10. The Old World Empires

Jared Diamond observes that youngsters raised in more evolved societies than their own perform equally well as their little friends1. Conversely, evolved societies that are displaced or that occupy less favorable conditions than those they were accustomed to, may disappear. … Continue reading →

10.1.1 Shamans and kings Deprived of tools for logical analysis, primitive man responded to challenges, be these environmental or created by society, with assertive creeds. These creeds are blind and delusory certitudes used to cover and protect vital regions of … Continue reading →

The Chinese Old High Culture developed along lines sensibly different from those taken in the Near East and Egypt. The population was segmented into a large number of different villages. These were protected and insulated through rivers, mountains, deserts and … Continue reading →

Besides the Far East and Southeast, which followed independent courses, three important agricultural fixation points developed in India, Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Mesopotamian settlement slowly expanded as a tyrannical entity until the Achemenid Persians conquered it and initiated the first … Continue reading →

10.4.1 A frozen Neolithic society Uruk appeared between 7000 and 8000 years ago, in Mesopotamia. The urban civilizations of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus valley occurred much later, about 5000 years ago. The kingdom of Elam may have fecundated … Continue reading →

10.5.1 The colonial spirit: union instead of unity Most human groups assert themselves as being the only “men” (e.g. Frank means Free Man). Every other human group is considered infrahuman, not composed of “men” and labeled “barbarian” because barbarians do … Continue reading →

10.6.1 Greek Logic Abstraction, which appeared as early as Suza, is traced back to Paleolithic art itself. It proceeded further according to two evolutive lines, the rectilinear and the curvilinear5. The curvilinear style, represented by undulating lines, ever-recurring motives and … Continue reading →

In 410 AD, Alaric and his Goths plundered Rome. This is considered to be the end of Rome but there is no comparison between this sack and that suffered by Peking, which was laid waste by the Nomad. The Roman … Continue reading →

10.8.1 Appearance of the Nomad in the Old World In Asia and North Africa, the great dividing mountain ranges run in general east to West and sometimes also North-South. These mountains, together with penetrating seas, divide the land into well-defined … Continue reading →

The Turkish tribes that had replaced the Huns as the main power in Central Asia after Attila’s death protected China, which it even sometimes directly ruled (the Wei dynasty). Most of these Turkish tribes had evolved a culture based on … Continue reading →