ancient civilization
Long-dead society
Ancient civilization refers to complex human societies that emerged thousands of years ago, typically marked by cities, writing systems, organized government, and monumental architecture.
The term usually covers cultures like Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, China, and the Maya: The course surveys ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean.
Ancient civilization often implies a foundational role in later cultural development—the idea that modern institutions, ideas, or technologies trace back to these early societies.
- lost citySettlement swallowed by time
- wallVertical enclosing structure
- Bronze AgeEarly metalworking civilization period
- excavationAct of unearthing
- cuneiformStylus-impressed ancient script
codices · Indus Valley · antiquity · Mesopotamia · city-states · Mesoamerica · hieroglyphics · dynasties · aqueducts · heritage · pharaohs · sun god · stone · satraps · Roman Empire · oral traditions · epic poetry · irrigation systems
- naturesun, moon, sky, trees, water
- ancestorsancestor, ancestors, forebears, forebear, forbear
- archaeologyexcavation, dig site, archaeologist, dig, archaeological digs
- IraqBaghdad, Basra, Mosul, Fallujah, Kurdistan
- MesopotamiaBabylon, Sumer, Tigris, Mesopotamia, Euphrates
- Atlantislost city, lost continent, sunken city, Plato, Poseidon
ancient civilizationindustrial society
Civilization centered on manufacturing
digital age · information age · space age · twenty-first century · modern era
ancient civilizationtribal society
Kinship-based communal organization
barbarism · savagery · prehistoric society · prehistoric culture · nomadic culture