Page 5 - Istorie_History_Orientul_Antic_Ancient_East

The hanging palaces and gardens were reached by beautiful parallel organized streets. The entrance to
the cities was through several gates, decorated with animals, each bearing the name of a God.

Cornucopia (“Horn of Plenty”)
A siria
Asiria
If we look at the map of Mesopotamia from a
Fenicia
F enicia
Mesopotamia
M esopo tamia greater height, we notice that this first center of civilization
Palestina stretched as far as Egypt. Because it has the shape of a horn,
P
alestina
historians have called it the “Horn of Plenty”/ Cornucopia’’.
Egipt t
E
gip
Whatever we call it was the most important center
of culture and civilization in antiquity. 3 types of writing
were invented, the last being the Phoenician alphabet which
perfected by the Greeks and then by the Romans, came to
be used by us. In fact, the Greek and Roman civilization was
inspired by the culture and civilization Near East .

’’East” is a term invented by
the ancient romans. It means almost
everything outside Europe. Today by
’’East” we understand a big space that
includes Nort-Eastern Africa and Asia.

Fenician Alphabet If there is a Near East shouldn’t there be a Far East?

Well..., it really does exist one. It is the Chinese who
have forged here an important center of culture and
civilization. They created a powerful state, protected by
the Great Wall of China, stretching over 20,000 km. At
the shelter of it there were built flourishing cities with
beautifully decorated palaces and temples, called pagodas
(“pagode”). The Chinese invented their own writing,
printing, paper, gunpowder, compass and silk. It is no
The Great Wall of China coincidence that the road connecting China with the
Near East and Europe was called the “Silk Road”.
If you look at the map of civilizations in the
Ancient East, you can see an important center. It
was developed by the ancient Indians in the Indus Silk Road China
Valley. Their cities rivaled in antiquity and brilliance
with those of Mesopotamia. The Indians invented
the numbers that we use today and call them
unfairly Arabic numbers. In fact, the Arab traders
were only their carriers to Europe. Indus Valley
It’s time to move closer to home, to the
Greek and Roman civilizations.

What is in your opinion the most important invention of antiquity?