Assyria
The ancient Assyrian empire rose from the collapse of the Sumerian civilization in the northern heart of the Mesopotamian cradle. They were known for their aggressive military, skills in early siege warfare and one of the first elaborate provincial bureaucracies.
The Akkadian cuneiform, the main language for the Assyrians, was well spread in Mesopotamia. Later it was replaced by the Phoenician alphabet, which finally transformed into our current-day alphabet.
The famous Assyrian sculpture was incomparable during its time. One of the most iconic sculptures being the massive lamassus, the half man, half lion or bull with phoenix wings that could be found on either side of the large city gates.
Carthage
The Carthaginian culture was focused on maritime trade, with bustling commercial hubs and multiple trading posts and colonies spread throughout Africa, Sicily and southern Iberia. Carthage’s textiles and dyes were famous throughout the ancient world and its ship making technology was unsurpassed for centuries.
Carthaginian influence, fed by its mercantile dominance of the seas, spread as far as Spain and its consolidation of power on the African continent. It was one of the longest lived and largest of the ancient empires around the Mediterranean Sea.
Celt
The Hallstatt culture in central Europe were the first people described to have a Celtic culture, but the late Celtic people shared a common language and inhabited a large pan of northern Europe, Britain, France, part of the Iberian peninsula and more east into modern day Turkey.
The Celts were known for their agriculture and ironworking and also had a complex monetary system composed of all kinds of metallic objects made up of bronze, silver and gold.
Like other European Iron Age tribal societies, the Celts practiced a polytheistic religion. Rites and sacrifices based around calendar schedules were carried out by priests known as druids.
Egypt
The Egyptians developed some of the most advanced agricultural systems in order to deal with the recurring floods of the Nile. This allowed Egypt to become one of the largest and most stable of the ancient civilizations.
Other Egyptian developments include written record, astronomy, calendars and even rudimentary surgery. The Egyptians had one of the most complex and detailed religions where each Pharaoh was a deity unto himself (theocracy).
The massive pyramids represent the power of the pharaohs to date. Even under immense military and political conquests Egyptian culture remained remarkably intact until the introduction of monotheism, which eventually led to the end of theocracy.
Hatti
The Hattian culture was born in the heart of modern day Turkey. Initially a group of city states loosely unified under religious kings, the empire gradually consolidated under the capital of Hattusa.
Hattian religion goes back to the Stone Age. It involved worship of the earth in its personification as a mother goddess; the Hattians honored the mother goddess to ensure their crops and their own well-being.
Eventually the culture was replaced by the Hittites, who absorbed the existing Hatti into their own empire. The Hittites were ruled by a priest king who worshiped similar gods and maintained Hattusa as their capital.
Hellas
Hellenistic Greece lasted from the early bronze age, until the death of Alexander the Great and the annexation of the classical Greek heartlands by the Roman Republic. Although the Romans did not replace the Hellenistic culture, the conquest of the Hellenistic land meant the end of Greek political independence in that period.
In ancient times, the Greek culture was spread all across the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, bringing trade, culture, language and religion abroad.
The Greeks were famous for their city states, cultural ascendancy and many historical advances. Alexander the Great even pushed Hellenic culture into Egypt, and India in the Far East.
Iberia
The exact origin of the lberians is uncertain, though for thousands of years the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula were influenced by the Phoenicians and the Greeks.
The Iberians adopted wine and olives from the Greeks. Mining was also very important for their economy; especially the silver mines near Gader and Carthago Nova and the iron mines in the Ebro valley, but also the exploitation of tin and copper deposits.
Iberian pottery and metalwork has been found as far as France, Italy, and northern Africa. The settlement of Castellet de Banyoles in Tivissa (currently Catalonia) was one of the most important ancient Iberian settlements.
Minoa
One of the oldest Western civilizations, the Minoans have their origin on the island of Crete. As a mercantile empire the Minoan civilization spread from its source island across the Grecian peninsula, establishing colonies all over the Cyclades and trading with all of the Mediterranean Sea.
The Minoan civilization was known for its massive palaces, sometimes four stories high, containing technological advances such as sewage systems and aqueducts. They were said to have inspired the legend of the labyrinth of Knossos and the Minotaur.
Uniquely, Minoa was known as one of the most peaceful ancient empires as warfare is rarely depicted and the use of arms/weapons could be argued to be purely ceremonial in nature.
Rome
Legend has it that the ancient city of Rome was founded by half-divine twins raised by a she-wolf. The city at the heart of the Italian peninsula began as a kingdom but transitioned into a republic. The Roman Republic embarked on a series of expansions which made the empire the largest ever in the western ancient world.
Eventually, after a civil war the republic was replaced by dynastic imperial empire started by Julius Caesar and then solidified by Augustus. The Roman Empire consolidated power and saw its expansion grow even further. Under most of the early emperors Rome saw its golden age as wealth poured into the city and. the military might of its legions suppressed any hints of rebellion.
Babylon
Babylon was the capital city of Babylonia, an Akkadian-speaking state in southern ancient Mesopotamia. Starting as a small provincial town during the Akkadian Empire, king Hammurabi eventually expanded Babylon into the world’s largest city of its time. The famous Hanging Gardens were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The Babylonians and their predecessors, the Sumerians, are known for many developments, among which are the first map, the cuneiform script, agriculture, urbanization, time measurement and the potter’s wheel.
After being destroyed and then rebuilt by the Assyrians, Babylon became the capital of the short-lived Neo-Babylonian Empire until it was overthrown by several other empires.
Dravidia
Dravidians are the speakers of any of the Dravidian languages with its roots in present-day India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, where the true origin is difficult to reconstruct.
Theatre-dance traditions have a long and varied history within the region, as well as martial arts and sword fighting. Ancient Dravidian religion combined an animistic and non-Vedic form of belief.
The fall of the Indus Valley Civilization and eastward migration and mixture with the peoples in those regions is sometimes called Dravidianization. Several empires rose and fell in the region afterward, mixing and dividing cultures and traditions along the way.
Indus
The Harappan civilization, or Indus Valley civilization, was one of the earliest and for its time the most widespread civilization during the Early Bronze Age. It covered large parts of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of northwestern India. It flourished in the basins of the Indus River, growing large cities such as Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.
The civilization’s cities were noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses, water systems, and crafts like metallurgy and seal carving. The civilization is often compared with the Elam and Minoan Crete due to its isolated cultural parallels such as the worship of goddesses and bull leaping.
Gradual aridification of the region eventually reduced the water supplies to such an extent that it caused the civilization’s demise and drove its scattered population eastward.
Kushan
The Kushan Empire was a syncretic empire in the Bactrian territories. Kanishka the Great and the Kushans in general were great patrons of Buddhism, as well as Zoroastrianism and played a major role in the establishment of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent and its spread to Central Asia.
The Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sasanian Persia, the Aksumite Empire and the Han dynasty of China. While much philosophy, art, and science was created within its borders, the only textual record of the empire’s history today comes from inscriptions and accounts in other languages.
After fragmentation due to attacks in the western and eastern parts of the empire, the Kushans eventually were overwhelmed by various raiders from the north, which led to the final destruction.
Maurya
The Maurya Empire, founded by Chandragupta Maurya, was an extensive power based in Magadha. The empire was the largest political entity that has existed in the Indian subcontinent. Chandragupta Maurya rapidly conquered the region westwards by conquering the provinces left by Alexander the Great and by defeating Seleucus I.
The Mauryans are responsible for the Grand Trunk Road, one of Asia’s oldest and longest trade networks, connecting the north of the Indian subcontinent from east to west. They were known for intensive trading, agriculture, herbal medicine and an efficient system of finance.
The empire grew even larger under Ashoka the Great, but after his rule it declined for years and it finally dissolved into the Shunga dynasty.
Nubia
Nubians are people with origins in present-day Sudan and Egypt, who have formed one of the earliest cradles of civilization. Nubia was home to several empires, most prominently the kingdom of Kush.
In prehistoric times, the people created one of the oldest known pottery in the world as well as astronomical megaliths predating Stonehenge. Trading with Egypt included export of gold and import of copper, beads and seals. The Egyptians described them as excellent archers.
Due to pressure from Assyrians and Egyptians, the capital moved from Napata to Meroë, where at its peak, the rulers controlled the Nile Valley from north to south. A Roman invasion of Egypt led to serious decline, while actual loss of trade routes and desertification eventually resulted in the fall of the Kingdom of Kush.
Parthia
After the death of Alexander the Great, east of the Caspian Sea a nomadic Scythian tribe established themselves as a superpower: the Parthians. The tribe overtook the Seleucid Empire, founded by Seleucid I, one of Alexander’s great generals.
The Royal Road proved an important and lucrative trade route between east and west. This also influenced their architecture with circular and frontal motifs and the use of domes, incorporating Greek, Roman and Indian styles.
Key to the Parthian expansion were their unique and extremely successful fighting tactics. They withstood Roman attacks in the west while steadily growing their empire to the east. Imagining themselves as invulnerable, the downfall eventually began with both external invasions and internal dissension.
Persia
The first Persian Empire, the Achaemenid Empire, was founded by Cyrus the Great in present-day Iran. In its heyday, the empire ranged from the Balkans to the Indus Valley, which was considerably larger than any empire in history before.
The empire is most notable for its model of centralized administration, multicultural policy, road systems, the use of an official language across its territories, and, last but not least, the development of a large professional army. The main religion of ancient Persia was the native Zoroastrianism.
Alexander the Great eventually conquered most of the empire. Upon his death most of the territory fell under the rule of the Seleucid Empire.
Saba
The Sabaeans were an ancient people of south Arabia who founded the kingdom of Saba, the biblical land of Sheba, the true origin of which is under debate. Very early in history the leaders managed to occupy most of the southern Arabian territory.
The Sabaeans were involved in the extremely lucrative spice trade, especially incense and myrrh. They left behind many inscriptions in the Musnad script, as well as the related cursive Zabūr script.
Although the kingdom was initially conquered by the Himyarite kingdom, a new and different Sabaean dynasty reestablished after the disintegration of the first Himyarites. Years later, a second overthrow by the Himyarites meant the final decline of the Sabaean kingdom.