We explain what the Ancient Age is and its main events. In addition, the civilizations that constituted this historical period.
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What is the Ancient Age?
The historical period that witnessed the emergence and development of the first human civilizations (known as ancient civilizations) is known as the Old Age , especially since the invention of writing, an event considered the end of prehistory and the beginning of the history as such.
The beginning of the Ancient Age dates back to the foundation of the first State-Cities , far superior in size and organization to the Neolithic villages. Next to them appears political power (kings, palaces), organized religions (priests, temples) and a first commercial and bureaucratic order, that is, everything that is understood by the “urban revolution.”
There is no clear and definite date for this series of events, but it is assumed that one of the first civilizations that demonstrated such a level of social development was the Sumerian of the year 4,000 BC
A particular period in the Ancient Age is known as classical antiquity , which is located in the fullness of Greco-Roman culture (5th century BC – II AD), famous for its artistic, political, philosophical and commercial development, which laid the foundations for the entire culture of the West. Hellenic Greece and the later Roman Empire constituted the cultural and political epicenters of the time.
However, other ancient cultures found their splendor before or after Classical Antiquity, such as Ancient Mesopotamia , which consisted of various empires: the Sumerian Renaissance (XXII BC – XXI BC), the Acadian Empire (XXII BC), Babylonian Empire ( 1792-1750 BC), Assyrian Empire (1813 BC – 609 BC) or the Kingdom of Mitani (c.1650 BC – c.1270 BC). Other important civilizations were Ancient Persia and Ancient Egypt, among many others.
The end of the Old Age of the West is located around 476 , when the Roman Empire of the West fell and was razed by the barbarian tribes, dismembering its ancient territory in a diverse number of kingdoms that would emerge during the Middle Ages . It should be said that this periodization is valid only for Western Europe, since Asian, American and Middle Eastern civilizations have different historical milestones.
