What is the oldest civilization known? And what do you know about it?

[Jaximus-Lion]

[NamerOfStars]

Define "known"- and for that matter, define "civilization". Most people will tell you one of the big four- Egypt, China, India, or Mesopotamia- but Mohenjo Daro was thriving when they were still herding cows, the Tryptillians were booming (though well before their height) when THEY were still wandering, and Skara Brae had been settled and people long before THEY even migrated that far north. Heck, there's Neanderthal cave art from a time before anatomically modern humans even EXISTED.

The oldest that there's concrete evidence of (that I'm aware of) are the folks who built Gobekli Tepe- not much is known about them, and it's one of the annoyances of my life that anything learned will be long after I die; it's been decided that modern techniques are too destructive, and since it's clearly the oldest known artificial structure on the planet, it's too valuable to risk excavating now.

[Jaximus-Lion]

Someone has knowledge about this! 👍. I have been to the ziggurat of ur and Babylon (what is left of it) . I would say the ruins/remains are not so much left or can seen now days, not like the pyramids you have which i have visited in 2010 and it's unbelievable how remarkable the pyramids are.

[Jaximus-Lion]

Oops! I wrote to the wrong person. But! Imagine if we knew the years all these were built in, when i see things from the early 100's i feel like my mind is gonna blow. South America is sooooo rich with history that i would love to know more about and see of course. And imagine the middle east being one of the most advanced parts in the world because if the rivers Tigris and Eufrat location and their geographic location, connecting three continents together.

[NamerOfStars]

Two, actually; Europe and Asia are on the same continent. But yeah- maybe it's just (or mostly) an American thing, but I remember how weird it felt being in Ireland and seeing gravestones which had dates from the fourteenth century. Then I came home and visited Cahokia and felt better; good to know that WE have impressive pyramids, too (even if urban developers want to bulldoze them and build minimalls).

But the thing with the rivers is that you don't just need THEM; you also need a solid floodplain (or equivalent) surrounded by much less habitable territory- not only does that motivate people to stay, it makes it very hard for an invading army without extremely good logistics to invade you (unless they sail down the river, of course, but that has its own problems). That's why, say, the Danube saw so little settlement on its banks that lasted.

[Rockstarrrrr]

The sumerian civilization... It's awesome... Definitely one of the pioneers if not the most important... And the first one that shaped what we call " civilization ".. which makes many people believe they were the first humans to be contacted by " extraterrestrials " or the gods of the ancient world according to the ancient aliens theory.. Greek and Roman civilizations were influenced by it besides the ancient Egyptians and later they basically built the modern world... Many things are heavily influenced or originated from the sumerian civilization and culture.. Such as Abrahamic religions... They're basically copy and paste from sumerian myths and legends...

[Jaximus-Lion]

Someone has knowledge about this! . I have been to the ziggurat of ur and Babylon (what is left of it) . I would say the ruins/remains are not so much left or can seen now days, not like the pyramids you have which i have visited in 2010 and it's unbelievable how remarkable the pyramids are.

[Rockstarrrrr]

Yeah I hear things about the situation in Iraq... I don't know if it happened naturally or the people in Iraq are not doing a decent job at taking care of their Antiquities... In Egypt they usually had proper care and attention even by non Egyptian...

[OlderAndWiser]

I do not have much knowledge of ancient history.

[Jaximus-Lion]

If you have some time to waste! Sumer civilization. You might find it fascinating, the history of Babylon too, which i have been to, not much left, not even ruins

[WindAtMyBack]

The way anthropologists define civilization, that would be Peru. Surprisingly, there are five civilizations that started in a relatively short period of time, independently, in very different parts of the world. Plus a sixth civilization that sprang up not too long after that.

It's interesting that humans migrated to those parts of the world and remained hunter-gatherer nomads for millennia, then suddenly stable civilizations sprang up in completely different parts of the world. Either some event happened, or humans reached some threshold or evolutionary stage. Whatever the reason, it happened all at once even thought the populations were completely separated from each other.

[ShellyB]

I have no idea, the oldest I have seen signs of in person was Rome, I was in Italy for a college program and we did some tours. I know Rome is not the oldest though. I bet there are older ones than we know about yet, it would be so easy for v. old things to be lost forever or at least for a long time.

[Jaximus-Lion]

It still amazing, i have been to Rome, Milano and Venice, they are amazing. Old things do vanish with time. But! The oldest civilization known is Sumer, which is Iraq now.

[lilyanony1]

Donr want to sound dense but umm I don't know.
When I go on holidays and stuff I love getting myself submerged in the culture and history but I'm a sucker for retaining information.
British history is so bleak. Its tainted my desire to learn...

[Jaximus-Lion]

I mean! It's all white history, invasions, castles, kings and queens. That is basic in my opinion.

[lilyanony1]

Agreed

[jshm2]

Sumerians. Though there are older settlements in South America and Japan. But full fletched what we would "recognise" as a civilisation is Sumerians.

However, the caveat being it's likely the Sumerians and older wiped out older civilisations to the point we don't find them. Pretty much what America did to the Native Americans. Or the occupying state of Israel did to the Palestinians.

[NathanDavis]

generally speaking... it would be Mesopotamia, which can be traced back to 6000 years ago, more or less

[Jaximus-Lion]

I have been to the Ziggurat when i was a kid in the 90's, it still stands in Ur. As we call it! Sumer civilization.

[NathanDavis]

I'm not so lucky... I have not even visited the ones in Mexico, which are the nearest to me... lol

[Jaximus-Lion]

See ruins in Mexico? Or Iraq? 🤣 Skip Iraq my man, even though I am from Iraq and i wouldn't go back.

[NathanDavis]

why skip them... are they not interesting?

[Jaximus-Lion]

They are very interesting, but it's in Iraq. Plus! It's not much left of it, either the Britis already took it to their museums or it's ruined by Iraqi people.

[strateguy632]

Egypt is considered first before iraq. Egypt started writing 3100 bc but Iraq first writing around 2900 bc. I know the egypt kings and i attached a few incomplete records together to form a more detailed king list. But what if some dynasties in different places were parallel. Should we ADD 7th dynasty years BEFORE 8th? If 8th was 2300-2200 so 7th before 2300 or different places same time until 2200 therefore SIXTH dynasty would actually be later?

[exitseven]

There was an ancient civilization that lived in Bedrock. They had an amazing civilization.

Yabba Dabba Doo

[purplepoppy]

The sumarians are usually quotes as the first civilisation. But what makes one group in that time period civilised and another uncivilised?