8.1.1 WEST ASIA

The Hittites civilization was the first to use iron. The Assyrians were strong conquerors with a large empire. The Chaldeans descended from Babylonians and rebuilt Babylon. They were astrologers and laid the foundation for astronomy. The Persians built a strong empire that stretched from Egypt to India. 

8.1.2 MEDITERRANEAN

The Minoan civilization on Crete Island was the world’s first sea-faring civilization. The Myceneans replaced the Minoans as a dominant power in the area. The Greek civilization arose from the Minoan and Mycenean civilizations. The most famous Greek city states were Sparta and Athens. Greeks introduced democracy and worshipped many gods. They excelled in architecture, sculptures, painting, poetry, drama, sports and philosophy. Their major contribution to scientific methodology was the discovery that the world was governed by natural laws. In the Hellenistic period, Greek colonies and culture spread in Asia Minor and North Africa. The empire established by Alexander the Great from Egypt to India helped spread of trade, the Greek language, and Greek learning. General decline followed the death of Alexander and eventually Greek cities came under Roman rule. Phoenicians were sea-farers and traders who established overseas colonies. They developed sophisticated business methods and an alphabet that is the forerunner of the Latin alphabet. They manufactured clothes. They eventually were defeated by the Romans.

8.1.3 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Aksum was a trading country along the Red Sea. It adopted Nasraaniyat as its official religion. They developed a writing system and knew how to farm on terraces. Weakened by civil wars, they retreated to the inland mountains and lived in isolation for 100 years and became the nucleus of the Ethiopian Empire. Nuba nomads settled in Kushite towns and converted to Nasraaniyyat. They built monasteries, churches, schools, and towns. They mad eat and developed writing. They came under Muslim influence after defeat by the Ayubids in the 15^th century. The people of Ghana learned how to smelt iron and became middle men in the gold trade between the forest area of West Africa and North Africa. They were defeated by the Murabituun. The Zimbabwe civilization thrived in present-day Zimbabwe. Its people were by farmers, herders, and iron smelters. They built houses of stone.

8.1.4 THE AMERICAS

The Olmec, Zapotec, Teotihuacanos, Toltec, and Toltec civilizations thrived in modern day Mexico. The Aztec were warlike farmers who settled at the present site of  Mexico city. They built an empire by conquering neighboring people. They had advanced farming techniques and built pyramids. Their empire was destroyed by Spanish invaders. The Mayans who lived in Central America were skilled mathematicians, astronomers, architects, farmers, and traders. They built stone cities, developed writing, discovered the zero, nd developed a counting system, and developed a calendar. They manufactured cloth and paper. The Mayans believed in the hereafter. About 900 AD they disappeared for no known reason. The Incas were farmers and herders who established a large empire in South America of 12 million people. The empire was destroyed by the Spanish.

8.1.5 CENTRAL ASIA, SOUTH ASIA, SOUTH EAST ASIA, and EAST ASIA

The Mongol nomads expert fighters on horseback invaded China, Russia, and the Middle East to set up the largest empire in the world that encouraged trade. India was ruled successively by the Mauryan and the Gupta dynasties. Indians encouraged learning. They explained infinity, invented the zero, and the so-called Arabic numerals. They knew roundness of the earth and knew about gravity. They performed surgical operations and invented medical instruments. They traded with Arabia, China, and Central Asia. The Khmer established a Hindu-Buddhist empire with capital at Angkor that conquered most of what is today Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand and erected beautiful buildings. Vietnam was under Chinese rule for a long time until it became independent. The Myanmar were influenced by Indian culture. The Thai migrated from China and set up their empire often at war with Myanmar. Korea was under Chinese rule until its independence. The Japanese adopted writing and Budhism from China. They resisted European influence until the Meiji restoration when they embraced European knowledge and technology. They became an industrial and military power that in 1928-1940 set up a short lived over East and South East Asia. Japan was defeated by the US in 1945. China was under several successive dynasties the last of which was overthrown in 1911 and an unstable Republic was set up. Then China fell under Japanese occupation and was the engaged in a civil war between the communists and the nationalists. A communist government took power in 1949 and set out to make China a great power.