ancient cultures?

[Tenshi no Ai]

Is it just me, or were some of them pretty cool^^ I like learning about different cultures and last year when I was in my gr. 12 Comparitive Civilizations class I loved it (not to mentioned leaned ALOT!)

I know the HUGE name is usually Egypt :/ Egypt this and Egypt that... ok Egypt looked cool and all, and they made these giant pyramids and stuff, but it's pretty overrated^^ I thought it was so neat when we learnt about Meso America which I knew NOTHING about :/ Only JUST learned about how amazing the Incas were about a month ago :/ Then I went "oooo so THAT'S where The Emperor's New Groove got it's inspiration!" It all makes sense now^^

The fashions, the art, the architectures and stuff of these old cutures are so amusing^^ Realized this after watchign RahXephon (based on Meso America/Egyption designs) and Troy (ancient Greece, of course). Never realized until after I learned about what the Mayans and stuff were, just HOW heavily based RahXephon is on all that^^ I'm just facinated by these old civilizations that don't exist anymore, although some people from it still survive^^

Anyone else amused like me with how people used to live and all that before>?

[Debitt]

I LOVE early Chinese and Japanese history. While I was in China, I got a chance to see some prehistoric villages - stuff from before the first dynasty. Absolutely amazing. 8D

[Tenshi no Ai]

I LOVE early Chinese and Japanese history. While I was in China, I got a chance to see some prehistoric villages - stuff from before the first dynasty. Absolutely amazing. 8D

Never did get to do too much on either... well I did on China but it was a blurr from my memory @_@ It would be nice to go visit some old villages and gardens and stuff one day though^^ Like something out of of a piece of art I picture...

[bigsleepj]

I've always been fascinated by Mayans and Aztecs civilizations. Both have interesting building and art styles with interesting patterns.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

What about the Inca? They were pretty interesting also.

[Tenshi no Ai]

What about the Inca? They were pretty interesting also.

No math... no wheels... no draft animals... no writing (except tied knots on rope to keep inventories etc) yet they could make a plateau civilization, walled in with VERY tight fitting stones like puzzle pieces, each about a few tons in weight^^ Now THAT'S impressive!

[Syreth]

I can't remember which central/north american civilization it was, but they lived in the mountains and had this complex system of roads and a sort of relay system of messengers who would run over the mountains. They must have been in good shape. Also, wasn't it one of those civilizations that did the Nazca (I think) drawings, that were huge, accurate images that you can see from airplanes? Maybe I'm just getting mixed up.

Also, I think the Greeks are really interesting too. Wasn't it Crete or one of those small islands on the Mediterranean where they had flushing toilets and all of these unique technologies? I just remember the Greeks captured an island that was technologically advanced. Pretty interesting stuff.

[Sammy Boy]

Go the Sumerians!

I like ancient Chinese culture too. I know my ancestors lived in a city near the middle of China, but the neighbouring kingdoms decided to have a big battle near the city around 500BC, and the whole region kinda got trashed.

[Tenshi no Ai]

I can't remember which central/north american civilization it was, but they lived in the mountains and had this complex system of roads and a sort of relay system of messengers who would run over the mountains. They must have been in good shape. Also, wasn't it one of those civilizations that did the Nazca (I think) drawings, that were huge, accurate images that you can see from airplanes? Maybe I'm just getting mixed up.

Not sure about the Nazca signs... but the mountain/complex road sysmte was ALSO the Inca! Although they are a very young civilization (only a few hundred years ago), with the few technologies they even had it was surprising what they could do 0_0.

[Lynx]

yeah i really like ancient cultures, i took an anthro course and that was fun! ancient greece and rome were cool.

[Debitt]

Syreth, I vaguely recall the Nazca structures you're talking about. D: The ones that people say were alien landing fields and stuff, right?

Those were cool. x3 I'm going to go look them up right now.

EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_lines Wiki article~

[Syreth]

Yeah, if I remember right people say that aliens might have done it since the people couldn't accurately make an image that large without having an arial view. It probably could be done with a grid though, yeah? Looks like they were probably Incan as well.

[Technomancer]

I recall a television show some time ago (either NOVA or something on the Discovery Channel), where they had pretty much solved the problem. The animals in the pictures all happen to be shamanic totems used by the nearby cultures, and these would often be drawn prior to entering the trance state. The geometric lines, or the supposed "runways" all happened to point towards the highlands. This is significant because the highlands were the source of much of that people's water, a source that dried up when local climatic conditions began to change. Drawing from local shamanic traditions, it is supposed that the Nazca created them as part of a ritual to try and draw back the vanishing water.

[Wind]

I like egypt myself I have read alot about it

especially about the art of mummification and King tut and stuff of that nature I read some about the people of the amazon too they are cool.

Some random facts about ancient egypt

it took 70 days to mummify a person and usually poor people were found in better condition cause their graves weren't robbed.
The Pyramids were built when the pharoah was alive and then they were buried in it
The Sphnix was built as a guardian to the pyramids
The god of mummification is Anubis

If you have any more questions or can Recommend any good websites about ancient egypt please feel free to PM me

[Technomancer]

Personallyy, I always like Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent the best. I found the history to be more interesting, especially given how much of it relates to our own world (the earliest civilizations, our systems of time and measurement, relation to religion, etc).

[Wind]

I also like the arabian countries just cause the Arab horse history i have read and stuff is really cool and I like the desert

[mitsuki lover]

I like Rome and the Norse/German/Celtic cultures.
While other ancient cultures have a lot to say for themselves we who are of Western European descent should not forget our own heritage culture.

[Technomancer]

Absolutely. I'm not sure I'd consider the Norse to be an "ancient" culture though (one usually reserves that designation for things that happened before the fall of Rome). I agree though that the cultures of Western/Northern Europe were very rich and are certainly worthy of close study.

[Tenshi no Ai]

For some reason, some of the old European cultures don't really interest me... probably because I know very little of Scandinavian cultures and so forth^^ Although things like the Rome and Greece empires are amusing... so many gods... @_@

[Aka-chan]

I'm a big mythology fan, had some interest in native Americans, and so on, but I've always been a big Egypt fan. Yeah, sorry, but the intrigue of the end of the 18th dynasty! Akenaten--so crazy!

Though I had a bit of an Inca obsession a while ago; they were pretty cool too.

[mitsuki lover]

The Celts were called the Third Great European Culture after the Greeks and Romans.The sample of their artwork that remain shows an elborate care with intricate designs and details.They are also famous for having brought the very city of Rome to it's knees in the early days of the Republic and they even went so far as to sack the Oracle at Delphi one of the most Holy Sites in Pagan Europe.They were also some of the greatest poets and story tellers of the ancient world,and it was the Romano-Celtic world that would give birth to one of the truely great legends of all time:King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.