World's Ancient Civilizations (History) shorts notes For SSC CGL Exam

 World's Ancient

 Civilizations  For

 SSC CGL Exam

WORLD HISTORY 

- ANCIENT

 CIVILIZATIONS

 

⇆  SUMERIAN / MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATION (3000 -1600 BC)

.👉 Oldest Civilization in the world and also known as ‘ the melting pot of  civilization’

.👉 Flourished on the banks of Tigris and Euphrates (Mesopotamia –means the 

land between these two rivers).

.👉 Mesopotamian( major portion of modern Iraq) civilization spread across three 

countries – Iraq, Turkey, Syria.

.👉 The first dynasty in the world was established at Ur in Sumeria in 3000 BC.

.👉 Potters Wheel, glassware is first used in this civilization.

.👉 The script used in this civilization:- Cuneiform Script 

1. It is the first proper system of writing invented around 3400 BC.

2. This script was deciphered by Henry Rawlinson.

3. It is a wedge-shaped script.

4. It is found on Clay tablets.

.👉 The Pythagoras theorem in geometry was a system invented by the  Mesopotamians.

.👉 Counting system used by Mesopotamians:- Sexagesimal (counted by  sixties).

.👉 They divided the whole day into 24 hours and invented the lunar calendar.

Related Facts

Hammurabi (the greatest Babylonian ruler) united the whole of Iraq  into a single kingdom.

His code of law - Tit for tat ( ‘Eye for Eye’ or ‘Tooth for Tooth’ ).

Egyptian Civilization (3000BC – 1750 BC )

👉  Flourished on the banks of the River Nile (Egypt is known as the gift of  Nile).

.👉  History of Egypt Kingdoms into  3:-

1. Old kingdom/ Age of  pharaoh

2.  Middle kingdom

3. New kingdom

.👉  Pyramids are the tombs built for Pharaohs – king of Egypt.

.👉  Preserved dead bodies of the ancient Egyptians were called Mummies. 

.👉  The Great Pyramid at Giza (one of the Seven Wonders of the World) was built by King Cheops (Khufu of the old kingdom).

.👉  Sphinx (Mythological creature – head of a man and body of a lion) is  another important architectural excellence of Egyptian civilization.

.👉  Egyptian script:- Hieroglyphic

 1. This script Invented around 3100 BC.

 2.  It consisted of 24 signs.

3.  It is found on papyrus sheets made of  reeds.

4. This hieroglyphic script is deciphered by  Champollion.

.👉  Egyptians were the first to develop a solar calendar consisting of 365  days.

.👉  Great temple of Abu Simbel is known as the Temple of the rising  sun.

CHINESE CIVILIZATION (1600 BC -221 BC)

.👉  Chinese civilization is also known as the Yellow River or Hwang-ho Civilization and the earliest Chinese civilization is known as Shang civilization.

.👉   Chinese civilization script:- Pictographic Script.

.👉   The Great Wall of China (built by the Chin dynasty) is the architectural excellence of Chinese civilization.

.👉  Chinese civilization was the first civilization to have a system of selecting public officials based on competitive exams (introduced by the Hans dynasty).

.👉  Main Chinese inventions:- Paper, Seismograph, Gun powder, Abacus, Umbrella.

Related Facts

.👉  Herodotus of China – Ssumen Chien.

.👉  Religions of China – Confucianism (teachings of Confucius- contemporary of Mahavira & Buddha); Taoism (teachings of Lao-tse)

 

Persian/Iranian Civilization (559 BC – 331 BC)

👉 Persian civilization located in the northern part of the Iranian plateau.

👉 Cyrus was the most powerful ruler in the Persian Empire ( Achaemenid Empire) in the sixth century;  his capital at Pasargadae and Darius expanded the Persian empire.

👉 Aramaic was the official language of the Achaemenid Empire and

👉  they introduced the use of money (gold and silver coins).

👉 Later the Sassanid Empire accepted the Persian language (Pahlavi script).This civilization dealt with Alphabetical writings. 

Related Facts

👉 Darius II ( king of Persia) sent Scylax (explorer) for the exploration of the region of Indus to Egypt.

👉 Religions:- Zoroastrianism; Founded by Zoroaster (Zend Avesta teachings of Zoroaster)is the holy book of Parsis).

GREEK CIVILIZATION (Back to 800 BC)

👉 Greek Contributed much to the field of literature.

👉 The Iliad & Odyssey (Greek epic) is composed of Homer.

👉 Father of History:- Herodotus was a greek. And Other greek historians are Thucydides (wrote a history of the Peloponnesian War), Plutarch.

👉 Growth in all spheres was reached during the reign of Pericles, known as the Golden Age of Athens.

👉 The greatest contribution of the Greek Civilization:- Democracy.

👉 The First Olympic Games were held at Olympia in Greece in 776 BC.

👉 Greek civilization is known as the Classical Civilization of History.

👉 Greek Philosophers – Socrates; his disciple Plato (Author of book - Republic) and Aristotle (disciple of Plato).

👉 Father of Medicine:- Hippocrates (He laid the foundation of modern medicine).

👉 Greek astronomers:- Hipparchus (calculated the diameter of the moon), Eratosthenes (calculated the circumference of Earth).

👉 Greek mathematicians:- Euclid and Pythagoras.

Related Facts

👉 Founder of Greek tragedy:- Aeschylus (His work – Prometheus Bound).

👉 Master of Greek Comedy:- Aristophanes.

👉 Greek worshipped:- Apollo (Sun god), Zeus (God of Sky), Poseidon( God of Sea), Athena (Goddess of victory & art), Dionysus (God of wine).

👉 Greeks considered Mount Olympus as Sacred Mountain. 

ROMAN CIVILIZATION (Back to 27 BC)

👉 This civilization flourished on the banks of river Tiber (Italy).

👉 Founder of Rome City:- Romulus.

👉 The major contribution of Roman Civilization:- Concept of Republic.

👉 Punic wars (264 BC- 146 BC) between Romans and Carthaginians (Africans).

👉 Inventions:- Concrete and Combining brick & stone.

👉 Architectural contributions:- The Arch, The Dome, or Cupolas.

👉 Roman Philosophers:- Lucretius (His work – On the nature of things), Cicero, Marcus Aurelius & Seneca.

👉 Roman Poets:- Horace (His work - Odes) & Virgil (His work -Aeneids).

👉 Romans worshipped:- Jupiter (rains for crops), Mars (war), Mercury, Neptune (God of Sea), Vesta, Juno (protect women).

Related Facts

👉 ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’ – by Julius Caesar.

👉 The book ‘Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’ – by Edward Gibbon.

OTHER CIVILIZATIONS

AMERICAN CIVILIZATION

 👉 Incas, Mayan, Aztec are the main natives of America.

👉 Mayan civilization ( 1000BC- 1000AD) was the oldest American Civilization.

👉  Mayans created bark-paper books called codices.

👉  Chinampas (floating land bodies) and Serpent worship were related to Aztec civilization.

👉  Inca civilization prevailed in Peru (South America).

👉  Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492.

👉 America derived its name from an Italian Explorer, Americo Vespucci.

AFRICAN CIVILIZATION

👉  Bantus are the Negroes of Central & South Africa.

👉  Swahili is the native of Kenya and Tanzania.

👉 The major African Civilization was the Egyptian Civilization.

Practise Questions

1. Which of the following Script is related to Egyptian Civilization?

a) Pictographic Script

b) Cuneiform script

c) Hieroglyphic script

d) Aramaic script

 

2. Mayans are related with_______?

a) Egyptian Civilization

b) American Civilization

c) African Civilization

d) Roman Civilization

3. _____is considered as the centre of Roman Civilization?

a) Turkey

b) Germany

c) Italy

d) France

4. “I came, I saw, I conquered”- the famous quote related to whom?

a) Alexander

b) Darius

c) Julius Caesar

d) Socrates

5. Consider the famous Greek Astronomer from the following?

a) Hippocrates

b) Pericles

c) Lucretius

d) Eratosthenes

Solutions

1. a) Hieroglyphic script

2. b) American Civilization

3. c) Italy

4. d) Julius Caesar

5. d) Eratosthenes