What are the world civilizations?

Besides Chinese civilization, there are six parts of world civilization: ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, India and America. Among them, India ranks alongside Mesopotamia, Egypt and China as the four ancient civilizations in the world. Indian Civilization The earliest Indian civilization originated in the Indus Valley and was called Indus Civilization in history (about 2500 BC-65438 BC+0500 BC). As early as the Indus civilization, the Indian aborigines had the concept of reproductive worship and yoga, and the worship of mother god, bull (tumor cow), male root (Linga), holy tree and snake god prevailed. Around 1500 BC, the Indus civilization suddenly declined, but the elements of the Indus urban civilization and farming culture created by Indian aborigines, especially the cultural genes of reproductive worship, did not disappear, but accumulated in the deep structure of the whole Indian civilization and continued to grow and develop, and gradually sublimated into the worship of universal life.

Polhaspati (the incarnation of Jupiter) The nine planets are said to influence human behavior. They are usually carved on a separate porch in front of the main hall of a Hindu temple. Bohr Haspati sat on the double lotus seat, with a book in his left hand and a rosary in his right.

Vishnu and Vishnu of Lakshmi are riding on Goruda and are shown riding on his half-man, half-bird mountain, while his wife, Lakshmi, the goddess of luck, is sitting on his left knee. Vishnu in the statue has three heads: a human head in the middle, a boar head on the left and a lion head on the right. This three-headed Vishnu statue is very popular in Kashmir. It is called the Pala-Posutipo-Naroyanna, the Supreme God. These animal heads refer not only to his incarnation, but also to what he radiates. These statues were carved on a stepped pedestal and placed in a niche with columns on both sides and a three-leaf arch at the top.

Linga (the symbol of male roots) and the statues of the four gods show his reproductive aspects. Here, there are four standing gods around Linga's pillar-Vishnu, the four-armed protector, Suri, the two-armed sun god, Brahma, the four-headed creator, and Shiva, the four-armed creator. These four idols have two followers on both sides. Linga is usually placed in the most sacred place in the temple and looked after by the priest.

Aldana Li Svara (half a woman's head)

The so-called Svahla in Aldana is the image of the Hindu god Shiva, half male and half female, which shows that this god is the embodiment of all opposites: male and goddess, asceticism and indulgence, destruction and creation. Shiva with four arms has a gentle and charitable face, sitting with one leg hanging down and the other sitting like a king sitting on a throne. The right half of the statue shows male characteristics, and also shows many characteristics of Shiva, such as a trident, tangled hair, Nan Di riding a bull, and a snake winding around the trident from her hair. The corresponding left half is female (Uma, referring to Shiva's wife Parvati). In addition to the fullness of the chest, there are some subtle differences, such as a fuller and softer abdomen and a more obvious waist curve. Parvati has a mirror and a pitcher in his hand. Both she and Shiva have locks of hair, but she has no hair, and her face is covered with flowers. Maya civilization American civilization as a geographical term, Central America (also translated as "Mesopotamia" or "Mesopotamia") refers to areas including modern countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Belize. Central America is one of the most brilliant and exquisite cradles of American civilization before Columbus.

The dog-shaped roof is reminiscent of protection, just like the dog gives people the feeling. The artist mixed two images in this work. In some cultural groups, it is said that dogs' souls protect people's souls through the underworld, and they help shamans protect the souls of the dead after death.

Time: September 29, 2006

A statue with a conical hat.

Black knight

Painted bowls painted by priests in feathered clothes Greek civilization Aegean Sea is the cradle of ancient Greek civilization. The geographical scope of ancient Greece mainly includes the southern Balkans, the Aegean Sea and the South China Sea islands, and the western coastal areas of Asia Minor. Its overseas immigrants spread to the south of the Italian peninsula, Sicily and the northwest coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the west, North Africa in the south, West Asia and the vast areas along the Black Sea in the east. Ancient Greek civilization first developed in Crete. Crete civilization, centered on Knossos in the northern part of the island, reached its peak during Minos' reign in the middle of 2000 BC. Obviously, due to some natural reasons, civilization suddenly disappeared after this, and the development of ancient Greek civilization moved to the Balkans, and Mycenae in the northwest of the Peloponnesian Peninsula became the new center of civilization development. Mycenae civilization absorbed the achievements of Crete civilization, and at the same time achieved new prosperity in economy, culture and production technology, and the linear characters seen in Crete civilization were further developed and used more.

The famous Trojan War took place in the late period of this civilization (BC12nd century). After the war, Mycenae civilization declined. After a period of historical retrogression, Greek society entered a new period of civilization development centered on Athens, and achieved unprecedented brilliant achievements, becoming a classic period of the development of ancient Greek civilization. In the late 4th century BC, Greece was conquered by the newly rising Macedonia. Alexander's eastward expedition promoted the economic exchanges and cultural integration between the East and the West, and the ancient Greek civilization entered a "Hellenistic" period. Under the influence of oriental civilization, it has achieved new development in a wider scope. As an ancient civilization, ancient Greece made great contributions in science and technology, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, literature, drama, sculpture, painting and architecture, and became the source of the development of European civilization in later generations.

An Athenian-style container painted with a black portrait

The bottle is painted with the scene of the ancient Roman wrestling school, with a milky white background and no decoration. There are two sports meetings and their coaches on the bottle, and we can't determine their specific actions. In the center of the picture is a naked discus player, who is lifting his left leg and holding up the metal plate with his hands. Because of his amazing weight, he lost some balance slightly backwards, but he still listened attentively to the advice of the coach in front. The coach is wearing a robe and cloak that opens to the right, with his head tilted back and one hand gesturing for guidance. He is very strict with athletes. The coach holds a long stick in the other hand, which is one of the typical characteristics of a coach. On the left of the picture is another athlete, walking in the opposite direction of the coach. But the athlete's upper body and head turned to the coach, indicating that he cared about the coach. From the two spears on his shoulders, we can know that he is a javelin athlete. These two training spears have no metal heads, while the javelin used in the competition has. The metal head is helpful to improve the flight trajectory of javelin and make it easier to insert javelin into the ground. The two athletes may be exercising their chest and arm muscles. The competitive competitions of discus and javelin often make them the theme of clay sculpture painting, just like this tested vessel (lekythos). Stylistically, the painter's works belonging to Athens classification 58 1 were finished from about 5 10 BC to 500 BC.

Central Asian civilization Mesopotamia civilization originated from Sumerian civilization. Around 4500 BC, irrigated agriculture rose in southern Mesopotamia, and soon, cities began to appear; Around 3200 BC, writing was born, and then the Sumerian city-state was formed. In the following two thousand years, Babylonians and Assyrians continued to develop and spread Mesopotamian civilization through military conquest, economic expansion and cultural exchanges. The ancient Mesopotamian civilization reached its peak in the ninth and sixth centuries BC. In 332 BC, with the eastward expedition of Alexander the Great, the Greek Macedonian king, the development of Mesopotamian civilization entered the Hellenistic era.

The core areas of ancient Mesopotamian civilization are in today's Iraq, western Iran and Syria. Other parts of the Middle East have been closely related to ancient Mesopotamian civilization since ancient times, and independent ancient civilizations have also developed in Turkey, Egypt and other regions. They had long-term communication and mutual influence with Mesopotamian civilization in politics, economy and culture. During the development and accumulation of thousands of years, the ancient Mesopotamian civilization also profoundly influenced the later Jewish civilization, Persian civilization, Greek and Roman civilization, Christian civilization and Islamic Arab civilization.

Painted pottery jar

This jar was found in a simple tomb in Gaola, northern Iraq. It is made of a slow wheel and is divided into two parts: a sphere and a conical high neck. These two parts are glued together, and the shoulders are decorated with wavy patterns, which is very light. Finally, the jar was treated at high temperature because its clay surface was green. The decorative pattern of this jar is depicted as dark brown, reminiscent of a woven net, as if the jar were covered with a coat tied with a rope. Although the painting is fast and not detailed, the net pattern gives people a balanced feeling. The neck of the jar is made up of thick solid lines, while the center of the abdomen is made up of wavy lines. In addition, half of the space at the bottom of the jar is left blank, which further enhances the sense of balance of the artistic structure. However, whether it is slender waves or broad boundaries, it is uneven and inconsistent. And the drawing itself is thin in some places and thick in some places. This seems to indicate that the whole jar is made very quickly, which may mean that it is part of a relatively large-scale production.

In the excavation report, this jar was simply described as a "high-necked jar", representing a general type that spread from southern Mesopotamia to northern Mesopotamia. In fact, as early as 5500 BC, this style of depicting dark brown patterns on pale yellow or pan-green pottery embryos fired at high temperature was a typical pottery in southern Mesopotamia, marking the transition from early style to Obeid period in this area. This tradition is named after its typical area in southern Iraq, and further divided into four stages, but the chronological order of pottery is the most famous in the site of Eridu, where there are many continuous temple buildings. Obeid pottery style has been popular in southern Mesopotamia for more than 1500 years, and even earlier Obeid pottery style was discovered in Terel-Oerli.

By the second phase of Obeid in the late 6th century BC, Mesopotamian pottery had obviously extended to the coast of Saudi Arabia, which indicated that the two places were probably in contact with each other through trade in the south. However, it was not until the third and fourth phases of Obeid (dating back to the middle of 5000 BC) that this style affected the northern Mesopotamian areas such as Gaola and Teluel Talata, and reached Iran eastward. In the later period of Obeid sequence, the decoration on pottery generally developed from complex and numerous straight lines to sparse lines, usually curves. Rapid pottery making and rapid drawing of patterns are also major changes.

The pottery unearthed in the late Obeid strata in Gaola, Elidu and other areas has obvious similarities, which shows that Obeid, Ur and Elidu have all influenced the north, so that many scholars began to talk about the expansion of Obeid civilization, a colonial type, or at least the growth of a mainstream culture. Therefore, the northern style is defined as "Northern Obeid". However, although the profound influence is obvious and there are some visible imports, the northern style still has considerable local characteristics, which is very different from the southern style, showing cross-cultural acceptance and adjustment rather than control or direct communication.

Roman Civilization Ancient Roman civilization originated from the Tiber River in central Italy, and its language was Latin. According to legend, the ancient Roman city was founded in 753 BC, and later developed and conquered other surrounding areas, even the entire Italian peninsula and the vast areas around the Mediterranean. At first, Rome was ruled by the king, and in 509 BC, it was ruled by harmony. 65438 BC+early 1930s, Octavian? Augustus established the "head of state system" and Rome entered the imperial system. Ancient Rome was a slave country, and the slave economy developed rapidly in the late Republic of China, and the Roman Empire was the most prosperous in the1-2nd century. From about the 3rd century AD, the Roman Empire began to decline. At the end of the 4th century, the empire was divided into two parts. In the late 5th century, the Western Roman Empire perished, Western Europe entered the Middle Ages, and the Eastern Empire entered the feudal Byzantine period.

Traiano Emperor Statue

Venus statue

The sculpture shows "pure Venus". At this time, the goddess had just taken a shower and was wearing a ribbon bracelet in her left hand. She hasn't put on a bath towel yet, but leans on a big vase next to her. Her curly hair is thin and curly, and it is parted in the middle. At the same time, she tied a big knot at the top of her head and the back of her head, and the strand of hair in the middle of the knot was always on her shoulders. Egyptian civilization The Nile gave birth to the ancient Egyptian civilization. From 4000 BC to the 7th century AD, Egypt experienced 3/kloc-0 dynasties and nearly a thousand years of foreign rule, leaving a rich cultural heritage. The ancient Egyptian civilization is characterized by a high degree of material development and the infiltration of religion in various cultural fields. The most important ideal of the ancient Egyptians was to seek harmony and practice eternity. The relationship between God and man is harmonious, and so is the relationship between man and society. The most glorious period in the history of ancient Egypt was when most people's personal behavior was consistent with the social ideal at that time and both sides were satisfied.

All ancient Egyptian documents, works of art and archaeological sites are concentrated in this time and space background. What we see is a branch of the human family, which flourished in the distant past. They share weal and woe with us and love life, but they only express this eternal pursuit of mankind with the expectation of immortality in the afterlife.

The head on the priest's sarcophagus cover

The official's sarcophagus cover is engraved with a beautiful head. From the words engraved on it, we can know that this official used to be a priest, and from the fact that all the stones in the sarcophagus came from the desert stone mine dedicated to the royal family, we can infer that this official held an important position before his death. This work is exquisitely carved, following the popular artistic style of the 18th Dynasty, and reflecting the economic prosperity and cultural development at that time. During this period, Egypt was a well-deserved empire, with its territory as far as the cradle of the Nile in the south and Syria in the east, which was connected with important trade routes in the two river basins. Many tributes from conquered small countries gathered in the Pharaoh's palace in the Nile Valley. The artworks produced in this period reflect the luxury of court life. Without exception, male statues have slender eyes and gentle faces, while the craftsmen who make stone statues only highlight the unique luster of the stone.

The Golden Pagoda in the Tomb of Confucius, the son of Sene Jim.

The tomb in Deir Medina is mainly composed of adobe, which is pyramid-shaped and covered with stones (limestone). Then dye the stone yellow or gold, representing the sun and the sunshine that can bring vitality. The shape of the pyramid may also symbolize the sunshine. People have other explanations for the shape of the pyramid. For example, it may represent the tomb of the ancients, but it was later changed into the shape of a pyramid because the stones were regular. For another example, the pyramids may imitate the shape of the surrounding hills: in ancient Egyptian mythology about the origin of the world, when the sun god gave life to the earth, these hills gradually rose from the water covering everything; In ancient Egyptian, the name of Del Medina means "City of the Sun". But in any case, as the tomb of Pharaoh, the pyramids are always inseparable from the worship of the sun. From the ancient kingdom to the middle kingdom, they are widely distributed in the vast areas on the west bank of the Nile, from Giza, Sakala to Fayoum, and the Sun God La protects the tombs of these pharaohs. Later, a mausoleum was built in the mountains of Tebe City, which contained a large number of remains and funerary objects of pharaohs, queens and princes. Some non-royal rich people also began to build their own tombs nearby and built pyramids with bricks. This cultural relic comes from the tomb of Kong Su, son of Jim in Sene. On the east side, Khepry dung beetles is engraved, representing the rising sun god, and on the opposite side, the Sun Condor is engraved, representing dusk. In front of it, is the cobra goddess representing the destructive power of the sun. The other two sides of this small pagoda are engraved with the tomb owner and his family. They all kneel and worship Atum, the sun god who crossed the sky in China. The golden pagoda still retains the yellow color representing sunlight, and traces left by carving tools can also be seen in the incomplete part of the side.

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