1 -حضارة بلاد مابين النهرين
Civilization developed slowly in different parts of the world. People began to settle in areas with abundant natural resources. A section of the Middle East is called the Fertile Crescent. The Fertile Crescent is a rich food-growing area in a part of the world where most of the land is too dry for farming. The Fertile Crescent is a quarter-moon shaped region that extends from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.
Some of the best farmland of the Fertile Crescent is on a narrow strip of land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The Greeks later called this area Mesopotamia, which means “between the rivers.” Many different civilizations developed in this small region. First came the Sumerians, who were replaced in turn by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. Today this land is known as Iraq
2 الحضارة المصرية – نهر النيل-
The Gift of the Nile
Like a giant snake, the Nile River slithers through some of the driest desert on earth to isolate a narrow green valley. The Nile was also home to one of the earliest civilizations in history. Today, more than seventy million people live along the banks of the Nile, the world’s longest river. The Nile was also home to one of the earliest civilizations in history.
Ancient Egypt could not have existed without the great river. Every year, the snow in the mountains of East Africa melts, sending a torrent of water that overflows the banks of the Nile. The river picks up bits of soil and plant life called silt. The silt is dropped on the banks of the Nile as the flood recedes, and creates excellent topsoil that provides two or three crops every year. The ancient Greeks spoke with envy when they referred to Egypt as “the Gift of the Nile.”
الحضارة الإغريقية
The Cradle of Western Civilization
The civilization of ancient Greece flowered more than 2500 years ago but it influences the way we live today. Greece is a peninsula in southeastern Europe. The people of the region attempted to explain the world through the laws of nature. They made important discoveries in science. They developed democracy, where people govern themselves rather than being ruled by a king. The Greeks also valued beauty and imagination. They wrote many stories and plays that continue to be performed today. The ancient Greeks developed a great deal of what we take for granted. This is why Greece is often known as the Cradle of Western Civilization
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The people of ancient Greece could not farm most of their mountainous, rocky land, so they became excellent sailors who traveled to distant lands. The Greeks learned the alphabet from the Phoenicians, a sea faring people from modern day Syria and Lebanon. The mountainous land also meant that it was difficult to invade Greek lands. The Balkan Mountains in the north and the Mediterranean Sea form barriers that made it difficult for outsider to attack
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Ancient Greece was not a unified nation, but a collection of poli. Poli is the plural of polis, a word often translated as city, but a polis is much more. When we think of a city, we generally think of a place. A Greek polis consisted of a small walled area that was generally no larger than a few city blocks, the farmland that surrounded it, and most importantly, the people who lived there. Today we think of the people who live in a place as citizens, but to the ancient Greeks the people were as much of the poli as the land or the buildings. The word politics is derived from the Greek polis
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The poli often developed alliances, called leagues, for protection against other cities and foreign invaders. The poli of ancient Greece were eventually conquered, but their advanced ideas eventually spread across Europe and have influenced the way we live today
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Each polis was a nation of its own, but the poli of ancient Greece had many things in common. The Greek poli developed independently of one another because they were isolated by rugged mountains or were located on small islands, but the poli spoke a common ********. The poli were also small and often had to depend on one another to survive. Further, the poli met every year at a great athletic contest known as the Olympics. Poli that were at war would suspend hostilities until after the contests. There is a modern nation known as Greece, but the poli of ancient Greece extended east to land we today know as Turkey
الحضارة الرومانية
A New Power RisesThe earliest empires had been in the east. Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Greece were all home to at least one powerful civilization. About 387BC, a city on the Italian peninsula began acquiring land and building an empire. That city was Rome. For more than one thousand years, Rome controlled the western world.
Rome grew into an empire in part because of how it treated the people it conquered. If a city was defeated by another empire, its citizens were forced from the land if they were lucky, and enslaved if they were not. Initially, the Romans extended the rights of citizenship to the people they conquered. Rome conquered many of its allies by force, but once the new people became citizens, they often joined the Roman army. Rome managed to unify most of the modern nation of Italy by 265BC.
Rome is an ideal place for a city. It is located along the banks of the Tiber River. The river made it easy to travel to and from the sea. The Tiber is very shallow near Rome. A shallow portion of a river is called a ford. The ford made it easier for people to cross the river. Seven hills surround Rome. The hills make it harder for invaders to approach the city and served as lookout areas for the Romans. Rome is also close to excellent farmland and an abundance of wood and stone. Civilizations have grown and prospered in Rome for thousands of years, which is why Rome is nicknamed “the Eternal City.”
