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Wisdom
of the Ancients
Some
fifty centuries ago, when written history
began, mankind had learned many things
about life. Human beings in many different
parts of the world had discovered not
only hour to use the skins of animals
and birds for clothing, but also how
to weave wool, cotton and flax to make
cloth. They had discovered not only
how to hunt animals and fish. For food
but also how to grow grain and make
bread so as to survive themselves. They
had learned not only how to make homes
in cave and other natural shelters,
but also how to build houses and monumental
structures out of wood, stone, bricks
and other materials. A part from that
they had also cultivated the concept
of sacrifice. If we cast a glance of
the ancient history of the world, in
almost all Civilizations like Mesopotamian,
Egyptian, Chinese, Indian all the above
mentioned details can be found. Regarding
the wisdom of ancients, below-mentioned
points are important.
i)
They had learned the means of survival.
ii) They had learned to manipulate other
human beings.
iii) They had learned the means or entertainment
through different mediums.
Egypt:
This civilization cavers the time span
from 3100 BC to 2900 BC. Egyptians did
not like any change rather they always
valorized status quo. This Civilization
developed in the Valley of Nile River.
The society was organized in hierarchical
order having agro-based economy. At
the top of hierarchy there were gods,
beneath them were the dead and at the
bottom of hierarchy there were human
beings. They borrowed little from other
cultures. They invented their own form
of writing an elaborate system or symbols
known as hieroglyphics. They also invented
papyrus, paper like material made from
the stems or reeds. The Egyptians developed
one of the first religions to emphasize
life after death. They tried to make
sure their life enjoyed a good life
after death. They built great tombs
and mummified corpse to preserve them.
They filled the tomb with clothing,
food, furnishing and jewelry for use
in the next world. The most famous Egyptian
tombs are gigantic pyramids in which
kings were buried.
India:
India is normally believed to have been
born near Indus Valley in around 2500BC.
It is also called Indus Valley Civilization.
One of the main features or the Civilization
is caste system. People at that time
were divided in four castes, though
in modern time, the system is not so
pervasive, still some distance parts
of the country is based on caste system.
The four castes were-
(1) Brahamin (2) Chettri (3) Baishya
(4) Sudra
In these four castes, Brahaman and Chettri
were supposed to be in top hierarchy
and Baishya and Sudra was supposed to
be in lower hierarchy. Each caste has
its own system, customs, foods and occupation.
The ruins of two large cities-Mohenjo-Daro
and Harappa connected with this Civilization
tell much about the Indus valley Civilization.
The people of the Indus valley had a
well-developed system of agriculture
that provided food for the large population.
They dug ditches and canals to irrigate
their farms. The Indus cities had brick
buildings and well-planed streets laid
out in rectangular patterns. Archaeologists
recently have discovered the standardized
sizes of bricks and uniforms weights
and measures were used throughout the
Indus Valley. The Indus settlements
traded with one another and with foreign
culture.
China:
While talking about history of China
we normally go to first dynasty to rule
China that is Shang which ruled from
1750BC to 1100BC. Then after, Chou dynasty
defeated Shang and ruled until 221BC.
Right after Chou dynasty, Shih-Huang-Ti
became first sovereign emperor of China.
It was Shih-Huang-Ti who brought radical
change in China. He began the construction
work in the country in China. His conception
was that one should not sit idle but
should move towards the creative path
of progression. So, in his time, the
Great Wall of China was built. He abolished
feudalism that had overpowered Chinese
society for thousand years and replaced
it with bureaucracy based on Confucian
principles. Confucius is a great philosopher
of China who believed that one becomes
great not by the birth but by the merit
he shows. Shih brought this principle
in practice in China. In his time, people
were given a text to read one who scored
better marks in the exam he would deserve
to be in high post. Even in contemporary
China, some posts are reserved for the
noble family. The contemporary communist
government of China also has accepted
this principle. Modern democratic countries
are also accepting it.
Mesopotamia:
One of the most fertile regions lay
between Tigris and Euphrates in southern
Mesopotamia (now Iraq) is a place where
Mesopotamian Civilization developed.
People in this Civilization lived by
farming, fishing and hunting the wild
foul of the river marshes. They built
dikes to control the flood of the river.
They were the first people who invented
the first form of writing having picture
like symbol. The symbols were later
simplified to produce cuneiforms, a
system of writing having Wedge-Shaped
character. Archaeologists have found
thousands of clay tablets with Sumerian
writings. The used baked bricks to build
great palaces and towering temples called
ziggurat in their cities. They believed
their gods lived on the top of ziggurat.
They were capable to make craftwork,
jewelry, musical instruments, decorative
pottery and stone seals engraved with
pictures and inscription. After the
long run or this Civilization, the city
of Babylon became the center of one
kingdom where Babylonian king Hummurabi
ruled. Hummurabi developed one of the
first law courts in the history. The
famous code of Hummurabi contains nearly
300 legal provisions, including many
Sumerian and akkadian laws.
Aztec
and Inca Civilization
Aztec and Inca
are the civilizations of Mexico and
Peru respectively. In both civilization
people did hard work. Aztec had discovered
a highly accurate calendar and Inca
did not have exact calendar. They were
able to construct large and beautiful
buildings out of stone. They both have
agro-based economic system. In these
both civilizations, human sacrifice
was practiced. Unlike in Inca civilization,
there was regular human sacrifice in
Aztec civilization. In every week sacrifice
was performed, if some misfortune happened
in noble family beautiful maidens were
selected for sacrifice. Since, there
were so many bad customs in those civilization,
as a result they could not sustain for
a long-time. Later these civilizations
were conquered by Spanish civilization.
Human
Sacrifice
Sacrifice, one
of the most fundamental and ubiquitous
of religious rituals was or is practiced
in almost all of the religions that
have ever existed. In the sacrifice
that was central to all the ancient
religious, the sacrificial object was
usually an animals, especially a valuable
one: an ox or a ram, whose strength
and virility were given to god so as
to get divine power. In almost all religion
sacrificial rituals were observed to
appease the unseen power. Slowly and
gradually, human cruelty crossed the
limitation and people began to sacrifice
human beings. Human sacrifice seems
to have originated among the first agricultural
people. The early Greeks ...... and
Roman, the earliest Jews, the Chinese
and Japanese, the Indian and many other
ancient people sacrificed human beings
to their gods. The victim was often
dressed in magnificent garments and
adorned with Jewels so that he or she
might go in glory to the god. Judaism
knew that it is the human cruelty and
this cruelty should be stopped. Judaism
is the first religion that stopped human
sacrifice and the bitter story of human
sacrifice came to an end.
Major
religions o the World
Judaism:
Abraham was a founder of Judaism. It
was Abraham himself who first stopped
human sacrifice. Abraham believed that
he had a special contact with God. Judaism
is the religion of Jews. They believed
in single God. Jews think themselves
that.
1. They are the chosen people of God.
2. They are the only witness to God's
goodness.
3. They are the people to communicate
God's goodness to others in return God
would have given His mercy to them.
They worshipped the God Jehovah who
is supposed to be a god of justice and
sometimes also called a very angry god.
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