Ancient civilizations of the Ancient East. The first civilizations of the Ancient East

The history of the Ancient World has always attracted increased interest not only among professional researchers, but also among ordinary inhabitants. This is completely unsurprising, since secrets hidden in the depths of centuries not only tease our imagination, but can also provide answers to many questions that torment and modern people.

Sociologists and political scientists are still investigating the state structure of the Persian empire, which lasted much longer than the Roman one. But the ancient civilizations of the Ancient East are especially many questions. If we know comparatively much about our ancestors, then from many states of those times there were - at best - only vague mentions on the pages of the works of ancient historians.

However, today we will talk about those cultures that could leave a significant enough trace in history. What are the features of the civilization of the Ancient East, thanks to which the very emergence of state structures became possible?

Prerequisites for the emergence of the first state formations

Approximately from the 11th century BC the first large state formations begin to appear. In those days, they appeared only after the conquest of some peoples by others. The rulers of the first states were often talented soldiers, but very average politicians. Their main aspiration was the expansionist expansion, and they had to retain the conquered borders only by force. In general, the characteristics of the ancient civilizations of the East (most of them, at any rate) clearly indicate the dependence of the development of the state economy on the success of waging wars of conquest.

If the invasion was successful, then in the hands of the conquerors turned out to be thousands of slaves and huge territories, whose population was immediately encroached with a prohibitive tribute. Emerging surplus money allowed the kings to keep scribes, scientists and art people, thanks to whom we know something about those difficult times. Gradually the rulers improved the forms of the state system, learned about the need to build large fortresses.

Conquered peoples, staying within the framework of one state, recognized each other better, new nationalities appeared. In general, if we single out the key features of the civilization of the Ancient East, we can not help noticing that many ethnic groups, famous for their aspirations for conquest, did not long to destroy the culture, writing and language of conquered peoples.

This is how the civilizations of the Ancient East differed. The table gives a rather clear idea of this.

The most important factors of the emergence of ancient states

Two important factors contributed to the appearance of really big powers. First, tribes came from the North, who brought domesticated horses with them. This served as a real catalyst for wars: from now on, perfectly armed armies could quickly move over huge distances. There were powerful chariots, which began to terrorize the enemies. Thus, the development of civilizations of the Ancient East was very impressive.

Finally, people learned to melt steel of decent quality: iron agricultural tools allowed better soil cultivation and growing more food, steel armor was incredibly strong, and swords easily chopped bronze armor and blades. The culture of the ancient civilizations of the East did not stand in place either: there were many new trends in art, writing and government systems were developing.

The consequences of the emergence of the first Great Empires were quite versatile. Of course, the process of their formation was accompanied by an unprecedented surge of violence, but at the same time it was their emergence that contributed to the rapid development of the sciences and the social sphere. So what were the ancient civilizations of the Ancient East?

Hittites

It is believed that the first developed empire was organized by the Hittites. This people is very mysterious, since too much time has passed since then, and therefore credible sources simply do not exist. It is known that they belonged to the Indo-European ethnos, and to Asia Minor came from somewhere in the north. In fact, initially the Hittites created several states at once, but already in the 18th century BC they united into one. However, almost all civilizations of the Ancient East and Antiquity went through this development path.

The capital of the state of the Hittites was located in the city of Hattusa. Like many ancient peoples, they were engaged exclusively in cattle breeding and agriculture. However, they also mastered the ore business very well. It is so good that among historians this people is considered the pioneer of the technology of iron smelting.

What does the school course on this civilization of the Ancient East say? The 10th grade in each school probably knows that the Hittites managed to establish good trade and cultural ties between all the conquered cultures.

Conquest of the Hittites

The Hittites were experienced and brave warriors: already in the XVII century BC they completely captured northern Syria. In 1595 BC, under their onslaught, the legendary Babylon fell. Along with the Persians, the Hittites always differed in that they did not actually oppress the conquered peoples. As a rule, they did not even demand acceptance of their henchmen, preferring to keep the power of legitimate kings (provided that they fulfilled some of their demands). The first successful resistance to the Hittites was provided by the Egyptians.

The war between them lasted a very long time, since no one could achieve unequivocal success. Prudence prevailed, and peace was finally concluded among the nations. The Hittites began to receive cheap bread from Egyptian granaries, while the Egyptians themselves were very pleased with the supply of ores. In general, almost all civilizations of the Ancient East and Antiquity had close economic, cultural and economic ties with each other.

The destruction of the civilization of the Hittites

Historians believe that the Assyrians forced the Hittites to become so peace-loving. At that time, their power sharply increased, and quite quickly the militant people reached the very borders of the Hittite state. Of course, the latter was not too attracted to the prospect of a war on two fronts. However, this did not save the death of the Hittites. Historians around the world are still arguing about how this civilization of the Ancient East died. Egypt has nothing to do with it, since with the pharaohs of the militant people there were peace accords.

Most likely, this happened not without the intervention of the "peoples of the sea". Perhaps, the detachments of these mysterious warriors still managed to reach Hattusa and destroy the city. Incidentally, in Egypt they also encountered their invasion, but Ramesses III managed to inflict a terrible defeat on them, after which the intensity of the raids of "mariners" decreased significantly. Were there any ancient civilizations of the Ancient East?

Assyria and Urartu

First mentioned above Assyrians occupied relatively few lands. Their capital was the city of Ashur, located on the river Tigris. They preferred all the same pursuits that were revered by the Hittites, but especially succeeded in trade matters. Strange as it may seem, this nation was not particularly belligerent at first, and therefore, during the entire period of the existence of their state, its neighbors were often taken by neighbors.

But already in the XIV century BC, the Assyrians managed to capture the long-suffering Babylon, and in the 9th-10th centuries they themselves were badly battered by nomadic tribes, from which practically all civilizations of the ancient world suffered. The ancient East was also constantly subjected to their raids.

At the same time, on the shores of Lake Van (in Transcaucasia) there lived a rather mysterious people, which the Assyrians themselves called the Urartians. In the same 10 century BC, many of their fragmented tribes united, giving rise to a powerful state of Urartu. The Assyrians "helped" their neighbors, because their constant attacks forced even the most stubborn local czars to recognize the need for a merger. The dawn of the people of Urartu is about the 8th century BC. Then the former oppressed themselves could conduct wars of conquest with their oppressors.

Relations with Urartu

During this period Assyrian kings repeatedly suffered from Urartu defeat. Military failures did not contribute to increasing their authority among the people, and therefore often riots broke out and conspiracies appeared in the ruling elite. Around 750 BC, the intelligent and cruel king Tiglathpalasar III came to power, immediately engaged in strengthening the army.

He completely rearmed his troops, providing them with first-class iron weapons, and made offensive wars the basis of the state economy. He and his heirs were able to add to the Assyrian kingdom a huge number of new lands, which previously owned by other civilizations of the ancient world. The ancient East acquired a new dominant culture.

Only 40 years after the reforms, the Assyrians managed to smash Urartu. In addition, they conquered many peoples of Palestine and Syria, captured a large part of Egypt and Babylon. For the first time in history, this civilization intensively used the method of forced relocation. They sought to assimilate the conquered peoples, to break them and force them to renounce their own faith and language.

Unlike the Hittites and Persians, they were not famous for their condescension for the conquered. So, it is the Assyrian kings who are considered inventors of a multitude of sophisticated tortures and methods of cruelest executions. However, this did not save them from constant riots and uprisings. But one should not consider them as notorious villains: like all the major civilizations of the Ancient East, this people also sowed "reasonable, good and eternal."

Achievements of the Assyrians

Incredible riches, obtained in the form of military booty and tribute, allowed the Assyrians to bring to their court a lot of outstanding scientists, writers and philosophers of their time. It is thanks to this people that we have information about the books of the Sumerians and Babylonians who were translated by them. Thus, the texts of Mesopotamia, which are studied to this day, were preserved and supplemented by Assyrian scholars.

In Nineveh, the new capital of the kingdom, the richest collection of books on clay tablets containing all the knowledge that the civilizations of the Ancient East managed to accumulate was collected at that time. To put it briefly, it was a real storehouse of wisdom, which scholars from different parts of the Ancient World came to touch.

But the time of their state was already pumped: already in the seventh century BC, the enemies began to press the Assyrians from all sides. Against this background, the growing contradictions within the ruling circles played a decisive role. In 626, the authority of Nineveh was rejected by the governor of Babylon, proclaiming himself king. It was he who concluded multiple military alliances with some Iranian peoples (especially with the state of Media). With a joint onslaught, they literally dared Assyria from the face of the earth, and the last of her troops were destroyed in 609 BC.

Persians

After the fall of their worst enemies, the Assyrians, on the rise were the Median and New Babylonian kingdoms. And the latter was founded by the Chaldean Nabopalasar, who at one time organized active resistance to the conquerors. His son, Nebuchadnezzar II, was able to conquer not only the remains of Assyria, but Palestine and Syria. With him, Babylon reached an incredible heyday and power. Even one of the Wonders of the World, Hanging Gardens, which the ancient Greeks erroneously attributed to the Queen of Semiramis, were created precisely by his engineers.

At that time arias lived on the territory of Iran. It is not surprising that those lands were called by their contemporaries "The Land of the Aryans", which by that time largely merged with the nomadic tribes of Indo-Europeans (however, almost all the ancient civilizations of the Middle East had their blood). Over time, several new ethnic groups were formed on the territory of Iran, with the Persians becoming the most powerful. Officially, they were part of the Median kingdom, but in fact they had their ruler.

The famous Persian king Cyrus I just started with the fact that he rejected the authority of the Median sovereign, proclaiming his people independent. Thus the Persian kingdom was born. This people quickly developed, and very soon their army reached India, and also captured the long-suffering Syria with Palestine. But the main "acquisition" of the Persians was the Lydian kingdom, still famous for the fact that it was in its mines that almost 70% of all gold mined in the Old World before the discovery of America was mined. Simply put, the first civilizations of the Ancient East provided all humanity with payment instruments for several centuries ahead.

In addition, the Persians quickly became sworn enemies of the Greeks, as they captured virtually all of the colonized lands. Finally, in 539 BC their army waited its turn to seize Babylon.

The Great Cyrus was killed during the next campaign to Central Asia. The son of the conqueror, Cambyses, managed to conquer Egypt. On the achieved, the tsar would hardly have stopped, but in the state a sudden turmoil broke out and he died. However, Darius I, who came to power, did not give internal riots to ruin the state. He severely punished all trespassers, completed the campaign of Cyrus in Central Asia, and the Persian army again conquered part of India. Failure befell the king only in the case of the Scythians, and the campaign in Greece, he was not too successful.

Distinctive features of this civilization

The Persian empire became the world's first state formation of such a huge size. The stability of the country was ensured by its division into regions - satrapies, each of which was ruled by a reliable governor (and often by the kings of the conquered countries). For the first time in history, centralized state mail was organized, reform of the monetary unit was carried out with a view to its maximum standardization.

In addition, it is the Persians who have a firmly formed idea that without a properly developed road system there will be no strong country. This people just noted that even the most remote backyards of each satrapy was laid a good path with a hard surface. Thus, even an approximate description of the ancient civilizations of the East indicates their high development.

Persians are now undeservedly forgotten and demonized through the works of artful Greeks. In fact, their culture was practically in no way inferior to Hellenistic and Roman, and it lasted much longer. Thus, the ancient civilizations of the Ancient East gave us much more than it is usually thought of: state management systems, the importance of transport routes, the first collections of legislative regulations and so on, which many consider to be distinguishing features of the modern world.