In Search of the First Civilizations

by Michael Wood

the setting up of lamentations,

  the rejoicing of the heart.

  the craft of the carpenter,

  the craft of the copper-worker,

  the craft of the scribe,

  the craft of the smith,

  the craft of the reed-worker.

  … the art of being kind,

  the kindling of fire …

  the weary arm,

  the hungry mouth,

  the assembled family,

  procreation. …

  … fear, consternation, dismay,

  the kindling of strife,

  the soothing of the heart …

  All these things I will give you, holy Inanna, but once you have taken them, there can be no dispute, and you cannot give them back.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  This book is adapted from film scripts and writing for pictures is a very different business from writing for the printed page. A book of this nature can best hope to stimulate the reader to look elsewhere; in particular to the scholars on whose work much of this is based – scholars such as Simon Leys, Raymond Dawson and Theodore de Bary on China, Barry Kemp on Egypt, T F Madan on India. Hence this bibliography, which lists the main books I have found useful and interesting.

  On Iraq: for obvious reasons there is no good guide book (the old Guide Bleu is still the best), but there is an excellent atlas, M Roaf’s A Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia (1991). For travellers’ tales, try F Stark Baghdad Sketches (1937) and East is West (1945); E S Stevens By Tigris and Euphrates (1922); W Thesiger The Marsh Arabs (1964); G Maxwell A Reed Shaken by the Wind (1957); G Young Return to the Marshes (1977). Among many earlier accounts is W Loftus Chaldaea and Susiana (1857). For a basic history: G Roux Ancient Iraq (Penguin 1980 ed.). On the romantic story of Iraqi archaeology: Seton Lloyd Foundations in the Dust (1980 ed.). For early religion, T Jacobson The Treasures of Darkness (1976) is a brilliant synthesis. S N Kramer’s History begins at Sumer (1981 ed.) and The Sumerians (1963) are still classics. References to the site excavations at Uruk, Eridu, Ur, Nippur etc, will be found in these works and in S Lloyd The Archaeology of Mesopotamia (1978). On Sumerian literature and poetry: T Jacobson The Harps that once … (1987) and S Dalley Myths from Mesopotamia (1989). For general works on the Islamic period: a good introduction is A Hourani A History of the Arab Peoples (1989); on medieval Baghdad: G Makdisi The Rise of Colleges (1981) and Religion, Learning and Science – the Abbasid Period ed. M J L Young and J D Lathan (Cambridge 1990); on the Sufis of Baghdad and Basra good introductions are J Baldick Mystical Islam (London 1989) and A Schimmel Mystical Dimensions of Islam (1975). M. Momen Shi’i Islam (1985) is a good introduction to Shiism, one of many more recent studies, but for accounts of Shia ritual the reader has to turn to older works such as E S Stevens, or D Donaldson The Shiite Religion (1933). On the Mandaeans: E S Drower The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran (1962), K Rudolph Mandaeism (1978) and Gnosis (1987), which also has a valuable introduction to the Manichaeans. A brilliant guide to the whole period is Peter Brown The World of Late Antiquity (1971). J M Wagstaff The Evolution of Middle Eastern Landscapes (1985) is a pioneering effort on landscape history from prehistory till the late twentieth century.

  On India an excellent paperback collection is Sources of Indian Tradition (ed. A T Embree 1988). For a good general introduction see A History of India (Penguin 1966) by R Thapar. On prehistory the best guide is B and R Allchin The Rise of Civilisation in India and Pakistan (1982); the classic account is Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilisation by Sir John Marshall (1931). On Indian art: In the Image of Man, Arts Council of Great Britain (1982); The History of Architecture in India by C Tadgell (London 1990); South Indian Bronzes C Sivaramurti (1981 ed. Delli); S Kramrisch The Art of India (Phaidon 1954); P Chandra The Sculpture of India 3000 BC – 1300 AD Harvard UP (1985); Art of the Imperial Cholas by V Dehejia (1990); The Raj: India and the British 1600–1947 ed. C Bayley (1990); Much Maligned Monsters (1977) by P Mitter is a dazzling look at western reactions to Indian art.

  On Hinduism in general there are a number of convenient introductions in paperback, e.g. those by J Brocklebank, R Zaehner, M Biardeau and K Sen; perhaps the best introduction to Hindu polytheism is A Danielou The Gods of India (1985 ed.). An excellent guide to wider questions of Indian religion is T F Madan (ed.) Religion in India (1991). There are many good accounts of pilgrimage and sacred sites: D Eck Benares, City of Light (1983) is outstanding – full of insights; S M Bhardwaj Hindu Places of Pilgrimage (1973) is a very useful overview. On language and the Aryan question: J P Mallory In Search of the Indo-Europeans (1991): D MacAlpin in Transactions of the American Philological Society (Vol 71 pt 3 1981) on Dravidian linguistics. There is a very good introduction to the Sanskrit language Teach Yourself Sanskrit by M Coulson (1976). The best guide books to India are the old John Murray series; The Lonely Planet guide is useful; Pakistan Handbook by Isobel Shaw (1989) is the best for the Indus region.

  On China, Sources of Chinese Tradition (ed. de Bary 1960) is a brilliant collection; Imperial China by Raymond Dawson (1964) a readable and humane introduction; The Burning Forest by Simon Leys (1988) an indispensable guide to the modern fate of China’s ‘great tradition.’ The Legacy of China (Oxford 1972) ed. R Dawson is a very useful collection of essays on history, art, science and literature which leads the reader on to Historians of China and Japan (1961 ed.) W G Beasley and E G Pulleyblank; D Nivison The Life and Thought of Chang Hsueh Cheng (1966); M Sullivan A Short History of Chinese Art (1967); W Watson Ancient Chinese Bronzes (1977 ed.); Science and Civilisation in China ed. J Needham (7 vols, 1954). Volume I is an introduction: an abridged edition has also been published. On Chinese prehistory recent indispensable surveys are Li Chi Anyang (1977); the Archaeology of Ancient China (1986 ed.) and Shang Civilisation (1980) both by K C Chang. Paul Unschuld’s Medicine in China (1985) is a brilliant survey from the Shang to the twentieth century; on food Food in Chinese Culture ed K C Chang (1977) is a terrific read; an important aspect of Sung Kaifeng was its restaurant culture: the oldest restaurant in the world is reputed to be Ma Yuxing’s Bucket Chicken house in Kaifeng! It is unnecessary to cite individual editions of Confucius and the early philosophers which are all available in paperback; likewise the Tang poets, though a gem is Late Tang Poets ed A C Graham (Penguin 1965). Most of the great Sung writers are poorly represented in English, though the Literary works of Ou-Yang Hsiuh (1007–72) by R Egan (1984), helps to fill a major gap. On European relations with China are Nigel Cameron Barbarians and Mandarins (1989 ed.) and Jerome Chen China and the West (1979). A readable survey of later Chinese history is J Spence The Search for Modern China (1990). On the origin of cities in China, but relevant to all the chapters in this book, is The Pivot of the Four Quarters by Paul Wheatley (1971). Atlases: A Cultural Atlas of China ed. C Blunden and M Elvin, and The Contemporary Atlas of China ed N Sivin, F Wood, P Brooke and C Ronan (1988) are excellent. Lastly, for an exciting overview of the Chinese great tradition, see East Asian Civilisations by T de Bary (1988) whose brilliant final chapter shaped my ideas, for example, on Zheng He’s voyages (see here). See now too the Blue Guide to China by F Wood.

  On Egypt there are many good general introductions, such as T G H James Ancient Egypt (1988) and J Baines and J Malek The Atlas of Ancient Egypt. This bibliography concentrates on the early and late periods: M Hoffman Egypt before the Pharaohs (1980) and Walter Emery Archaic Egypt (1961) are indispensable, along with a fine overview by Barry Kemp Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilisation (1989). For the Hellenistic age: Egypt after the Pharaohs by Alan Bowman (1986) and Hellenism in Late Antiquity by G Bowerstock (1990). The Egyptian Hermes by Garth Fowden (1986) is a fascinating study of late Egyptian paganism: the continuity of such ideas into the early Islamic period is not a part of Fowden’s book, but it is fascinating that the early Sufi alchemist and mystic, Dhu’n-Nun (d. 859) for example also came from Akhmim: see Schimmel Mystic Dimensions of Islam. There are two delightful studies by N Lewis: Greeks in Ptolemaic Egypt (1986) and Life in
Egypt under Roman Rule (1983). On the art of the late period there is a fine exhibition catalogue: Cleopatra’s Egypt Brooklyn Museum 1988. On the survival of ancient customs: E W Lane The Modern Egyptians (1836) and The Ancient Egyptians by R David (1982). The best guide books to Egypt are still old Baedekers.

  Central America: there are many popular works available. N Hammond Ancient Maya Civilisation (1982) and Religion and Empire by G W Conrad and A A Demarest (1984) are both very good, so too is the Atlas of Ancient America by M Coe, D Snow and E Benson. There are a number of recent works linking past and present here: The View from the Top of the Temple by K Pearce (1984), Time and the Highland Maya by Barbara Tedlock (1982) and The Daykeeper by B N and L M Colby (1981). On the Spanish impact: Ambivalent Conquests by I Clendinnen (1987) and Maya Society Under Colonial Rule by N M Farriss (1984). On the recent situation, Garrison Guatemala by G Black (1984) is one of many. More recently Ronald Wright has written Time Among the Maya (1989), a marvellous book of travels in Belize, Guatemala and Mexico, recommended to all who would journey in search of the Maya universe: on no account to be missed! Lastly Dennis Tedlock with the help of Andres Xiloj has translated the Mayan genesis: Popol Vuh (1985), a must!

  Since the first edition of this book was published, I have written one or two studies of particular aspects treated in this book, which the reader may find helpful. On the Greek adventure in Asia, In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great (2004 ed.); on the civilizations of Mexico and Peru, and the European impact, Conquistadors (2000), which has an extensive bibliography of source material on the events of the sixteenth century and their continuing legacy. For a present-day snapshopt of the Tamil civilization in Chapter 2, see my Smile of Murugan: A South Indian Journey (2001 ed.).

  I have not thought it necessary to add a western bibliography, but The Times Atlas of World History and Past Worlds: The Times Atlas of Archaeology (1995) are a constant source of ideas. I leave the last word to Chang Hsueh Cheng, who in 1797 wrote ‘A century hence, we too will be men of old. Let us therefore put ourselves in their place. How then will it fare with us?’

  INDEX

  The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.

  Page numbers in italic refer to illustrations

  Abd al-Gailani 40

  Abd al-Latif 40

  Abraham 22

  Abul Haggag, festival of 140–1

  Abydos, Egypt 124, 126, 127, 135, 138

  Acosta, Jose de 165

  Aditya, Chola king 74

  Adivasis 58

  Africa 10, 106, 186

  Ain Ghazal, Jordan 17

  Akbar, Moghul emperor 60, 71–3, 74, 79, 81, 82

  Akhmim, Egypt 136–7, 138

  Akkad 31, 38

  Alexander the Great 28, 34, 48, 78, 117, 173–4

  conquest of Egypt 115–16, 125, 132

  Alexandria 132–3, 134, 135

  Kom el-Shukafa tomb 133

  Alfred, King of Wessex 68

  Allahabad 62

  Nehru’s house at 80–1, 82

  Prayag 59, 72

  Alvarado, Pedro de 151

  Amenophis III, Egyptian king 138

  American revolution (1776) 180, 186, 188

  Anglo-Saxon England 7, 180

  Antioch 134

  Anubis, Egyptian god 126, 133

  Anyang 83, 84–9

  Arabic language 7, 33, 34

  Arabic numerals 67

  Aramaic language 33, 34, 38

  Aryan civilization 51–2, 56, 57, 58, 62–3, 75

  Asclepiades 137

  Ashoka 65–7, 71, 72, 79, 81, 82

  Asia, and Western civilization 169, 170, 172

  Athens 172, 181, 188

  Augustine, St 179

  Aurangzeb 73, 74

  Axis Age 60, 64–5, 67, 90, 134, 172, 189

  Aztecs 8, 126, 128, 145, 153, 156, 159–63

  and human sacrifice 160–2

  and Tenochtitlan 159, 160–2, 163

  Babylonia see Iraq

  Bacon, Francis 109, 185, 186

  Baghdad 9, 11, 13, 37, 38–43, 39

  and Cairo 142

  and China 97, 103

  Gailani family 27

  medieval city 38–40

  Persian and Arabic culture in 41

  sack of 41–2, 43

  Baluchistan 55–7

  Banerjee, R.D. 52

  Basra 37, 43

  Brethren of Purity 181–2

  trade with India 55

  Bede, Venerable 178–9

  Bedouins 21

  Beijing 84, 89, 107, 108

  Benares (Kashi) 49, 62–3, 69, 70, 74, 174

  Bhagavad Gita 37, 68, 73

  the Bible

  Book of Genesis 12

  and David 178

  Garden of Eden story 12, 23–4, 59, 190

  and India 67

  and Western civilization 170

  Biruni, Al 69

  Blake, William 74

  boat burials in Egypt 126

  Brahmi script 62

  Brahmins 58, 64, 70

  and Sanskrit sacred texts 49, 51, 117

  Brahui language 56

  British Empire, and India 78–80

  Bronze Age civilization 60

  China 83, 84–9, 98, 114

  and Greece 172

  India 48, 54–5

  Brunton, John and William 47–8, 52

  the Buddha 60, 63, 64, 66, 68, 81, 90, 96, 189

  Buddhism

  and Akbar 71

  Buddhist pilgrims 66

  in China 63, 86, 96–7, 99

  in Egypt 134

  and Greece 174

  in India 63–5, 68

  Byzantium 176

  Cabrera, Estrada 168

  Cairo 127, 141–2

  calligraphy 97, 114

  Cambodia 7, 10, 75

  Canning, Lord 79

  Catal Hüyük, Anatolia 16

  Catherwood, Frederick 157

  Catholic church

  Mayan churches 148–50, 153, 166, 168

  and native Americans 165–6

  Cavafy, Constantine 141

  Central America 8, 10, 145–68, 147

  conquistadors in 145–6, 151, 163

  and Egypt 118, 145, 146

  fall of Tayasal 167

  origins of civilizations in 153

  religion 146, 148–53, 161, 163

  as a self-contained civilization 146

  see also Aztecs; Maya; native Americans

  Chandragupta Maurya 65

  Chang Hsëuh Cheng, Chinese historian 109–10

  Chendamangalam, Christian church at 68

  Chichicastenango 148–50

  Ch’ien-lung, Chinese emperor 109

  Chin Shi Huangdi, Chinese emperor 94–5

  China 8, 10, 60, 83–114, 85

  Anyang 83, 84–8

  bronzes 88

  oracle bones 29, 83, 85, 87–8

  tombs 88

  Beijing 84, 89, 107, 108

  Buddhism 63, 85, 86, 96–7, 99

  Chin emperor 94–5

  Chinese conception of civilization 83–4, 113–14

  Ching dynasty 101, 108–10

  Christianity in 97, 98, 99, 101

  Communist revolution 84, 92, 112–13, 114

  Confucianism 60, 64, 65, 90–2, 93, 94, 96, 102–3, 105, 109, 114

  craftsmen 89, 104–5, 114

  Cultural Revolution 90, 93, 112–13

  and Egypt 86, 120, 126, 131

  encyclopaedic projects and dictionaries 108

  Great Wall 94

  Hsai dynasty 89

  and the Inca civilization 164

  and India 84, 89, 90, 111

  legacy of 113–14

  and the Mayan civilization 146–8, 154–6

  and Mesopotamian civilization 46

  Ming dynasty 7, 97, 105, 106–7, 108

  Mongol 103
–4, 107, 118

  Opium War 110–11

  poetry 89, 97–9

  population growth 25, 179, 180

  printing 101–2

  and Rome 177

  Shang dynasty 86–90, 126, 154

  ships and sea voyages 7–8, 105–6

  Songshan 85

  Sung dynasty 7, 100–3, 108

  Tang dynasty 96–7, 97–8, 100, 102, 105, 178

  Taoism 64, 92–4, 96, 114

  technology and inventions 101–2, 106–7, 114, 187

  Tiananmen Square and the democracy movement 84, 113, 179

  unification of 94–5

  and the West 169, 170, 181, 185, 187, 189–90

  clashes between 110–13

  different concepts of civilization 84, 113–14

  first contacts 95–7, 175

  and technological innovation 107

  Xian 41, 89, 95, 97–100, 98, 155

  Yuan dynasty 104

  Chòu, Shang dynasty king 86–7, 87, 91

  Christianity

  in Central America 164, 165

  Mayan Catholic churches 148–50, 153, 166, 168

  in China 97, 98, 99, 101

  and civilization 169

  in the Dark Ages 178–9

  in Egypt 135, 137, 138, 139, 140–1

  in India 68, 71, 72

  in Iraq 11–12, 35–6, 37, 37–8, 40, 41, 177

  and Islam 34

  and Old World civilizations 176

  and Western civilization 169, 170, 171, 182–3

  see also Coptic

  Christians; Nestorian

  Christians

  Chu Hsi, Chinese philosopher 102, 103

  civilization, defining the term 9–10

  Coatlicue, Aztec goddess 160

  Columbus, Christopher 168, 184, 188

  Confucius/Confucianism 60, 64, 65, 90–2, 93, 94, 96, 102–3, 105, 109, 114

  Constantine, Emperor 177

  Constantinople 41, 97

  Copan 145, 157–9

  Coptic Christians 139

  feast of St Michael 120–1

  and the festival of Abul Haggag 140–1

  Coromandel coast 75

  Cortés, Hernando 160, 162, 163

  Crete 10

  Crimean War 47

  Cunningham, Alexander 48, 52

  Cuzco, Peru 124, 164–5

  Dara Shukoh 73–4, 81

  Dark Ages 170, 178–9, 182, 188

  Dasas 51, 56

  David, biblical hero 178

  Descartes, René 109, 185