When we mention ancient Egypt, we will naturally think of hieroglyphs, the Sphinx, pharaohs, pyramids, ancient Egyptian legislation and so on. In fact, in this magical and mysterious ancient land of ancient Egypt, not only these things were bred, but also richer and more fascinating culture and literature were bred.

Ancient Egypt refers to the Egyptian civilization located in the Nile valley from more than 4000 BC until it was conquered by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. As a civilization based on irrigation, it is a classic example of a hydraulic empire.

The culture of ancient Egypt is very rich. The hieroglyphics created had a great influence on the later Phoenician letters, while the Greek letters were created on the basis of the Phoenician letters. In addition, in addition to the pyramids mentioned above, the buildings such as the Alexander Lighthouse and the Temple of Amon reflect the superb architectural technology and mathematical knowledge of the Egyptians, and have also made great achievements in geometry and calendar.

In addition, the myths and literature of ancient Egypt have reached a considerable height, which has had a noticeable influence on later generations. For example, the world-famous literary work The Book of Death.

2. Babylon

Babylonia is located in the Mesopotamian plain, roughly in today's Iraq. Around 3000 BC, people here established a country, and by the 8th century BC/kloc-0, the kingdom of Babylon appeared here. "Mesopotamia" is an ancient Greek word, which means "the place between the two rivers", so it is also called the basin of the two rivers. These two rivers refer to the Euphrates River and the Tigris River.

The earliest ancient civilization discovered in the two river basins has been more than 6000 years ago. Although Babylon has disappeared now, its influence (especially in religion) remains today. It really deserves to be one of the four ancient civilizations.

Babylonian civilization is roughly bounded by today's Baghdad city and divided into north and south parts. The northern part is centered on the ancient city of Assyria, called Silesia, or Assyria for short; The south is centered on the city of Babylon and is called Babylonia, which means "the land of Babylon". Babylon is divided into two regions, Sumer in the south near the mouth of the Persian Gulf and Akkad in the north of Sumer. The residents of these two areas are called Sumerians and Akkadians respectively. Mesopotamian civilization was originally created by Sumerians.

The period of ancient Babylonian kingdom was one of the most brilliant periods in the history of the two river basins. A famous monarch, Hammurabi, appeared in this country. After Hammurabi unified the two river basins by force, he established a centralized autocratic country. He personally holds various powers such as religion, military, administration, justice and water conservancy construction. In order to rule his country more effectively, he promulgated the famous code of hammurabi. The code ***282, carved on a black basalt stone pillar with a height of 2.25m, is the earliest complete written code found so far.

Sumer and the ancient Egyptians invented writing almost at the same time. Babylonian literature included myths, fables, stories, ballads, prayers, proverbs and epics during the period from 19 BC to 16 BC. City of ur is the earliest city builder in the world-the greatest achievement of Sumerians. Now, the site of city of ur is located in the desert in southern Iraq. What killed this fertile land? Why did people with enough skills to create canals, temple towers and the earliest scripts move to the north? After all, if they hadn't moved north, there might not have been a Babylonian kingdom.

3. Ancient India

Ancient India is one of the cradles of world civilization with a history of about 5,000 years. In BC 1500, Aryan tribes from northwest invaded here; Their combination with the local people created the classic Vedic culture. After that, Arabs invaded this land in the 8th century, followed by Turks who arrived in the 2nd century and European businessmen who arrived here at the end of the 5th century. After defeating the local Mughal Empire, Britain successfully gained control of India in the19th century, leaving only a few areas ruled by Portugal and France. The non-violent resistance movement led by Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru finally won full independence for India in 1947. The subcontinent was eventually divided into "secular" India and smaller Muslim country Pakistan.

India is an island country, shaped like an irregular inverted triangle. Some people vividly compare it to a huge milk, and correspondingly compare Sri Lanka, the pearl of the Indian Ocean, to a drop of milk in this breast, which nourishes the vast plains of the subcontinent and breeds splendid ancient Indian civilization. Another thing that puzzles us in India is the existence of caste system, which is a unique and far-reaching social system in ancient India. It is ubiquitous from political economy to social life, and it has continued since the Vedic era. It is closely connected with Indian civilization and more powerful than the rule of the dynasty.

Indian culture is like a hard stone, which has no big expansion and stubbornly resists the invasion of any foreign culture. The philosophical concept of Indian culture holds that time is infinite, always turning from one cycle to another, with no beginning or end, and space is limited. Indians don't care much about the world outside the Indian peninsula, nor do they care about and record history. Now Indian historians need to learn about Indian history with the help of Xuanzang's records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty and the accounts of the Greeks and the British.

Indian culture believes that death is just the next cycle. They are not afraid of death, full of hope for the future and full of confidence in the world. Indian culture opposes killing and lives in harmony with nature. There will be no general hysterical panic about any disaster, but it is also unwilling to violently confront fate. Even if they strive for independence from British colonial rule, they will rely on peaceful means.

4. China civilization

Chinese civilization, also known as Chinese civilization. It is one of the oldest civilizations in the world and the longest-lasting civilization in the world. It is generally believed that Chinese civilization has three direct sources, namely, the Yellow River civilization, the Yangtze River civilization and the northern grassland civilization. Chinese civilization is the brilliant achievement of the exchange, integration and sublimation of the three regional civilizations. The agricultural civilization produced in the Yellow River basin is influenced by the natural geographical factors in the historical period, and it is constantly transitioning and developing to the agricultural civilization in the Yangtze River basin. The agricultural civilization in the Yangtze River basin is the inheritance and development of the agricultural civilization in the Yellow River basin. Early agriculture in the Yellow River basin was mainly to grow millet, while agriculture in the Yangtze River basin was mainly to grow rice. The nomadic civilization of northern grassland is an important part of Chinese civilization. There is a transition zone between the agricultural civilization area in the Yellow River basin and the nomadic civilization area in the northern grassland. This area is also the main area where nomadic and agricultural nationalities (mainly Han nationality) competed with each other in the historical period, and agricultural civilization and nomadic civilization also exchanged and merged directly in this area.

Historical reasons and basic characteristics:

First, China is located in the eastern part of Eurasia, with a vast territory, two rivers running across the east and west, and a vast central plain. The people of primitive tribes naturally tend to be unified, although there are occasional divisions, but after all, harmony is the mainstay. The wider and tighter the social, economic and cultural healing is, the more harmonious the Chinese nation will be. The Chinese language and culture represented by Chinese characters contains the richest historical and humanistic information.

Secondly, there are insurmountable natural obstacles around Chinese mainland, such as Wan Li in the southeast, deep valleys in the southwest plateau, Gobi in the northwest desert and frozen soil in the northern wilderness, which makes people who live and multiply here concentrate on farming and weaving, not seeking colonization, and even form a peaceful, docile and accommodating heretical nature;

Third, most parts of China are in temperate zone, with distinct seasons, lush forests and abundant products, which enabled China people to discover and utilize oil and coal at the earliest, and developed manufacturing industries with great influence on later generations as early as BC, such as mining, smelting and alchemy (regarded as primitive chemistry), and then a number of major scientific and technological inventions appeared;

Fourth, although China has a coastline of 20,000 kilometers, a long history of navigation and a splendid shipbuilding industry, the people of China still take the mainland as their foundation and make it their home. The people here are settled in their native land, hardworking, clan friendly, harmonious and United, modest and tolerant, and have formed a strong cohesive force as a whole nation in many regions and at all levels.

It should be said that the profound China culture with harmony as its core is full of glory and suffering, achievements and setbacks in its long history. All this not only deeply touches the hearts of every China person, determines their thoughts and feelings, but also affects the development process of many other foreign nationalities and cultures (the Japanese Dahua Innovation in the 7th century AD is a typical example). Therefore, it can be said that Chinese culture is not only the spiritual pillar and cultural foundation of the people of all ethnic groups in China at home and abroad, but also the precious wealth of history, modernity and future mankind. Chinese civilization stretches for five thousand years. When it entered the sixth millennium, people were looking back, reflecting and being alert. It is the unshirkable historical responsibility of every member of the Chinese nation to make the Chinese nation more prosperous and make new contributions to this increasingly diversified world.