Periodization of the ancient history of mankind. The earliest history of mankind The most ancient history of mankind

The oldest stage of human history.

Natural and social in man and the human community of the primitive era. Changes in lifestyle and forms of social connections.

The history of mankind as a whole is characterized by the increasing dynamics of changes occurring both in various spheres of social life and in the complex of relationships between society and nature.

Traditional for the materialist traditions of European science was the consideration of history from the point of view of man's conquest of nature. It really acts as a source of resources for the development of civilization. At the same time, a person is in constant interaction with his environment, he himself is its creation and an integral part.

Human society and natural communities

The most ancient stone tools appeared about 2.5-3 million years ago. Consequently, at that time, creatures with the rudiments of intelligence already lived in East Africa.

The origin of the mind is explained by the action of natural laws of evolutionary development, interspecies struggle for survival. The best chances in this struggle were those species that, to a greater extent than others, could ensure their existence in the changing conditions of the natural environment.

Wildlife has demonstrated an infinite variety of both dead-end and viable evolutionary options. One of them was associated with the formation of the rudiments of social behavior that many animal species demonstrate. By uniting in herds (flocks), they could defend themselves and protect their cubs from stronger opponents, and obtain more food. In the interspecific and sometimes intraspecific struggle between herds that needed similar food, those who had better developed communication, the ability to warn each other about the approach of the enemy, and better coordinate their actions during the hunt won. Gradually, over hundreds of thousands of years, among human predecessors, primitive sound signals expressing emotions began to acquire an increasingly meaningful character. Speech was formed, inseparable from the ability for abstract, abstract thinking, which implied a complication of the structure of the brain.

Thus, the emergence and improvement of speech and abstract thinking became the most important factor in the development of the human race itself. It is no coincidence that each new step in the stage of human evolution was associated, on the one hand, with the development of the brain, and on the other, with the improvement of hunting and fishing tools.

The accumulation of knowledge and practical skills in its application has provided humans with decisive advantages in the struggle for survival compared to other species. Armed with clubs, spears, and acting together, primitive hunters could cope with any predator. The possibilities for obtaining food have expanded significantly. Thanks to warm clothing, mastery of fire, and acquisition of the skill of preserving food (drying, smoking), people were able to settle over a vast territory and felt relative independence from the climate and vagaries of the weather.

The accumulation of knowledge was not a constantly developing, progressive process. Many human communities perished due to hunger, disease, and attacks by hostile tribes, and the knowledge they acquired was completely or partially lost.

Paleolithic

Approximately 1.0 million - 700 thousand years ago, a period begins that is called the Early Paleolithic (from the Greek “paleo” - “ancient” and “lithos” - “stone”). Excavations in France, near the villages of Chelles and Saint-Achelles, have revealed the remains of caves and ancient settlements, where successive generations of the predecessors of modern man lived for tens of thousands of years. Subsequently, such finds were discovered in other places.

Archaeological research has made it possible to trace how tools of labor and hunting have changed. Tools made of bone and sharpened stone (points, scrapers, axes) became more and more sophisticated and durable. The physical type of a person changed: he became more and more adapted to moving on the ground without the help of his hands, and the volume of his brain increased.

The most important achievement of the Early Paleolithic was mastering the ability to use fire (approximately 200–300 thousand years ago) to heat a home, prepare food, and protect against predators.

The time of the Early Paleolithic ends with a period of sharp changes in the natural conditions of existence of primitive people. The onset of glaciers began, approximately 100 thousand years ago, covering almost the entire territory of Russia, Central and Western Europe. Many herds of primitive Neanderthal hunters were unable to adapt to new living conditions. The struggle for diminishing sources of food intensified between them.

By the end of the Early Paleolithic (approximately 30-20 thousand years BC) in Eurasia and Africa, Neanderthals completely disappeared. The modern, Cro-Magnon type of man has established himself everywhere.

During the same period of time, under the influence of differences in natural conditions, the main races of people emerged.

The Mesolithic era (from the Greek “mesos” - “middle” and “lithos” - “stone”) covers the period from the 20th to the 9th-8th millennium BC. It is characterized by a new change in natural conditions, which become more favorable: glaciers are retreating, new territories become available for settlement.

During this period, the Earth's population did not exceed 10 million people.

During the Mesolithic era, rock painting arose and became widespread. In the remains of dwellings of that time, archaeologists find figurines depicting people, animals, beads and other decorations. All this speaks of the advent of a new stage in the knowledge of the world. Abstract symbols and generalized concepts that emerged with the development of speech take on a kind of independent life in drawings and figurines. Many of them were associated with rituals and rites of primitive magic. The large role of chance in people's lives gave rise to attempts to improve the situation in hunting and in life. This is how belief in omens, favorable or unfavorable, arose. Fetishism appeared - the belief that some objects (talismans) have special magical powers. Among them were animal figurines, stones, and amulets that supposedly brought good luck to their owner. Beliefs arose, for example, that a warrior who drank the blood of an enemy or ate his heart acquired special strength. Hunting, treating a patient, and choosing a mate (boy or girl) were preceded by ritual actions, among which dancing and singing were of particular importance. People of the Mesolithic era knew how to make percussion, wind, string and plucked musical instruments.

Particular importance was attached to funeral rituals, which became more and more complex over time. In ancient burials, archaeologists find jewelry and tools that people used during life, and food supplies. This proves that already at the dawn of history, beliefs in the existence of an other world, where a person lives after death, were widespread.

Faith in higher powers, which could both help and harm, gradually strengthened. It was assumed that they could be appeased with a sacrifice, most often with part of the loot, which should be left in a certain place. Some tribes practiced human sacrifice.

It was believed that some people have great abilities to communicate with higher powers and spirits. Gradually, along with the leaders (they usually became the strongest, most successful, experienced hunters), priests (shamans, sorcerers) began to play a noticeable role in the life of primitive tribes. They usually knew the healing properties of herbs, had some hypnotic abilities and had a great influence on their fellow tribesmen.

The time of completion of the Mesolithic and the transition to a new stage of human development can only be approximately determined. Among many tribes of the equatorial zone in Africa, South America, on the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, among the aborigines of Australia, and some peoples of the North, the type of economic activity and culture has remained virtually unchanged since the Mesolithic era. At the same time, in the 9th-8th millennia BC. In some areas of the world, the transition to agriculture and livestock breeding begins. This time of the Neolithic revolution (from the Greek “neos” - “new” and “litos” - “stone”) marks the transition from the appropriating to the producing type of economic activity.

Human and nature

Man around the 10th millennium BC. established itself on all continents as the dominant species and, as such, ideally adapted to the conditions of its habitat. However, further improvement of hunting tools led to the extermination of many species of animals, a reduction in their numbers, which undermined the foundations of the existence of primitive people. Hunger and related diseases, the intensification of the struggle between tribes for increasingly poor hunting territories, a decline in the human population - such was the price for progress.

This first crisis in the development of civilization in history was solved in two ways:

The tribes living in the harsh climate of the North, desert areas, and jungles seemed to freeze in their development and knowledge of the world around them. Gradually, a system of prohibitions (taboos) developed that limited hunting and food consumption. This prevented population growth, hampered changes in lifestyle and the development of knowledge.

In other cases, there was a breakthrough to a qualitatively new level of development. People began to consciously influence the natural environment and transform it. The development of agriculture and cattle breeding occurred only in favorable natural conditions.

1. Approachesto the periodization of the prehistoric period.

3. Neolithic revolution.

4. Formation of nations.

Approaches to the periodization of the prehistoric period.

The entire period of the past of humanity is usually divided into two uneven periods. The first - the largest - is called prehistoric(or prehistory), the second is historical (civilization).

The oldest form of organization of human life was the primitive communal system (ca. 2.5 million - 6 thousand years BC). It was the longest era in the history of mankind, the reason for which was the slow pace of development of society in its first stages. All stages of the primitive communal system are united by the collective nature of people’s lives, which is apparently due to great difficulties of survival.

It is generally accepted to divide primitive society into periods according to the main materials that were used to make tools (Fig. 1):

This periodization, naturally, does not mean that tools were not made from wood and bone in the Stone Age, and from stone in the Bronze Age. We are talking about the predominance of one material or another. In the Stone Age, which is usually identified with the primitive communal system, three eras are distinguished:

- paleolithic(Greek – paleolit - ancient stone) – up to 12 thousand years ago;

- Mesolithic(Greek – mesolit middle stone) – up to 9 thousand years ago;

- Neolithic(Greek – neolit new stone) – up to 6 thousand years ago.

Epochs are divided into periods - early (lower), middle and late (upper), as well as into cultures characterized by a uniform set of objects of life.

The creator of the Lower Paleolithic cultures was a man of the type Pithecanthropa Middle Paleolithic – Neanderthal, Upper Paleolithic – Cro-Magnon. This definition is based on archaeological research in Western Europe and cannot be fully extended to other regions. About 70 sites of the Lower and Middle Paleolithic and about 300 sites of the Upper Paleolithic have been studied on the territory of Russia.

During the Paleolithic period, people initially made rough hand axes from flint, which were standardized tools. Then the production of specialized tools begins - these are knives, piercings, scrapers, composite tools, for example a stone ax

The Mesolithic is dominated by microliths - tools made of thin stone plates, which were inserted into a bone or wooden frame. It was then that the bow and arrows were invented.

The Neolithic is characterized by the manufacture of tools from soft stones - jade, slate, slate. Learn more advanced and complex techniques for sawing and drilling holes in stone, and grinding stone.

The Stone Age is replaced by a short period Chalcolithic, i.e., the existence of cultures with copper-stone implements. Respectively. First, the technology for manufacturing copper tools is based on a processing method such as cold forging, and then casting.

The Bronze Age began in Europe in the 20th century. BC e. At this time, the first states emerged in many regions of the planet, civilizations developed - Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Mediterranean, Mexican in America. The first iron products appeared in Russia around the 7th century. BC e.

Another periodization system based on comprehensive characteristics of material and spiritual cultures, suggested by an American scientist Lewis Morgan. In accordance with this system, primitive society is divided into three periods:

Civilization.

Period savagery- This is the time of the early tribal system (Paleolithic and Mesolithic), it ends with the invention of the bow and arrow. During barbarism ceramic products appeared, agriculture and livestock husbandry appeared. For civilization Characterized by the emergence of bronze metallurgy, writing and states.

Finally in the 20th century. scientists proposed systems of periodization of primitive society, the criteria of which were evolution of ownership forms. In general terms, such periodization can be represented as follows:

The era of the primitive herd;

The era of the tribal system;

The era of the decomposition of the communal-tribal system (the emergence of cattle breeding, plow farming and metal processing, the emergence of elements of exploitation and private property).

Anthropogenesis and features of the transition to the clan system.

The Early Paleolithic is the time of human formation (anthropogenesis). This process is extremely lengthy and complex. It is still far from being fully studied; science has accumulated more questions on this problem than answers. The first human ancestors to embark on the path of anthropogenesis were Australopithecus(about 2.5 million years ago), already walking on their hind limbs, which freed up their front limbs and thereby created the prerequisites for labor activity.

The most ancient people(archanthropes) were traditionally considered Pithecanthropa(ape-man) and Sinanthropa(a species of Pithecanthropus discovered in China), which appeared about 1 year ago. In science, this human ancestor is called homo habilis - a skillful person.

Early Paleolithic- the time of the primitive human herd. During the Early Paleolithic, there were several major glacier advances - glaciations, accompanied by a sharp cooling. For archanthropes, it was possible to exist only in a warm climate, which did not require either clothing or shelter. Neanderthals spread much more widely. At the end of the Early Paleolithic, primitive dwellings and clothing made from skins appeared. The Paleolithic economy was consuming (appropriating). It was based on hunting large animals. Plant food was obtained by collecting edible plants and digging roots from the ground. The archanthropes already used ready-made fire and kept fires going. Fire gave people protection from the cold and from wild animals, and reduced their dependence on the climate. A hearth appeared - a symbol of human habitation. People have the opportunity to use fried foods, which are better absorbed by the body. Even greater were the long-term consequences of mastering fire: without it, neither ceramics nor metallurgy would be possible.

At the end of the Early Paleolithic, about 100 thousand years ago, Neanderthal man, or Neanderthal . Neanderthals are already considered to be the next stage of human development - to ancient people(to paleoanthropists). They stand much closer to modern people than archanthropes. Neanderthals probably already learned how to make fire. The Neanderthals apparently already had the first rudiments of religion.

The transition from the Early Paleolithic to the Late (40-35 thousand years ago) was marked by the appearance of modern humans - homo sapiens - a reasonable person. With its emergence, the biological evolution of man ended; this was the second major leap in anthropogenesis: from “prehumans,” archanthropes and paleoanthropes to humans.

In the Late Paleolithic there appears tribal system. The main unit of human society became the clan community with common ownership of the main means of production. The products of hunting, fishing and gathering were distributed equally among all members of the clan. The authority of the clan elders was based not on coercion, but on tradition, respect for experience and skills.

Late Paleolithic people significantly improved the technique of making stone tools: they became more diverse, sometimes miniature. A throwing spear and a predecessor of the bow, the spear thrower, appeared, which greatly increased the efficiency of hunting. Fishing arose: harpoons and remains of fish were repeatedly found at sites of this era. Bone items, including needles, are widespread, indicating the appearance of embroidered clothing. If at the end of the Early Paleolithic the first primitive dwellings appeared, now people were already building dugouts, and sometimes entire villages consisting of several dwellings. Man has learned to adapt to nature not biologically, but socially, to protect himself from the cold with the help of housing and clothing. These achievements allowed people to significantly expand the limits of the habitable part of the globe. This was also facilitated by warming caused by the retreat of the glacier.

Late Paleolithic- time of occurrence art. At many sites, female figurines are found. They testify to the cult of the woman-mother, the progenitor of the clan. In the Late Paleolithic there undoubtedly already existed religion, a clear funeral rite can be traced. Sometimes some things that the deceased used during his lifetime were placed in the grave. This is evidence of the emergence of the idea of an afterlife.

Thus, by the end of the Paleolithic, man learned not only to make fire and eat thermally processed food, to make complex stone and bone tools, to sew clothes, to build dwellings, to hunt and fish, but also to live in a social system with social consciousness and its important forms - art and religion. However, man did not yet know either ceramics, or metal, or the wheel, or agriculture, or cattle breeding.

The most important achievement of the next stage of the Stone Age - the Mesolithic - was the invention of the bow and arrow, which dramatically increased hunting productivity. Now, along with round-up hunting, individual hunting has also emerged, not only for large herd animals, but also for small ones. It became possible to create food reserves.

During the Mesolithic era, man took the first steps in the direction of cattle breeding. The domestication, and possibly the domestication, of animals began. So, in the Mesolithic, dogs, the first domestic animals, already appeared. It is possible that at the end of the Mesolithic in some areas pigs, goats, and sheep were domesticated.

The transition to the Neolithic and its duration in different regions of Eurasia differed significantly from each other. It began first in Central Asia (about 6 - 4 thousand years BC). In the forest zone of Russia, the Neolithic lasted about two thousand more years, until 2 thousand years BC. e. This was reflected in the uneven development of different regions, associated primarily with natural conditions: a warm climate and fertile soil created favorable conditions for economic development.

During the Neolithic era the transition to producing economy. It was then that pastoralism and agriculture began, although hunting and gathering were still the main sources of subsistence in most Neolithic communities.

Neolithic revolution.

The changes that occurred at the end of the Stone Age (Neolithic) (about 8-6 thousand) are usually called Neolithic revolution. Its main content is a radical transition from the primitive economy of hunters and gatherers to productive agriculture based on farming and animal husbandry.

Major changes are taking place in the area technologies production of tools and studying the properties of materials. Man has achieved virtuoso art in the processing of stone and bone. The following processing operations were opened: grinding And drilling. The tools acquired new properties, became complex, composite, and miniature.

4. the emergence of the first social restrictions and laws;

5. the emergence of new knowledge systems transmitted from generation to generation (through writing).

With the progress of changes associated with the Neolithic revolution, agricultural communities began to fill the Earth, as hunters had previously filled it. The importance of male labor has increased markedly - clearing land, cultivating the soil, etc. - all this required physical strength. Men's unions became an important element of social organization. The male part of the community chose leader. At first, such people were influential due to their personal qualities, and then the power of the leaders began to be transferred by inheritance. The result of these processes was the emergence privileged sections of society- leaders, priests.

People lived at this timetribal system.Tribal communities were united and united. All people worked together. Property was also shared. The tools of labor, the large hut of the clan, all the land, and livestock were communal property. No one could arbitrarily dispose of the community's property alone. But soon the so-called first division of labor occurred (farming was separated from cattle breeding). A tangible surplus product began to appear, and tribal communities began to be divided into families.

Each family could work independently and feed itself. Families demanded that everything be divided communal ownership of parts, between families ( private property- from the word “part”). At first, tools, livestock, and household items became private property. Instead of one large hut for a whole clan, each family began to build a separate home for itself. Housing also became the private property of the family. Later, the land also became private property.

Private property does not belong to the entire group, but only to one owner. Usually such a master was the head of a large family. After the death of the head of the family, his eldest son became the owner. Private property awakens people's interest in work. Each family understood that a good and well-fed life depended only on the hard work of family members. If the family worked hard, the entire harvest was theirs. Therefore, people sought to better cultivate arable land and care for livestock more carefully. Sometimes you can hear the statement that private property arises due to human greed. However, in fact, private property arose only when the economy began to develop, and when reserves of surplus product appeared. Clan communities gradually died out. Instead they appeared neighboring communities.

Rice. Diagram of the organization of labor activity in the tribal (left) and neighboring (right) communities (try to formulate the difference).

In the neighboring community, people gradually forgot about their once common kinship. This was not considered important. Now, as a rule, they did not work as a single team, although they still worked voluntarily and without coercion. Each family privately owned a hut with a vegetable garden, a plot of arable land, livestock, and tools. But communal property remained. For example, rivers and lakes. Everyone could fish. Any community member did this on his own. The boat and net were his private property, so the catch also became private property. The forest was communal property, but animals killed during the hunt, mushrooms, berries and brushwood collected became private property. They used the pasture together, driving cattle out to it every morning. But in the evening, each family drove their cows and sheep into the barn. But the neighboring community still continued to unite people.

Gradually, from the complex of such relations regarding the production and ownership of surplus product, property rights arose inequality. Leaders and other categories of influential members of the community began to demand offerings from ordinary members. Captives captured in wars between tribes became slaves.

Some researchers believe that tribes of hunters who did not adopt an agrarian way of life began to “hunt” rural communities, taking away food and property. This is how a system of producing rural communities and squads of hunters robbing them developed. The hunter leaders gradually moved from robbery to regular exactions (tribute). For self-defense and to protect subjects from attacks by competitors, fortified cities were built. The last stage of pre-state development of society was the so-called military democracy.

began to arise chiefdoms- political entities (prototypes of states), including several villages or communities united under the permanent authority of the supreme leader. Tribes began to unite into tribal unions, which gradually began to transform into nationalities. Most likely, this is how the first states arose in Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt and Ancient India at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd millennium BC.

The real revolution in the history of mankind was the development metal. The transition to it was long, difficult and not simultaneous. The development of metal became possible only on the basis of an already established production economy, in the presence of some, at least minimal, surpluses of food, so that part of the time could be devoted to the manufacture of metal products. That is why ancient blacksmithing and metallurgy originated primarily in the southern regions, where, thanks to good natural conditions, agriculture had previously developed.

The first metal used by man was copper. At first, tools and jewelry were made from it using cold forging, which this relatively soft metal easily lends itself to. Of course, this copper was not chemically pure: in natural deposits, copper, as a rule, contains certain impurities - arsenic, antimony, etc. But these are not yet artificial alloys, the development of which was a matter of the future.

The appearance of copper tools intensified the exchange between tribes, since copper deposits are very unevenly distributed around the globe. Many tribes that used metal lived far from its sources. Constant exchange led to significant shifts in relationships.

Formation of nations

Linguistic classification formed the basis of the ethnic picture of the world. All languages are divided into large families, related by a common origin and subdivided into groups of related languages. Branches are sometimes distinguished within groups, but some languages are not included in groups. For example, the Indo-European language family.

Indo-European language family

Slavic group:

Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbo-Croatian.

Baltic group:

Latvian, Lithuanian.

German group:

German, English, Flemish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish.

Roman group:

Italian, Spanish, Moldovan, Portuguese, Romanian, French.

Iranian group:

Afghan, Iranian, Ossetian, Tajik.

Although we do not have reliable data to determine the ethnic groups of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, we were able to obtain some information through the analysis of geographical names. On the territory of the Volga-Oka interfluve they settled Finno-Ugric and Samoyed peoples. Apparently, in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age they colonized Eastern Siberia. Already in the Neolithic, Finno-Ugric tribes occupied the Eastern Baltic, and in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. e. spread throughout the entire forest belt of the Volga region and the Volga-Oka interfluve.

Most of Eastern Europe has long been inhabited Indo-Europeans. In the Baltics, along with the Finno-Ugric tribes, tribes have long appeared Balts

Iranian-speaking tribes lived in Southern Siberia until the beginning of our era. The heirs of the tribes of this culture were Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians.

ancestral home Turkic peoples are the steppes of Central Asia. At the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age, they begin to penetrate north, into Siberia and west, to the Urals, Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Questions for self-control:

1. List the main approaches to periodization of the prehistoric period.

2. List the main stages of anthropogenesis with the chronology of their occurrence.

3. Describethe concept of “tribal system” and the dynamics of its development.

4. In whatIs the essence of the Neolithic revolution revealed?

5. What important consequences of the Neolithic Revolution can you name?

6. Tell us about the process of formation of peoples in the European-Asian region.

Questions for discussion (discussion on the forum):

1. What influence did the period of prehistory have on the development process??

2. Is the process of anthropogenesis completed?

Complete the answers to the assignments in a MS Office Word document, save them under the name “Name_History as a Science” and send by email: ae. *****@***ru

Glossary:

Prehistory (prehistoric period)	period in human history before the inventionwriting. The term came into use in19th century. In a broad sense, the word "prehistoric" applies to any period before the invention of writing, starting with the emergence of Universe (about 14 billion years ago), but in a narrow way - only to the prehistoric pastperson. Since, by definition, there are no written sources about this period left by his contemporaries, information about it is obtained based on data from such sciences asarchaeology, paleontology, biology, anthropology, etc.
Primitive communal system	historically the first way to organize human communities. Primitive societycharacterized by a minimal level of development economy and the absence of division of society into classes, the absence of property inequality. In the modern theory of state and law, the primitive communal system is considered as a form of non-state organization of society, a stage through which all the peoples of the world have passed.
Paleolithic	first historical period stone agefrom the beginning of the use of stone tools (about 2.5 million years ago) before the appearanceagriculture (about 10 thousand years ago). This is the era of fossil humans, as well as fossil, now extinct animal species. It occupies the majority (about 99%) of humanity's existence. During the Paleolithic era the climate Earth, its flora and fauna were significantly different from modern ones. People of the Paleolithic era lived in small primitive communities and used only primitive stone tools, not yet knowing how to polish them and make pottery - ceramics. They hunted and collected plant foods. The beginning of the Paleolithic coincides with the appearance on Earth of the most ancient ape-like people, archanthropesHomo habilis. INlate paleolithic evolution ends with the emergence of modern humansHomo sapiens. ClimatePaleolithic changed several times from ice agesto interglacial periods, becoming warmer and colder. Highlight: Early (Lower) Paleolithic – (2.4 million - 600thousandBC e.) Middle Paleolithic – (600 thousand- 35 thousandBC e.) Late (Upper) Paleolithic – (35 thousand- 10 thousandBC e.)
Mesolithic	middle stone age- period betweenpaleolithic AndNeolithic. Dates from approximately 10 thousand years BC. e. up to 5 thousand years BC e. Peoplemasteredby this timea highly developed culture of making tools from stone and bone, as well as long-range weapons -onionAndarrowss.
Neolithic	New Stone Age, last stage of the Stone Age (5 thousand years BC e. – 2 thousand years BC e.).Characteristic features of the Neolithic are ground and drilled stone tools. The entry into the Neolithic is characterized by a transition from appropriating to the producing type of economy, and the end of the Neolithic dates back to the time of the appearance of metal tools, that is, the beginning of the age of metals.
Chalcolithic	"Copper-Stone Age", transitional period from NeolithicTo Bronze Age. During the Eneolithic, copper tools were common, but stone ones still predominated.
Australopithecus	genus of higher fossilsprimates, whose bones were first discovered inSouthern and Eastern AfricaV1924. They are the ancestors of the family homo. Australopithecines lived from about 4 million. beforeapproximately 1 mln.years ago. Apparently, these creatures were nothing more than monkeys, walking humanly on two legs, although hunched over. WITHperson Australopithecus brings closer together absence of large protruding fangs, grasping hand with a developed thumb.The brain volume is quite large(530 cm³) . The body size was also small, no more than 120-140 cm.
Pithecanthropus	ape people, or "Javanese man" - a fossil species of people, considered as an intermediate link in evolution betweenAustralopithecus AndNeanderthals. Lived about 700 - 30 thousand. years ago. Pithecanthropus had a short stature (a little more than 1.5 meters), an upright gait and an archaic skull structure (thick walls,low forehead, speakerssupraorbital ridges). By volumebrain (900-1200 cm³) occupied an intermediate position betweena skilled personAndNeanderthal man.
Sinanthropus	genus specieshomo, closeToPithecanthropus, however laterthand developedth. Was discovered inChina, hence the name. Lived about 600-400 thousand years ago, inglacial period. In addition to plant foods, he consumed animal meat. Perhaps he mined and knew how to maintain a fire. Scientists believe that synanthropes were cannibals and hunted representatives of their own species.
Neanderthal	extinct representativesort ofHomo. The first people with Neanderthal features existed in Europe 600-350 thousand years ago. The name comes from the discovery of a skull identified in1856. VNeanderthal Gorge nearDusseldorf (Germany). Neanderthals had average height (about 165 cm), a massive build and a large head. In terms of cranium volume (1400-1740 cm³), they even surpassed modern people. They were distinguished by powerful brow ridges, a protruding wide nose and a very small chin. The average life expectancy was about 30 years.WITHTriplication of the vocal apparatus and brain of Neanderthals allows us to conclude that they could have speech.
Cro-Magnon	name describing early representativeskindHomo sapiens in Europe, lived laterNeanderthals (40-12 thousand years ago). The name comes fromnames of the Cro-Magnon grotto inFrance. These people knew how to make tools not only from stone, but also from horn and bone. On the walls of their caves they left drawings depicting people, animals, and hunting scenes. Cro-Magnons made various jewelry. They got their first pet - a dog. Lived communities 20-100 people each and for the first time in history created settlements. The Cro-Magnons, like the Neanderthals, lived in caves and tents made of skins; in Eastern Europe they built dugouts, and in Siberia they built huts made of stone slabs. They had developed articulate speech and dressed in clothes made from skins. The Cro-Magnons had funeral rites.
*Source criticism*	the source answers only those questions that the historian puts before him and the answers received depend entirely on the questions asked. Historical sources are created by people in the process of activity; they carry valuable information about their creators and the time when they were created. To extract this information, it is necessary to understand the origins of historical sources. It is important not only to extract information from the source, but also to critically evaluate it and correctly interpret it. It should be remembered that sources are just working material for the historian, and their analysis and criticism lay the basis for research. The main stage in the work of a historian begins at the stage of interpreting a source in the context of its time and understanding a single source in conjunction with other data to produce new historical knowledge. Speaking about historical sources, we should emphasize their incompleteness and fragmentation, which does not allow us to recreate a complete picture of the past. It is necessary to conduct a cross-analysis of different types of sources to avoid their misinterpretation.
*Technology*	a set of methods, processes and materials used in any field of activity, as well as a scientific description of methodstechnical production,conditioned by the current level of development of science, technology and society as a whole. Examples of technologies: Watch Device for determining current time of dayand measuring the duration of time intervals in units smaller than one day. At different stages of the development of civilization, humanity used solar, stellar, water, fire, sand, wheel, mechanical, electric, electronic and atomic clocks. Lever arm Mechanism, which is a crossbar rotating around a fulcrum. The sides of the crossbar are called lever arms. The lever is used to obtain more force. By making the lever arm long enough, theoretically, any force can be developed.
*Appropriating type farm*	farm withpredominant role of hunting, gathering and fishing, which corresponds to the most ancient economic stage - cultural history of mankind. This stage is called “appropriating” rather arbitrarily, since the activities of hunters, gatherers and fishermen are not limited to simple appropriation, but include a number of rather complex aspects, both in the organization of work and in the processing of products requiring a variety of technical skills.
*Producing farm*	a farm where the main source of subsistence is cultivated crops and domestic animals. When moving fromappropriating farm to a producing society moved fromhunting Andcollecting Tocattle breeding Andagriculture. Labor productivity increased and the opportunity to accumulatesurplusproduct. With the development of agriculture and cattle breeding gradually creates social stratificationand inequality. City shopping centers appearedcraft separated fromAgriculture, exchange increased, variouseconomic and cultural types both on the basis of manual labor in agriculture, and on the basis of the use of draft power of livestock, which was the next important stage inhuman development.
*Surplus product*	This is part of the social product created by direct producers in excess of what is necessary. Surplus product appears during the transformation periodprimitive communal system Vclass societywhen, as a result of an increase in labor productivity, the ruling class by operation begins to appropriate part of the benefits produced by workers.
*Relations of production*	relationships between people that develop in the processproduction and the movement of a product from production to consumption. The term “industrial relations” itself was developedKarl Marx.
*Division of labor*	historical process of separationvarious types of labor activity and dividing the labor process into parts, each of which is performed by a specific group of workers. *Social division of labor* - this is the division of labor primarily into productive and managerial labor.
*Tribal community*	historically the first form of social organization of people, where people are connectedblood relationship, moreover, it was a union based on collectivelabor, consumption, collective ownership of land and tools.
*Neighborhood Community*	form of social organization of people, in which the understanding of the once common kinship has already been lost. In the neighboring community, work is not carried out by a single team, although it is still voluntary and without coercion. The neighboring community still continued to unite people.
*Military democracy*	term,denoting organizationauthorities at the stage of transition fromprimitive communal system Toto the state. Adult men were considered full members of society. They had to come tonational assembly Withweapons. Without him the warrior had no powervoting rights. Military democracy existed among almost all nations, being the last stage of pre-state development of society.
*Chiefdom*	an autonomous political unit comprising several villages orcommunitiesunited under the permanent authority of the supremeleader.

Introduction

The age of the human community is estimated at 35-40 thousand years (it must be borne in mind that man appeared on planet Earth much earlier). At the dawn of history, human communities, regardless of the region of residence, began from the same starting position, which is commonly called the primitive communal system.

This system was characterized by extraordinary similarity throughout the entire territory of human habitation; uniformity of social structures, work practices, beliefs, everyday culture, etc. But throughout history, humanity has arrived at strikingly unequal results. In the modern world we have a colossal variety of social structures, political systems, levels and types of economic development, spiritual, artistic culture, etc.

History as a science about the development of human society in all its diversity is a set of various actions, actions of individuals, human groups, consisting of a certain relationship, making up human society. Therefore, the subject of the study of history is the actions of individuals, humanity, and the totality of relationships in society.

According to the breadth of study of the object, history is divided into: the history of the world as a whole (world or universal history), the history of continents (for example, the history of Asia and Africa, the history of Australia), the history of individual countries and peoples or groups of peoples (for example, the history of Russia, the history of southern and western Slavs).

Historical science has gone through several stages of development as society develops, summarizing the experience of many human generations, enriching itself with new historical facts. Its basis is the collection, systematization and generalization of facts. Branches of historical knowledge are distinguished: civil history, political history, history of state and law, history of public administration, economic history, military history, history of religion, social history, history of culture, music, language, literature.

Historical sciences also include ethnography, which studies the life and culture of peoples, and archeology, which studies history using material sources of antiquity - tools, household utensils, jewelry, etc., and entire complexes - settlements, burial grounds, treasures, etc.

Auxiliary historical disciplines have a narrower subject of study, study it in detail and contribute to a deeper understanding of the historical process as a whole.

Periodization of the earliest history of mankind

Modern science has come to the conclusion that all the diversity of current space objects was formed about 20 billion years ago. The Sun, one of the many stars in our galaxy, arose 10 billion years ago. Our Earth, an ordinary planet in the solar system, is 4.6 billion years old. It is now generally accepted that man began to separate from the animal world about 3 million years ago.

The periodization of human history at the stage of the primitive communal system is quite complex. Several variants are known. The archaeological diagram is most often used. In accordance with it, the history of mankind is divided into three large stages, depending on the material from which the tools used by man were made. Stone Age: 3 million years ago - end of the 3rd millennium BC. e.; Bronze Age: end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. - I millennium BC e.; Iron Age - from the 1st millennium BC. e.

The most ancient ancestors of modern man resembled apes, who, unlike animals, were able to produce tools. In the scientific literature, this type of ape-man is called homo habilis - a skilled man. The further evolution of habilis led to the appearance 1.5-1.6 million years ago of the so-called Pithecanthropus (from the Greek “pithekos” - monkey, “anthropos” - man), or archanthropes (from the Greek “achaios” - ancient). Archanthropes were already people. 300-200 thousand years ago, archanthropes were replaced by a more developed type of person - paleoanthropes, or Neanderthals (according to the place of their first discovery in the Neanderthal area in Germany).

During the Early Stone Age - Paleolithic Paleolithic - ancient Stone Age (from the Greek "palaios" - ancient, "lithos" stone). Accordingly, “mesos” is average, “neos” is new; hence the Mesolithic, Neolithic. (about 700 thousand years ago) people entered the territory of Eastern Europe. Settlement came from the south. Archaeologists find traces of the presence of ancient people in the Crimea (Kiik-Koba caves), in Abkhazia (near Sukhumi-Yashtukh), in Armenia (Satani-Dar hill near Yerevan), as well as in Central Asia (southern Kazakhstan, Tashkent region). In the Zhitomir region and on the Dniester, traces of people being here 500-300 thousand years ago were found.

About 100 thousand years ago, a significant part of the territory of Europe was occupied by a huge glacier up to two kilometers thick (since then the snowy peaks of the Alps and Scandinavian mountains were formed).

The emergence of the glacier affected the development of mankind. The harsh climate forced man to use natural fire, and then to extract it. This helped a person survive in extreme cold conditions. People learned to make piercing and cutting objects from stone and bone (stone knives, spear tips, scrapers, needles, etc.).

Obviously, the emergence of articulate speech and the clan organization of society dates back to this time. The first, still extremely vague, religious ideas began to emerge, as evidenced by the appearance of artificial burials.

The difficulties of the struggle for existence, fear of the forces of nature and the inability to explain them were the reasons for the emergence of the pagan religion. Paganism was the deification of the forces of nature, animals, plants, good and evil spirits. This huge complex of primitive beliefs, customs, and rituals preceded the spread of world religions (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc.).

During the Late Paleolithic period (35-10 thousand years ago), the melting of the glacier ended, and a climate similar to the modern one was established. The use of fire for cooking, the further development of tools, as well as the first attempts to regulate relations between the sexes significantly changed the physical type of man. It was at this time that the transformation of a skilled man (homo habilis) into a reasonable man (homo sapiens) dates back to this time. Based on the place where it was first found, it is called Cro-Magnon (Cro-Magnon area in France). At the same time, obviously, as a result of adaptation to the environment in the conditions of the existence of sharp differences in climate between different regions of the globe, the existing races (Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid) were formed.

The processing of stone and especially bone and antler was further developed. Scientists sometimes call the Late Paleolithic the “Bone Age.” Finds of this time include daggers, spearheads, harpoons, eyed needles, awls, etc. Traces of the first long-term settlements were discovered. Not only caves, but also huts and dugouts built by man served as housing. Remains of jewelry have been found that make it possible to reproduce the clothing of that time.

During the Late Paleolithic period, the primitive herd was replaced by a higher form of social organization - the clan community. A clan community is an association of people of the same clan who have collective property and run a household based on the age and gender division of labor in the absence of exploitation.

Before the advent of pair marriage, kinship was established through the maternal line. The woman at this time played a leading role in the household, which determined the first stage of the clan system - matriarchy, which lasted until the time of the spread of metal.

Many works of art created in the Late Paleolithic era have reached us. Picturesque colorful rock carvings of animals (mammoths, bison, bears, deer, horses, etc.) that people of that time hunted, as well as figurines depicting a female deity, were discovered in caves and sites in France, Italy, and the Southern Urals ( famous Kapova Cave).

In the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age (10-8 thousand years ago), new advances were made in stone processing. The tips and blades of knives, spears, and harpoons were then made as a kind of inserts from thin flint plates. A stone ax was used to process wood. One of the most important achievements was the invention of the bow, a long-range weapon that made it possible to more successfully hunt animals and birds. People learned to make snares and hunting traps.

Fishing was added to hunting and gathering. People have been observed trying to swim on logs. The domestication of animals began: the dog was tamed, followed by the pig. Eurasia was finally populated: man reached the shores of the Baltic and Pacific Oceans. At the same time, as many researchers believe, people came from Siberia through the Chukotka Peninsula to America.

Neolithic - the last period of the Stone Age (7-5 thousand years ago) is characterized by the appearance of grinding and drilling of stone tools (axes, adzes, hoes). Handles were attached to objects. Since this time, pottery has been known. People began to build boats, learned to weave nets for fishing, and weave.

Significant changes in technology and forms of production at this time are sometimes called the "Neolithic Revolution". Its most important result was the transition from gathering, from an appropriating economy to a producing one. People were no longer afraid to break away from their habitable places; they could settle more freely in search of better living conditions, exploring new lands.

Depending on the natural and climatic conditions, various types of economic activity have developed in Eastern Europe and Siberia. Cattle-breeding tribes lived in the steppe zone from the middle Dnieper to Altai. Farmers settled in the territories of modern Ukraine, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and southern Siberia.

Hunting and fishing was typical for the northern forest regions of the European part and Siberia. The historical development of individual regions was uneven. Cattle-breeding and agricultural tribes developed more quickly. Agriculture gradually penetrated into the steppe regions.

Among the sites of farmers in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, one can distinguish Neolithic settlements in Turkmenistan (near Ashgabat), Armenia (near Yerevan), etc. In Central Asia in the 4th millennium BC. e. The first artificial irrigation systems were created.

On the East European Plain, the oldest agricultural culture was Tripolye, named after the village of Tripolye near Kyiv. Settlements of Trypillians were discovered by archaeologists in the territory from the Dnieper to the Carpathians. They were large settlements of farmers and cattle breeders, whose dwellings were located in a circle.

During excavations of these villages, grains of wheat, barley, and millet were discovered. Wooden sickles with flint inserts, stone grain grinders and other items were found. The Trypillian culture dates back to the Copper-Stone Age - the Eneolithic (III-I millennium BC).

Humanity received a new impetus in the historical development by mastering the production of metal. On the territory of our country, the development of those tribes that lived near deposits of copper and tin accelerated. On the territory of Eurasia, such tribes lived in the regions of the North Caucasus, Central Asia, the Urals and Siberia.

The transition to metal tools led to the separation of pastoral and agricultural tribes. The role of men - shepherds and farmers - in production has increased. Matriarchy was replaced by patriarchy. Cattle breeding entailed even more intensive movement of clans in search of pastures. There was a unification and consolidation of individual clans into tribes of significant numbers.

Large cultural communities began to emerge. Scientists believe that these communities corresponded to the linguistic families from which came the peoples who currently inhabit our country. The largest language family is Indo-European. It took shape on the territory of modern Iran and Asia Minor, and spread to Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia Minor and Central Asia, and to the region of the Hindustan Peninsula. Subsequently, the Indo-European language family split into several branches: in the south and southeast - Iranians, Indians, Tajiks, Armenians, etc.; in the west - the current Germans, French, English, etc.; in the east - the Balts and the distant ancestors of the Slavs.

Another large language family is Finno-Ugric(present-day Finns, Estonians, Karelians, Khanty, Mordovians, etc.) has long occupied the territory from the Kama region to the Trans-Urals, from where its tribes settled to the European North, the Volga region and Western Siberia. Ancestors Turkic peoples lived in Central Asia, from where they began their advance to Eastern Europe and further to the west. Peoples have lived in the mountain gorges of the North Caucasus since the Bronze Age to the present day. Iberian-Caucasian language family. The Koryaks, Aleuts, Eskimos and other peoples settled in the territory of Eastern Siberia and Northeast Asia and have lived here to this day. The origin of peoples (ethnogenesis) is one of the complex issues of science; This is a long process, taking several millennia.

MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

BELGOROD LAW INSTITUTE

Department of Humanitarian and Socio-Economic Disciplines

Discipline: Russian history

ABSTRACT

on the topic “The Ancient History of Humanity and Our Fatherland”

Prepared by:

Student Pronkin N.N.

Prepared by:

teacher of the department

police captain

Khryakov R.N.

Belgorod – 2008

Auxiliary historical disciplines have a narrower subject of study, study it in detail and contribute to a deeper understanding of the historical process as a whole.

1. Periodization of the ancient history of mankind

The most ancient ancestors of modern man resembled apes, who, unlike animals, were able to produce tools. In the scientific literature, this type of ape-man is called homohabilis - a skilled man. The further evolution of habilis led to the appearance 1.5-1.6 million years ago of the so-called Pithecanthropus (from the Greek “pithekos” - monkey, “anthropos” - man), or archanthropes (from the Greek “achaios” - ancient). Archanthropes were already people. 300-200 thousand years ago, archanthropes were replaced by a more developed type of person - paleoanthropes, or Neanderthals (according to the place of their first discovery in the Neanderthal area in Germany).

During the Early Stone Age - Paleolithic (approximately 700 thousand years ago), people entered the territory of Eastern Europe. Settlement came from the south. Archaeologists find traces of the presence of ancient people in the Crimea (Kiik-Koba caves), in Abkhazia (near Sukhumi-Yashtukh), in Armenia (Satani-Dar hill near Yerevan), as well as in Central Asia (southern Kazakhstan, Tashkent region). In the Zhitomir region and on the Dniester, traces of people being here 500-300 thousand years ago were found.

During the Late Paleolithic period (35-10 thousand years ago), the melting of the glacier ended, and a climate similar to the modern one was established. The use of fire for cooking, the further development of tools, as well as the first attempts to regulate relations between the sexes significantly changed the physical type of man. It was at this time that the transformation of a skilled man (homohabilis) into a reasonable man (homosapiens) dates back to this time. Based on the place where it was first found, it is called Cro-Magnon (Cro-Magnon area in France). At the same time, obviously, as a result of adaptation to the environment in the conditions of the existence of sharp differences in climate between different regions of the globe, the existing races (Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid) were formed.

Humanity received a new impetus in the historical development by mastering the production of metal. On the territory of our country, the development of those tribes that lived near deposits of copper and tin accelerated. On the territory of Eurasia, such tribes lived in the regions of the North Caucasus, Central Asia, the Urals and Siberia.

2. The most ancient states on the territory of Russia

By the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. archaeologists attribute the separation of the Proto-Slavs from the Indo-European tribes. It was a group of related tribes; the monuments belonging to them can be traced from the Oder in the west to the Carpathians in eastern Europe.

The process of decomposition of the primitive communal system in different regions of Eurasia did not take place simultaneously. In the southern regions, the decomposition of the primitive communal system occurred earlier, which led to the emergence of slave states in Central Asia and Transcaucasia, in the Volga region.

The most ancient states on the territory of our country. The first slave-owning civilizations on the globe arose back in the Bronze Age in a zone with a favorable climate stretching from the Mediterranean to China: the despotisms of the Ancient East, Greece, Rome, India and China. Slavery existed as the dominant form of organization of life on a world-historical scale until the 3rd-5th centuries. n. e.

Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and the Black Sea region were the outlying lands of the slaveholding world. The history of these regions should be considered in connection with the largest state formations of antiquity. On the territory of Transcaucasia, Central Asia and the Black Sea region, large states emerged that influenced the course of world history.

To the north of the flourishing slave-owning civilizations of antiquity, numerous nomadic tribes lived on the territory of the Northern Black Sea region, experiencing the stage of decomposition of the primitive communal system. This process took place most quickly among the Iranian-speaking Scythians, where a class society took shape. The father of history, Herodotus (5th century BC), called the entire population living north of the Black and Azov Seas Scythians. It is possible that the Scythians also included part of the Slavs who lived in Middle Transnistria (Scythian plowmen, or Borysthenes, from the ancient name of the Dnieper - Borysthenes). Since those times, our language has preserved words borrowed from Iranian - god, axe, dog, etc.

The Scythians were characterized by the development of patriarchal (domestic) slavery associated with primitive communal relations. The property stratification among the Scythians reached significant proportions, as evidenced by the treasures found in the burial mounds of the Scythian kings.

In the VI-IV centuries. BC e. The Scythians united into a powerful tribal union. In the 3rd century. BC e. on its basis a strong Scythian state emerged with its capital in Scythian Naples (Simferopol region). During excavations of Scythian Naples, archaeologists discovered significant reserves of grain. Scythian farmers grew “the best wheat in the world” (Herodotus). Grain from Scythia was exported to Greece.

Intermediaries in the grain trade were Greek cities - slave states on the Black Sea coast. The most famous of them were Olbia (near Nikolaev), Chersonesos (in the territory of present-day Sevastopol), Panticapaeum (Kerch), Pitius (Pitsunda), Gorgippia (Anapa), Dio-skurada (Sukhumi), Fasis (Poti), Tanais (near Rostov-on-Don), Kerkinitida (Evpatoria), etc.

The cities of the Northern Black Sea region largely copied the structure and way of life of the Greek world. Ancient slavery, in contrast to slavery in eastern despotism and patriarchal slavery of peoples who were at the stage of disintegration of the primitive communal system, was based on a high level of development of commodity production.

Active maritime trade stimulated specialization of production. Large land latifundias emerged that produced grain, wine, and oil. The craft has developed significantly. As a result of the wars, the number of slaves increased, which all free citizens had the right to own.

Almost all the city-states of the Black Sea region were slave-owning republics. Free citizens played a big role in governing the country in ancient states. Behind the fortress wall rose majestic temples, residential and public buildings.

Through convenient harbors, Greek ships carried grain, wine, and oil in amphorae from the Black Sea region, produced by the labor of slaves or purchased from neighboring tribes. Slaves were also exported. Half of the bread that the Athenians ate was brought from Panticapaeum (Kerch). In the 5th century BC e. Panticapaeum became the center of a large slave-holding power - the Bosporus Kingdom (5th century BC - 4th century AD).

The Bosporan kingdom waged continuous wars with neighboring nomadic peoples. In 107 BC. e. In the Bosporus there was an uprising of artisans, peasants, and slaves under the leadership of Savmak. Savmak was proclaimed king of the Bosporus. With the help of the troops of Mithridates, king of Pontus (a state in Asia Minor), the uprising was suppressed, and Savmak was executed. The Savmak uprising is the first known major uprising of the masses on the territory of our country.

In the first centuries of our era, the slave-holding city-states of the Black Sea region became dependent on Rome. By the 3rd century. n. e. The crisis of the slave system clearly manifested itself, and in the 4th-5th centuries. n. e. The slave-holding powers fell under the onslaught of the Goths and Huns.

Slave labor became unprofitable during the transition to iron tools. The invasion of barbarian tribes completed the fall of slave-owning civilization.

While in the most favorable climatic zone of the Earth, back in the Bronze Age, slave-owning civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Mediterranean, Western and Central Asia, India, and China developed, peoples who were still at the stage of the primitive communal system lived to the north and south of them.

The transition of these peoples to a class society was facilitated by the beginning of the manufacture of iron tools (at the turn of the 1st millennium AD). The widespread occurrence of iron deposits in the form of bog ores, its low cost compared to bronze, and the higher productivity of iron tools led to the displacement of bronze and stone products.

The use of iron gave a huge impetus to the development of productive forces. More intensive clearing of forests for agriculture became possible, and land cultivation improved. The use of more advanced iron tools by artisans led to the separation of crafts from agriculture. Craftsmen began to make products not only to order, but also for exchange, which meant the emergence of simple commodity production.

The use of iron caused a transformation of social relations both among peoples who lived under conditions of slavery, and among those tribes who were at the stage of a primitive communal system. The development of productive forces among primitive tribes contributed to the growth of production and the emergence of certain surpluses, which led to the emergence of private property and the decomposition of primitive communal relations. As in the Bronze Age, wars and robberies significantly accelerated the process of property differentiation.

The widespread occurrence of iron in our country dates back to the 1st millennium BC. e. The advancement of agriculture to the north from the warm climate zone led to the fact that on the lands where our distant ancestors, the Slavs, lived, prerequisites for the emergence of private property also began to appear; a class society arose, which required the organization of social relations, and, as a natural result, a state took shape.

3. Eastern Slavs in the era of transition to statehood

The ancestors of the Slavs (Proto-Slavs) can presumably be found among the Bronze Age tribes that inhabited the basins of the Odra, Vistula, and Dnieper rivers (Central and Eastern Europe). The neighbors of the Proto-Slavs were the ancestors of the Germanic tribes in the northwest, the ancestors of the Baltic tribes in the north, and the Proto-Iranian (Scythian) tribes in the south and southeast. From time to time, the Proto-Slavs came into contact with the northeastern Finno-Ugric tribes and in the southwest with the Thracian ones.

In terms of their language, the Proto-Slavs belonged to a large family of so-called Indo-European peoples who inhabited Europe and part of Asia up to and including India. During the 1st millennium BC. The Proto-Slavs settled in different directions from their historical “ancestral home,” which subsequently predetermined not only their separation from the vast Indo-European massif, but also the later division into East Slavic, West Slavic and South Slavic branches.

In the first centuries of our era, probably several hundred Slavic agricultural tribes already lived on the vast forest and forest-steppe lands of Eastern Europe. Ancient authors I - VI centuries. AD, later Byzantine and Arab sources call these tribes Wends, Antes and Slavs themselves. From written references and the rich archaeological heritage, today quite a lot is known about the way of life of the Eastern Slavs, their social system, way of life and beliefs.

VI-IX centuries in the history of East Slavic tribes following B.A. Rybakov can certainly be defined as the period of the third rise. In its depths the prerequisites for the emergence of a powerful early feudal state - Kievan Rus, which united half of the East Slavic tribes - matured.

Just like all Slavic tribes, the Eastern Slavs in the VI-IX centuries. were at the stage of transformation of communal relations into early feudal ones. This process was strengthened by the powerful migration processes of the preceding period of the Great Migration, as a result of which the contacts of the Eastern Slavs with the tribes, peoples and states surrounding them strengthened; there was interpenetration and mutual enrichment of different cultures.

The main written source that tells us about the final period of the ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs is the Tale of Bygone Years. This is how Nestor presents it, emphasizing in every possible way the ethnic community of the Slavic world.

After a long time, writes Nestor, the Slavs settled along the Danube, where now the land is Hungarian and Bulgarian. From those Slavs the Slavs spread throughout the land and were called by their names from the places where they sat. So some, having come, sat down on the river in the name of Morava and were called Moravians, while others called themselves Czechs. And here are the same Slavs: white Croats and Serbs and Horutans. When the Volochs attacked the Danube Slavs and settled among them and oppressed them, these Slavs came and sat on the Vistula and were called Poles, and from those Poles came the Poles, other Poles - Luticians, others - Mazovshans, others - Pomeranians.

Also, these Slavs came and settled along the Dnieper and were called Polyans, and others - Drevlyans, because they settled in the forests, and still others settled between Pripyat and Dvina and were called Dregovichs. Others settled along the Dvina and were called Polotsk residents, after the river flowing into the Dvina, named Polota, from which they received the name Polotsk residents.

The same Slavs who settled near Lake Ilmen were called by their own name - Slavs, and built a city and called it Novgorod. And others sat along the Desna, and the Seim, and the Sula, and were called northerners. And so the Slavic people dispersed, and after their name the letter was called “Slavic”.

As we can see, the chronicler very accurately defines the area of settlement of the Eastern Slavs, indicating the territories inhabited by individual tribes, or rather, tribal unions (Drevlyans, Polyans, Dregovichs, Polotsk). Nestor's information was generally confirmed by subsequent archaeological and linguistic research. Each of the tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs had elements of statehood in the form of princely power.

But these were not yet principalities, but proto-state formations under the authority of tribal leaders. Some of the names of tribal unions, as we see, reflect the geographical and natural features of the territories they inhabit. The glades lived in the fields, the Drevlyans lived in the forests, the northerners lived in the northeast of the glades, etc.

It can be assumed that the toponymic roots of the names of the listed tribal unions indicate the predominance of territorial unity over clan ties. Hence, it seems logical that the leading role of this group of Slavic tribes (primarily the Polyans and Ros, so called from the Ros River, a tributary of the Middle Dnieper), in the creation of Kievan Rus, as, apparently, the most developed from the point of view of elements of statehood. The name of the second large group of tribal unions came from the name of the clan of tribal leaders, which indicated the predominance of clan rather than territorial ties (Radimichi, Krivichi, Vyatichi, Tivertsy, etc.).

The view of L.N. is somewhat different. Gumilyov on the problem of the genesis of statehood and the origin of the name of Rus'. He believed, not without some reason, that the Slavs and the Rus (or, according to various sources, the Rutens, the Dews, the Rugs) were different peoples. The scientist was inclined to see in the Rus a tribe of ancient Germans, from whom Rurik was related.

However, this plot is already beyond the scope of this chapter. It is important for us to note that by the time the Slavs formed statehood, warlike tribes, most likely of Germanic origin, lived on the borders of their territories. Reconstructing the relationship between the Slavs and the warlike Rus, Gumilyov wrote:

For the Slavs, it was a disaster to be in the neighborhood of the ancient Rus, who made it their business to raid their neighbors. At one time, the Rus, defeated by the Goths, fled partly to the east, partly to the south - to the lower reaches of the Danube, where they became dependent on the Heruls of Odoacer (the further fate of this branch is unknown to us). Part of the Rus, who went to the east, occupied three cities, which became support bases for their further campaigns. These were Cuyaba (Kyiv), Arzania (Beloozero?) and Staraya Rusa. The Rus robbed their neighbors, killed their men, and sold the captured children and women to slave traders.

One way or another, Gumilev’s reconstruction allows us to conclude that the Slavs were in a state of constant military action, and this circumstance, as we have repeatedly noted, accelerated the process of formation of elements of statehood.

Apparently, in the VI-VII centuries. In the Middle Dnieper region, a large union of forest-steppe Slavic tribes formed, which gave the name to Rus'. Initially, according to Nestor’s data, it included the Polyans, Drevlyans, Dregovichs, Polochans and Slovenes. Over time, this union advanced north all the way to the Baltic and south to the Black Sea coast, to the west and east, including some non-Slavic tribes, which Nestor lists as “Chud, Merya, Ves, Muroma, Cheremis, Mordovians, Perm, Pechera, Yam” , Lithuania.." By the 10th century The name Rus is established in relation to the vast territory of the Kievan state.

Much later, the separation of the Ukrainian and Belarusian East Slavic peoples, related to the Russian, occurred, which was a reflection of the ethnic characteristics of the tribal cultures of the Slavs that made up Kievan Rus, as well as their border position, and the known difference in historical destinies.

Of considerable interest is the history of the emergence of the future capital of Rus' - Kyiv. This is how the chronicler talks about it:

And there were three brothers: one named Kiy, the other - Shchek and the third - Khoriv, and their sister was Lybid. Kiy sat on the mountain where Borichev now rises, and Shchek sat on the mountain that is now called Shchekovitsa, and Khoriv on the third mountain, which was nicknamed Khorivitsa after him. And they built a town in the name of their elder brother and called it Kyiv. There was a forest all around and a large forest, and they caught animals there, and those men were wise and sensible, and they were called glades, from them glades are still in Kyiv.

Archaeological and linguistic data indicate a great diversity of the East Slavic world, which included, according to various estimates, in the VI-IX centuries. up to 200 ethnically close tribes, gradually consolidated into tribal unions and the state. All the more valuable is Nestor's story about the ancestral home of Kievan Rus - the Principality of Kiya, which apparently arose in the second half of the 6th - early 7th centuries.

An important source of information about the life, occupation, and culture of the Eastern Slavs during the transition to statehood is the writings of Byzantine, Arab, Central Asian, and Persian authors.

Based on the totality of data, we can say that by the time of the emergence of Kievan Rus, the Eastern Slavs had experienced significant shifts in the development of basic sectors of the economy: agriculture, crafts (blacksmithing, pottery, tanning, jewelry, etc.), urban planning, traditional crafts (hunting, fishing, beekeeping, etc.); Foreign trade contacts have become more frequent, etc. At the same time, there were processes of property stratification, the widespread allocation of tribal nobility, which seized the levers of control of tribes and their associations (the Principality of Kiya), along with the preserved veche institutions of collective governance.

Period VI-IX centuries. completes the process of separating the Eastern Slavs into an independent ethnic group of peoples. By the time of the emergence of Kievan Rus, numerous Slavic tribes were not only united into large tribal unions, but also had experience in state life.

Some, although not indisputable, idea of the scale of the East Slavic world is given by the authors of the encyclopedia “Peoples of Russia”. According to expert estimates, they note, in the Old Russian state at the time of its emergence there were 3.0-3.5 million people. Thus, the ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs took a long period, the beginning of which can be dated back to the 1st millennium BC. The extreme complexity of the process of formation of an ethnos and the lack of necessary data make it possible to judge its progress only in general terms.

It is obvious that over the course of a long two- and a half-thousand-year era, a pan-Slavic ethnic group of peoples emerged, an inextricable part of which are the modern Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples.

Conclusion

Among different peoples in different regions of the Earth, the appearance of certain tools and forms of social life did not occur simultaneously. There was a process of formation of man (anthropogenesis, from the Greek "anthropos" - man, "genesis" - origin) and human society (sociogenesis, from the Latin "societas" - society and the Greek "genesis" - origin). About 100 thousand years ago, a significant part of the territory of Europe was occupied by a huge glacier up to two kilometers thick (since then the snowy peaks of the Alps and Scandinavian mountains were formed).

Humanity received a new impetus in the historical development by mastering the production of metal. On the territory of our country, the development of those tribes that lived near deposits of copper and tin accelerated. By the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. archaeologists attribute the separation of the Proto-Slavs from the Indo-European tribes. It was a group of related tribes; the monuments belonging to them can be traced from the Oder in the west to the Carpathians in eastern Europe. In terms of their language, the Proto-Slavs belonged to a large family of so-called Indo-European peoples who inhabited Europe and part of Asia up to India inclusive. During the 1st millennium BC. The Proto-Slavs settled in different directions from their historical “ancestral home,” which subsequently predetermined not only their separation from the vast Indo-European massif, but also the later division into East Slavic, West Slavic and South Slavic branches.

Throughout the VI-VIII centuries. AD profound changes occurred in the social structure of the East Slavic tribes. The collectivist basis for the life of traditional primitive communities began to gradually collapse. The economic independence of individual families made the existence of firmly Slavic clans unnecessary. Household management became possible for individual families, no longer united on the basis of kinship, but on the basis of a common economic life. Such families formed a neighboring or territorial community. Within such a community, the institution of private property emerged and developed. The concentration of private property was most often associated with representatives of the tribal elite. It was this social stratum that received more opportunities for enrichment as a result of the distribution of surpluses within the community and in the course of waging successful wars against neighboring tribes and states.

The development of agriculture, the separation of crafts from agriculture, the collapse of clan ties within communities, the growth of property inequality, the development of private property - all this prepared the conditions for the emergence of exploitation of man by man, the formation of classes and - as a natural consequence of this process - the creation of a state-organized society.

1. Averyanov K.A. From Ancient Rus' to New Russia // Questions of History. – 2006. - No. 3.

2. Alekseev S.V. History of the Slavs in the V - VIII centuries / Moscow. humanist University; East-enlighten. about. M.:, 2004.

3. Danilevsky N.Ya. Russia and Europe: a look at the cultural and political relations of the Slavic world to the German-Roman world / N. Ya. Danilevsky. - 6th ed. - St. Petersburg: “Glagol”, 1995.

4. History of Russia. Russia in world civilization. - M., 1998.

5. History of Russia: textbook / A.S. Orlov, V.A. Georgiev, N.G. Georgieva, T.A. Sivokhina. - 2nd ed., revised. and additional - M.: Prospekt, 2004.

6. Mikhailova N.V. Domestic history: Textbook / N.V. Mikhailova. - 2nd ed., revised. and additional - M.: IMC GUK MIA of Russia, 2002.

Polyakov A.N. Education of ancient Russian civilization // Questions of history. – 2005. - No. 3.

7. Russia in world history / ed. V.S. Powder. – M.: Logos, 2003. Semennikova L.I. Russia in the world community of civilizations. Textbook for universities. - Bryansk, 1999.

8. Fedorov O.A. Russian history. XX century: textbook for universities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia / O. A. Fedorov. - Orel: OYUI Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 1999.

9. Averyanov K.A. From Ancient Rus' to New Russia // Questions of History. – 2006. - No. 3.

10. Alekseev S.V. History of the Slavs in the V - VIII centuries / Moscow. humanist University; East-enlighten. about. M.:, 2004.

11. Danilevsky N.Ya. Russia and Europe: a look at the cultural and political relations of the Slavic world to the German-Roman world / N. Ya. Danilevsky. - 6th ed. - St. Petersburg: “Glagol”, 1995.

12. Polyakov A.N. Education of ancient Russian civilization // Questions of history. – 2005. - No. 3.

13. Russia in world history / ed. V.S. Powder. – M.: Logos, 2003.

Paleolithic - ancient Stone Age (from the Greek “palaios” - ancient, “lithos” stone). Accordingly, “mesos” is average, “neos” is new; hence the Mesolithic, Neolithic.

2.1. The primitive world and the birth of civilization. Sources of information about primitiveness

The primitive history of mankind is reconstructed using a whole complex of sources, since no single source is able to provide us with a complete and reliable picture of a given era. The most important group of sources—archaeological sources—make it possible to use
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follow the material foundations of human life. Objects made by a person carry information about himself, his activities and the society in which he lived. From the material remains of a person one can obtain information about his spiritual world. The difficulty of working with this type of sources lies in the fact that not all objects related to man and his activities have reached us. Items made from organic materials (wood, bone, horn, clothing), as a rule, are not preserved. Therefore, historians build their concepts of the development of human society in the primitive era on the basis of materials that have survived to this day (flint tools, pottery, dwellings, etc.). Archaeological excavations contribute to the acquisition of knowledge about the very beginning of human existence, because the tools made by man were one of the main features that separated him from the animal world. Ethnographic sources make it possible, using the comparative historical method, to reconstruct the culture, life, and social relations of people of the past. Ethnography explores the life of relict (backward) tribes and nationalities, as well as remnants of the past in modern societies. For this purpose, scientific methods are used, such as direct observations of specialists, analysis of the records of ancient and medieval authors, which contribute to the acquisition of certain ideas about societies and people of the past. There is one serious difficulty here - one way or another, all tribes and peoples of the earth have been influenced by civilized societies and researchers must remember this. We also have no right to talk about the complete identity of the most backward societies - the Aboriginal tribes of Australia and the primitive bearers of similar cultures. Ethnographic sources also include folklore monuments, which are used to study oral folk art.
Anthropology studies the skeletal remains of primitive people, restoring their physical appearance. From bone remains we can judge the volume of the brain of a primitive man, his gait, body structure, diseases and injuries. Anthropologists can reconstruct the entire skeleton and appearance of a person
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from a small fragment of bone and thus restore the process of anthropogenesis - the origin of man.
Linguistics is the study of language And identifying within its framework the most ancient layers that were formed in the distant past. Using these layers, you can not only restore ancient forms of language, but also learn a lot about the life of the past - material culture, social structure, way of thinking. Reconstructions by linguists are difficult to date and are always somewhat hypothetical.
There are, in addition to the main ones listed above, many other auxiliary sources. These are paleobotany - the science of ancient plants, paleozoology - the science of ancient animals, paleoclimatology, geology and others. A researcher of primitiveness must use data from all sciences, studying them comprehensively And offering your interpretation.
Periodization and chronology of primitive history. Periodization is a conditional division of human history in accordance with certain criteria into time stages. Chronology is a science that allows us to identify the time of existence of an object or phenomenon. Two types of chronology are used: absolute and relative. Absolute chronology precisely determines the time of an event (at such and such a time: year, month, date). Relative chronology only establishes the sequence of events, noting that one occurred before the other. This chronology is widely used by archaeologists in the study of various archaeological cultures.
To establish an exact date, scientists use methods such as radiocarbon dating (based on the content of carbon isotopes in organic remains), dendrochronological (based on tree rings), archaeomagnetic (dating items made from baked clay) and others. All these methods are still far from the desired accuracy and allow us to date events only approximately.
There are several types of periodization of primitive history. Archaeological periodization uses the sequential change of tools as the main criterion. Main stages:
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Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) - divided into lower (earliest in time), middle and upper (late). The Paleolithic began more than 2 million years ago and ended around the 8th millennium BC. e.;
Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) - VIII-V millennium BC. e.;
Neolithic (New Stone Age) – V— III thousand BC e.;
Chalcolithic (Copper Stone Age) - a transitional stage between the Stone and Metal periods;
Bronze Age - III— II thousand BC e.;
Iron Age - begins in the 1st millennium BC. e.

These dates are very approximate And different researchers offer their own options. Moreover, in different regions these stages occurred at different times.
Geological periodization.
The history of the Earth is divided into four eras. The last era is the Cenozoic. It is divided into the Tertiary (began 69 million years ago), Quaternary (began 1 million years ago) and modern (began 14,000 years ago) periods. The Quaternary period is divided into the Pleistocene (pre-glacial and glacial eras) and the Holocene (post-glacial era).
Periodization of the history of primitive society. There is no unity among researchers on the issue of periodization of the history of ancient society. The most common is the following: 1) the primitive human herd; 2) tribal community (this stage is divided into the early tribal community of hunters and gatherers And fishermen and a developed community of farmers And pastoralists); 3) primitive neighboring (proto-peasant) community. The era of primitive society ends with the emergence of the first civilizations.
Origin of man (anthropogenesis). IN Modern science has several theories of the origin of man. The most well-reasoned is the labor theory of human origin, formulated by F. Engels. Labor theory emphasizes the role of labor in the formation of teams of the first people, their unity and the formation of new connections between them. According to this concept, work activity influenced the development of a person’s hand, and the need for new means of communication led to the development of language. The appearance of man is thus associated with the beginning of the production of tools.
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The process of anthropogenesis (the origin of man) went through three stages in its development: 1) the appearance of anthropoid ancestors of man; 2) the appearance of the most ancient and ancient people; 3) the emergence of a modern type of man. Anthropogenesis was preceded by intensive evolution of higher apes in different directions. As a result of evolution, several new species of monkeys arose, including Dryopithecus. Australopithecines, whose remains were found in Africa, descend from Dryopithecus.
Australopithecines were distinguished by a relatively large brain volume (550-600 cc), walking on their hind limbs, and using natural objects as tools. Their fangs and jaws were less developed than those of other monkeys. Australopithecines were omnivores and hunted small animals. Like other anthropomorphic monkeys, they formed herds. Australopithecus lived 4 - 2 million years ago.
The second stage of anthropogenesis is associated with Pithecanthropus (“the ape-man”) and the related Atlantropus and Sinanthropus. Pithecanthropus can already be called the most ancient people, since they, unlike Australopithecus, made stone tools. The brain volume of Pithecanthropus was about 900 cubic meters. cm, and in Sinanthropus - the late form of Pithecanthropus - 1050 cubic meters. see Pithecanthropus retained some of the features of monkeys - a low cranial vault, a sloping forehead, and the absence of a chin protrusion. The remains of Pithecanthropus are found in Africa, Asia and Europe. It is possible that the ancestral home of man was in Africa and Southeast Asia. The most ancient people lived 750-200 thousand years ago.
Neanderthal was the next stage of anthropogenesis. He is called ancient man. The Neanderthal brain volume is from 1200 to 1600 cubic meters. cm - approaches the volume of the modern human brain. But Neanderthals, unlike modern humans, had a primitive brain structure and the frontal lobes of the brain were not developed. The hand was rough and massive, which limited the Neanderthal’s ability to use tools. Neanderthals spread widely across the Earth, inhabiting different climatic zones. They lived 250-40 thousand years ago. Scientists believe that not all were the ancestors of modern man
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Neanderthals; Some Neanderthals represented a dead-end branch of development.
Man of the modern physical type - the Cro-Magnon man - appeared at the third stage of anthropogenesis. These are tall people with a straight gait and a sharply protruding chin. The brain volume of a Cro-Magnon man was 1400 - 1500 cubic meters. see Cro-Magnons appeared about 100 thousand years ago. Probably, their homeland was Western Asia and adjacent areas.
At the last stage of anthropogenesis, raceogenesis occurs - the formation of three human races. The Caucasoid, Mongoloid and Negroid races can serve as an example of people's adaptation to the natural environment. Races differ in skin color, hair, eyes, features of facial structure and physique, and other features. All three races emerged in the Late Paleolithic, but the process of race formation continued in the future.-
The origin of language and thinking. Thinking and speech are interconnected, so they cannot be considered separately from each other. These two phenomena arose simultaneously. Their development was in demand by the labor process, during which human thinking constantly developed, and the need to transfer acquired experience contributed to the emergence of the speech system. The basis for the development of speech was the sound signals of monkeys. On the surface of casts of the internal cavity of the skulls of synanthropes, an increase in the parts of the brain responsible for speech was found, which allows us to speak with confidence about the presence of developed articulate speech and thinking in synanthropes. This is quite consistent with the fact that Sinanthropus practiced developed collective forms of labor (driven hunting) and successfully used fire.
In Neanderthals, brain sizes sometimes exceeded the corresponding parameters in modern humans, but poorly developed frontal lobes of the brain, responsible for associative, abstract thinking, appeared only in Cro-Magnons. Therefore, the system of language and thinking most likely took final shape in the Late Paleolithic era, simultaneously with the appearance of the Cro-Magnons and the beginning of their working activity.
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Appropriating farming. The appropriating economy, within which people exist through the appropriation of natural products, is the oldest type of economy. Hunting and gathering can be distinguished as the two main occupations of ancient people.” Their ratio was not the same at different stages of the development of human society and in different natural and climatic conditions. Gradually, people master new complex forms of hunting - driven hunting, traps and others. For hunting, cutting up carcasses, and gathering, they used stone tools (made of flint and obsidian) - choppers, scrapers, and pointed points. Wooden tools were also used - digging sticks, clubs and spears.
During the period of the early tribal community, the number of tools increases. New stone processing technologies emerged, marking the transition to the Upper Paleolithic. Now man has learned to break off thin and light plates, which are then brought to the desired shape using chipping and pressing retouching - a method of secondary processing of stone. New technologies required less flint, which facilitated expansion into previously uninhabited areas poor in flint.
In addition, new technologies led to the creation of a number of specialized tools - scrapers, knives, chisels, and small throwing spear tips. Bone and horn are widely used. Spears, darts, stone axes, and forts appear. Fishing plays an important role. Hunting productivity increased sharply as a result of the invention of the spear thrower - a plank with a stop that allows you to throw a spear at a speed comparable to the speed of an arrow from a bow. The spear thrower was the first mechanical means to complement human muscular strength. The first so-called gender-age division of labor occurs: men are primarily engaged in hunting and fishing, and women are engaged in gathering and housekeeping. Children helped the women.
At the end of the Late Paleolithic, the era of glaciation began. During glaciation, wild horses and reindeer become the main prey. To hunt these animals, driven methods were widely used, allowing
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kill a large number of animals in a short time. They provided ancient hunters with food, skins for clothing and housing, horn and bone for tools. Reindeer make seasonal migrations - in the summer they move to the tundra, closer to the glacier, in the winter - to the forest zone. While hunting deer, people simultaneously explored new lands.
With the retreat of the glacier, living conditions changed. The deer hunters followed them, following the retreating glacier, and those who remained were forced to adapt to hunting small animals. The Mesolithic era has arrived. During this period, a new microlithic technique appeared. Microliths are small flint products that were inserted into wooden or bone tools and formed the cutting edge. Such a tool was more multifunctional than solid flint products, and its sharpness was not inferior to metal products.
A huge achievement of man was the invention of the bow and arrow - a powerful, rapid-fire, long-range weapon. Takeke boomerang was invented - a curved throwing club. During the Mesolithic era, man domesticated the first animal - the dog, which became a faithful hunting assistant. Fishing methods are being improved, nets, a boat with oars, and a fish hook appear. In many places, fishing is becoming the main economic sector. Glacial retreat and climate warming are leading to an increased role for gathering.
Mesolithic man had to unite in small groups that did not stay in one place for a long time, wandering around in search of food. The dwellings were built temporary and small. In the Mesolithic people move far to the north and east; Having crossed the land isthmus, the place of which is currently occupied by the Bering Strait, they populate America.
Producing farm. The productive economy arose in the Neolithic era. The last stage of the Stone Age is characterized by the emergence of new techniques in the stone industry - grinding, sawing and drilling stone. Tools were made from new types of stone. During this period, such a weapon as an ax became widespread.
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One of the most important inventions of the Neolithic was ceramics. The production and subsequent firing of pottery allowed people to facilitate the preparation and storage of food. Man has learned to produce a material not found in nature - baked clay. The invention of spinning and weaving was also of great importance. Fiber for spinning was produced from wild plants, and later from sheep's wool.
During the Neolithic era, one of the most significant events in human history took place - the emergence of animal husbandry and agriculture. The transition from an appropriating to a producing economy was called the Neolithic revolution. The relationship between man and nature is becoming fundamentally different. Now a person could independently produce everything necessary for life and became less dependent on the environment.
Agriculture arose from highly organized gathering, during which man learned to care for wild plants in order to obtain a larger harvest. Collectors used sickles with flint inserts, grain grinders, and hoes. Gathering was a woman's occupation, so agriculture was probably invented by women. Regarding the place of origin of agriculture, scientists come to the conclusion that it arose in several centers at once: in Western Asia, Southeast Asia and South America.
Animal husbandry began to take shape in the Mesolithic era, but constant movements prevented hunting tribes from breeding any animals other than dogs. Agriculture contributed to the greater sedentarization of the human population, thereby facilitating the process of domestication of animals. First, young animals caught during the hunt were tamed. Among the first living jthbix to suffer this fate were goats, pigs, sheep and cows. Hunting was a male occupation, so cattle breeding also became a male prerogative. Cattle breeding arose somewhat later than agriculture, since a strong food supply was required to maintain animals; it also appeared in several foci, independent of each other.
At first, animal husbandry and agriculture could not compete with highly specialized hunting.
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whose And fishing, but the producing economy is gradually taking first place in a number of regions (primarily in Western Asia).
Social relations in primitive times. Developmentfamilies. Primitive herd.
Ancient people, who appeared at the dawn of the human era, were forced to unite in herds in order to survive. These herds could not be large - no more than 20-40 people - because otherwise they would not be able to feed themselves. The primitive herd was headed by a leader who rose to prominence thanks to his personal qualities. Individual herds were scattered over vast territories and had almost no contact with each other. Archaeologically, the primitive herd corresponds to the Lower and Middle Paleolithic.
Sexual relations in the primitive herd, according to a number of scientists, were disordered. Such relationships are called promiscuous. According to other scientists, within the primitive herd there was a harem family, and only the leader participated in the reproduction process. The herd, as a rule, consisted of several harem families.
Early clan community. The process of transformation of a primitive herd into a clan community is associated with the growth of productive forces that united ancient groups, as well as with the emergence of exogamy. Exogamy is the prohibition of marrying within one's group. An exogamous dual-clan group marriage gradually developed, in which members of one clan could only marry members of another clan. Moreover, from birth, men of one clan were considered the husbands of women of another clan, And vice versa. At the same time, men had the right to have sexual intercourse with all women of a different kind. In such relationships there is a danger of incest And conflicts between men of the same kind were eliminated.
In order to finally avoid the possibility of incest (for example, a father could have an affair with his daughter), people resorted to dividing the clan into classes. One class included men (women) of one generation, and they could only enter into communication with the same class of another generation. The set of marriage classes usually included four or eight classes. With such a system
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kinship was accounted for on the maternal side, and the children remained in the mother’s family. Gradually, an increasing number of restrictions were established in group marriage, as a result of which it became impossible. As a result, a paired marriage is formed, which was very often fragile and easily dissolved.
The dual-clan organization of the two clans formed the basis of the clan community. The clan community was united not only by marriage relations between clans, but also by production relations. Indeed, due to the custom of exogamy, a situation arose when some relatives went to another clan and were included in production relations here. In the early clan community, management was carried out by a meeting of all adult relatives, which decided all the main issues. The leaders of the clan were elected at a meeting of the entire clan. The most experienced people, who were the guardians of customs, enjoyed great authority, and they, as a rule, were elected leaders. Power was based on the strength of personal authority.
In the early clan community, all products obtained by members of the community were considered the property of the clan and were distributed among all its members. This was a necessary condition for survival for ancient societies. The land and most of the tools were in the collective ownership of the community. It is known that in tribes at this level of development, it was allowed to take and use other people’s tools and things without asking.
All people in the community were divided into three age and gender groups: adult men, women, children. The transition to the group of adults was considered a very important milestone in a person’s life and was called initiation (“dedication”). The meaning of the initiation rite is to introduce the teenager to the economic, social and ideological life of the community. Here is the initiation scheme, the same for all peoples: removal of initiates from the collective and their training; trials of initiates (hunger, humiliation, beatings, wounds) and their ritual death; return to the team in a new status. Upon completion of the initiation rite, the “initiate” received the right to enter into marriage.
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Late clan community. The transition to an appropriating economy led to the replacement of the early tribal community by the later community of farmers and pastoralists. Within the framework of the late tribal community, ancestral ownership of the land was preserved. However, an increase in labor productivity gradually led to the appearance of a regular surplus product, which the community member could keep for himself. This trend contributed to the formation of a prestigious economy. The prestigious economy arose in the conditions of the emergence of a surplus product that was used V gift exchange system. This practice increased the social prestige of the donor, and he, as a rule, did not incur losses, since there was a custom of obligatory return. The exchange of gifts strengthened relationships between members of both the same and different communities, strengthened the position of the leader and family ties.
Due to the high productivity of labor, communities, growing, were divided into groups of relatives on the maternal side - the so-called maternal families. But the clan unity had not yet disintegrated, since, if necessary, families were united back into the clan. Women, who play the main role in agriculture and in the home, have greatly displaced men in the maternal family.
The paired family gradually strengthened its position in society (although there are known cases of the existence of “additional” wives or husbands). The emergence of surplus product made it possible to provide financially for children. But the couple family did not have property separate from the ancestral family, which hindered its development.
Late clan communities united into phratries, and phratries into tribes. A phratry is an original gens divided into several daughter gens. The tribe consisted of two phratries, which were exogamous marriage halves of the tribe. Economic and social equality was maintained in the late tribal community. The clan was governed by a council, which included all members of the tribe and an elder elected by the clan. During military operations, a military leader was elected. If necessary, a tribal council was assembled, consisting of the elders of the tribal clans and military leaders. One of the elders, who did not have very much power, was elected as the head of the tribe. Women entered
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to the council of the clan, and in the early stages of the development of the late clan community they could become the heads of clans.
Decomposition of the tribal community. The appearance of a neighborcommunities. The Neolithic Revolution contributed to a radical change in human lifestyle, sharply accelerating the pace of development of human society. People moved to the targeted production of basic food products based on integrated farming. In this economy, cattle breeding and agriculture complemented each other. The development of complex farming and natural and climatic conditions inevitably led to the specialization of communities - some switched to cattle breeding, others to agriculture. This is how the first major social division of labor took place - the separation of agriculture and cattle breeding into separate economic complexes.
The development of agriculture led to settled life, and the increase in labor productivity in areas favorable for agriculture contributed to the gradual expansion of the community. In Western Asia and the Middle East, the first large settlements appeared, and then cities. In the cities there were residential buildings, religious buildings, and workshops. Later, cities appeared in other places. The population in the first cities reached several thousand people.
Truly revolutionary changes occurred due to the advent of metals. First, people mastered metals that can be found in the form of nuggets - copper and gold. Then they learned to smelt metals themselves. The first alloy of copper and tin known to people, bronze, which was superior in hardness to copper, appeared and began to be widely used.
Metals slowly replaced stone. The Stone Age gave way to the Chalcolithic - the Copper-Stone Age, and the Chalcolithic - to the Bronze Age. But tools made of copper and bronze could not completely replace stone ones. Firstly, the sources of raw materials for bronze were located in only a few places, and stone deposits were everywhere. Secondly, in some qualities stone tools were superior to copper and even bronze ones.
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Only when man learned to smelt iron did the era of stone tools finally become a thing of the past. Iron deposits are found everywhere, but iron is not found in its pure form and is quite difficult to process. Therefore, humanity learned to smelt iron after a relatively long period of time - in the 2nd millennium BC. e. The new metal surpassed all then known materials in terms of availability and performance, opening a new era in human history - the Iron Age.
Metallurgical production required knowledge, skills, and experience. To manufacture new, difficult-to-manufacture metal tools, skilled labor was required - the labor of artisans. Artisan blacksmiths appeared, passing on their knowledge and skills from generation to generation. The introduction of metal tools caused an acceleration in the development of agriculture, cattle breeding and an increase in labor productivity. Thus, after the invention of the plow with metal working parts, arable farming appeared, based on the use of livestock draft power.
In the Eneolithic, the potter's wheel was invented, which contributed to the development of pottery. With the invention of the loom, weaving production developed. Society, having acquired sustainable sources of livelihood, was able to implement the second major social division of labor - the separation of crafts from agriculture and cattle breeding.
The social division of labor was accompanied by the development of exchange. Unlike the previously sporadic exchange of wealth from the natural environment, this exchange was already of an economic nature. Farmers and cattle breeders exchanged the products of their labor, artisans exchanged their products. The need for continuous exchange even led to the development of a number of public institutions, primarily the institution of hospitality. Gradually, societies develop means of exchange and measures of their value.
During these changes, the matriarchal (maternal) clan is replaced by a patriarchal one. It was caused by the displacement of women from the most important spheres of production. Hoe farming is being replaced by plow farming, and only a man could manage the meadow. Sco-
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Farming, like commercial hunting, is also a typically male occupation. During the development of a productive economy, a man acquires significant power, both in society and in the family. Now upon entry V After marriage, a woman passed into her husband's clan. Kinship was calculated through the male line, and family property was inherited by children. A large patriarchal family appears - a family of several generations of paternal relatives, headed by the oldest man. The introduction of iron tools meant that a small family could feed itself. The large patriarchal family is breaking up into small families.
The formation of surplus product and the development of exchange were an incentive for the individualization of production and the emergence of private property. Large and economically strong families sought to distinguish themselves from the clan. This trend led to the replacement of the clan community with a neighboring one, where clan ties gave way to territorial ones. The primitive neighboring community was characterized by a combination of relations of private ownership of the yard (house and outbuildings) and tools of labor and collective ownership of the main means of production - land. Families were forced to unite, since an individual family was unable to cope with many operations: land reclamation, irrigation and shifting agriculture.
The neighboring community was a universal stage for all peoples of the world at the pre-class and class stages of development, playing the role of the main economic unit of society until the era of the industrial revolution.
Political genesis (state formation). It should be noted that there are different concepts of the origin of the state. Marxists believe that it was created as an apparatus of violence and exploitation of one class by another. Another theory is the “theory of violence,” whose representatives believe that classes and the state arose as a result of wars and conquests, during which conquerors created the institution of the state in order to maintain their dominance. If we consider the problem in all its complexity, it becomes clear that the war required powerful organiza-
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nization structures, and was more a consequence of polylithogenesis than its cause. However, the Marxist scheme also needs correction, because the desire to squeeze all processes into one scheme inevitably encounters resistance from the material.
The increase in labor productivity led to the emergence of surplus products that could be alienated from producers. Some families accumulated these surpluses (food, handicrafts, livestock). The accumulation of wealth occurred primarily in the families of the leaders, since the leaders had great opportunities to participate in the distribution of products.
Initially, this property was destroyed after the death of the owner or used in ceremonies, such as the “potlatch”, when all this surplus at a festival was distributed to all those present. With these distributions, the organizer gained authority in society. In addition, he became a participant in reciprocal potlatches, at which part of what was given out was returned to him. The principle of giving and giving back, characteristic of a prestigious economy, put ordinary community members and their rich neighbors in unequal conditions. Ordinary community members became dependent on the person organizing the potlatch.
The leaders gradually seize power into their own hands, while the importance of popular assemblies declines. Society is gradually being structured - the top is emerging from among the community members. A strong, rich and generous, and therefore authoritative leader, subjugated weak rivals, spreading his influence over neighboring communities. The first supra-communal structures emerge, within which government bodies are separated from the tribal organization. Thus, the first pro-state formations appear.
The emergence of such formations was accompanied by a fierce struggle between them. War is gradually becoming one of the most important trades. Due to the widespread occurrence of wars, military technology and organization are developing. Military leaders assume a greater role. A squad is formed around them, which included warriors who have proven themselves in the best way
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in battles. During the campaigns, booty was captured and distributed among all the warriors.
The head of the proto-state simultaneously became the chief priest, since the power of the leader in the community remained elective. Acquiring the functions of a priest made the leader a bearer of divine grace and a mediator between people and supernatural forces. The sacralization of the ruler was an important step towards his depersonalization and transformation into a kind of symbol. The power of authority is replaced by the authority of power.
Gradually the power became lifelong. After the death of the leader, the members of his family had the greatest chance of success. As a result, the leader's power became hereditary within his family. This is how the pro-state is finally formed - a political structure of society with social and property inequality, developed division of labor and exchange, headed by a ruler-priest who had hereditary power.
Over time, the proto-state expands through conquest, complicates its structure and turns into a state. The state differs from the proto-state in its larger size and the presence of developed governance institutions. The main features of a state are territorial (and not tribal) division of the population, army, court, law, taxes. With the advent of the state, the primitive neighboring community becomes a neighboring community, which, unlike the primitive one, loses its independence.
The state is characterized by the phenomenon of urbanization, which includes an increase in the urban population, monumental construction, construction of temples, irrigation structures and roads. Urbanization is one of the main signs of the formation of civilization.
Another important sign of civilization is the invention of writing. The state needed to streamline economic activities, record laws, rituals, acts of rulers and much more. It is possible that writing was created with the participation of priests. In contrast to pictographic or rope symbols, characteristic of undeveloped societies, for the development of hieroglyphic
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writing required lengthy training. Writing was the privilege of priests and nobility and only with the advent of alphabetic writing it became generally available. The mastery of writing was the most important stage in the development of culture, since writing serves as the main means of accumulating and transmitting knowledge.
With the advent of the state and writing, the first civilizations emerged. Characteristic features of civilization: a high level of development of the productive economy, the presence of political structures, the introduction of metal, the use of writing and monumental structures.
Agricultural and pastoral civilizations. Agriculture developed most intensively in river valleys, especially in countries stretching from the Mediterranean in the west to China in the east. The development of agriculture ultimately led to the emergence of ancient Eastern centers of civilization.
Cattle breeding developed in the steppes and semi-deserts of Eurasia and Africa, as well as in mountainous areas, where cattle were kept on mountain pastures in the summer and in the valleys in the winter. The term “civilization” can be used in relation to a pastoral society with certain reservations, since pastoralism did not provide the same economic development as agriculture. An economy based on cattle breeding provided a less stable surplus product. Also, a very important role was played by the fact that cattle breeding requires large spaces, and population concentration in societies of this type, as a rule, does not occur. The cities of pastoralists are much smaller than those of agricultural civilizations, so we cannot talk about any large-scale urbanization.
With the domestication of the horse and the invention of the wheel, significant changes occurred in the economy of pastoralists - nomadic cattle breeding appeared. Nomads moved across the steppes and semi-deserts on their carts, accompanying herds of animals. The emergence of a nomadic economy in the steppes of Eurasia should be attributed to the end of the 5th millennium BC. Only with the advent of nomadic cattle breeding did a pastoral economy that did not use agriculture finally take shape (although many nomadic societies were engaged in cultivation).
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some land). Among nomads, in conditions of an economy isolated from agriculture, exclusively proto-state associations, tribal proto-states, arise. While in an agricultural society the neighboring community becomes the main unit, in a pastoral society clan relations are still very strong and the clan community retains its position.
For nomadic societies were characterized by belligerence, since their members did not have reliable sources of subsistence. Therefore, nomads constantly invaded the areas of farmers and plundered them or subjugated them. The entire male population of nomads usually took part in the war, and their cavalry army was very maneuverable And could travel long distances. Quickly appearing and disappearing just as quickly, the nomads achieved significant success in their unexpected raids. In the event of the subjugation of agricultural societies, nomads, as a rule, settled on the land themselves.
But one should not exaggerate the fact of confrontation between sedentary and nomadic societies and talk about the existence of a constant war between them. There have always been stable economic relations between farmers and cattle breeders, since both of them needed a constant exchange of the products of their labor.
Traditional society. Traditional society appears simultaneously with the emergence of the state. This model of social development is very sustainable And characteristic of all societies except European. In Europe, a different model has emerged, based on private property. The basic principles of traditional society were in effect until the era of the industrial revolution, and in many countries they still exist in our time.
The main structural unit of traditional society is the neighboring community. The neighboring community is dominated by agriculture with elements of cattle breeding. Communal peasants are usually conservative in their way of life due to the natural, climatic and economic cycles and monotony of life that repeat from year to year. In this situation, the peasants demanded from the state, first of all, stability, which could only be ensured by a strong state.
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quality The weakening of the state was always accompanied by unrest, arbitrariness of officials, invasions of enemies, and economic breakdown, which was especially disastrous in the conditions of irrigated agriculture. The result is crop failure, famine, epidemics, and a sharp drop in population. Therefore, society has always preferred a strong state, transferring most of its powers to it.
Within a traditional society, the state is the highest value. As a rule, it operates under conditions of a clear hierarchy. At the head of the state was a ruler who enjoyed practically unlimited power and represented a deputy of God on earth. Below was a powerful administrative apparatus. The position and authority of a person in a traditional society is determined not by his wealth, but, first of all, by participation in public administration, which automatically ensures high prestige.
The culture of primitive society. In the course of his development and in the process of work, a person mastered new knowledge. In the primitive era, knowledge was exclusively applied in nature. Man knew the natural world around him very well, since he himself was part of it. The main areas of activity determined the areas of knowledge of ancient man. Thanks to hunting, he knew the habits of animals, the properties of plants and much more. The level of knowledge of an ancient person is reflected in his language. Thus, in the language of the Australian aborigines there are 10,000 words, among which there are almost no abstract and general concepts, but only specific terms denoting animals, plants, and natural phenomena.
The man knew how to treat illnesses, wounds, and apply splints for fractures. Ancient people used procedures such as bloodletting, massage, and compresses for medicinal purposes. Since the Mesolithic era, amputation of limbs, trepanation of the skull, and a little later, filling of teeth have been known.
The counting of primitive people was primitive - they usually counted with the help of fingers and various objects. Distances were measured using body parts (palm, elbow, finger), days of travel, and arrow flight. Time was calculated in days, months, seasons.
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The question of the origin of art is still accompanied by controversy among researchers. Among scientists, the prevailing point of view is that art arose as a new effective means of cognition and understanding of the world around us. The beginnings of art appear in the Lower Paleolithic era. Incisions, ornaments, and drawings were found on the surface of stone and bone products.
In the Upper Paleolithic, man created painting, engraving, sculpture, used music and dance. Drawings of animals (mammoths, deer, horses) made in color using black, white, red and yellow paints were found in the caves. Caves with drawings are known in Spain, France, Russia, and Mongolia. Graphic drawings of animals, carved or carved on bone and stone, were also found.
In the Upper Paleolithic, figurines of women with pronounced sexual characteristics appeared. The appearance of figurines is possibly associated with the cult of the foremother and the establishment of a maternal clan community. Songs and dances played a large role in the life of primitive people. Dance and music are based on rhythm, and songs also originated as rhythmic speech.

2.2. Civilizations of the ancient world

Civilizations of the Ancient East. The Ancient East became the cradle of modern civilization. Here the first states, the first cities, writing, stone architecture, world religions and much more appeared, without which it is impossible to imagine the current human community. The first states arose in the valleys of large rivers. Agriculture in these areas was very productive, but this required irrigation work - drainage, irrigation, construction of dams and maintaining the entire irrigation system in order. The community alone could not cope with this. There was a growing need to unite all communities under the control of a single state.
For the first time, this happens in two places at once, independently of each other - in Mesopotamia (the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) and Egypt at the end of the 4th-3rd millennium BC. e. Later the state
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appears in India, in the Indus River valley, and at the turn of the 3rd - 2nd millennium BC. e. - in China. These civilizations received the name in science river civilizations.
The most important center of ancient statehood was the region Mesopotamia. Unlike other civilizations, Mesopotamia was open to all migrations and trends. From here trade routes opened and innovations spread to other lands. The civilization of Mesopotamia continuously expanded and involved new peoples, while other civilizations were more closed. Thanks to this, West Asia is gradually becoming a flagship in socio-economic development. Here the potter's wheel and wheel, bronze and iron metallurgy, the war chariot and new forms of writing appear. Scientists trace the influence of Mesopotamia on Egypt and the civilization of ancient India.
Farmers settled Mesopotamia in the 8th millennium BC. e. Gradually they learned to drain wetlands. In the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates there is no stone, forests, or metals, but they are very rich in grain. Residents of Mesopotamia exchanged grain for items missing from the household in the process of trading with neighbors. Stone and wood were replaced by clay. They built houses from clay, made various household items, and wrote on clay tables.
At the end of the 4th millennium BC. e. Several political centers arose in the Southern Mesopotamia, which united into the state of Sumer. Throughout its ancient history, the Mesopotamia region was the scene of a fierce struggle, during which power was seized by a city or conquerors who came from outside. From the 2nd millennium BC e. The city of Babylon begins to play a leading role in the region, becoming a powerful power under King Hammurabi. Then Assyria strengthens, which from the XIV to the VII centuries. BC e. was one of the leading states of Mesopotamia. After the fall of the Assyrian power, Babylon strengthened again - the Neo-Babylonian kingdom emerged. The Persians, immigrants from the territory of modern Iran, managed to conquer Babylonia in the 6th century. BC e. found the huge Persian kingdom.
Ancient civilization Egypt owes its appearance to the world's largest river, the Nile, and its annual floods.
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Egypt was divided into Upper (Nile Valley) and Lower (Nile Delta). Along the Nile, the first state associations arose - nomes, the center of which became temples. As a result of a long struggle, the nomes of Upper Egypt united and annexed Lower Egypt.
China how the state was formed in the Yellow River valley. Another great Chinese river, the Yangtze, flowing further south, was developed later. The Yellow River very often changed its course, flooding vast areas. To control the river, hard work was required to build dams and dams.
Egypt and China, despite their distance from each other, have a number of common features, which is explained by several reasons. These countries initially had an ethnically homogeneous population, the state apparatus was very stable; at the head of the state was a deified ruler. In Egypt this is the pharaoh - the son of the Sun, in China - the van, the son of Heaven. Within both civilizations, there was total control over the population, which was recruited to perform heavy duties. The basis of the Egyptian population were community members who were called “servants of the king” and were obliged to hand over the entire harvest to the state, receiving in return food or an allotment of land for cultivation. A similar system operated in China.
A huge role in a state of this type was played by priest-officials who controlled the apparatus and distributed food among the entire population. In Egypt, it was the priests who played the main role in the process of distributing material wealth. The temples had significant power, which allowed them to successfully resist the Center. Unlike Egypt, in China the religious component of the power of the state apparatus has faded into the background.
IN India, In the Indus River valley, a proto-Indian civilization arose. Large irrigation systems were created here and large cities were built. The ruins of two cities were found near the modern settlements of Haralpa and Mohen-jo-Daro and. bear these names. Civilization has reached a high level of development here. This is evidenced by the presence of crafts, a sewer system, and writing. However, the writing of the proto-Indian civilization, in contrast to the hierog-
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Lifs of Egypt and cuneiform writing of Mesopotamia, has not yet been solved by scientists, and this civilization continues to remain a mystery to us. The reasons for the death of the civilization of Ancient India, which existed for several centuries, are also unknown.
In the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The Aryan tribes invaded India. The Aryan language belongs to the Indo-European language family and is close to the Slavic languages. The Aryans settled the Ganges River valley, subjugating the local population. The arriving Aryans lived primarily in a tribal system. At the head of the tribes were leaders - rajas, who relied on a layer of kshatriya warriors. Brahmin priests fought with kshatriyas for first place in society and the state.
The Aryans, not wanting to dissolve among the large local population, were forced to establish the varna system. According to this system, the population was distributed into four varnas - Brahmin priests, Kshatriya warriors, Vaishya producers, and Shudras - the conquered local population. Belonging to Varna was inherited, and it was impossible to change it. Marriages always took place between members of the same varna.
The varna system contributed to the conservation of Indian society. Since the Varnas took over some of the functions of the state, the state apparatus in India did not become as strong and influential as in other civilizations of the Ancient East.
IN Eastern Mediterranean A new form of civilizations emerges, different from the classical river states. The most ancient centers of agriculture and cattle breeding existed here, and the first urban centers arose here. The city of Jericho in Palestine is known as the oldest city in the world (8th millennium BC). The Eastern Mediterranean is a region located at the crossroads of major trade routes, connecting Asia, Europe and Africa.
C W thousand BC e. The cities of the Eastern Mediterranean are becoming important centers of transit trade. The rich cities and fertile lands of this region constantly served as the object of claims of major powers - Egypt, Assyria, and the Hittite Kingdom (in Asia Minor). The Eastern Mediterranean is divided into three parts - in the north

re Syria, Palestine in the south, Phenicia in the center. The Phoenicians managed to become experienced sailors, engaged in transit trade, and founded their colonies throughout the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians invented alphabetic writing to help them formalize trade transactions. This alphabet formed the basis of all modern alphabets.
Phenicia turned out to be a transitional form of civilization, close to the ancient model.

Ancient civilization.

Greece. The oldest civilization in Europe arose on the islands of the Aegean Sea and on the Balkan Peninsula And known as the Crete-Mycenaean civilization (after the names of the centers - the islands of Crete and Mycenae, cities in southern Greece). The Cretan-Mycenaean civilization was a typical ancient Eastern civilization that existed in the 2nd millennium BC. e. Crete, like Phenicia, became famous as a maritime power with a powerful fleet. The death of the Cretan-Mycenaean civilization is associated with a number of natural disasters and the invasion of Greece and the islands of the Aegean Sea by northern tribes. This invasion led to the establishment of more backward tribal relations on the ruins of civilization. XII - IX centuries BC e. known in Greece as the Dark Ages.
In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. Ancient civilization begins to take shape in Greece. The appearance of iron and corresponding tools played a major role in its development. In Greece there is not enough land for cultivation, so cattle breeding and then crafts have developed widely here. The Greeks, familiar with maritime affairs, were actively engaged in trade, which gradually led to their development of the surrounding territories located along the coast. Due to a catastrophic shortage of land resources, the Greeks were forced to found colonies in Italy, Asia Minor, and the Black Sea region.
With the division of labor and the emergence of a surplus product, the clan community is replaced by a neighboring community, but not a rural one, but an urban one. The Greeks called this community a polis. Gradually the policy was formalized into a city-state. There were hundreds of policies in Greece. Colonies were also created according to this model. Within the framework of the policy, there was a fierce struggle between the tribal nobility, who did not want to settle
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to blunt their power, and demos - humble members of the community.
The Greeks were aware of their unity - they called their homeland Hellas, and themselves Hellenes. They had a single pantheon of Olympian gods and pan-Hellenic sports competitions. However, all this did not stop them from regularly fighting among themselves.
One of the main features of Hellenic culture is the principle of competition and the desire for primacy, which is not typical for the civilizations of the East. In the polis, a situation arose when its power depended on citizens, who, in turn, were assigned certain responsibilities, but at the same time significant rights.
Greece was not united by one polis - their fragmentation and disunity prevented this. As a result, Greece found itself conquered first by Macedonia and then by Rome. But the Roman state, which conquered Greece, experienced the strongest influence of Greek culture. The achievements of Greek culture ultimately formed the basis of all European culture and civilization.
Ancient Rome. Rome was founded in 753 BC. e. in the region of Latium in central Italy. During its development, Rome borrowed the culture and achievements of its neighbors. The Etruscans, Rome's northern neighbors, had a particularly significant influence on Rome. According to legend, the Etruscans were immigrants from Asia Minor.
In the process of a long and stubborn struggle, Rome first conquered Latium, then neighboring regions. Rome managed to win victories thanks to an effective state and military organization. Using its location in the center of the Apennine Peninsula, Rome managed to separate the forces of its enemies and in turn conquer the Etruscans, the Celts of Italy, Magna Graecia (as the Greek colonies in Italy were called) and other tribes.
In the 3rd century. BC e. Rome, having subjugated all of Italy, collided with Carthage, a Phoenician colony in northern Africa. During three fierce wars, Rome defeated its rival and became the most powerful power in the Mediterranean. Lacking the culture of its rivals,

Rome resorted to borrowing it, introducing its own state order and structure to the conquered lands.
In the II - I centuries. n. e. Rome experienced a serious crisis. The Roman state was structured in the likeness of a polis. However, it is obvious that if a polis device can be effective for a city and its surroundings, then it is absolutely unsuitable for a huge power. After a difficult and lengthy civil war, imperial power is established in Rome. During the era of the empire, Rome achieved its greatest power, uniting the lands of Western and Southern Europe, North Africa and Western Asia under its rule. During this period in the history of Ancient Rome, the slaveholding system began to play a major role.
BIII century n. e. The Roman Empire experienced a severe shock that affected all spheres of life in Roman society. The onslaught of barbarians on the borders of the empire, associated with the Great Migration of Peoples, and profound changes in the life of the empire led to a deep and irreversible crisis of ancient civilization. As a result, the Roman Empire split into two parts - Western and Eastern, and in the 5th century. n. e. The Western Roman Empire fell. 476, the year when the last Roman emperor was overthrown, is considered to be the milestone year between antiquity and the Middle Ages. The successor to Rome was the Eastern Roman Empire, centered in Constantinople.

Economy of the Ancient World.

Economy of the Ancient East. In the first states of the Ancient East, the state sector of the economy predominated, which existed simultaneously with the communal form of farming. The community members had the hereditary right to cultivate the land and use the necessary resources (forests, pastures, water). The land and other resources were controlled by the apparatus of power - the state or temple, which existed due to the surplus product obtained from direct producers. The duties of community producers took on various forms—the most common was the practice of the community allocating part of the harvest to the state, working in the fields of the temple, and working in the form of labor service. So, based on the re-
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distributive (distribution) relations created the material basis for the functioning of the state and its institutions.
Subsequently, the process of privatization developed, accompanied by the emergence of private property and market relations. New phenomena arise in the economy - land rent, hired labor, market orientation of producers and usury. If earlier society was more homogeneous, now it is differentiated according to property. Rich community members began to use the labor of the poor, and debt slavery appeared. This new type of economic relations did not gain further acceptance. The state restrained its development, since these processes contributed to the disruption of the stability of society and the weakening of the influence of the state.
Basically, the excess product went to the cities, where crafts and trade were concentrated. In the Ancient East, transit trade prevailed, since in a society of this type the internal market and market relations could not be highly developed. The state and society, interested in the stability of existence, restrained the development of the city by artificial means. Therefore, the city, like the whole society, was focused not on development, but on the conservation of existing relations.
A different situation arose in the cities of the Eastern Mediterranean, where there was no such strong state institution. This is especially true for Phoenician cities focused on transit trade. The Phoenicians anticipated and largely contributed to the formation of ancient civilization, which took shape in Greek society.
Economy of Ancient Greece and Rome. In Ancient Greece, favorable conditions developed for the formation of an economy based on private property. In the 1st millennium BC. e. Iron is distributed, increasing labor productivity. In Greece there are few fields suitable for grain crops, so horticulture and the cultivation of olives and grapes mainly developed here. The Greeks were in dire need of grain exports. During colonization, they settled in countries favorable for agriculture - Italy,
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Black Sea region, Egypt. In Greece itself, crafts developed, the products of which were exchanged for bread during trade.
The development of trade was facilitated by the emergence of money - a generally accepted unit of exchange. The first money appeared in Asia Minor and was immediately borrowed by the Greeks. In ancient Greek policies, commodity-money relations were formed and a market was formed. The favorable geographical location of Greece at the intersection of trade routes gave the Greeks great advantages. Greece consisted of many policies that were not united into a single state. A competitive struggle developed between these policies, developing entrepreneurship and initiative among the Greeks. The Greeks acquire private property, which is so uncharacteristic of the East.
At the center of the economy was the city-state (polis). Cities, as a rule, were located near the sea. Traders and artisans lived here, peasants came here to exchange the fruits of their labor - livestock, olives, grapes - for grain and handicraft products. With all this, one should not exaggerate the role of commodity-money relations in antiquity - the economy was mainly of a subsistence nature, and the degree of development of policies varied greatly.
Among the Romans, commodity-money relations began to develop only as a result of the empire’s conquest of vast territories. Constant wars contributed to the enrichment of the Roman nobility and the ruin of ordinary citizens. The plunder of conquered territories allowed Rome to maintain a huge professional army, which contributed to social order in society. Many impoverished citizens went to serve in the army. At the same time, in Rome there lived citizens who did not want to work and serve. Funds flowing in from all over the empire made it possible to support them through distributions of bread and money.
The institution of slavery was of great importance for the economy of Greece and Rome. Slavery also existed in the states of the Ancient East, being patriarchal. Under patriarchal slavery, the slave performs the function of a servant or helps his master in the household (there were relatively few such slaves and they did not play a significant role in the economy). In antiquity, classical slavery developed, within
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in which the number of slaves increases significantly, their exploitation intensifies, and the products of slave labor are often oriented towards the market. Slaves were preferred to be used in artisans' workshops and in mines. In agriculture, supervision was difficult and slaves were not used as often.
A constant source of replenishment of the number of slaves were wars continuously waged between policies. Debt slavery was not practiced by the Greeks for long; the realization of unity by citizens of one polis led to the destruction of this institution.
In Rome, the number of slaves was even greater than in Greek cities, since the Roman Empire continuously waged successful wars of conquest for several centuries. The enslavement of foreigners allowed the Romans to use mass slave labor in crafts and agriculture. Latifundia appeared - large land farms in which, under the leadership of overseers, exclusively slave labor was used. In some places, slaves became the main producers, which led to the ruin of ordinary community members.
It should be noted that slavery brought the ancient economy to a standstill. The use of slavery did not allow the intensification of production. The extensive path of development, aimed at expanding production and increasing the number of slaves, ended in a deep crisis after the end of the wars of conquest. As a result, new, proto-feudal economic relations gradually began to mature in the depths of antiquity.

Social structure of societies of the Ancient world.

Social structure of the Ancient East. Eastern society was strictly hierarchical and organized like a pyramid. The top of the pyramid was occupied by a ruler with power sanctified by the gods. Below him were the nobility, priests, and senior officials. A large apparatus of officials monitored the management and functioning of the state. Warriors serving as part of the standing army ensured internal order in the state and its protection from external enemies.
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The bulk of society was made up of communal peasants. The rural community was the main production unit of society, and the main unit of the community was the large patriarchal family. During the privatization process, property inequality appears and, as a result, dependent categories of the population. Dependence could take the form of debt bondage or land lease relations.
Traders and artisans lived in the cities. Craftsmen often became dependent, finding themselves part of the state or temple economy. Among the traders, there is a privileged stratum of merchants engaged in transit trade with other countries.
At the very bottom of society were slaves. The source of obtaining slaves was, first of all, the capture of prisoners of war and only later debt slavery. As already mentioned, slavery was patriarchal, the slave was part of a large patriarchal family.
In the East, a system of corporations has emerged as a structure organizing society. Partly these corporations became already known social institutions (families, clans, communities), partly new ones (castes, sects, guilds). Corporations in the East were cohesive and organized groups of the population, having their own charter and their own standards of behavior that distinguished them from other corporations. The corporation provided its member with certain guarantees of protection from arbitrariness common in Eastern society. The man was closely involved in the life of the corporation. The downside of this involvement was a kind of dissolution of the person in the team. A person recognized himself, first of all, as part of a team, and not as a separate person, independent of others.
Through corporations it was easier for the state to control society. Government officials only had to turn to the head of the corporation to achieve what they wanted.
IN India a structure of society developed that was different from other ancient Eastern societies. Indian society consisted of varnas and castes. The four varnas were mentioned above.
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Over time, the fourth, lower varna of the Shudras began to increase their status, drawing closer in their position to the Vaishyas, who accordingly lost some of their positions.
The Kshatriya and Brahmin varnas were at the very top of Indian society. There was a constant struggle for power between them. The Brahmins relied on unquestioned religious authority. According to Brahmanism, the oldest Indian religion, Brahmins occupy a higher social position than Kshatriyas. As a result, this confrontation ended in favor of the Brahmins. The attempt of the Kshatriyas to replace Brahmanism with Buddhism and Jainism ended in failure. Until now, Hinduism, which developed from Brahmanism, has dominated in India.
According to the ideas of the inhabitants of Ancient India, a person during his earthly life could not leave the composition of his varna. But, according to the law of karma, good and bad deeds were summed up, and as a result, a person could change varna to a better one in a future life. If bad deeds prevailed, the person was reborn as a sudra or animal. The law of karma led to the passivity of Indians in social life, contributing to their concentration on moral improvement.
Over time, the varna system only became tougher and more extensive. Varnas were divided into subcategories - castes. The whole society became a strict caste system. The conquerors who invaded India found a certain place in this structure and joined it as a new caste. Below the caste system were the untouchables, outside society and the law, any contact with them was prohibited.
Social structure of Ancient Greece. The Greek polis functioned as a community state. The pillars of the policy were citizens - full members of the policy. Citizens had rights and responsibilities in accordance with the laws of the policy, and participated in its management and protection. All citizens, depending on their wealth, were divided into categories, according to which they were assigned corresponding property responsibilities. The policy guaranteed the citizen's rights, including, very importantly, the right to private property.
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Incomplete members of the polis included dependent peasants who had lost their land, and foreigners. Both those and others did not have the right to participate in the management of the policy, since they did not own the land. Foreigners, who were called metics, could be rich people, but did not have political rights.
If a citizen of the polis enjoyed greater freedom than a representative of ancient Eastern society, then slaves in Greece and Rome were in a worse position than in the East. Stable Eastern society, by and large, did not seek to increase the exploitation of slaves. Under patriarchal slavery, the slave was considered the youngest member of the family.
In Greece and then Rome, commodity-money relations and a market-oriented economy led to increased exploitation of slaves. Slaves began to be seen not as people with any rights, but as means of making profit. The owner treated the slave as his property and could do with him what he wanted. A common situation was when a slave was sent to the mines, where he quickly died, and was replaced by a new slave bought at the market. In the Roman Empire, a special category of slaves appeared who fought among themselves for the entertainment of citizens - gladiators.
In Greece there was no powerful priestly layer. The Greeks treated their gods differently than in the East. The Greek gods were similar to people, had advantages and disadvantages, and there was not such a huge distance between the gods and people as in the East.
Social structure of Ancient Rome. In Rome, unlike the Greek city-states, ancestral remnants existed longer and had a stronger influence on public life. The Roman family is a classic example of a large patriarchal family. The head of the family had complete control over his home and could execute, sell into slavery, or punish his relatives. He also performed priestly functions in his home.
Roman citizens were called Quirites. Initially, only patricians—descendants of the first inhabitants of Rome—had citizenship rights. Plebeians - descendants of later settlers - did not participate in political, social
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noah and religious life of the community, despite the fact that they were more numerous. After a long struggle, the plebeians forced the patricians to cede some of their rights to them. As a result, Roman society was divided into three classes: nobility (nobility); horsemen (representatives of this class at one time served in the cavalry); plebeians. The nobility occupied government positions, the horsemen were traders and financiers, the plebeians were direct producers. Plebeians could not apply for election to public office.
The main occupation of citizens in Rome, unlike Greece, was agriculture, which was not market-oriented. Citizen-farmers formed the basis of the Roman army, conscripted into service V case of war. Later, when the Romans could no longer simultaneously wage war throughout the Mediterranean and run their own household, the Roman army became professional. Impoverished peasants became professional soldiers.
The number of Roman citizens was small compared to the number of inhabitants of the lands conquered by Rome. Gradually, the Romans were forced to divide the conquered lands into several categories (provinces), imposing various taxes on them. Residents of the provinces sought to become Roman citizens. Typically, Roman citizenship was acquired through service in the Roman army. Over time, the provincial nobility gained great influence and began to nominate Roman emperors as their representatives. Finally, in 212 AD. e. All inhabitants of the Roman Empire received Roman citizenship.

States of the Ancient World.

The state in the societies of the Ancient East. Several types of government systems have developed in the East.
Within the framework of despotism, there is a strong state power necessary to maintain irrigation systems. Characterized by the unlimited power of the ruler and an extensive state apparatus consisting of officials and soldiers. These are Egypt, China, the states of Mesopotamia.
In a military monarchy, the corresponding aggressive function of the state came first. Wars of conquest and plunder were constantly taking place here.
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Russian campaigns to neighboring lands. This type of government was the most widespread in the East (Hittite kingdom, Assyria).
The city-state arose, as a rule, by the sea, where there were no large states. The economy of such a state was closely connected with transit trade (states of the Eastern Mediterranean - Tire, Sidon, Ugarit).
The military-administrative state differed from the military monarchy in that a single system of administrative management was established in all conquered countries (the military monarchy retained the old system of management in the conquered country, limiting itself to the collection of tribute). This type of state is characteristic of world powers - the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian and Persian kingdoms.
State in Ancient Greece. At first, royal power was widespread in Greece, but later the Greek kings - basileus - were removed from government. The monarchy was replaced by aristocracy - “the power of the best,” that is, the nobility came to power. But the demos fought with the aristocrats, and as a result, tyrants seized power. The word "tyrant" initially did not have a negative connotation. This is the name given to a person who illegally seized power. At the same time, tyrants used their power for the benefit of the people, weakening the position of the aristocracy. The tyrant could enjoy great authority. His rule usually came to naught only in the second generation, when the sons of the tyrant, who did not have his experience and authority, came to power.
In Athens, a new type of state developed and reached its peak - democracy - “power of the people.” Within the framework of Athenian democracy, the highest power belonged to the people's assembly. Nine archons were elected annually in Athens to govern the polis. Applicants for many government positions were chosen by lot, which prevented the richest and most powerful from usurping power. Public positions were paid for, which favored the participation of poor citizens of the policy in government. Classical democracy developed in Athens as an example of a new government system. However, Athenian democracy provided democratic rights only to citizens.
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In the Spartan state there was an aristocratic form of government. The popular assembly of Sparta could only reject or approve proposals put forward by the council of elders. At the head of the governance system of Sparta were two kings, whose power was elective. There was a constant struggle between Sparta and Athens for dominance in Hellas. Despite the fact that Sparta won this war, not a single policy had sufficient power to unite all of Hellas. Other conquerors were able to do this - first Macedonia, then Rome.
The Macedonian king Philip managed to subjugate all of Greece to his power. His son Alexander the Great became famous as the greatest conqueror of antiquity. Having crushed the Persian kingdom at the head of his small army, he founded a power that stretched from the Mediterranean to India. After Alexander's death, the state broke up into several states, headed by Alexander's comrades-in-arms. These states are called Hellenistic. The Hellenistic period lasted from the end of the 4th century. BC e. to the 1st century BC e. Hellenism combined the features of Eastern and Greek civilizations.
State in Ancient Rome. Rome was also originally ruled by kings. But their power was gradually overthrown. As a result, a republican system was formed in Rome (the republic is a “common cause”). Within the framework of the republic, power was exercised exclusively by the nobility, since the Quirites holding certain positions did not receive any payment for this, but, on the contrary, were obliged to organize holidays at their own expense.
The main body of the republic was the Senate, which included only the nobility. Each year two consuls were elected to govern Rome. The interests of the plebeians were defended by the tribunes of the people, elected from among them.
Republican governing bodies could not provide effective governance when Rome began to turn into the largest Mediterranean power. As a result of civil wars that took place in the 2nd - 1st centuries. BC e., Octavian Augustus established his sole rule in power in Rome. Rome became an empire. Republican institutions were preserved, and Rome formally remained a republic.
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The crisis that erupted in III V. n. e., led to further transformation of the Roman state. Rome became an empire of the eastern type - a dominant. In an effort to strengthen the influence of the empire in the conquered territories, Emperor Constantine adopted the Eastern religion - Christianity - and moved the capital to the East - to Constantinople (modern Istanbul). But these measures only allowed for a temporary extension of the existence of the Roman Empire. Barbarian invasions and a deep internal crisis led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. n. e.

Picture of the world of ancient people.

Each era in the history of mankind is distinguished by its own special, unique rhythm of life, its values, norms and ideas about the world. All this is in close relationship with human economic activity, the level of development of his knowledge, methods of meeting various needs, known as the method of farming. The above together forms the worldview of a person of a certain era, developing into a special picture of the world.
What is it "painting peace"? How can we define this concept? Scientists, as a rule, distinguish three of its components:

a person's sense of self;
their idea of space, their vision of it;
sense of time.

These three general categories fully characterize the changing structure of the world and the place of man in it. Thus, the picture of the world is a person’s sense of self, based on ideas about space and time. It should be noted that “space” and “time” here are not only and not so much absolute physical quantities, but subjective forms of their perception in individual eras. Space in this case acts as a really existing world space with all the diversity of its constituent objects and phenomena, characterized by different properties, origin and purpose. The concept of time is also specific and includes both astronomical time and biological
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social (the time of successive generations), individual (stages of human development from birth to death), social (development of society, individual people, state).
The picture of the world is, of course, reflected in the monuments of material culture, but due to the complexity and ambiguity of their decoding, as well as their very incomplete (fragmentary) reflection of the period under study, they are not able to recreate the picture of the world of ancient man on a full scale.
The most vivid and complete picture of the world is presented in spiritual culture, especially within the framework of the religious beliefs of representatives of the primitive era.
For a person during the period of appropriating economy and tribal organization, primitive religious beliefs are characteristic - fetishism, magic and fortune telling, animism, totemism, the cult of the mother goddess, etc. With the transition to an appropriating economy and the creation of states and a slave society, mythology and mythological consciousness are formed. (Myth is a special way of reflecting the world in the human mind, characterized by sensory-figurative ideas about unprecedented creatures, phenomena, and processes.) The emergence of feudal relations and the associated system of moral norms were embodied in new, more complex religious teachings. Ancient civilizations on this path gave birth to Confucianism and Buddhism, which were still closely associated with the previous, mythological worldview. A new stage in the development of mankind is the emergence of monotheism, which preceded the emergence of world religions - Christianity and Islam. Christianity, in particular, drew a line under the previous spiritual experience of mankind, creating on its basis a fundamentally new worldview system built on different values.
Primitive cults of the pre-civilization period are a kind of illustration of the process of formation of human self-awareness. A person has not yet felt himself as an individual, imagining himself as an integral part of a tribe or clan. This is supported by rock carvings in which people are deprived of individual characteristics: features are not drawn
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The faces and figures are very sketchy. Only dark silhouettes predominate. In addition, people were mostly depicted in groups performing some action together (hunting, ritual, etc.).
The world seemed to be one and whole, and man was only a part of this huge organism. Man was not yet able to influence the processes taking place; his life depended entirely on the world around him. He felt a strong attachment, interconnection and close kinship with this world. This is how totemism appears - a system of beliefs according to which a separate clan or tribe traced its origins to a common ancestor - some animal or plant. A tribe or clan bore the name of its totem, which was considered a kind and caring patron.
Severe dependence on the surrounding world, the inability to understand the causes and essence of the phenomena occurring in it contributed to the emergence of magic and fortune telling. Magic was a more active form of expression, suggesting the ability to somehow influence the world through appealing to its individual forces. Not only animals and plants were spiritualized, but also the inanimate world and natural phenomena (rain, wind, storm, etc.). By addressing them, speaking their language, sharing with them something vitally important and acquired at the cost of great effort, a person tried to change the world around him in a direction favorable to himself.
Fortune telling was a consequence of a person’s guess 6 of the pattern and interconnection of phenomena occurring in the world. Having no idea about the systemic nature of the world, a person could only discover individual chains of this system. Starting from the idea of the universal interdependence of natural and social phenomena, man began to guess by the cracks on bones and shards, by the flight of an eagle. Then the first rudiments of abstract and mathematical thinking began to penetrate into the process of fortune telling. A classic example is the Chinese Book of Changes.
Man - a representative of the primitive era - saw life in everything, all objects and phenomena of the world were spiritualized by him. This is how animism developed - the belief in the existence of spirits, the spiritualization of the forces of nature, animals, plants and inanimate objects, attributing to them intelligence, capacity and supernatural power.
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Over time, the abilities and possibilities of humanity grow, the economic structure changes: from an appropriator, a person moves to a producing economy. The first states appear. Civilization is born. The picture of the world is also changing. It acquires greater systematicity and orderliness, a sense of time, and a mythological consciousness is formed. During this period, the mythology of the Ancient East and the states of antiquity was formed.
Mythology of the Ancient East well known from the ideas of the societies of Ancient Egypt and Sumer. There was a whole pantheon of gods here, each of which was “responsible” for a certain area, category of natural phenomena or human activity. Among them, one with outstanding abilities and qualities gradually stands out. At certain points in history, he begins to claim absolute supremacy among other deities. The emergence of a pantheon of gods, the formation of certain relationships and hierarchies between them, often interpreted as relationships of dominance and subordination, reflected changes in the structure of society and ideas about the world. From now on, relations within the community are extrapolated to the natural world, and not vice versa, as was the case before. Man finally highlights his active transformative role, which is expressed in the anthropomorphization of religious ideas. Egyptian gods, for example, were depicted with the body of a man and the heads of various animals. The latter can be considered not only an echo of previous beliefs, but also simply a way of illustrating the character, individual traits of a particular deity.
Ideas about the otherworldly existence of the soul are becoming more complex, as a result of which the understanding of space and time has expanded in human consciousness. The ordering, hierarchization of the sometimes extremely inflated (as in Sumer) pantheon of gods, the gradual schematization of their images, abstract reflections on extra-experimental phenomena (the afterlife, the world of the gods) speak of the development of abstract thinking. Thus, the categories of space and time in human consciousness expand and become multifaceted.
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In Eastern mythology, the idea of evil and its struggle with good appears, while ancient mythology postulated the principle of harmony and completeness of the world. The word, which is understood both as a designation of a phenomenon, and as knowledge, and as a process of cognition, and as a specific form of existence of a phenomenon, acquires important significance. At the same time, the idea of space as a structured, ordered world is limited to the boundaries of the community’s habitat. Beyond these limits, the world turns into nothing, that is, into chaos. A textbook example is the idea of the ancient Greeks that a ship, going out to sea beyond the limits of visibility, would disappear completely.
Space in mythological thinking becomes wider and more multifaceted, time acquires a more complex rhythm, returning to the source and becoming cyclical. The world is therefore thought to be infinite. From isolating parts of the world during the period of primitive cults, humanity moved on to synthesizing these parts and creating a whole, harmonious and complete picture of the world. In the previous era, man mastered space, now he began to master time.
Mythology is being replaced by more complex religious teachings. So, in the VI - V centuries. BC originates in India Buddhism. According to this teaching, human life invariably represents suffering. Suffering is a consequence of man's never-ending and ever-increasing desires that cannot be satisfied. Final and endless bliss comes only with the achievement of nirvana (enlightenment). Nirvana was understood as liberation from the endless chain of rebirths and dissolution into space. Rebirths occur as a result of a constant flow of elementary particles of matter and consciousness - dharmas - interlocking into different forms. A person’s current life is determined by the entire complex of his previous existence, or karma. Everything in this world is doomed to an endless and meaningless chain of rebirths (samsara). Buddha proclaimed the “middle way” of achieving nirvana - a renunciation of both the extremes of asceticism and self-deception by the delights of this world, which was considered illusory. Space in Buddhism has expanded even more, embracing the world of elementary invisible particles, but this reality
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became unsteady. Time has retained cyclicality and infinity.
Confucianism It is difficult to call it a religion in the full sense of the word. Having originated as a complex of moral and ethical ideas, it was subsequently sacralized and received the status of an official ideology. This teaching has a very real founder - this is Kun Tzu, or Confucius (551 - 479 BC). Confucius created the concept of ren, love of humanity. It was expressed through devotion to the sovereign - “zhong”, fidelity to duty - “i”, filial piety - “xiao”, generosity - “kuan” and a number of other positive characteristics. The ideal of Confucius was “junzi” - “noble man”. Confucianism represented Heaven as the highest power, which determines the destiny of man. Confucianism preached a strict hierarchical order, sanctified by tradition, according to which the younger in age and position should obey the elder, and the elder, in turn, should take care of the younger.
An unusual and very interesting phenomenon in the history of mankind is Judaism. The emergence of this religion is associated with a radical restructuring of man’s ideas about the world and his place in it. From now on, a direct and directly connecting vertical was built between man and the highest power, God. The destinies of the whole world became subject only to him, and man found himself in second place in the world, after God. The world is changing its structure. From limited he becomes infinite, in accordance with the all-encompassing power of God. From relatively amorphous and spherical to clearly aligned vertically. From being subject to the desires of a person through magic - subject only to God and favorable to a person in accordance with the measure of his faith in God and the God-pleasing of his actions.
The next stage in the development of the human worldview was Christianity. It symbolized the crisis of ancient ideas about the world, establishing a new understanding of the world order. What are the differences between Christianity and previous religions? Firstly, in Christianity there is only one God, as opposed to the political
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theism of the ancient world. Secondly, he appears as the absolute ruler and creator of the world, in contrast to the Olympian gods, who personified individual natural forces and were subject to the absolute harmony of the Cosmos. God in Christianity is separated from the world, which is only his creation, and is endowed with supernatural powers. And, finally, this same God created man himself as the pinnacle of his creation, created him in his own image, placing man above the rest of the world, endowing him with a unique ability to create.
The appearance of such ideas meant the final separation of man from nature, as well as the isolation of the individual from the collective. Personality enters the arena of world history.
But the world itself is changing. Time ceases to be cyclical. According to the norms of Christianity, everything has its beginning from the moment of creation by God and the end, seen in the future as the Last Judgment. Man has truly become a grain of sand in this world, but at the same time the most significant and “outstanding” grain of sand.
Cultural heritage of ancient civilizations.
One of the oldest on earth is Egyptiancivilization. Within the framework of this civilization, during the three thousand years of its existence, many outstanding cultural monuments were created, many of which have survived to our time.
“By the beginning of the Old Kingdom era in Egypt, a writing system emerged that was called hieroglyphic (from the Greek hieros - “sacred”). At the same time, cursive writing and cursive (demotic) writing existed in Egypt. All three types of writing were used for different purposes. They wrote on stone and papyrus. The writing system had both ideograms, which conveyed individual concepts, and phonograms, which conveyed sounds. Writing was valued as an art, and the position of a scribe was considered one of the most honorable.
Egypt is always associated primarily with the pyramids, which are one of the most grandiose creations of mankind in its entire history. Erected in
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era of Ancient Egypt, the pyramids served as tombs of kings, reflecting the boundless faith in the power of the gods and the kings (pharaohs) representing them on earth. First, step pyramids were built (the pyramid of Djoser, 28th century BC), then pyramids with broken edges appeared. However, for the most part these are structures with smooth smooth edges and a square base. In Giza, near Cairo, there are three great pyramids built by the pharaohs of the TV dynasty. All three have the same axis direction and the same orientation. The height of the largest is 147 m, it is known as the Pyramid of Cheops. The mass of each block in it is approximately 2.5 tons. The pyramids are the only one of the seven wonders of the world that have survived to this day. Giza was an entire architectural complex, which also included pyramid-tombs of nobles and mortuary temples attached to the pyramid on the eastern side. In addition to the pyramids, there were rock tombs characteristic of the New Kingdom. During the eras of the Middle and New Kingdoms, majestic temples in honor of gods and pharaohs, and palaces of rulers were also created. The temple architecture is distinguished by its monumentality and extraordinary richness of decoration.
The sculpture of Ancient Egypt was also closely associated with the mortuary cult. The figurines were considered to be the residence of one of the souls of the deceased, and they were placed in temples and tombs. The pharaoh was always depicted in the prime of his life with an impassive and majestic expression of face and posture. There were certain canonical requirements in the genre of sculpture. Standing statues are always strictly frontal, their figures are tensely straightened, their heads are set straight, their arms are lowered and pressed tightly to the body, their left leg is slightly pushed forward. The statues were made of wood, granite, basalt and other rocks, and they were usually painted: male figures in brick red, and female figures in yellow. On the bas-reliefs the head and legs were depicted in profile, the shoulders and chest were depicted in front. Egyptian sculpture reached its peak during the New Kingdom.
Characteristic feature Sumerian-Akkadian culture is the creation of a unique writing system - cuneiform, which was not sound writing, but contained ideas
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grams denoting whole words, vowels or syllables. There were about 600 characters in total. A special genre in literature consists of lamentations - works about the destruction of Sumerian cities due to raids by neighbors. The most common were etiological (explanatory) myths about the creation of the world and man, the Great Flood, the death and resurrection of the fertility gods.
The temple architecture of Sumer was unique, characterized by the use of high platforms. Temple towers - ziggurats - followed the Sumerians by the Akkadians and Babylonians. The ziggurats consisted of three stages, built in accordance with the divine triad, and were built from raw brick.
One of the most magnificent cities of ancient Mesopotamia was Babylon. Protected by a double wall, it had eight gates, the most famous being the 12-meter-high gate of the goddess Ish-tar. Lined with turquoise glazed bricks and decorated with ornaments of sculptures of lions, dragons and bulls, they made a stunning impression. Situated on both banks of the Euphrates, the city was connected by a stone bridge - one of the first in the world.

The specificity of the literature of ancient Babylon was in the initial presentation of the plot and its subsequent development. Babylonian literature was largely borrowed from Sumerian sources, most of the works were written in poetic form. One of the main topics was the problem of undeserved human suffering and the inevitability of death.

Developed much more dynamically Greek culture. An outstanding monument of Cretan-Mycenaean (3rd - 2nd millennium BC) architecture was the Knossos Palace of King Minos. The main attraction of this palace was the fresco painting. The ancient Greeks created their greatest epic works - the Iliad and the Odyssey. A significant discovery of the Greeks was the creation of their own writing system. Having borrowed the alphabet from the Phoenicians, they significantly improved it by adding vowels. Ancient Greek architecture is characterized by the presence of two directions, or styles - Doric and Ionic. Doric style is strict, solemn and massive. Before-
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The ric column had no base, growing directly from the base of the temple. The Ionic order was distinguished by lighter proportions, grace and widespread use of decorative elements. The Ionic column always had a base and was lighter and thinner than the Doric.
The Greek temple was considered the dwelling of a god; as a rule, it contained a statue of the god in whose honor it was erected. The ensemble of the Athens Acropolis occupies a special place in the history of architecture. The largest building here is the Temple of Athena the Virgin, the Parthenon.
The sculpture, amazing in its skill, was devoid of individual and psychological traits, depicting people according to ancient ideas about beauty.
The outstanding achievement of the Greeks was the art of making ceramics and vase painting. It featured black-figure and red-figure styles. Greek theater and Attic tragedy are of great importance. Some works created by ancient Greek playwrights still occupy an important place in the repertoire of modern theaters. Ancient culture revealed an amazing wealth of forms, images and methods of expression, laying the foundations of aesthetics, ideas about harmony and thus expressing its attitude to the world.

Questions for section 2

1. What types of periodization of the history of primitive society
used in science? What are their main criteria?
2. Name the main stages of anthropogenesis.
3. How does a proto-state differ from a state?
4. What is the “Neolithic Revolution”? What are its consequences?
5. List the main forms of primitive religion.
6. How does a pastoral civilization differ from an agricultural civilization?
7. What are the consequences of introducing metal into production?
8. What is a prestige economy?
9. Why did the head of the proto-state need to concentrate priestly power in his hands?

10. Trace the evolution of human society from the primitive herd to the rural neighboring community.
11. What forms of states of the Ancient World do you know?
12. What is the reason for the enormous role that the state played in the life of Eastern society?
13. How do ancient civilizations differ from ancient Eastern ones?
14. What are the characteristic features of the policy?

15. What forms of slavery do you know and how do they differ from each other?
16. Tell us about the structure of Eastern society. What are the specifics of Indian society?

17. Why is Eastern society so stable?
18. What role did the sea play in the economy of ancient states?
19. How was time represented in mythological consciousness and why?
20. How did the crisis of the ancient worldview manifest itself?
21. Describe the dynamics of ideas about space
and time through three eras: the time of primitive cults,
the time of mythological consciousness, the time of monotheism.
22. What is the meaning of the canon in Egyptian culture?
23. Describe the similarities and differences in the culture of Egypt and Mesopotamia.
24. What achievements can be considered the most significant contribution of the Greeks to the treasury of world culture?