ancient kingdoms
Bygone sovereign states
Ancient kingdoms refers to political states ruled by monarchs that existed in the distant past, typically before the medieval period or in pre-colonial eras.
The phrase evokes civilizations like Egypt, Babylon, or the empires of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia: The ancient kingdoms of the Nile built monuments that still stand.
In fantasy contexts, ancient kingdoms are lost or fallen realms whose ruins adventurers explore.
- empireDomain under unified control
- dynastySuccessive family rulers
- royal bloodlinesAncestral chains of monarchs
- hieroglyphicsSymbolic picture-based writing
- stone tabletsInscribed rock slabs
ziggurat · monarchy · Mesopotamia · sovereignty · bronze age · silk road · Mesoamerica · Persia · Egypt · trade networks · archaeology · city-state · walled cities · China · conquest · lost civilizations · Babylon · Indus Valley
- AfricaEgypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania
- Southeast AsiaVietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia
- Indian historyIndian independence, Akbar, Mughal Empire, British Raj, Mahatma Gandhi
- CyprusNicosia, halloumi, Aphrodite, Northern Cyprus, buffer zone
- Middle-earth RPGMiddle-earth, Tolkien, hobbits, elves, dwarves
- Sri LankaSri Lanka, Ceylon, Colombo, Sinhalese, Tamils
ancient kingdomsfederal republics
States with elected leaders and autonomous regions
liberal democracies · representative governments · technocracies