Contributions_of_the_Ancients_to_Western_Civilization

From the Mesopotamian, Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, you can find pieces of our civilization today, whether it is in art, literature, architecture, law, or religion. Each of these great civilizations provided to modern society in one way or another and will continue though time. Lets take a brief look at the different attributes each civilization gave to the world today. The Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations were the first noted in history. They revolutionized writing, started a formalized religion, created laws to govern the people and wrote them down, and started great building projects. The Mesopotamian's are well known as living in the Fertile Crescent, or modern day Iraq. Hammurabi wrote the Hammurabi code that is very famous for stating “an eye for an eye.” The Egyptians were most famously known for their pyramids, to this day we are still not sure how they built them completely. Their religion was a bit different in that the pharaoh was considered to be a god. Also, the Hebrews gained skills and knowledge from the Egyptians that would help them later in building their own culture and civilization. The greatest contribution the Egyptians gave to the Christian mind was the circumstance of slavery and eventual exodus of the Hebrew people. These civilizations created a baseline for follow on civilizations in their development and survival through ages. The Hebrew people have the first written scripture recorded. This scripture provides the base of the Hebrew religion as well as document the history of these people. The Hebrew people were the first to adopt a monotheistic religion and implemented a stricter ethical system that involved working together and taking care of each other. The greatest contribution the Hebrew civilization provided was the scriptures which provide the base of the Christian and Jewish faith and the linear concept of history. The Greeks maintained a religion but began to separate the conduct of the state from the religion. They believed in logic and rational thinking in order to develop solutions to the affairs of the city. The Greeks had a group of people rule the city rather than a king, thus creating a form of democracy. This manner of rule allowed the people to have a say in their government and the path it should go which seemed to make a happier nation and develop a national pride and patriotism. Art, literature, and architecture also seemed to grow in these conditions. Even today you can find aspects of Greek thought and life. Many nations are now using democratic methods to run the nation and the rational, logical thought is used to arrive at a decision in government and in peoples personal lives. Because of this, people began to move away from the mysterious religion that directly affected our lives and gave us the ability to take control of our lives and have a choice in the path we as individual and as a nation could take. The Romans took the Hellenistic thought of the Greeks and made it more concrete. Like the Greeks, the Romans also debated on the affairs of the state and initially used a republic government to decide the role on earth their nation should take. Because of the conquests of the Romans, this line of thought took a greater foothold throughout the Mediterranean that allowed it to continue into modern thought. The Romans also built efficient roads, sewers and running water that greatly improved the welfare of its citizens which helped to create a long period of peace. This in turn led everyone under Roman authority to take a sense of pride and changed the city thought of life into a world concept. You no longer were a patriot of just your city, but of Rome, even if you were not from Rome nor ever been to Rome. The Roman language, known as Latin, is still used today in science. The laws of the Romans can be found in modern society throughout Europe and America. The Romans provide the human mind the concept of national pride, not just a pride in your city, but many cities are able to unite for a common goal as a nation. As we can see, there are a lot of different things that affected who we are today. Many more could be spoken of andwe could very well look much deeper into these contributions. This is just a brief outline that shows how our past affects humanity thousands of years later and how our roots began and grow into a more mature civilization as we know it today. In review of these civilizations, we can see where and how civilization began. There is a lot that can be discussed and studied from each. But all of these civilizations started new trends, new ways of life, and improved on old ideas. From the beginnings of the Mesopotamian's in the Fertile Crescent, to the Romans spreading across the Mediterranean, this provided the roots to Western Civilization as we know it today.