History – The Ages

This page tells about the different ages.

Stone age

The earliest history of man is called the stone age because the earliest man used stoned tools. We know this because anthropologist have found artifacts, pottery, stone tools and weapons. They have found fossil remains which have been carbon dated to find out how old they are. They were a nomadic people who had no permanent shelter. They followed the herds of animals for survival. Some of these peoples stopped and became hunters, gatherers and farmers. They also bartered for other goods and services.

Bronze age

Bronze tools and weapons were introduced

Iron age

Iron tools and Iron weapons were introduced during this age.

Technological Age

Automobiles were invented. Airplanes were invented. Computers were invented.

Early civilization

Humanity’s early technological advancement has been found in early Egypt. Beginning around 5000 BC, the Nile river valley and northeast Africa provided good agricultural conditions for many permanent settlements to develop. Good harvests allowed for thriving communities which continued to expand with the influence of cultural and religious leaders. Therefore there was advancement in art, music, entertainment, technology, and science.

The Pharaohs

The Pharaohs were in power between in power 1000 BC and 700 BC. They were conquered by Assyrians in 656 BC. Assyrian was followed by Persian in 525 BC and Occupied by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. Finally the Romans conquered.

Babylonia

Political power in Mesopotamia as the first grad dynasty from 1894 BC to 1754 BC. Hammurabi was the leader until his death in 1595 BC until it was dominated by the Hittites and then by the Kassites were started a 400 year dynasty. The Babylon fall to the Chaldeans and the empire prospered under Nebuchadnezzar II. He conquered  Assyria and Palestine and revitalized the city of Babylon and rebuilding the temple of Marduk and constructing the “Hanging Gardens”. In 539 BC, Babylon was invaded by the Persians under Cyrus the Great.

The Hittite Empire

The warrior people Hittite in the bronze age ruled much of where modern Turkey and Syria are today for over thousand years. They rivaled the empires of Babylonia and Assyrian as well as Ancient Egypt.

The Hittite empire were the first people to produce iron on a large scale. Therefore this introduced the iron age. This was approximately 1200 BC.

The Assyrians

The Assyrians came in the 14th century BC. The Assyrian king Sargon II moved the capital to Nineveh and conquered amongst other places Damascus and Israel exiling 30,000 Israelites (the basis behind the legend of the ten lost tribes of Israel). By the seventh century, Assyria had become the largest empire the world had ever seen. Ashurbanipal ruled over an empire that stretched from the Persian Gulf up to and including Egypt.

Alexander the Great renamed who Assyria to Syria in 323 BC.

Phoenicia

By 2000 BC, people had settled where Lebanon, Syria and Israel are today. They entered the golden age about 1000 BC. The word Phoenicia comes from the word purple because the Phoenicians were famous for the purple dyes and fabrics.

The cornerstone of their prosperity was derived from the manufacture and trade of luxury items such as gold and silver ornaments, fine glassware and carved ivory. Becoming a maritime power, they establish colonies in Cyprus and all along the North Africa coast.

The Vedic Age and Hinduism

The Vedic age from 1500 BC to 800 BC relates to a period in history when the ancient Hindu scriptures known as Vedas were composed made of four sacred books they are regarded as the historical predecessor of Hinduism. The arrival of Aryan invaders into India happened around 1500 BC. They were noble and the word Aryan originally meant “noble”. The text are known as the Rigveda text, the oldest of the Vedas scriptures.The Aryans spoke an early from of Sanskrit the language of the Hindu scriptures which evolved into several modern languages including Hindi the official language of modern India. The pale colored Aryans initially refused to intermingle with the dark skin inhabitants of India and a rigid social hierarchy developed which form the basis of Hindu caste system.

The main deities included Indra Agni and Suyra. Some of the classical Hindu gods like Vishnu held only minor significance while others like Shiva were absent altogether. Sacrifices were central to the Vedic worship especially the offering of Soma the hallucinogenic drink.

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