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Purpose: To formulate the features of the civilizations of the Ancient East, the main stages of their development, to show the political, spiritual, economic, social life.
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Tasks: Reasons for the appearance of the first civilizations States - despotism Social structure Right or lack of rights? Kings are gods. The Birth of an Ideology The Limits of the World and the Space of Freedom From Myth to Religion of Salvation
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The oldest civilizations that arose in 6 - 5 thousand BC. called primary. This emphasizes the fact that they grew directly from the primitive, they were not preceded by a civilizational tradition. They created the tradition themselves, overcoming primitiveness. This is the main feature of the civilizations of the ancient world.
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The civilizations of the Ancient East arose in the valleys of large rivers, surrounded by steppes and deserts: Sumer-Akkad -3300 BC, the interfluve of the Tigris and the rivers. Euphrates Egypt -3000 BC - river valley. Nile China - 2000 BC river valley Huanghe Feature: uneven development, "closedness", self-sufficiency
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Rivers played such a huge role in the life of the civilizations of the Old World that they are also called rivers. Almost everywhere the transition to civilization was accompanied by the construction of irrigation facilities, due to which the yield increased so dramatically that scientists call it the agricultural revolution. Feature: the civilizational process everywhere went inextricably linked with the development and transformation of the natural environment.
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Reasons for the emergence of the first states Increase in population Increase in complexity of social relations The need to protect and regulate emerging private property. Construction of temples, support of irrigation works, water pipelines Protection of the interests of the privileged segments of the population. The need to maintain a standing army The state is an institution for the development of legal norms
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There was such a power structure Supreme power (pharaoh, king) Judicial power (judges, jailers) Military power (protection from raids, attacks, suppression of uprisings)
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The civilizations of the ancient world have a number of common features, but already at that time two large regions were distinguished: the East and the West, in which civilizational features began to take shape that determined their different fate in antiquity, and in the Middle Ages, and in modern times.
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States - despotism "Nature's challenge" Irrigation Collective labor Strong central power (state - despotism) Statue of Gudea, ruler of Lagash XXII century. BC.
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DESPOTIA: features At the head of the state was a ruler who had full power. He was considered the owner of all the land. This authoritarian type of power was implemented through an extensive administrative system, numerous bureaucracy. Constant wars in the name of expanding territory. Such a state is very durable and stable. If it fell apart, each of them reproduced despotism in miniature. Pharaoh Narmer, in the 4th mill. BC uniting upper and lower Egypt
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The structure of society Features: Social heterogeneity, generated by the division of labor, the emergence of the state, property stratification. Strict hierarchy: each social stratum has its own, clearly defined place, its duties and its privileges.
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king Ancestral nobility priesthood warriors merchants officials Citizens, artisans Free peasants community members slaves Society in ancient civilizations is often depicted as a pyramid
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Right or wrong? Basalt pillar with the text of the laws of King Hammurabi: the king receives the text of laws from the sun god Custom tradition oral (common) law Written laws Ancient Egypt: maat - justice, order, truth for all. Ancient India: if laws had not been introduced, "the stronger would roast the weaker like fish on a spit."
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Common features of ancient laws The difference in punishment depended on the social position of the offender. The state protected the interests of the upper strata of society: the most severe punishments were for those who committed crimes against priests and temples. The inequality that reigned in society extended to the family. The law protected private property, severely punished for theft or damage to other people's property. Laws protected the value and integrity of the family. Even slaves, for all the gravity of the situation, had a number of rights. That. By creating laws, the state provided all segments of the population, albeit to an unequal extent, with certain guarantees.
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Kings - gods In all ancient civilizations, kings were revered on a par with the gods. It was believed that the king had magical powers. The cult of kings becomes an official ideology. Officially, the cult supported despotism itself. Official titles of kings: Egypt - the living embodiment of the god Horus China - the son of Heaven India, the Vedas: the king was created from particles of different gods and therefore "he surpasses all created beings in brilliance, he is Varuna, he is a great deity in human society"
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The limits of power and the space of freedom. Was the power of kings as absolute as the ideology represented? NO! There were forces that claimed power and tried to influence the kings: the priesthood to know
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Ancient Egypt 1419 - 1402 BC - confrontation between the pharaoh and the priesthood Religious reform of Amenhotep IV - Akhenaten: An attempt to replace polytheism with one god, the solar disk of Aten, the transfer of the capital to Akhetaten (the sky of Aten, Tel - Amarna), the nomination of noble small slave owners and servants to the nobility, a revolution in art.
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The situation in Egypt was quite typical of all Eastern civilizations. The struggle for power was waged by privileged strata, while the bulk of the population did not have access to administrative ones. functions. In the East, no special political institutions were created through which society could influence the authorities. Self-government existed at the community level.
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Relations between the state and society in ancient India were distinguished by great originality. The period of centralization was very short. The power of the king was limited by the priesthood (Brahmins) and the tribal nobility through the highest governing body - parishad. This loose power structure was combined with a rigid division of society into castes.
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Priests - Brahmin warriors - Kshatriyas Free community members and merchants - Vaishyas Servants, peasants deprived of land - Shudras of Varna - castes in which Hindus were born, lived and died, not being able to leave their caste. The isolation and isolation of the castes, their social and religious inequality created great obstacles to its development.
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In ancient China, the problem of relations between society and the state was solved in the most unusual way for the East. The authorities, in the fight against the nobility, tried to rely on society, calling the ignoble (guo jen - people of the country) into power. They were paid in kind (grain) for their service. After centralization, the influence of guo jen disappeared, but the cooperation between the state and society remained.
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Ser. 4th century BC, Shang Yang's reforms: Cancellation of hereditary titles New ranks were granted only for personal merit. A system of state examinations for academic degrees was introduced. Those who received the degree became officials. Exploitation and hierarchy in China were combined with an attitude towards personal activity of the lower classes. The ideology reflected this fact in the idea: China is a big patriarchal family
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I, Ashurbanipal, comprehended ... all the art of scribes, mastered the knowledge of all the masters, how many there are, learned to shoot from a bow, hold the reins, comprehended the hidden secrets of the art of writing. I watched the omens, I also studied what is due to the master, and went on my royal path.... With all the differences of ancient civilizations, the space of freedom in them is very limited for the bulk of people Between the state and society lies a huge gulf: society is mute, it is almost has the opportunity to participate in government and influence the decisions of the state. The discontent of society is expressed in uprisings and riots. However, without the state, the existence of society is no longer possible.
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From Myth to Salvation Religions Man's consciousness in the epoch of primary civilizations was mythological. The roots of this phenomenon go back to primitiveness, when a person did not separate himself from nature, endowing nature with human features, deified it. Magic appeared, then - ideas about the gods. In each civilization, the pantheon had its own characteristics, but there was also something in common: the gods were closely connected with nature and personified its forces. The most archaic cults: cults of half-animals, half-humans: Horus - a falcon, Sebek - a crocodile, Sokhmet - a lioness.
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Each region had its own gods - patrons, leading, obviously, their origin from primitive totems. Ancient Egypt: Anubis - jackal - underworld Hathor - cow - sky goddess Sebek - crocodile - sun cult Sokhmet - lioness - war Horus - falcon - supreme power, Sun Babylon: Ea - half fish - half man - god of water India: Agni - god of fire Indra - god of thunder Surya - god of the sun
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Death was perceived by all religions as a transition to another life, to the other world. Gradually, a realistic view of the world is being formed. Reasons: The invention of writing, logical thinking, the accumulation of experience, knowledge, the progress of knowledge. As experience is accumulated, the first natural-scientific knowledge appears. Centers of Rationalist Knowledge: Cities and Temples The state's need for competent officials contributed to the formation of an intellectual elite.
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“... Confucius and Lao Tzu lived in China at that time, Buddha in India, Zarathustra taught in Iran about a world where there is a struggle against evil; the prophets Isaiah, Elijah, Jeremiah spoke in Palestine; in Greece, this is the time of Homer, Parmenides, Heraclitus, Plato, Archimedes. Everything related to these names arose almost simultaneously in the course of a few centuries in the East and in the West independently of each other. From about 500 B.C. By 1st century AD Changes took place in the world, which allowed the German sociologist K. Jaspers (1883-1969) to call this time "axial", when "many extraordinary things happen." In the axial time, “the most abrupt turn in history took place”, “a person of such a type appeared that has survived to this day”, when the foundations of world religions were “laid”, “the main categories were developed, in which we think to this day”. The main achievement of the axial time was the emergence of religions, including world religions, modern morality, religious and cultural traditions. The emergence of axial cultures and civilizations was a breakthrough that changed the entire course of human history.
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Homework: Material for preparation: Zagladin N.V. World history, grade 10, p. 6, p. 7, questions; Synopsis Questions to paragraphs: p. 66,78-70, 1-5, orally S. 78, 6- in writing
"Culture of the Ancient East" - Writing of Ancient Egypt. Monuments of literature of the Ancient East. Culture of Ancient Mesopotamia. Map of the Ancient East. Literary monuments of Egypt. Epic of Gilgamesh. By the end of the 4th millennium BC. A new civilization developed in the Nile Valley. Hieroglyphs. On the example of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The ancient Egyptians called their country Kemet.
"History of the East" - What are the historical "traces" of settlers? Research results: Information resources: In the course of research activities, students collect exhibits for the school museum. Settlement of the Far East in the late XIX - early XX centuries. Atlas of the peoples of Russia. Academic subject: Presentations; Booklets; Catalog; Photo album; Didactic materials; exhibits for the museum.
"Invasion from the East" - Battle of the Kalka. Russia in the middle of the XIII century. Trip to Novgorod. December 21 - Ryazan is taken by the Mongols. Storm of Ryazan. March 1238 - Battle of the River Sit. Consequences of the Mongol-Tatar yoke. Traditions about Evpatiy Kolovrat. invasion from the East. State of Genghis Khan. Invasion of the Ryazan land. The defeat of the Vladimir principality.
"Ancient East" - "Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other." I didn't harm the livestock. When you talk, don't be rushed. Oases Papyras Clay inscription Satrapeia Hieroglyphs Mumeya Dirzhava Commandments. Call geography to help history! I didn't do evil... Zikurata Kalonia Sarkafag Taleon Delta Svinks Hamurapi Phoraon.
"Countries of the East" - Features of the countries of the East. Artisans. Do only military work. Buddhism. The land belonged to the state. Participate in gambling. Confucianism. A world religion based on the teachings of the Buddha. India China Japan. The principle of mutual responsibility. Eastern countries. Write what religious teaching it reflects.
"Ancient East Grade 5" - In what century did the widespread use of iron begin? What are the legends about heroes, kings called? myths. How did the ancient Indians explain the existence of castes? What caste did the kings of ancient India belong to? Who are called brahmins in India? What was the name of the road that connected the largest cities of the Persian state? "Royal".
Political and legal doctrines in the states of the Ancient East
Introduction
The oldest political and legal doctrines arose in Egypt, India, Palestine, China and other countries of the ancient East.
In the civilizations of the Ancient East, the earliest type of society was formed, which replaced the primitive one. Economically, it is characterized by the dominance of a patriarchal subsistence economy, the stability of state forms of land ownership and communal land tenure, and the extremely slow development of individual private property. Modern researchers attribute the ancient Eastern societies to the so-called local (or river) civilizations of the agricultural type.
The bulk of the population in the states of the Ancient East were peasants united in rural communities. Slave ownership, despite its fairly wide distribution in some countries (for example, in Egypt, India), did not play a decisive role in production. A privileged position in society was occupied by persons belonging to the apparatus of state power, the court and property nobility. The content of the political ideology of the Ancient East was affected primarily by the traditionalism of communal life, the immaturity of classes and class self-consciousness. Patriarchal rural communities limited the initiative of a person, keeping him within the framework of age-old customs. The political thought of the Ancient East for a long time developed on the basis of a religious and mythological worldview inherited from the tribal system.
The leading place in the political consciousness of early class societies was occupied by myths about the divine, supernatural origin of social orders. Traditions of deification of the existing power and its prescriptions were closely connected with these myths.
Kings, priests, judges and other representatives of power were considered descendants or deputies of the gods and were endowed with sacred features.
Political views were closely intertwined with worldview (philosophical), moral and other ideas. The oldest legal prohibitions, for example, were at the same time worldview principles (the laws of the whole world), religious precepts and moral prescriptions. Such views can be traced in the laws of King Hammurabi, in the legal prescriptions of the Talmud, and in Indian religious books. In the states of the Ancient East, political and legal doctrines have not yet separated themselves from myths, have not formed into a relatively independent sphere of public consciousness.
The incomplete nature of this process was manifested in the following.
Firstly, the political and legal teachings of the Ancient East remained purely applied. Their main content was questions relating to the art ("craft") of management, the mechanism for exercising power and justice. In other words, political doctrines developed not so much theoretical generalizations as specific problems of technology and methods of exercising power.
At the same time, in the overwhelming majority of teachings, state power was identified with the power of the king or emperor. The reason for this was the tendency inherent in the Ancient East to strengthen the power of individual rulers and the formation of such a form of public administration of society as oriental despotism. The supreme ruler was considered the personification of the state, the center of all state life. “The sovereign and his power are the main elements of the state,” says the Indian treatise Arthashastra.
Secondly, the political teachings of the Ancient East were not separated from morality and were ethical and political doctrines. An increased interest in moral problems is generally characteristic of the ideology of emerging classes. This is a general pattern throughout the history of political thought, and it manifested itself most clearly at the stage of formation of early class societies.
Transformations in society and the state in many ancient Eastern teachings were associated with changes in the moral character of people. The very art of government sometimes came down to the moral perfection of the sovereign, to managing the power of personal example. “If the ruler establishes his perfection,” the Chinese book “Shu Jing” said, “then in all his numerous people there will be no communities of intruders.” Many social protests were held under the slogans of moral content and were directed against specific holders or usurpers of power. The masses were mainly in favor of the restoration of justice, the redistribution of wealth, but did not question the economic and political foundations of society.
Thirdly, the political and legal teachings of the Ancient East are characterized by the fact that they not only preserved, but also developed religious and mythological views. The predominance of practical, applied and moral topics in political teachings led to the fact that the most general questions abstracted from direct practice (for example, the origin of the state and law, their historical development) remained unresolved or were solved with the help of the views provided by the religious and mythological consciousness.
The socio-political theories of the Ancient East, in a word, were complex ideological formations, consisting of religious dogmas, moral ideas and applied knowledge about politics and law. The ratio of these elements in different teachings was not the same.
Expanded religious teachings were created by the ideologists of the ruling classes (the cult of the pharaoh in Egypt, the ideology of Brahminism in India, etc.). These teachings sanctified social inequality, the privileges of the nobility, the power of the exploiting elite. The foundations of society were declared divine institutions, and any attempt to encroach on them was seen as a challenge to the gods. The masses sought to instill reverence for the divine power of the sovereign, to instill humility and humility.
The dominant ideology was opposed by the political views of the oppressed. They criticized official religious dogmas, looked for new forms of faith (for example, early Buddhism), opposed oppression and arbitrariness, put forward demands in defense of justice. Their ideas had a significant impact on the development of political theory. The ruling circles have always been forced to take into account the demands of the exploited majority in ideology. Some ideas of the social rank and file, such as, say, the call of the biblical prophet Isaiah to reforge swords into plowshares, are still used in political ideology.
Due to economic backwardness, wars of conquest and other reasons, many states of the Ancient East lost their independence or perished. The political doctrines that arose in them, as a rule, did not receive further development. Consistent continuity in the history of political and legal thought was preserved only in India and China.
2. Political and legal ideology of ancient India
The leading trends in the political and legal ideology of Ancient India were Brahmanism and Buddhism. They arose in the middle of the 1st millennium BC, when the formation of classes began among the Aryan tribes that conquered India. With their roots, both directions went back to the religious and mythological worldview set forth in the Vedas - the ancient ritual books of the Aryans. The ideological differences between Brahmanism and Buddhism occurred on the basis of the interpretation of myths and rules of conduct that the religion sanctified. The most acute disagreements between them were related to the interpretation of the rules for varnas - tribal groups that marked the beginning of the caste organization of Indian society.
The ancient Indians had four varnas - the varna of priests (brahmins), the varna of warriors (kshatriyas), the varna of farmers, artisans and merchants (vaishyas) and the lower varna (shudras). Brahmin, from the hands - a kshatriya, from the thighs - a vaishya, and from the feet - a sudra. Members of the first three varnas were considered full members of the community. Shudras were subordinate to them.
On the basis of religious and mythological ideas, the Brahmins created a new ideology - Brahmanism. It was aimed at asserting the supremacy of the tribal nobility in the emerging states. The socio-political ideas of various schools of Brahminism are reflected in numerous jurisprudential and political treatises. The most authoritative among them was the treatise Manavadharmashastra (Manu's Instructions on Dharma - compiled in the period of the 2nd century BC e. - II century AD). The treatise was translated into Russian under the title "Laws of Manu".
One of the cornerstone provisions of the religion of Brahmanism was the dogma of the reincarnation of souls, according to which the soul of a person after death will wander through the bodies of people of low origin, animals and plants, or, if he led a righteous life, will be reborn in a person of a higher social status or in a celestial being. The Brahmins evaluated the behavior of a person and his future rebirths depending on how he fulfills the prescriptions of dharma - religious, social and family duties established by the gods for each varna. Brahmins were ordered to study the Vedas, guide the people and teach their religion; Kshatriyas were supposed to be engaged in military affairs. It was the privilege of the two highest varnas to manage state and public affairs.
Vaishyas were supposed to work the land, herd cattle and trade. “But the Lord pointed out only one occupation for the Shudra - serving these (three) varnas with humility,” the “Laws of Manu” claimed. slaves. In the ideology of Brahmanism, detailed rules of life were developed for the Shudras, as well as for other lower classes, which included those born from mixed marriages, slaves and untouchables. For foreigners and tribes who did not know the division into varnas, slavery was recognized as a natural phenomenon.
The ideological meaning of the doctrine of dharma was to justify the caste system and the privileges of the hereditary nobility, to justify the servitude of the workers. Class affiliation was determined by generation and was lifelong. The Brahmins allowed the transition to higher varnas only after the death of a person, in his "future life", as a reward for serving the gods, patience and meekness. In Brahmanism, state coercion acted as a means of providing caste prescriptions, understood as a continuation of the punishing power of the gods. The idea of punishment was a fundamental principle of political theory - it was given such great importance that the very science of government was called the doctrine of punishment "The whole world obeys through Punishment," proclaimed the "Laws of Manu" Defining coercion as the main method of exercising power, the ideologists of the priesthood saw its purpose in "zealously urging the Vaishyas and Shudras to do their proper deeds, because by avoiding their proper deeds, they shake the world."
The "Laws of Manu" describe state power as the sole rule of the sovereign. In every well-organized state, the compilers of the treatise explained, there are seven elements - the king (sovereign), adviser, country, fortress, treasury, army and allies (listed in descending order of their importance) The most important element in this list - the king. The doctrine of the "seven-membered kingdom" corresponded to the level of development of political institutions in early class society, especially under despotic regimes, and represented one of the first attempts in history to create a generalized image of the state.
The ideologists of the priesthood approached the deification of royal power from a caste position. Kshatriya and Brahmin rulers were equated with gods, while kings belonging to the lower castes were likened to the keepers of brothels. The political ideal of Brahmanism was a kind of theocratic state in which the king rules under the leadership of the priests.
The Brahmins claimed that the sovereigns recognized the supremacy of religious law over secular. The theory of Brahminism reflected in this respect the ideas with which the priesthood fought for political hegemony in society.
A special place in the history of ancient Indian political thought is occupied by a treatise called Arthashastra (Instructions on Benefits). Its author is considered to be the Brahmin Kautilya, an adviser to King Chandragupta, who founded in the 4th century BC. BC the mighty Mauryan Empire. The original manuscript of the treatise was revised and supplemented approximately until the 3rd century BC. n. e.
The treatise reproduces the provisions of Brahminism on caste prescriptions, on the need to ensure the law of dharma with severe punishments, on the superiority of the priesthood over other classes, and its monopoly on religious worship. In full accordance with the postulates of Brahminism, the authors carry out the ideas of the domination of the hereditary nobility and the subordination of secular rulers to the priests. The king must follow the palace Priest, the treatise says, "like a student to a teacher, like a son to a father, like a servant to a master."
At the same time, the treatise contains ideas that did not coincide with the traditional teachings of the priesthood. In contrast to the orthodox schools of Brahmanism, which insisted on the supremacy of religious law, the authors of the treatise assigned the main role in legislative activity to the sovereign. As emphasized in the Arthashastra, of the four types of legalization of dharma - the royal decree, the sacred law (dharmashastra), the judicial decision and custom - the royal decree has the highest power "If the sacred law does not agree with the dharma established by the decree, then the latter should be applied, because the book of the law in this case loses force ”In the absence of disagreements between them, religious law remained unshakable, and it was given preference over judicial decisions and customary law
The idea of a strong centralized royal power is brought to the fore in the Arthashastra. The sovereign appears here as an unlimited autocratic ruler. Kautilya recommends that kings be guided primarily by the interests of strengthening the state, considerations of public benefit, and not to stop, if circumstances so require, from the violation of religious duty. The main attention of the creators of the treatise is paid not to the religious justification of royal power, but to practical recommendations for governing the state. "Arthashastra" is the most complete collection of applied knowledge about politics in Indian literature, a kind of encyclopedia of political art.
These ideas, new to Brahmanism, were aimed at freeing the activities of the state from religious traditions that constrained it, and freeing the rulers from the need to check every step with the dogmas of religion. Both secular rulers, who sought to strengthen the state and weaken the influence of priests on politics, and certain circles of the priesthood itself, who were ready to give up part of their privileges for the sake of consolidating the ruling classes, were interested in this. The ideas of the Arthashastra expressed a program of mutual concessions on the part of the secular authorities and the priesthood. It can be assumed that the need for such mutual concessions was caused by an increase in the political activity of the ruling classes during the unification of the ancient Indian states into the Mauryan Empire.
In the struggle against the priestly religion, Buddhism was formed. It arose in the VI-V centuries. BC. Its founder, according to legend, was Prince Siddhartha Gautama, nicknamed the Buddha, that is, the Enlightened One. The earliest compendium of the Buddhist canon that has come down to us is the Tipitaka (literally “Three Baskets” - the name apparently comes from the fact that the texts of the canon were thematically divided into three parts) “Tipitaka” dates back to the 2nd-1st centuries. BC.
Early Buddhism was a religious and mythological teaching. As a central one, they put forward the idea of liberating a person from suffering caused by worldly desires.
The Buddhists declared the exit of a person from the world and his entry into the monastic community as a precondition for salvation. In early Buddhism, there were two systems of religious and moral prescriptions: one for members of the monastic community, the other for the laity.
Only the free were allowed into Buddhist monastic communities (slaves were not accepted). Entering the community had to give up family and property, cease to comply with the prescriptions of his varna. “I call a brahmin one who is free from attachment and has nothing,” says the Buddha in the canon. "But I don't call a man a brahmin just because of his birth or because of his mother." The founders of Buddhism argued that not only brahmins, but also people from other castes can achieve salvation if they receive the status of an arhat (brahmin) as a result of spiritual asceticism. Monastic life was regulated in detail.
The rules for the laity were not developed in detail and were largely borrowed from the traditional norms of the Vedic religion. The peculiarity of Buddhist views on castes was manifested only in the fact that the first in the list of varnas were called kshatriyas instead of brahmins. Among the four castes, the kshatriyas and brahmins are superior."
The social requirements of Buddhism, in essence, were reduced to the equalization of castes in the religious sphere and did not affect the foundations of the social system. For all its obvious limitations, this doctrine undermined the authority of the hereditary Brahmins, their claims to the ideological and political leadership of society. The oppositional, anti-priestly character of Buddhism, its indifference to castes in matters of faith, the preaching of the psychological self-affirmation of a person in the face of suffering - all this earned him wide popularity among the destitute and the poor.
Initially, Buddhism reflected the views of ordinary communal farmers and the urban poor. It included many ideas that arose on the basis of communal orders, remnants of tribal democracy and patriarchal traditions. For example, the first kings were portrayed as elected and ruling in full agreement with the people. In the books of the canon, rulers are often condemned who violated ancient customs because of selfish lusts. “The king, although he had already conquered all the lands to the sea and became the owner of untold riches, would still thirst, being insatiable, for those possessions that lie beyond the sea.” Buddhist parables also preserved stories about how the people, outraged by the injustice of the rulers, beat the palace priest to death, and drive the king out of the country. The religious teachers of Buddhism did not, however, call for an active struggle against injustice.
Subsequently, Buddhism has undergone significant changes. Interested in supporting the ruling classes, the leaders of the Buddhist communities are revising the teaching. The motives of obedience and non-resistance to the existing authorities are strengthened in it, the requirements of extreme asceticism are softened, ideas of saving the laity appear. Secular rulers, in turn, begin to use the teaching in the fight against the dominance of the priesthood and seek to adapt Buddhist dogmas to the official ideology. The process of convergence of Buddhist teachings with the official ideology reaches its climax in the 3rd century BC. BC, when King Ashoka, who ruled the Mauryan Empire, converted to the Buddhist faith.
The subsequent history of Indian social thought is connected with the emergence and establishment of Hinduism, a religion that absorbed elements of Brahmanism, Buddhism, and a number of other beliefs. Buddhism spread mainly outside India - in the countries of Southeast Asia, in China, Japan, etc. In the first centuries .e. Buddhism becomes one of the world's religions.
PAGE_BREAK-- Political and legal thought of ancient China
The heyday of the socio-political thought of Ancient China dates back to the 6th-3rd centuries. BC. During this period, deep economic and political changes took place in the country, due to the emergence of private ownership of land. The growth of property differentiation within the communities led to the rise of the wealthy strata, the weakening of patriarchal clan ties and the deepening of social contradictions. There is a fierce struggle for power between the property and hereditary aristocracy. The Zhou monarchy, which held on thanks to the authority of the tribal nobility, breaks up into numerous warring states. The country is in a protracted political crisis.
In search of a way out of it, the ideologists of the opposing classes put forward programs of measures that would make it possible to strengthen the position of the strata they represent and ensure political stability. In socio-political thought, various trends and schools are formed. Developing on the basis of previous religious mythology, they often used the same ideas (for example, about the divine nature of the sky, about the law of Tao), changing them according to their programs. The most influential political teachings of Ancient China were Taoism, Confucianism, Moism and Legalism.
Tradition connects the emergence of Taoism with the name of the semi-legendary sage Lao Tzu, who lived according to legend in the 6th century BC. BC. He is credited with compiling the canonical treatise Tao Te Ching (The Book of Tao and Te).
The ideology of early Taoism reflected the views of the petty nobility and the communal elite, their protest against the excessive enrichment of the rulers, the strengthening of the bureaucracy and the expansion of state activity. Having lost their former influence, these layers sought the restoration of the patriarchal order.
The doctrine is based on the concept of "dao" (literally, the way). It was borrowed from traditional Chinese beliefs, where it meant the correct way of life of a person or people, corresponding to the dictates of heaven. - the son of heaven”, granting the laws of Tao to the people. Tao in the interpretation of the followers of Lao Tzu is an absolute universal principle. It precedes the heavenly ruler and surpasses him in its power. Tao is the source of everything that exists, an endless stream of natural occurrence and change of all phenomena, their transition from one to another, the eternal cycle of birth and death. It appears to man in the form of a supernatural law that governs the world. In the face of this all-penetrating force, a person can only realize his insignificance and try to prolong his life by liberation from passions.
The Taoists explained the shortcomings in society by the fact that people, indulging in vain desires, moved away from their original simplicity, broke the natural bonds that held them to the earth, and instead of wisdom rely on knowledge. The cause of social turmoil is the transition from the initial fusion of man with the Tao to the development of his abilities and knowledge.
In socio-ethical terms, the leitmotif of Taoism is the condemnation of pride, the preaching of average prosperity and moderation. “He who accumulates a lot,” Lao Tzu taught, “will suffer great losses. Who knows the measure, he will not fail.” A good merchant, having full barns, pretends that they are empty. The Tao Te Ching reflects the widespread ideas among the communal peasantry about redistribution of property in favor of the poor. The celestial tao, the canon says, “takes away what is superfluous and gives what is taken away to those who need it. The Tao of Heaven takes from the rich and gives to the poor what is taken from them.”
Lao Tzu linked his hopes for the restoration of the natural simplicity of human relations with clever leaders from among the hereditary nobility who could see the “wonderful secret of Tao” and lead the people. “If you know and sovereigns can observe it (tao), then all beings themselves become calm. Then heaven and earth will merge in harmony, happiness and prosperity will come, and the people will calm down without orders.
A wise sovereign, the Taoists taught, rules the country with the help of the method of non-action, i.e. refraining from active interference in the affairs of members of society, Lao-tzu reproached the rulers of his day for being too active, setting many taxes and prohibitive laws, and waging endless warriors. "The best ruler is the one about whom the people know only that he exists."
Lao Tzu urged the nobility and rulers to “settle closer to the earth”, restore the order that existed in antiquity, when people lived in small scattered villages, abandon the use of tools and wean the people from knowledge “In ancient times, those who followed the Tao did not enlighten the people and made him ignorant. It is difficult to govern a people when they have a lot of knowledge.”
The socio-political concept of Taoism was a reactionary utopia. It was nourished by the mentality of those strata of the well-born nobility and the communal elite, whose position was undermined by the growing property and social stratification. Lacking any real power to fight the new aristocracy, these strata claimed to be the keepers of sacred wisdom not available to others. At the same time, they sought to improve their property affairs, to catch up with the aristocracy of wealth, using communal traditions of mutual assistance for this.
The mysticism and mystery of Taoism generated interest in it on the part of various social groups, from the inner circle of kings to various conspiratorial organizations. The use by the Taoists of the traditions and norms of communal life facilitated the perception of the teaching by the peasant masses.
The most influential doctrine in the history of Chinese political thought was Confucianism. The founder of this trend was Confucius (551-479 BC). defended the interests of the layers seeking to reconcile the property and hereditary nobility. The thinker's sayings were collected by his students in the book "Lun Yu" ("Judgments and Conversations").
The main categories of Confucianism are the concepts of a noble husband, philanthropy and ritual rules. These categories were closely interconnected, because they represented only different aspects of a single political ideal, considered from the point of view of its bearers, a general principle and specific normative prescriptions.
According to Confucius, noble men are called to govern the state, headed by the sovereign - the “son of heaven.” Following the supporters of the rule of nobles, Confucius argued that the division of people into “higher” and “lower” cannot be eliminated. The difference between his views and the views of the hereditary nobility was that Confucius singled out the noble not by signs of origin, but by moral qualities and knowledge. A noble man in the teachings of Confucius is a model of moral perfection, a person who affirms the norms of morality with all his behavior. It was according to these criteria that Confucius proposed to nominate for public service. "If you promote the just and eliminate the unjust, the people will obey."
Confucius's ideas of ruling the nobles were of a pronounced compromise nature: ideas typical of the ideology of the hereditary nobility (recognition of innate differences between people, their gradation into "higher" and "lower"), he combined with provisions that opened access to the state apparatus to an unborn communal society. top.
The main task of noble men is to educate and spread philanthropy everywhere. Confucius invested in this concept a special content that does not coincide with modern content. Philanthropy was understood as behavior that corresponded to the moral values of family-clan groups and patriarchal communities. Humanity included: parental care of children, filial piety towards the elders in the family, as well as fair relations between those who are not related by kinship. "Respect for parents and respect for elder brothers is the basis of philanthropy." The general principle of relationships between people was the principle "do not do to others what you do not wish for yourself."
Transferred to the sphere of politics, these principles were to serve as the foundation of the entire system of government. Confucius proposed to start its restructuring with the so-called correction of names, i.e. with the restoration of the true, original meaning of the titles existing in society and the duties arising from them. "The sovereign must be the sovereign, the dignitary - the dignitary, the father - the father, the son - the son." The sovereign was charged with the obligation to treat his subjects as if they were his own children. He must take care of the food supply in the country, protect it with weapons and educate the people. The education of subjects is the most important state business, and it must be carried out by the strength of personal example. "To manage is to do the right thing." In turn, the people are obliged to show filial piety to the rulers, to obey them implicitly. The prototype of the organization of state power for Confucius was the management in family clans and tribal communities (patronymy). The concept of the thinker was one of the earliest attempts to justify the ideal of a paternalistic state.
The description of the ideal society was concretized by Confucius in the doctrine of the rules of ritual, which were assigned the role of the normative system of the state. Confucius was a strong opponent of rule based on laws. He condemned the rulers who relied on frightening legal prohibitions, and advocated the preservation of traditional religious and moral methods of influencing the behavior of the Chinese. “If you lead the people through laws and keep order through punishments, the people will seek to evade (punishments) and will not feel shame. If, however, to lead the people through virtue and maintain order through ritual, the people will know shame and it will be corrected. The list of Confucian rules of conduct included instructions regarding the performance of ritual and religious rites (veneration of spirits, the cult of ancestors), moral instructions and customary law. Emphasizing his admiration for antiquity, Confucius called for the restoration of the rules that existed during the time of the best rulers of the Zhou dynasty.
On the pages of the book "Lun Yu" the idea is expressed that the need for state administration will disappear altogether if the rules of the ritual are observed by everyone. Confucius and his followers did not exclude, however, that punitive campaigns against the recalcitrant would be required for the onset of that happy time. The main thing, they believed, was that orders for punitive campaigns should be given by a noble and loving sovereign, and not by rulers of destinies or dignitaries. It is necessary to apply punishment in a paternal way, i.e. with love for people. Confucian teaching thus rejected the arbitrariness of the administration, especially in the field, limited the willfulness of the sovereign to certain moral limits.
The political program of early Confucianism was generally conservative, although it also contained progressive ideas. Carried out in practice, it contributed to the consolidation of patriarchal relations, the establishment of the dominance of the hereditary aristocracy. The Confucian ideas of updating the ruling class at the expense of representatives of the unprivileged strata could not lead to a radical restructuring in the state, because the latter, having been brought up on ancient traditions, themselves turned into active defenders of the organization of power, which was defended by the noble nobility. The concept of advancing the just meant only the easing of conflicts between the old and the new aristocracy.
At the same time, certain provisions of the doctrine, as was said, had a progressive significance. These include, first of all, the ideas of spreading moral knowledge and teaching people, regardless of their class affiliation. The educational activities of Confucius and his disciples played a huge role in the development of Chinese culture.
Mo-tzu (approximately 479-400 BC), the founder of the Moist school, criticized the rule of the hereditary aristocracy. His teachings are expounded by followers in the book Mo Tzu.
Moism expressed the interests of small proprietors - free farmers, artisans, merchants, lower ranks in the state apparatus, whose social position was unstable and contradictory. On the one hand, they were close to the working masses and to a certain extent accepted their convictions, and on the other hand, having achieved a certain position in society, they sought to get closer to the ruling elite, demanding for themselves the privileges of the upper classes. The teachings of the Mohists were permeated with the same contradictions.
Reproducing some ideas of the social lower classes, the Mohists condemned the filling of public positions on the principles of origin and kinship. They argued that all people are equal before the divine sky: “The sky does not distinguish between small and large, noble and vile; all people are servants of heaven.” The wisest, regardless of origin, should be promoted to public service. From these positions, they also criticized the conciliatory doctrine of the Confucians, which allowed innate knowledge among hereditary aristocrats and limited the promotion of the wise to a kind of education qualification. The source of wisdom, Mo-tzu pointed out, is not innate virtues and not reading books, but knowledge gleaned from the life of the common people. Governance does not require training. A person's ability to govern is determined by his business qualities - the desire to serve the common people, diligence in business, etc. "If a person has the ability, then he must be promoted, even if he is a simple farmer or artisan."
In support of this conclusion, Mo-tzu referred, for example, to the ancients. The first ruler, according to the concept, people chose the most worthy. Having received from heaven and spirits the right to rule the Celestial Empire, he became a sovereign - "the son of heaven." Ancient rulers, argued Mo-tzu, benefited the whole people. Among them, many came from the lower classes: one first sculpted pots, the other was a slave, the third was a bricklayer. The reason for the current turmoil and chaos is that the rulers rejected the precepts of antiquity, indulge in greed, wage endless wars because of this, plunge the common people into poverty. The teaching of Mohism about the nomination of the wise contained in its embryo the idea of equality, substantiated the possibility of transferring supreme power to representatives of the working people.
Contradictions in the teachings of the Mohists began when they moved from criticizing the existing order to presenting the principles and methods of government in an ideal state.
In contrast to the Confucian principle of philanthropy, Mo Tzu put forward the principle of universal love. Confucian philanthropy, he said, is a selfish love based on blood attachment and the priority of family ties. But such love is not yet real love. True philanthropy implies equally fair treatment of all people without distinction of kinship or class. Mo Tzu dreamed that "people would help each other, that the strong would help the weak, that people would teach each other, that the knowledgeable would teach the ignorant, would share property with each other." In this part, the concept was based on the ideas that existed in the communities about mutual assistance and property redistribution.
Along with this, universal love was interpreted by Mo-tzu as mutual benefit, which gave his concept a completely different meaning. From a disinterested virtue requiring the abandonment of excess property for the common good, universal love turned into a prudent service for quite tangible benefits. With regard to relations within the ruling class, mutual love meant, for example, that advisers and officials, out of love for the sovereign, show zeal in their service, without hesitation, obey him, and he pays them back with love - assigns high salaries, rewards with ranks of nobility and allotments of land, gives into the subjugation of the people. Such an understanding of virtue no longer left any room for equality and real love for people.
Mo-tzu considered the ideal organization of power to be a state with a wise ruler at the head and a well-functioning executive service. In the uniform execution of the will of the sovereign by officials, he saw the guarantee and basis for the strength of power. In order to establish the complete unity of the state, it was proposed to instill unanimity, eradicate harmful teachings and encourage denunciations. “Having heard about good or bad, everyone should report it to the superior, and what the superior finds right, everyone should recognize as right, and what the superior finds wrong, everyone should recognize it as wrong.” This order should be maintained with the help of punishments and rewards commensurate with the acts committed.
Thus, in the conception of Mohism, the ideas of equality were actually discarded; the concept ended with the praise of the despotic-bureaucratic state, which excluded any possibility not only of the participation of the people in government, but also of their discussion of state affairs. Mo-tzu's views on state unity were approaching the idea of centralization of power.
In the history of Chinese political thought, Mo-tzu's teaching occupies an intermediate stage between Confucianism, sustained in the spirit of patriarchal morality, and the practical-applied theory of legalists (lawyers). Moism reflected the results of the development of a patriarchal community into a territorial one, the development of relations based on calculation and considerations of benefit, but it reproduced the ideology of layers that were not able to overcome communal ties. Hence the tendency of Mohists to conformism, the half-heartedness of the reforms they propose, the utopian ideas of promoting commoners to public service while maintaining aristocratic privileges, etc. Both progressive and conservative tendencies are visible in the political program of Mohism.
The interests of the property and service nobility were defended by legalists, or lawyers. Shang Yang (c. 390-338 BC), the largest representative of early legalism, was the initiator of the famous reforms that legalized private ownership of land in the country. The projects of reforms and decrees drawn up by him were included in the treatise "Shang jun shu" ("The Book of the Ruler of the Shang Region").
The doctrine of legalism differed significantly from previous concepts. The Legists abandoned the traditional moral interpretations of politics and developed the doctrine of the technique of exercising power. In carrying out this reorientation, Shang Yang was guided by the aspirations of the service nobility and wealthy community members, who sought to eliminate the patriarchal order. The last thing they expected from political theory was instruction in virtue. They needed a well-balanced program of nationwide reforms. “A philanthropic person,” Shang Yang noted, “can remain philanthropic towards other people, but he cannot force other people to be philanthropic ... From this it is clear that philanthropy or justice alone is not enough to achieve good governance in the Celestial Empire.” Success in politics is achieved only by those who know the situation in the country and use accurate calculations. Legists attached great importance to the generalization of the experience of previous rulers, to issues of economic support for politics.
Another feature of legalism was the elements of a historical approach to social phenomena. Since the private property interests of the new aristocracy contradicted the archaic foundations of communal life, its ideologists had to appeal not to the authority of traditions, but to a change in social conditions compared to the past. In contrast to the Taoists, Confucians and coins, who called for the restoration of the ancient order, the Legalists proved the impossibility of returning to antiquity. "In order to benefit the state, it is not necessary to imitate antiquity." Although the Legalists were far from studying actual historical processes and, as a rule, limited themselves to a simple opposition of modernity to the past, their historical views contributed to overcoming traditionalist views, loosened religious prejudices and thereby prepared the conditions for the creation of a secular political theory.
The ideologists of legalism planned to carry out an extensive complex of economic and political reforms. In the field of administration, it was proposed to concentrate all power in the hands of the supreme ruler, to deprive the governors of power and turn them into ordinary officials. A smart ruler, says the treatise Shang Jun Shu, "does not condone turmoil, but takes power into his own hands, establishes the law and restores order with the help of laws." It was also planned to abolish the transfer of posts by inheritance. Shang Yang recommended that those who proved their devotion to the sovereign in the service in the army should be nominated for administrative posts in the first place. In order to ensure the representation of the wealthy strata in the state apparatus, the sale of bureaucratic positions was envisaged. “If there are people among the people who have surpluses of grain, let them be given bureaucratic positions and ranks of nobility for the delivery of grain.” Business qualities were not taken into account. Shang Yang made only one requirement for officials - to blindly obey the sovereign.
Legists considered it necessary to limit communal self-government, to subordinate family clans and patronymics to local administration. Without denying communal self-government in principle, Shang Yang came up with reform projects (regionalization of the country, local bureaucracy, etc.), which aimed to put citizens under the direct control of state power. The implementation of these projects marked the beginning of the territorial division of citizens in China.
It was also proposed to establish uniform laws for the entire state. Like other early legalists, Shang Yang did not yet think about the complete replacement of customary law by legislation. By law, he understood repressive policies (criminal law) and administrative orders of the government.
Shang Yang considered the relationship between the government and the people as a confrontation between the warring parties. “When the people are stronger than their authorities, the state is weak; when the authorities are stronger than their people, the army is powerful.” In a model state, the power of the ruler is based on violence and is not bound by any law. Shang Yang is not aware of the ideas about the rights of citizens, their legal guarantees, etc. The law acts for him as a means of frightening preventive terror. For the slightest offense, Shang Yang urged, should be punished by death. This punitive practice was to be supplemented by a policy that eradicates dissent and stupefies the people.
Shang Yang considered the creation of a powerful government capable of uniting China through aggressive wars as the highest goal of the sovereign's activity.
Legizm contained the most complete program for the centralization of the state, and his recommendations were used to unify the country under the rule of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (3rd century BC). The official recognition of the doctrine at the same time had extremely negative consequences. The practical application of legalistic concepts was accompanied by increased despotism, exploitation of the people, the introduction into the consciousness of subjects of animal fear of the ruler and general suspicion. Taking into account the dissatisfaction of the broad masses with the legalistic order, the followers of Shang Yang abandoned the most odious provisions and, filling legalism with moral content, brought it closer to Taoism or Confucianism.
In II-I centuries. BC. Confucianism, supplemented by the ideas of legalism, is established as the state religion of China. The Moist school is gradually dying out. Taoism, intertwined with Buddhism and local beliefs, acquires the features of magic and eventually loses influence on the development of political ideology.
Confucianism remained the official teaching of imperial China until the Xinghai Revolution of 1911-1913.
continuation
PAGE_BREAK-- Conclusion
The study of the political and legal thought of the Ancient East has not only cognitive, but also theoretical significance. Documents and literary monuments that have come down to us from the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, India and China allow us to trace the formation of political and legal ideas at the earliest stages of the formation of a class society. The history of the Ancient East provides unique opportunities in this regard, since many countries of the ancient Eastern world developed in isolation from each other for a long time and the process of the emergence of political ideology proceeded in them in what is called a pure form, regardless of external influences. A similar situation was extremely rarely repeated in subsequent history among other peoples. In addition, a high level of culture and rich literary traditions were combined here with a slow pace of social development. A significant number of written monuments, preserved from the ancient civilizations of the East, belong to the period when the processes of formation of classes and the state were not completed. This allows us to reconstruct a fairly complete picture of the emergence of political and legal consciousness from the undifferentiated (syncretic) ideology of early class societies.
The methodological significance of the history of the East is also determined by the fact that, despite numerous studies carried out over the past decades, the social thought of the peoples of the East remains less studied than the social doctrines that have become widespread in Western Europe. The foregoing fully applies to the current state of research on the history of political and legal doctrines. The vast majority of issues related to the formation of political theory in the states of the Ancient East have not received an unambiguous solution and continue to cause discussions in scientific circles. In turn, this inevitably affects the understanding of the general patterns of development of political and legal ideology, its features at various stages of history, etc.
At present, interest in the ideological heritage of the Ancient East has increased markedly. He was stimulated by the national liberation movement in India, China, Egypt and other countries that were part of the ancient Eastern region. The formation of independent states with an ancient and distinctive culture increased interest in their historical past. An important role in this was played by the awakening of the national identity of the peoples of the East, the desire of young states to preserve (or recreate) the traditions inherited from previous eras.
Some currents of social thought, which originated in ancient times, are now experiencing a period of a kind of revival. For example, in China, after the end of the notorious "cultural revolution", Confucianism again received official recognition. In a number of states of Southeast Asia, the political and legal ideology is developing under the influence of the concepts of "Buddhist socialism". To a certain extent, the spread of Eastern religious cults in industrialized countries, including Russia, where many admirers of Krishnaism and other movements have appeared in recent years, is connected to a certain extent with these processes.
The modern content of the religious and moral-political doctrines that arose in the states of the Ancient East diverges from their original meaning. Therefore, it would be a serious miscalculation to look for universal values in them, the eternal principles of justice, and so on. In particular, the Confucian principles of philanthropy initially applied only to the Chinese and were combined with the idea that China is the center of the Celestial Empire, to which all other peoples must submit. Historically adequate coverage of the political and legal concepts of the past requires taking into account the environment in which they originated and does not allow their modernization.
Bibliography
For the preparation of this work, materials from the site feelosophy.narod.ru were used.
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The presentation was prepared by Ivanova Lilia 7A.
Ancient states of the East.
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Ancient States of the East
Ancient Egypt Babylon Assyria Phenicia Ancient China Ancient India
Kingdoms of Israel and Judah
the great Wall of China
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Ancient Egypt.
Egypt is a fabulous country of pyramids, camels and golden sands of the desert, which has long attracted tourists with its unique beauty and mystery. Egypt is one of the largest Arab states, located most of its territory along the Nile River, in Northeast Africa. In the north, the shores of the country of the pharaohs are washed by the Mediterranean Sea, and in the east - by the Red Sea, on the border with the Suez Canal. The term "Egypt" (Aigyptos) comes from the Phoenician "Hikupta" - a corruption of the Egyptian "Hatkapt" ("Temple of Ptah"), the name of the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis. The history of Ancient Egypt is divided into the following eras: First (beginning 4 thousand BC) and Second (mid 4 thousand BC) predynastic periods; Early Kingdom (32nd–29th centuries BC); Old Kingdom (28-23 centuries BC); First transitional period (23rd-21st centuries BC); Middle Kingdom (21st-18th centuries BC); Second transitional period (late 18th - mid 16th centuries BC); New Kingdom (16th-11th centuries BC); Third transitional period (11th-10th centuries BC); Late Kingdom (9th-7th centuries BC); the era of Persian domination (the end of the 6th–4th centuries BC).
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Babylon is the largest city of ancient Mesopotamia, the capital of the Babylonian kingdom in the 19th-6th centuries. BC, the most important commercial and cultural center of Asia Minor. Babylon comes from the Akkadian words "Bab-ilu" - "Gate of God". Ancient Babylon arose on the site of the more ancient Sumerian city of Kadingir, whose name was later transferred to Babylon. The first mention of Babylon is contained in the inscription of the Akkadian king Sharkalisharri (23rd century BC). In the 22nd century Herodotus about Babylon: “...Babylon was built like this ... It lies on a vast plain, forming a quadrangle, each side of which is 120 stadia (21,312 m) long. The circumference of all four sides of the city is 480 stadia (85,248 m). Babylon was not only a very large city, but also the most beautiful of all the cities that I know. First of all, the city is surrounded by a deep, wide and full of water moat, then there is a wall 50 royal (Persian) cubits (26.64 m) wide and 200 (106.56 m) high. The royal cubit is 3 fingers larger than usual (55.5 cm) ... In 331 BC. e. Babylon was conquered by Alexander the Great, who made the capital of his empire here.
Babylon (apocalyptic) - the capital of the Babylonian monarchy - with its power and originality of culture made such an indelible impression on the Jews after the Babylonian captivity that its name became synonymous with every big, rich and, moreover, immoral city. The story of the Tower of Babel is recorded during the time of the Assyrian kingdom. THE PLAN OF BABYLON
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Assyria was in northern Mesopotamia, on the Tigris River, above Babylonia. Owing to the absence of such natural frontiers as the sea or mountains, it was open to attack from all sides, and consequently, in order to survive, it needed a strong army, constantly on alert. Moreover, the Assyrians were enterprising merchants, and their country was at the crossroads of the main trade routes that passed through Mesopotamia. One of the most warlike peoples in history, the Assyrians had for centuries dominated their neighbors and, at the zenith of their power, ruled an empire that stretched from the Persian Gulf to Egypt. The Romans considered the Assyrian empire to be the first "world empire" and the distant predecessor of their own empire, the Roman one.
As a state, Assyria was formed by 1900 BC, but it had to survive several more centuries under the rule of Babylon and the kingdom of Mitapni. During this long and difficult period, the Assyrians not only managed to maintain their identity, but also established strong military traditions. In the XIV century BC. they moved on to systematic captures.
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Ancient India.
Ancient India is one of the first world civilizations, and brought the greatest number of spiritual values to world culture. The finds of archaeologists testify to the presence of human society in Ancient India already in the period of the Stone Age. The history of India began with the emergence of the Indus Valley Civilization, which reached its peak in the 3rd millennium BC. e. The Indus civilization was followed by the Vedic period, which lasted until the 5th century BC. e.
The Vedic civilization provided the basis for Hinduism and other cultural aspects of early Indian society. Starting from the VI century BC. e. In India, many Mahajanapadas appeared - independent kingdoms and republics. In the III century BC. e. most of South Asia united under the Mauryan Empire under Chandragupta Maurya. The empire reached its greatest prosperity under the reign of the Buddhist king Ashoka. At the beginning of the II century BC. e. India experienced a series of attacks from Central Asia, which resulted in the formation of the Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian kingdoms, as well as the Kushan Empire, on the territory of the Indian subcontinent. Starting from the III century in the history of India, the period of the rule of the Gupta dynasty began, which is considered to be the "golden age" of India.
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Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
The kingdom of Israel is the ancient Jewish kingdom. According to the Bible, it was founded in the 11th century BC. e. (1020 BC) by King Saul (Shaul). After the death of King Solomon in 928 B.C. e. the kingdom was divided. Ten tribes (tribes) formed the northern kingdom, which was called Israel with its capital in Samaria. The northern kingdom lasted over 200 years, and was destroyed by Assyria in 721 BC. e. The southern kingdom lasted over 300 years and was destroyed by Babylon in 586 BC. e. The Kingdom of Judah or Judea is one of the two Jewish states (Southern Kingdom) that arose after the collapse of the Israelite kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon in the 10th century BC. e., with its capital in Jerusalem. It included the lands of the tribe of Judah and half of the tribe of Benjamin.
Masada is a symbol of the ancient Israelite kingdom. Jerusalem is an ancient city in Palestine.
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The name "Phoenicia" probably comes from the Greek for "purple", possibly associated with the production of purple paint from a special type of molluscs that lived off the coast of Phoenicia, which was one of the main crafts of the locals. Another explanation is "the country of the red solar deity Phoenix", which appeared from the east. There is also a version that the name comes from the Egyptian word "fenehu" - "ship builder", since the Phoenicians were really engaged in navigation and shipbuilding. The Phoenicians in the Bible are sometimes called the Philistines, from whom, according to one version, the name "Palestine" came from.
Phoenicia is an ancient country located on the eastern (so-called Levantine) coast of the Mediterranean Sea (on the territory of modern Lebanon, Syria and Israel). The inhabitants of the country, the Phoenicians, created a powerful civilization with developed crafts, maritime trade and a rich culture. Phoenician writing was one of the first systems of syllabic phonetic writing recorded in history. The highest flowering of the Phoenician civilization falls on 1200-800 years. BC e. In the VI century BC. e. Phoenicia was conquered by the Persians, and in 332 BC. e. - Alexander the Great. The main cities of Phoenicia are Akko, Akhziv, Tire (modern Sur), Tzaraat (Sarepta), Sidon (modern Saida), Beruta (modern Beirut), Byblos (Gebal), Tripoli and Arvad. In the XIII century BC. e. Phoenicia experienced the invasion of the peoples of the sea. Already in the XII century BC. e. The colonies of Cadiz (Spain) and Utica (Tunisia) were founded. Then Sardinia and Malta were colonized. In Sicily, the Phoenicians founded the city of Palermo. In the VIII century BC. e. Phoenicia was captured by Assyria. Phoenicia came under Persian rule in 538 BC. e. As a result, the Phoenician colonies of the western Mediterranean gained independence and united under the rule of Carthage.
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Ancient China.
Ancient China, known as Hanshui China, like other civilizations, was born from the vast Pacific continent of Mu. Ancient Chinese records are known for descriptions of celestial chariots and the jade production they shared with the Maya. Indeed, the ancient Chinese and Mayan languages seem to be very similar. The ancient Chinese invented everything from toilet paper to earthquake detectors to rocket technology and printing techniques. In 1959, archaeologists discovered aluminum tapes made several thousand years ago, this aluminum was obtained from raw materials using electricity.
Chinese civilization is one of the oldest in the world. According to Chinese scientists, its age may be five thousand years, while the available written sources cover a period of at least 3500 years. The presence of administrative management systems that were improved by successive dynasties, the early development of the largest agrarian centers in the basins of the Yellow River and Yangtze, created advantages for the Chinese state, whose economy was based on developed agriculture, in comparison with its neighbors, nomads and highlanders. The introduction of Confucianism as a state ideology (1st century BC) and a unified writing system further strengthened Chinese civilization. To facilitate an objective perception of the entire length of Chinese history, the following division is used: Pre-imperial China (Xia, Shang, Zhou - before 221 BC) Imperial China (Qin - Qing) New China (1911 - modern)
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The great Wall of China.
The Great Wall of China is one of the largest and most skillful construction and technical structures in the world. It stretches from the Liaodong Gulf through Northern China to the Gobi Desert. The distance from one end of the Wall to the other is 2450 km, but if we take into account other ramparts extending from the Great Wall of China, we get 6000 - 6500 km. The construction of the Great Wall of China began in the 7th century. BC. rulers of small states who built earthen ramparts around their territories. Throughout the history of China, there have been three Great Walls (each 5000 km long), the construction of which took more than 2000 years. For the construction of the third Great Wall of China, the Ming Dynasty allocated about 1 million people.
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http://www.egyptolog.ru http://www.liveinternet.ru http://ru.wikipedia.org http://www.sunhome.ru http://www.google.ru
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"India and China in antiquity" - Features of the historical development of the Ancient East. Indra. Arias. The emergence of Buddhism. Axial time. Interest in discussing religious and ideological foundations. State of Shang. Mauryan Empire. Confucianism and Taoism. The Age of Warring States. Ancient China. Penetration of Aryan tribes into India. India and China. State of Zhou. Vedism. Exodus from the mythological era. Life is evil. A cruel system of varnas. Possibilities of philosophical comprehension of reality.
"Ancient Mesopotamia" - The basis of life here was water. In the Southern Mesopotamia, many types of raw materials were lacking. Writing. Trade. Cuneiform. Dictionary. Ancient Mesopotamia. Lesson question. nature and geographic location. What job are you talking about.
"Assyria" - View. Memphis. countries and peoples. Developments. Required level. An event from the history of the Assyrian state. The missing concept. Directions of the Assyrian conquests. Assyrian world power. "Iron" kingdom of Assyria. What allowed the Assyrians to create a world power. Assyria. We define the problem. Lion's lair. Beginning of the Iron Age. We apply new knowledge. Raised level. What achievements and lessons did the Assyrian state leave us as a legacy.
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