The Phoenicians Along the coast of the Mediterranean were located a large number of cities inhabited by the Phoenicians. These people were skilled ship builders and traders. Their ships had sails and rudders and were rowed by a large group of men. All the cities of this area were linked by sea. The Phoenicians traded in many thing amongst which the most famous ones were Ivory, cloth, jewellery, glass, dyes etc....

The Indus Valley Civilisation One of first civilisations of the world developed on the banks of the river Indus between 2500 B.C. and 1500 B.C. in modern day Pakistan. There were more than hundred small towns and villages in the area along the river Indus. Amongst these Mohenjodaro and Harappa are the famous ones. The people who inhabited this area used baked clay bricks to build their homes and surrounding streets....

The Sumerian Civilisation Before 2000 B.C. the lower part of Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq. was inhabited by the Sumerians. The Sumerians came to this area probably from modern day Turkey or Iran. Sumerians considered their rulers to be the representatives of gods. The cities of Uruk, Ur and Eridu were built by them using clay bricks dried in the sun. A large number of clay tablets with writings, found in the...

The Egyptian Civilisation Over 5000 years ago the fertile valley of the river Nile, in Egypt, was the home of a thriving civilisation which lasted for about 3000 years. The people were ruled by kings who were called the *Pharaohs’. Most of the people were farmers who worked for rich land owners or the king. Besides farming, the Egyptians used boats made from papyrus reeds to fish in the Nile river...

The Science of Archaeology Archaeology involves the study of the remains of past civilisations and societies. One of the earliest pioneers of this science was the German Archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann who discovered the remains of the city of Troy in the year 1870. There have been many discoveries since then and most of the artifacts we see in museums are a result of excavations all over the world. These excavations are...

Ancient Alphabets and Languages Modern alphabets are a very recent development, in the earlier days people used to draw small pictures to represent things in text. This was called Picture writing. The Egyptian system of picture writing was called Hieroglyphics. Writing originated in Mesopotamia about 5000 years ago. The Mesopotamians began to use wedge shaped marks to represent sounds. Since paper had not yet been discovered in those days the Mesopotamians...

The Babylonians The land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was the home of the first civilisation about 6000 years ago. The people who lived here were called the Babylonians. Since the land on which they lived was very fertile, they largely depended upon farming through refined farming methods. The Babylonians were the first to build cities, and develop a method of writing. One of the first cities they developed was...

The Assyrians About three thousand years ago most of’ modern Iraq was inhabited by the Assyrians. These people lived in the highland area around the river Tigris. The Assyrian empire lasted for over three centuries. During the 7th century B.C. this empire was at it’s peak and stretched across the area between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea. The Assyrians were great warriors and their armies included a large number...