Antique, or Old age, is the name given to the period of Human History comprised between the end of the Neolithic, around 4000 BC. a., and the fall of the Roman Empire of the West, in 476 d. Ç. The definition of the existence of an Antiquity was carried out by European peoples, showing a specific historical conception of these peoples.
The beginning of antiquity is associated with the invention of writing, which first occurred in Mesopotamia around 4000 BC. Ç.. It was the invention of writing that further divided the History of Prehistory, indicating that, according to this conception of periodic division, where there is no writing, there is no history.
This perspective sought to signal a supposed superiority of Europe and some Asian peoples who contributed to the formation of Europe on other peoples who did not use writing, such as different African, American and Asians. From this perspective, there is only history if there is writing. If we use this perspective today, it is a legacy of European colonization in different parts of the world.
Antiquity is further divided into Oriental Antiquity and Classical Antiquity.
THE eastern antiquity refers to the history of Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Phoenician, and Hebrew civilizations. These civilizations make up what the European peoples who made the historical division called the Orient. They were civilizations that inhabited North Africa and the Middle East, or Near East (near Europe), in the region of the Mediterranean Sea. These civilizations were included in the European historical study due to the contacts established with European civilizations, mainly in the economic and cultural aspect.
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THE Classic antiquity it refers mainly to the Greek and Roman civilizations, which would be in the genesis of the formation of European civilization. The Greek and Roman cultures were the main sources of the formation of the West, with its philosophy, plastic arts, science and also the very way of making History, given the work of historians such as Herodotus, Thucydides and Tito Livio.
It is possible to see that in this historical division, civilizations as old as those mentioned, such as the Chinese civilization, were excluded. Because they have not established contact with Europeans, Westerners, and have not participated in their economic and cultural formation, Chinese civilization is not inserted in Antiquity.
On the other hand, pre-Columbian civilizations in America, even being located in the geographic west, they are also not included in the studies of antiquity, because they also had no contact with the peoples. Europeans. However, the European maritime expansion from the 15th century onwards allowed the Europeans to reach the Americas, decimating a large part of the civilizations that inhabited the continent, making it part of the West, in addition to including it, from that moment, in their story.
By Me. Tales Pinto
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PINTO, Tales dos Santos. "What is Antiquity?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/o-que-e/historia/o-que-e-antiguidade.htm. Accessed on July 27, 2021.
