of algebra. The discovery of hieroglyphs as a written language contributed to the development of such genres of literature as myths, fairy tales, tales, prayers, hymns, laments, epitaphs, stories, love lyrics and even philosophical dialogues and political treatises; later, religious drama and secular theater appeared. The rapid development of art in ancient Egyptian society led to the emergence of 1 in the world of written aesthetic and philosophical reflections. It was here that humanism arose for the first time in the history of world culture. The cultural heritage of Ancient Egypt played its historical role in the formation and development of world culture.
Early Indian civilization was created by the ancient indigenous people of North India in
3 c. BC. Its centers, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro (now Pakistan), maintained ties with Mesopotamia and the countries of Central and Central Asia. The inhabitants of these places have reached a high
skill, especially in the depiction of images of small forms (figurines, engravings); their marvelous achievement was a plumbing and sewerage system that none of the other ancient cultures had. They also created their own original, still undeciphered writing.
A striking feature of the Harappa culture was its unusual conservatism: over the centuries
the layout of the streets of ancient Indian places did not change, and new houses were built on the places of old ones. A characteristic feature of Indian culture is that we encounter numerous religions that interact with each other. Among them, the main ones stand out - Brahmanism and its forms, Hinduism and Jainism, Buddhism and Islam. Ancient Indian culture reached its true flourishing in the era of "Rigvedi" - a large collection of religious hymns, magic spells and ritual customs created by the priests of the Aryan tribes, which appeared in India after the so-called. “The great migration of peoples”. At the same time, Brahmanism was formed as a kind of synthesis of the beliefs of the Indo-Aryans and the religious ideas of the previous local pre-Aryan population of North India. In the era of "Rigvedi" the Indian phenomenon began to take shape - the caste system. For the first time were theoretically
substantiated the moral and legal motives for dividing Indian society into four main
“Varnas”: priests, warriors, common people-farmers and servants. A whole system was developed
regulations of life and behavior of people of each varna. According to this, marriage was considered legal only within the limits of one varna. The result of such relations between people was the following division of varnas into an even larger number of small castes. The formation of castes is the result of a thousand-year evolution of the interaction of different racial and ethnic groups in a single cultural system of ancient Indian society, where a very complex social structure was formed. Olympus in Hinduism symbolizes the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, which represents the cosmic forces of creation, saving and destruction. Buddhism was a peculiar reaction of the population that did not belong to the castes of the priests and opposed the inequality of castes. According to the teachings of Buddhism, the mission of human life is the attainment of nirvana.
Islam was strikingly different from all previous religious views. First of all, Muslim
The tribes possessed military technology and a strong political system, but their main beliefs were based on the concept of “grouped brotherhood”, which united by a bond of deep respect all those who accepted this faith. All Indian literature, both religious and secular, is filled with hints of sexual content and the symbolism of explicit erotic descriptions. In the Middle Ages, the very process of cosmic creation was depicted as a marriage of God and Goddess, so figures on the walls of temples were depicted in various poses. In the culture of Ancient India, the originality of cultural trends and philosophical thought are closely linked. Philosophical views that shared the religious division of light are included in Brahmanism, Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. All philosophical views played an important role not only in the history of Indian culture, but also in world philosophy and science. Achievements of various branches of ancient Indian science - mathematics, astronomy, medicine and natural history - are closely connected with them. It is known that Indian scientists in the distant past have outstripped some of the discoveries made by European scientists only during the Renaissance or at the present time. The artistic culture of ancient Indian society is inextricably linked with its traditional religious and philosophical systems.
Ideas typical of the religious beliefs of the ancient Indians inspired creativity in
architecture, culture and painting. For posterity, huge statues of Buddha, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, a cat, were made of metal. are surprising for their colossal size.
The perception of light through the spiritual prism of the beliefs of these religions is the frescoes of cave temples
Ajanta and rock compositions in the temples of Ellora, cat. combine the traditions of sowing. and south. type
structures of temples in dr. India. In some details of these monuments of art, one can feel the influence of art and other ancient times. east civilizations. This was due to the location of India on the Great Silk Road, along which not only caravans with goods went, but also cultural exchange took place. In this process, India played a cultural role, expanding the civilized influence of Buddhism to other ancient countries.
Ancient China
The most ancient period Chinese civilization considered the era of the existence of the Shan State, a slave country in the Yellow River Valley. Its capital was the city of Shang, which gave the name to the country and the ruling dynasty of kings. Later, other Chinese tribes conquered it, calling the new kingdom Zhou. Subsequently, it split into five independent principalities. Already in the Shan era, an ideographic writing was discovered, which, through long improvement, turned into hieroglyphic calligraphy, and a monthly calendar was also drawn up in basic outline. During the early imperial era, Ancient China introduced discoveries such as the compass, speedometer, and seismograph into world culture. Later, typography and gunpowder were invented. It was in China that paper and movable type were discovered in the field of writing and printing, and guns and stirrups in military technology. Mechanical watches were also invented and technical improvements were made in the field of silk weaving.
In mathematics, the outstanding Chinese achievement was the use of decimals and
empty position for designation 0, calculation of the number "Pi", opening a method for solving equations with two and three unknowns. The ancient Chinese were educated astronomers and made one of the world's first star charts. Since the ancient Chinese society was agrarian, the centralized bureaucracy had to solve complex technical issues related primarily to the use and protection of water resources, therefore astronomy, knowledge of calendar calculations and astrological forecasts, mathematics, physics and hydraulic engineering in their engineering use. It was also important to build forts, aimed primarily at protecting the outer borders of the empire from the invasions of warlike nomads from the North. Chinese builders became famous for their grandiose structures - the Great Wall of China and the Great Canal. Chinese medicine has achieved many results throughout its 3,000-year history. In ancient China. For the first time "Pharmacology" was written, for the first time they began to carry out surgical operations with the use of narcotic drugs, for the first time they used and described in the literature methods of treatment with acupuncture, moxibustion and massage. Ancient Chinese thinkers and healers have developed an original doctrine of "vital energy". On the basis of this teaching was
the philosophical and health-improving system "wushu" was created, which gave rise to the same name therapeutic gymnastics, as well as the art of self-defense "kung fu". The peculiarity of the spiritual culture of Ancient China is largely due to the phenomenon known in the world as “Chinese ceremonies”. These strictly fixed stereotypes of ethical and ritual norms of behavior and thinking were formed on the basis of the cult of antiquity. The place of the cult of the gods was taken by the cult of real clan and family ancestors. And those gods, whose cult has survived, have lost the least resemblance to people, becoming abstract deities-symbols, for example, Heaven.
Confucianism occupies the most important place in Chinese spiritual culture - ethical
political doctrine of the idealist philosopher Confucius. His ideal is a highly moral person based on the traditions of wise ancestors. The Teaching divided the community into “higher” and “lower” and demanded that everyone fulfill the obligations assigned to him. Confucianism played a significant role in the development of Chinese statehood and the functioning of the political culture of imperial China. The main force that opposed Confucianism in the field of politics and ethics was legalism. The Legists, being realists, set the law as the basis of their doctrine, the strength and authority of which must be supported by cruel punishments. Confucianism relied on morality and ancient traditions, while legalism put administrative regulations in the first place. Under the influence of religious, ethical-philosophical and socio-political views characteristic of ancient Chinese society, its entire
classical literature. Already in the earliest poetry collection, the famous "Book of Songs", which was created for a long time on the basis of folk songs, sacred tunes and ancient hymns, the feats of the ancestors are sung. In the 2-3 centuries. Buddhism comes to China, which quite noticeably influenced the traditional Chinese culture, this manifested itself in literature, figurative art and, especially, in acting. Buddhism has existed in China for more than 2 millennia, and has noticeably changed in the process of adapting to a specific Chinese civilization. On the basis of the synthesis of his ideas with Confucian pragmatism, Ch'an Buddhism arose in China, which later spread to Japan and acquired the form of Zen Buddhism. The most transformations of Buddhism were manifested in a kind of Chinese art, which
as nowhere else in the world relied on traditions. The Chinese did not accept the appearance of an Indian Buddha, they created their own image. The same thing happened with the nature of the temples. Taoism, which is associated with the development of science and technology in ancient China, also played a significant role in Chinese culture. A special role in the cultural contacts of China with the outside world was played by the "Great Silk Road", along which not only trade, but also the cultural exchange of China with other countries took place, which influenced Chinese culture.
Hellenic culture
The Hellenes worshiped deities representing different forces of nature, social forces
and phenomena, heroes - mythical ancestors of tribes and clans, founders of cities. In the myths, layers of different eras have been preserved - from the ancient worship of plants and animals to anthropomorphism - the deification of man, the representation of the gods in the images of young, beautiful and immortal people. A significant place in Greek mythology was occupied by legends about heroes - children of gods and mortals. Mythology has become a significant element Greek culture, on the basis of which literature, philosophy, science later developed. Literary education was based on the works of Homer, Hesiod, Aesop. One of the greatest acquisitions of the culture of Dr. Gr. there are works by Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey", lyric poetry arose, one of the first lyres. poets are considered Archilochus. On the island of Lesvos, Sappho worked, the work of the cat. was the pinnacle of dr. Gr. In the 7th century. BC. stone buildings appear. Ch. way these are temples. In the process of forming gr. Actors emerge in 3 main directions: Doric (used mainly in the Peloponnese, characterized by simplicity and severity of forms), Ionic (lightness, harmony, decorativeness), Corinthian (refinement). Temples arch. period: Apollo in Corinth and Hera in Paestum. In the sculpture of arch. period, the main place is occupied by the image of a bang. Gr. Artists are trying to master the correct construction of the body of the bang, to learn how to convey movement. The human body has undergone a thorough geometric study, as a result of the cat. rules were established for the proportional relationship of its parts. Historians believe that the theorist of proportions is the sculptor Polycletus. The anthropocentricity of ancient Greek culture presupposes the cult of the human body. The cult of the body was so great that nudity
did not cause a feeling of bashfulness. It cost the famous Athenian beauty Phryne, accused of
committing a crime, throw off their clothes before the judges, as they are blinded by the beauty
acquitted her. The human body has become the yardstick for all forms of Greek culture. Painting ch. arr. known to us from vase paintings. In the 6th century. black-figure painting dominates; figures are depicted on a yellow surface with black varnish. At the end of the 6th century. red-figure painting appears, when the figures remain in the color of clay, and the background is black-lacquered. drama is developing. The emergence of gr. theater was associated with the cult of the god of wine Dionysus. Actors performed in goatskins and therefore this genre was called "tragedy" ("song of the goats").
Famous playwrights were Aeschylus (“Chained Prometheus”), Sophocles (“Antigone” and “Tsar
Oedipus "), Euripides (" Medea "," Electra "). From prose genres in the classical period rhetoric flourishes - the ability to clearly express one's thoughts, convincingly defend one's position.
Sculptors mostly depicted gods. The most prominent sculptors were Phidias,
Polycletus and Lysippos (court sculptor of A. Macedon). The creation of Phidias was the statues of Athena in the Parthenon and the Olympian Zeus in Olympia. Polycletus is the main representative of the Peloponnesian school. The most famous sculpture of the master is "Dorifor", a young man with a spear. In the 4th century. BC. gr. sculpture tends to convey the individual characteristics of the character of the bang. In the 5th century. BC. - time of the fracture in gr. painting, the transition to a volumetric image. Greek agon - struggle, competition personified the characteristics of a free Greek. The most vivid expression of the ancient agon was the famous Olympic Games. The origins of the first Olympiads are lost in antiquity, but in 776. BC. the name of the winner in running was written on a marble plaque for the first time, and this year is considered the beginning of the historical period of the Olympic Games. The site of the Olympic festivities was the sacred grove Altis. In the famous temple of Olympian Zeus, there was a statue of a god created by Phidias and considered one of the seven wonders of the world. In the sacred grove, trade deals were concluded, poets, orators, and scientists spoke to the audience, artists and sculptors presented their paintings and sculptures to the audience. The state had the right to promulgate new laws here.
The Academy of Athens, a grove dedicated to the Athenian hero Academy, became famous for the fact that the torch race began from here later. The dialectic (the ability to conduct a conversation) originates in the Greek agon. Greek culture is festive, outwardly colorful and spectacular. In literature during the Hellenistic period, attention to man is growing. The comedy was a success. The rapid growth of cities, the desire of rulers to glorify the power of their states, contributed to the development of actors, especially the art of urban planning and types of art associated with decorating buildings - mosaics, decorative sculpture, painted ceramics. Basilicas, gymnasiums, stadiums, libraries, as well as palaces of kings and dwelling houses appeared. In the region. sculpture during this period, there were 3 schools:
3. Alexandria school. The image of the goddess Aphrodite. Painting, especially landscape painting, reached great development. The culture of Hellenism was the final stage in the development of the culture of Dr. Greece.
Archaic period.
In the history of Ancient Greece 8-6c. BC. characterized by great changes in economic activity, social life, culture. One of the greatest acquisitions of the culture of the Archaic period is the works of Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey". In the 7-6 centuries. BC. there was gr. lyrics, one of the first lyres. poets are considered Archilochus. In the first half of the 6th century. BC. on the island of Lesvos, Sappho created, whose work was the pinnacle of the lyrics of Ancient Greece. In the 8-6th century. in dr. Gr. there was a rise in the creative arts and actors. In the 7th century. BC. stone buildings appear. These are mainly temples. In the process of forming actors, 3 main directions arise:
Doric (used mainly in the Peloponnese, characterized by simplicity and severity of forms), Ionic (lightness, harmony, decorativeness),
Corinthian (finesse).
Temples of the Archaic period: Apollo at Corinth and Hera at Paestum.
In the sculpture of the archaic period, the main place is occupied by the image of a person. Greek artists are trying to master the correct construction of the body of a bang, to learn how to convey movement. Painting ch. arr. known to us from vase paintings. In the 6th century. black-figure painting dominates; figures are depicted on a yellow surface with black varnish. At the end of the 6th century. red-figure painting appears, when the figures remain in the color of clay, and the background is black-lacquered. Generalization of knowledge about the environment. the world were the basis for the development of f-fi. Thales was the founder of the Miletsk school of physics, who believed that the fundamental principle of the world is water, from a cat. everything arises in the cat. everything turns. “Apeiron”, indefinite, eternal matter, air, fire, was also considered the fundamental principle. Ancient Greek. ff and mathematician Pythagoras founded the ff school in Yuzh. Italy. According to his f-fi, the world consists of quantitative patterns, cat. can be calculated. The merit of the Pythagoreans was the development of theorems, the theory of music, built on numerical ratios, the establishment of a number of countless regularities in the world. Idealistic line
in f-fii, founded by the Pythagoreans, was continued by the eleian f-fs school. The victory over Persia gave Gr. complete power in Sredr'e. War production, trade, and the use of slave labor contributed to the development of all branches of culture.
Classic period.
In the classical period, drama developed. The emergence of the Greek theater was associated with the cult of the god of winemaking Dionysus. Actors performed in goatskins and therefore this genre was called "tragedy" ("song of the goats"). Famous playwrights of this period were Aeschylus (“Chained Prometheus”), Sophocles (“Antigone” and “King Oedipus”), Euripides (“Medea”, “Electra”). From prose genres in the classical period rhetoric flourishes - the ability to clearly express one's thoughts, convincingly defend one's position. Among the f-fskie problems in cl. During the period, the understanding of the essence and place of man in the world is advanced on the 1st plane, consideration of the problems of being and the fundamental principle of the world continues. A materialistic interpretation of the problem of the fundamental principle was put forward by Democritus, having developed the doctrine of atoms. Ancient Greek. the sophists taught that “man is the measure of all things,” and the essence of things depends on their connection with the person. Socrates saw the way to the attainment of truth in self-knowledge. Plato to explain being developed the theory of the existence of "ideas". Plato also paid considerable attention to the issues of the state, he proposed a project of an ideal polis ruled by philosophers. Aristotle made his contribution to philosophy, natural history, history, literature, state law, the foundations of formal logic. Astronomy, medicine, geography, mechanics, history developed. The ancient Greek made a contribution to medicine. physician Hippocrates. Gr. claim in cl. period reached its highest development. Sculptors mostly depicted gods. The most prominent sculptors were Phidias, Polycletus and Lysippos (court sculptor of A. Macedon). The creation of Phidias was the statues of Athena in the Parthenon and the Olympian Zeus in Olympia. Polycletus is the main representative of the Peloponnesian school. The most famous sculpture of the master is "Dorifor", a young man with a spear. In the 4th century. BC. gr. sculpture tends to convey the individual characteristics of the character of the bang. In the 5th century. BC. - time of the fracture in gr. painting, the transition to a volumetric image. Damn gr. culture competitiveness. Gr. agon - struggle, competition personified the characteristics of a free Greek. The most vivid expression of the ancient agon was the famous Olympic Games.
In the Greek agon, dialectics originates - the ability to conduct a conversation.
Hellenism.
The period from the beginning of the campaign of A. Macedonian to the East to the conquest of Egypt by Rome is named
Hellenic. It is characterized by the expansion of interconnections and mutual influences of Greek and Eastern cultures. Deprived of the city limits, Greek culture absorbed oriental elements. These changes found their manifestation in religion, f-fi, literature. New faculty schools arose. The most famous in this period are the teachings of the Stoics (founder Zeno) and the philosophy of Epicurus (follower of Democritus). In literature during the Hellenistic period, attention to man is growing. The comedy was a success. The rapid growth of cities, the desire of rulers to glorify the power of their states contributed to the development of actors, especially the art of urban planning and arts related to the decoration of buildings - mosaics, decorative sculpture, painted ceramics .. Basilicas, gymnasiums, stadiums, libraries, as well as palaces appeared. kings, residential buildings. In the region. sculpture during this period, there were 3 schools:
1. Rhodes school (drama). Sculptural groups "Laocoon" and "Farnese bull".
2. Pergamon School. Sculptural frieze of the altar of Zeus and Athena in Pergamum.
3. Alexandria school. The image of the goddess Aphrodite. Painting, especially landscape painting, reached great development. The culture of Hellenism was the final stage in the development of the culture of Ancient Greece.
Now, when many years have passed since I heard the first fairy tale from my mother, I can tell you with confidence - there is not a single fairy-tale image that does not exist in reality.The last elf state existed until the 1st millennium BC. in Ireland(and also), the last the Dragonwas killed after the birth of Jesus Christ, the last sorcerers and witches were burned in the Middle Ages at the stake of the Inquisition ... I wanted all this, no, I just had to convey to people who also want to believe in a fairy tale.
There is also a reason why I could not limit myself to listing some positive fairy-tale characters and telling only fairy tales with a happy ending. Moreover, it would be unfair to the readers. Indeed, in any fairy tale there are not only beautiful princesses, good sorceresses and unicorns that revive the dead, but also fire-breathing dragons, terrible monsters and evil sorcerers. And in life, not all events have the same wonderful ending as in fairy tales. Quite the opposite is often the case.
This is fully confirmed by my research. Neither elves, nor fairies, nor good sorceresses could save the world from the terrible fate that was destined for him by evil demons. If we translate what has just been said into a language that is more familiar to us, this would mean: at certain periods of the history of the Earth, no peacemakers could save the world from the terrible fate that the rulers obsessed with the thirst for profit and power were preparing for it. From time to time, the world was shaken to its foundations, and in the open earth, the fire of fires and the waves of the flood, almost the entire population of our planet, including the rulers who unleashed the wars, perished.
Therefore, I have no doubt that if people know about the fate of their predecessors and the decisive role in their destruction played by the nuclear and more powerful weapons that are still being developed by our military specialists, they will more persistently and consciously oppose the race. weapons. And by all means to help ensure that huge money is spent not on the destruction of the already very fragile ozone layer and the Earth's magnetic screen, but on solving the global food problem, searching for alternative energy sources and raw materials, increasing the volume of space research and preparing a project to relocate some of the earthlings to another habitable planet. And then, I am sure, our children, the children of our children will have every reason to say a huge human thanks to their fathers, mothers, grandmothers and grandfathers.
Chapter " How to prove the existence of antediluvian civilizations?"
Original Russian Text © A.V. Koltypin, 2009
I, the author of this work, A.V. Koltypin, I authorize to use it for any purposes not prohibited by applicable law, provided that my authorship is indicated and a hyperlink to the site or http://earthbeforeflood.com
Read my works "Nuclear wars have already existed and left many traces. Geological evidence of nuclear and thermonuclear military conflicts in the past" (together with P. Oleksenko), "The last days of the Great Northern civilization. What happened in Northeast Asia, Alaska and the shelf of the Arctic ocean 12 thousand years ago? "," Who was the losing side of the nuclear war 12,000 years ago? The legacy of the distant past in Australian lore "
Read also my works "Oil and gas - products of processing of plants, animals and people killed during catastrophes" and "Oil and coals with a high content of uranium, vanadium, nickel, iridium and other metals - deposits of the epochs of" nuclear wars "
The ancient East was the birthplace of great cultures that brought man out of the bosom of the primitive world. However, having left primitiveness, the East did not overcome the mythological way of man's relationship to the world.
The eastern type of culture carries in itself a striving for the harmony of man with nature, for the wholeness and harmony of man in himself, for self-improvement and immersion in the inner world of man.
According to the theory of the axial time of K. Jaspers, the pre-axial cultures of Mesopotamia (Sumer, Akkad, Babylon) and Ancient Egypt in the period from 3 thousand BC to up to 800-200 BC Those who did not pass to a new stage of development in the axial time were doomed to die.
River civilizations are the foundation of these cultures. Favorable climatic conditions, fertile lands, a river that gives life and is a means of communication - all this leads to the fact that the first state formations appeared on the banks of the great rivers: TIGER, EVFRAT, NIL, IND, GANG, HUANGHE, YANTSZY.
THE ANCIENT EAST is the territory from the northern coast of Africa (Carthage) to the Pacific Ocean (China, Japan).
This territory includes the states: Egypt, Phenicia, Lydia, Assyria, Babylon, India, Urartu, Judea, China, Japan, Iran, (Persia). Time: from 5 thousand BC until the 5th century A.D.
The tribal organization in this period gives way to the family, as a cell of the social structure. Above all this, the state rises, which appears at the beginning, as a body that controls the irrigation system, without which agriculture is impossible.
The head of the state is a ruler with unlimited power, but he himself and all his subjects are slaves to the state, which in the East is an absolute value.
The main product of the spiritual activity of people of that time was a myth. MYTHOLOGY - a specific worldview, which contained the beginnings of science and faith, art and philosophy.
GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS OF ANCIENT CULTURE.
Urban culture and rural culture emerged.
In material production, cultivated plants were bred: wheat, rice, barley, millet, flax, melons, date palm. Were domesticated: bull, donkey, horse, camel, goat, sheep. The processing of copper, gold, silver, iron began. Produced: glass, faience, porcelain, paper. They built big ships, huge buildings, complex irrigation systems.
The most important invention of the East is WRITING. She appeared in about 3300. BC. in Sumer, by 3000. BC - in Egypt, by 2000. BC NS. - in China.
The scheme of the appearance of writing is as follows - drawing - pictogram - hieroglyph - alphabet (invented by the Phoenicians in the 1st millennium BC). In the 1st - 2nd century BC, the Chinese Tsan Lun invented paper, and the Chinese blacksmith Bi Sheng conducted the first experiments in printing, making letters from clay.
The invention of writing ensured the accumulation of knowledge and its reliable transmission to descendants.
The ancient East is the birthplace of sciences: the first laws of astronomy, astrology, mathematics, systems of measures of calculation.
In the countries of the ancient East, integral religious systems were formed, which determined the main features of the life of these countries. It was religious views that determined the identity of each nation.