How Culture Changed from 3000 BCE to 1500 CE

Cuneiform is Developed

3100 BCE

Cuneiform is one of the oldest forms of writing known. It means "wedge-shaped," because people wrote it using a reed stylus cut to make a wedge-shaped mark on a clay tablet. Letters enclosed in clay envelopes, as well as works of literature, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, have been found. Cuneiform writing was used to record a variety of information such as temple activities, business, and trade. Cuneiform was also used to write stories, myths, and personal letters.

The Emergence of Mesopotamia

3000 BCE

The word Mesopotamia refers to the area between the Tigris and Euphrates, two of the most important waterways in the ancient world. It's no coincidence that it was here that civilization was born: like nearby Egypt and the Nile river, early agriculture relied on a regular supply of water in a highly fertile region. The ancient Mesopotamians had everything they needed for agriculture, they just had to figure out how to cultivate cereals grains and how to manage the sudden floods of both rivers.

Hammurabi's Code

2000 BCE

Hammurabi was a classic micro-manager, concerned with all aspects of his rule. This is seen in his legal code, which survives in partial copies on clay tablets. We can also view this as a monument presenting Hammurabi as an exemplary king of justice. What's interesting about the representation of Hammurabi on the legal code is that he's seen as receiving the laws from the god Shamash. The emphasis here is Hammurabi’s role as a pious theocrat, and that the laws come from the god.

Minoans and Mycenaeans

1700 BCE

Both the Minoans and Mycenaeans were seafarers. Whereas almost all of the other civilizations of the eastern Mediterranean were land empires, the Greek civilizations were very closely tied to the sea itself. The Minoans created a merchant marine to trade with the Egyptians. One of the noteworthy traits of Minoans is that there is very little evidence of fortifications of their palaces or cities, indicating that they were much less concerned about foreign invasion than the neighboring empires.

The Renaissance

1250 BCE

The Renaissance produced dramatic changes in European art, architecture, and culture. It reshaped artistic, societal, and religious norms as medieval Europe’s connections with the rest of Afro-Eurasia increased. Artists like Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci embraced realism and individualism in styles that moved away from the religious focus of medieval art. Humanist scholars like Francesco Petrarch combined ideas from Christianity with the philosophy of the Greeks and Romans.

The Holy Roman Empire

800 BCE

Ancient Roman culture grew through the almost 1200 years of Rome's civilization. The Romans conquered many people and brought back from their wars things from each land. Their way of life was a mix of many cultures and religions. Greek influence became very important. Architecture, laws, and literature grew to a high level. Slaves and Christians were treated differently by different rulers. Rome was a trading nation that kept military control over many peoples, mostly around the Mediterranean.

Greece

800 BCE

Building on the discoveries and knowledge of civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia, among others, the Ancient Greeks developed a sophisticated philosophical and scientific culture. One of the key points of Ancient Greek philosophy was the role of reason and inquiry. It emphasized logic and championed the idea of impartial, rational observation of the natural world.

Charlemagne

742 BCE

Charlemagne, King of the Franks and later Holy Roman Emperor, instigated a cultural revival known as the Carolingian Renaissance. This revival used Constantine's Christian empire as its model, which flourished between 306 and 337. Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity and left behind an impressive legacy of military strength and artistic patronage.

Alexander the Great

336 BCE

Alexander the Great’s empire developed not only because of his military prowess but also because of his father’s success, which took advantage of an unstable political context in Greece. Alexander’s own conquests happened in very specific political contexts as well, which facilitated his ability to expand his empire rapidly and with little resistance. Perhaps the greatest effect of his empire was the spread of Greek culture through the successor empires that long outlasted Alexander’s rule.

Byzantium

330 BCE

Byzantines developed a separate cultural identity from the Romans by shifting the capital to Constantinople and adopting monotheism. The Byzantine empire grew its ties with Persia and Eastern Orthodox church and in time it created a cultural hotbed where many cultures combined to make a unique one.

Christianity

313 BCE

Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which granted Christianity legal status. While this was an important development in the history of Christianity, it was not a total replacement for Roman beliefs in Christianity. In 325, Constantine called the Council of Nicaea, which was a gathering of Christian leaders to determine the orthodox beliefs of Christianity. In 380 CE, the emperor Theodosius issued the Edict of Thessalonica, which made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.