The Ancient World

“From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

The power of Egypt’s Old Kingdom rulers was reflected in their awe-inspiring monuments. The Harappan civilization of the Indus River Valley traded across Central Asia, the Near East and beyond. In the Far East, Great Yu controlled the waters and founded the first Chinese dynasty, the Xia.

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“Now any king who wants to call himself my equal, wherever I went, let him go!” – Sargon the Great

In 2,334 BC, Sargon of Akkad forged the world’s first empire and created a legend that would inspire Near Eastern rulers for millennia. The Third Dynasty of Ur built its smaller but more centralized structure on Akkadian foundations.

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Contemporary with early Sumer and Egypt, the Norte Chico thrived along the Peruvian coast, while the Neolithic Britons built their mysterious stone circles. The first European civilization, the Minoans of ancient Crete, exerted a strong cultural influence over the eastern Mediterranean.

“Climb the stone staircase, more ancient than the mind can imagine” – The Epic of Gilgamesh

The Sumerians of Mesopotamia, the Elamites of the Persian plateau, and the Egyptians of the Nile River valley were among the first civilizations to emerge in the ancient world.

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