🏛️World History200 faits

Ancient Civilizations

De la Mésopotamie et de l’Égypte ancienne à Rome, en passant par les Mayas et la Route de la Soie – les peuples, les inventions et les empires qui ont construit le monde antique.

Ancient Mesopotamia developed between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern Iraq.
The Sumerians invented one of the earliest known writing systems, called cuneiform.
The Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Giza as a tomb for Pharaoh Khufu.
The Code of Hammurabi was one of the earliest written sets of laws.
Ancient Egyptians used a writing system of pictorial symbols called hieroglyphs.
The Indus Valley Civilization featured planned cities with advanced drainage systems.
Ancient Greece is often considered the birthplace of Western democracy.
The Roman Republic was governed by elected officials before the Roman Empire emerged.
The Great Wall of China was built to defend against northern invasions.
The Phoenicians spread an early alphabet across the Mediterranean through trade.
Julius Caesar was assassinated by Roman senators in 44 BC.
The ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece, to honor Zeus.
The Maya developed an accurate calendar and advanced astronomical knowledge.
Alexander the Great built a vast empire stretching from Greece to India.
The Romans built extensive roads and aqueducts across their empire.
Ancient Egyptian society depended heavily on the annual flooding of the Nile.
Cuneiform was written by pressing a reed stylus into wet clay tablets.
The Sumerian city of Uruk was among the world's first large cities.
Ziggurats were massive stepped temple towers built throughout ancient Mesopotamia.
The wheel was developed in Mesopotamia and used for pottery and transport.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the earliest surviving works of literature.
Hammurabi ruled Babylon and unified much of Mesopotamia under his control.
The Babylonians used a number system based on sixty, called sexagesimal.
Our 60-minute hour derives from the Babylonian base-60 counting system.
The Akkadian Empire under Sargon was one of the world's first empires.
The Assyrians built a powerful empire centered on the city of Nineveh.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were counted among the Seven Wonders of the world.
Nebuchadnezzar II expanded Babylon and built the famous Ishtar Gate.
The Ishtar Gate was decorated with glazed blue bricks and animal figures.
Mesopotamian astronomers recorded the movements of planets and stars on clay tablets.
Irrigation canals allowed Mesopotamian farmers to grow crops in dry land.
The Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great became the largest empire of its time.
Cyrus the Great allowed conquered peoples to keep their own customs and religions.
Darius I organized the Persian Empire into provinces governed by satraps.
The Persian Royal Road connected distant parts of the empire for fast communication.
Zoroastrianism, founded by Zarathustra, was the main religion of ancient Persia.
Persepolis served as a ceremonial capital of the Persian Achaemenid Empire.
Ancient Egypt was unified around 3100 BC under a single ruler.
Egyptian pharaohs were regarded as living gods and absolute rulers.
The Rosetta Stone helped scholars decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Jean-Francois Champollion decoded Egyptian hieroglyphs in the 1820s.
Egyptians preserved bodies through mummification to prepare them for the afterlife.
The Egyptian Book of the Dead contained spells to guide souls in the afterlife.
The Sphinx of Giza is a giant statue with a lion's body and human head.
Egyptians wrote on a paper-like material made from the papyrus plant.
The pharaoh Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb was discovered in 1922.
Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.
Queen Hatshepsut was one of the few women to rule Egypt as pharaoh.
Ramesses II reigned for about 66 years and built many monuments.
The temples of Abu Simbel were carved into a cliff by Ramesses II.
Cleopatra VII was the last active ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt.
Egyptians worshipped many gods, including Ra, Osiris, Isis, and Horus.
The Nile River flows northward and empties into the Mediterranean Sea.
The Egyptians developed a 365-day solar calendar based on the Nile's cycle.
Akhenaten attempted to introduce worship of a single sun god, Aten.
The Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest human-made structure for thousands of years.
Egyptian pyramids were built mainly during the Old Kingdom period.
The Indus Valley Civilization flourished in present-day Pakistan and northwest India.
Mohenjo-daro and Harappa were major cities of the Indus Valley Civilization.
The Indus script has not yet been deciphered by scholars.
Indus Valley cities used standardized fired bricks for construction.
The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro may have been used for ritual bathing.
Ancient China's earliest dynasty with written records was the Shang dynasty.
The Shang dynasty used oracle bones to predict the future.
The Zhou dynasty introduced the idea of the Mandate of Heaven.
The Mandate of Heaven justified a ruler's right to govern in ancient China.
Confucius taught principles of ethics, family loyalty, and respect for elders.
Confucianism emphasized social harmony and proper relationships between people.
Laozi is traditionally credited with founding Daoism in ancient China.
Qin Shi Huang became the first emperor to unify China in 221 BC.
Qin Shi Huang standardized weights, measures, and writing across China.
The Terracotta Army was buried to guard Qin Shi Huang's tomb.
The Terracotta Army consists of thousands of life-sized clay soldiers.
The Han dynasty expanded Chinese territory and promoted Confucian ideals.
The Silk Road was a network of trade routes linking China to the West.
Silk, spices, and ideas traveled along the Silk Road for centuries.
Ancient Chinese invented paper during the Han dynasty.
Cai Lun is traditionally credited with improving papermaking in China.
Ancient China developed the compass, gunpowder, and printing over time.
Ancient Greek civilization was organized into independent city-states called poleis.
Athens and Sparta were the two most powerful ancient Greek city-states.
Sparta was famous for its disciplined and powerful military society.
Athenian democracy allowed free male citizens to vote on laws.
The Greek statesman Pericles led Athens during its golden age.
The Parthenon was a temple built on the Acropolis of Athens.
The Parthenon was dedicated to the goddess Athena.
Greek mythology featured gods believed to live on Mount Olympus.
Zeus was considered the king of the Greek gods.
The Greek poet Homer is credited with the Iliad and the Odyssey.
The Iliad tells the story of the legendary Trojan War.
Greek philosopher Socrates encouraged questioning to seek truth and wisdom.
Plato founded a school in Athens known as the Academy.
Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great and studied many fields of knowledge.
The Greeks developed early ideas in geometry, including work by Euclid.
Pythagoras is associated with a famous theorem about right triangles.
Hippocrates is often called the father of Western medicine.
Greek theater included tragedies and comedies performed in open-air amphitheaters.
The Persian Wars saw Greek city-states unite against Persian invasions.
The Battle of Marathon was a key Greek victory over the Persians.
The Battle of Thermopylae featured a stand by Spartan-led Greek forces.
The Peloponnesian War was fought between Athens and Sparta.
The Hellenistic period followed the conquests of Alexander the Great.
Alexander the Great founded the city of Alexandria in Egypt.
The Library of Alexandria was a renowned center of ancient learning.
The Olympic Games were held every four years in ancient Greece.
Ancient Rome was traditionally founded in 753 BC.
According to legend, Romulus and Remus founded the city of Rome.
The Roman Senate was a powerful governing body during the Republic.
The Twelve Tables formed the basis of early Roman law.
The Punic Wars were fought between Rome and Carthage.
Hannibal led Carthaginian forces and crossed the Alps with war elephants.
Rome destroyed Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War.
Augustus became the first emperor of Rome in 27 BC.
Augustus established the Pax Romana, a long period of Roman peace.
The Colosseum in Rome hosted gladiator contests and public spectacles.
The Roman Pantheon was a temple dedicated to many gods.
Roman concrete allowed the construction of large domes and arches.
Roman aqueducts carried fresh water into cities over long distances.
Latin was the official language of the Roman Empire.
Many modern European languages, including Spanish and French, descended from Latin.
Roman numerals used letters such as I, V, X, L, C, D, and M.
The Roman army was organized into units called legions.
Roman roads were built so well that some still survive today.
The emperor Nero ruled Rome and was blamed for a great fire.
The emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire.
Constantine founded the city of Constantinople as a new capital.
The Roman Empire split into western and eastern halves in 395 AD.
The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 AD.
The Eastern Roman Empire became known as the Byzantine Empire.
Pompeii was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
The eruption of Vesuvius preserved Pompeii under volcanic ash.
The Maya civilization flourished in present-day Mexico and Central America.
The Maya built stepped pyramids and large stone cities in the jungle.
Maya cities included Tikal, Palenque, and Chichen Itza.
The Maya used a writing system of hieroglyphic symbols called glyphs.
The Maya developed the concept of zero in their number system.
The Aztecs built their capital, Tenochtitlan, on an island in a lake.
Tenochtitlan was located where Mexico City stands today.
The Aztecs created floating gardens called chinampas to grow crops.
The Inca Empire was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America.
The Inca capital was the city of Cusco in present-day Peru.
Machu Picchu was an Inca site built high in the Andes Mountains.
The Inca built an extensive road network through the Andes.
The Inca used knotted cords called quipu to record information.
The Olmec are considered the earliest major civilization of Mesoamerica.
The Olmec carved enormous stone heads from volcanic basalt.
Ancient Mesoamericans played a ritual ball game using a rubber ball.
The Phoenicians were skilled sailors and traders based in the Levant.
Phoenician cities included the major ports of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos.
The Phoenicians produced a valuable purple dye from sea snails.
The Phoenician alphabet influenced later Greek and Latin alphabets.
The ancient Hebrews developed monotheism, the belief in one God.
The Hebrew Bible records the history and laws of the ancient Israelites.
King Solomon was said to have built the first temple in Jerusalem.
The Hittites built a powerful empire in ancient Anatolia.
The Hittites were among the first to work iron into tools and weapons.
The Bronze Age was named for the widespread use of bronze tools.
The Minoan civilization developed on the island of Crete.
The Minoans built a large palace complex at Knossos.
The Mycenaeans were an early Greek civilization on mainland Greece.
The Etruscans influenced early Roman culture in central Italy.
The Nubian kingdom of Kush ruled Egypt for a period as pharaohs.
The Kingdom of Kush was centered along the Nile south of Egypt.
The city of Meroe was a center of ironworking in ancient Nubia.
The Kingdom of Aksum was a powerful trading state in ancient Ethiopia.
Aksum was one of the first kingdoms to adopt Christianity.
The Lydians of Anatolia are credited with minting the first coins.
The ancient Greeks built the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was a wonder of the ancient world.
The Lighthouse of Alexandria guided ships into the harbor of Egypt.
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was an elaborate ancient tomb.
The Colossus of Rhodes was a giant statue of the sun god Helios.
The Sumerians may have invented the plow to improve farming.
Ancient Mesopotamians wrote contracts and receipts on clay tablets.
Ancient Egyptian society was organized into a strict social hierarchy.
The Greek historian Herodotus is called the father of history.
Thucydides wrote a detailed history of the Peloponnesian War.
The Antikythera mechanism was an ancient Greek astronomical calculating device.
Archimedes was a Greek inventor and mathematician from Syracuse.
Roman citizens enjoyed legal rights not granted to non-citizens.
The Appian Way was one of the earliest and most important Roman roads.
Julius Caesar reformed the calendar into the Julian calendar.
The month of July was named after Julius Caesar.
The month of August was named after the emperor Augustus.
Roman engineers built sewers, including the Cloaca Maxima in Rome.
Ancient India saw the rise of the Maurya Empire under Chandragupta.
The Mauryan emperor Ashoka promoted Buddhism across his empire.
Ashoka erected stone pillars inscribed with moral teachings.
Buddhism was founded in ancient India by Siddhartha Gautama.
Siddhartha Gautama became known as the Buddha, meaning the awakened one.
Hinduism developed in ancient India over many centuries.
The Vedas are among the oldest sacred texts of ancient India.
The ancient Indian Gupta Empire is called a golden age of culture.
Indian mathematicians developed the concept of zero as a number.
The decimal number system spread from India to the wider world.
The Great Wall of China was built and rebuilt across many dynasties.
The Grand Canal of China linked rivers to aid transport and trade.
Ancient Egyptians built obelisks as tall, tapered stone monuments.
The pyramids at Giza are aligned closely with the cardinal directions.
The Fertile Crescent is often called the cradle of civilization.

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