Category Lost Civilizations

               The Etruscans lived in what is modern Tuscany in the area bounded by the Tiber and Arno rivers, the Apennines and the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Etruscan economy was based on agriculture, trade, and mineral resources. The Etruscans learnt a lot from the Greeks and the Phoenicians- things that the Latins, living around Rome didn’t know how to do yet.

               The Etruscans built cities with stone walls. Each autonomous city was originally ruled by a powerful, wealthy king and had a sacred boundary. Etruscan homes were mud-brick, with timber on stone foundations. They built big stone temples and huge statues. They dug canals and ditches to bring water to their fields. They had organized governments with kings. Soon, some of the other people in Italy began to copy the Etruscan ways, and the Etruscans heavily influenced early Rome.

               Ancient Greece was also known as ‘Hellas’ and ‘Hellenism’ was the spreading of the Greek way of life to the rest of the world. The spread of Hellenism embraced nearly all forms of life, like politics, art, philosophy, religion, and science.

               The Hellenistic Age is the period between the conquest of the Persian Empire by Alexander, and the establishment of Roman supremacy. Alexander’s generals divided the huge empire into three main Macedonian kingdoms- Egypt under the Ptylomies, Syria, ruled by the Seleucids, and Macedonia under the Antigonid dynasty. The rulers used their wealth to attract poets, scholars, and artists. The religion of the Hellenistic Age combined Greek gods with Eastern deities. This was a process known as syncretism.

               Impressive scientific innovations were made in Alexandria, where the Greek Eratosthenes computed the circumference of the Earth, Archimedes calculated pi, and Euclid compiled his geometry text.

               In literature, new comedy evolved, and the personal biography became popular. The centre of medical research and development was Alexandria. Researchers used dissections to show the distinction between arteries and nerves. They learned to use the pulse for diagnosis, and saw the heart as a pump with valves. They were even able to control bleeding with tourniquets and surgically remove hernias, bladder stones, and haemorrhoids! 

               Alexander died without any sons old enough to rule, and so his kingdom was split up among his generals. These generals, known as the Diadochi, squabbled amongst themselves over who was the rightful heir to the throne. They engaged in a series of conflicts known as the Wars of the Diadochi. 

               Lysimachus was one of the generals, who conquered Asia Minor, Thrace and later Macedonia, and accumulated vast riches. However, he was later defeated by Seleucus. Seleucus was a young soldier who had risen through the ranks of Alexander’s army. He was the Governor of Babylon, but was forced to flee. He later became an admiral in the navy of Ptolemy I.

               Antigonous was the first of the Diadochi to openly declare him a king. His ambition was to reunite the empire of Alexander by defeating all the other Diadochi rulers. This caused the remaining Diadochi to join together against him. They finally defeated Antigonous.

               In this power struggle, none of the Diadochi, or their successors was ever able to unite Alexander’s Empire. However, they prudently promoted the intermingling of Greeks with the local peoples, leading to a fusion of East with West. This period is known as the Hellenistic Age. 

               The Assyrians became well-known traders, who travelled constantly between Assur and Southern Turkey around 2000 BC. After 1700 BC, the Assyrians were controlled by a people called the Hurrians. When the Hurrian kingdom collapsed about 1360 BC, the Assyrian governor of Assur, whose name was Ash-sur-uballit, saw his chance and began calling himself the King of Assyria. In time, the Assyrians became a military power to be reckoned with. In 1225 BC, the Assyrians conquered and ransacked the city of Babylon. The Assyrian army, which was feared everywhere, started to go on plundering expeditions every spring along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. These plundering expeditions continued more or less every year for hundreds of years.

               By 705 BC, the Assyrians had conquered everything near enough to rule, and even dominated Egypt. Now their kings concentrated more on providing services to the conquered people that would keep them from wanting to revolt. The Assyrian kings now built highways and bridges and water systems, established courts to settle disputes among their subjects, and encouraged scholarship and art with great libraries at their palaces. Yet their empire was built on their military power, which is why they are regarded as the first military power in history. 

                        Nebuchadnezzar was the mighty king of the Babylonian Empire between 604 and 562 BC. He made Babylon  one of the most magnificent of cities. He restored old religious monuments and improved canals, as other Babylonian kings had done, but Nebuchadnezzar is best known for his legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Hanging Gardens consisted of vaulted terraces, raised one above another that rested upon cube-shaped pillars. The pillars were hollow, and filled with earth to allow huge trees to be planted. Nebuchadnezzar’s building projects also included surrounding his capital city with a double wall 16 kilometres long, with an elaborate entry called the Ishtar Gate. He also built a port on the Persian Gulf. 

               Hammurabi was the ruler, who established the greatness of Babylon, the world’s first metropolis. Hammurabi had succeeded in conquering neighbouring states in Mesopotamia, and in establishing a stable empire. In part, he achieved this stability by means of a set of laws that he drew up. In fact, the most remarkable of his achievements is his code of laws. This code is the earliest-known example of a ruler proclaiming publicly to his people an entire body of laws, arranged in orderly groups, so that all men might read and know what was required of them. The code begins and ends with addresses to the gods. Since the laws were clearly written down, everyone was expected to obey them. Hammurabi stated specifically that the strong should not oppress the weak, and that the widow and orphan should get justice.

               The code was important at the time, because it was the basis for consolidating the rule of law throughout an empire. It is important today, because it reveals the way human rights were beginning to emerge in Babylonia, as Hammurabi sought to protect all classes of Babylonian society. It also shows that many of today’s problems existed in Babylon too.