أهم حضارات ومعتقدات إنسان ما قبل التاريخ | ببساطة 7 — Transcript

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1. 0:00In the last episode, we stopped at the discovery of agriculture by ancient humans around
2. 0:0410,000 BC. We said that this is considered the first and most important step in the history of human civilization
3. 0:11and a turning point in the relationship between nature and humans. After humans had
4. 0:17been living at the mercy of nature, which had made them hunt and travel in search of
5. 0:22food, water, and shelter, humans began, for the first time, to produce their own food and turn nature
6. 0:29to their advantage. So what is the story of this discovery of agriculture? And why do we say that it is the first and most important step in
7. 0:33the history of human civilization? The story of agriculture began before its formal discovery, around
8. 0:3816,000 BC, when the Northern Hemisphere began to warm up.
9. 0:44This ended the ice ages that had forced humans to hunt and migrate from
10. 0:49place to place. This climate change led to a degree of stability for humans
11. 0:55around rivers and areas where wild grasses grew, providing them with
12. 1:00food. This paved the way for the discovery of agriculture. So how did this happen? The story of the discovery
13. 1:06of agriculture began in what is known as the Fertile Crescent, a
14. 1:10region encompassing parts of the Levant, Turkey, and Iraq. There, a person, for the first
15. 1:17time, conceived a remarkable idea: instead of eating the grain produced by the land, they began burying it
16. 1:23in the ground, believing it would produce grain again. And indeed, this person succeeded, and
17. 1:29the land began to produce grain. Thus, humanity discovered agriculture. This leads to
18. 1:34another question: why was this particular region where agriculture began? The answer is quite simple: because
19. 1:39this region... And from its name, it is considered the most fertile region on earth, to the extent that
20. 1:45more than 30 types of wild herbs that humans can eat grow in
21. 1:50this region. This is of course a very large number if we compare it, for example, to only four types that can
22. 1:55grow in the Americas. So now we know the story of the discovery of agriculture and we know the first place
23. 2:00where it started. What happened after that? What happened [music] is that with the discovery of agriculture,
24. 2:05early humans began to settle near the land they cultivated. They started with raising livestock, then
25. 2:11pottery, and then agricultural tools. Human settlements began to increase. All of
26. 2:17this led to the next major step: the emergence of cities. This brings us
27. 2:22to the topic of our episode today: prehistoric cultures, cities, and civilizations. To summarize
28. 2:28and understand this topic simply, we have five main regions in the world around
29. 2:32rivers where agriculture began at different times. All these places, with the discovery of agriculture,
30. 2:38began to pave the way for the emergence of the civilizations of the ancient world. So let's focus on each one together
31. 2:43and take them region by region to learn about the most important cultures and cities that appeared in each,
32. 2:48and what great civilization they ultimately reached. The first, most important, and oldest region
33. 2:53we have with us today is West Asia, which includes the
34. 2:57Fertile Crescent and Mesopotamia (the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers). This region saw the emergence of
35. 3:03approximately 10 different cities and cultures from around 10,000 BC,
36. 3:09coinciding with the discovery of agriculture, until the rise of one of the greatest civilizations of the
37. 3:14ancient world: the Sumerian civilization, around 3000 BC, which I will discuss
38. 3:19in detail in the next episode. So, what were the most important cultures and cities that appeared in this region
39. 3:23? For example, the oldest agricultural culture is the Natufian culture, which
40. 3:29emerged around 100,000 BC in the region of Palestine. I emphasize
41. 3:35the word "agricultural" here because during this period and before, there were other major cultures, such as the Kabarian culture,
42. 3:40but these were primitive cultures that relied on hunting and gathering. As
43. 3:47for the Natufian culture, it left behind numerous artifacts, including agricultural tools,
44. 3:52ornaments, and other items, as we can see. And most importantly, it...
45. 3:56Let's look at the most famous and oldest statue discovered in this region: the Ein
46. 4:02Sakhri Lover statue. This statue, discovered in the Ein Sakhri area, depicts a man and woman in an
47. 4:08intimate position, as we can see. This indicates that ancient humans revered
48. 4:12and respected the intimate relationship between men and women. What other cultures and cities emerged
49. 4:17in this region? For example, we have the Hassuna culture, which appeared in Iraq around
50. 4:216,000 years ago; the Halaf culture, which appeared in Syria around 6,000 years ago; a city like
51. 4:26Jericho, considered one of the oldest cities in history, which appeared around
52. 4:319,000 years ago in Palestine; and a city like Samarra in Iraq, which appeared around
53. 4:365,000 years ago. Another region we have is North Africa, particularly Egypt
54. 4:41around the Nile River. In fact, scientists have discovered many artifacts from ancient cultures
55. 4:47dating back to the Stone Age. However, as I mentioned, the civilizations of West Asia were also cultures...
56. 4:52Primitive civilizations relied on hunting and gathering, while
57. 4:58agricultural civilizations in Egypt began with the emergence of agriculture in northern Egypt around 6000 BC,
58. 5:04such as the Fayum civilization, and in southern Egypt around 5000 BC, such as the Naqada civilization,
59. 5:11where scientists have discovered numerous artifacts dating back to this period, as we can see.
60. 5:16The civilizations and cities in the north and south continued as they were
61. 5:21until King Menes came around 3100 BC and united the north and south, ushering
62. 5:28in the dynastic period in Egypt and the beginning of the great Egyptian civilization around 3100
63. 5:33BC. The third region we'll discuss is
64. 5:37South and East Asia, which currently includes China, India, and Pakistan.
65. 5:42The first cities and agricultural settlements began to appear in this region around the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers in
66. 5:48China around 9000 BC. These settlements later led
67. 5:53to the rise of Chinese civilization around 2000 BC.
68. 5:57Similarly, one of the oldest cities in the world, Mehrgarh in Pakistan, began
69. 6:03around 7000 BC. In connection with this, scholars have discovered the oldest
70. 6:09surgical evidence of dental work in this region, finding artificial holes in the teeth of two men
71. 6:14belonging to this culture. It's important to note that this culture, along with other
72. 6:19surrounding cultures,... This paved the way for the emergence of the Indus Valley culture around the Indus River in
73. 6:24Pakistan, a culture that arose around 2500 BC. It also
74. 6:29paved the way for the rise of Indian civilization. Our fourth region is Europe.
75. 6:34While scientists have found numerous traces of
76. 6:39early civilizations, cultures, and settlements dating back to the Stone Age in Europe, the oldest evidence of agriculture
77. 6:44and settlement in Europe dates back to around 6000 BC in the Balkans
78. 6:49of southeastern Europe. From there, agriculture spread to the rest of Europe,
79. 6:54particularly Greece, where settlements and cities paved the way for one of the oldest
80. 7:01European civilizations: the Minoan civilization, around 2700 BC.
81. 7:07Our final region is the Americas and Australia.
82. 7:11This region has a slightly different historical context, as agriculture reached them
83. 7:16relatively late, around 4000 BC. And so we conclude... We learned about the five main regions
84. 7:21in the world where human settlements emerged, leading to the rise of
85. 7:27the ancient world civilizations, which we will discuss in the next episode. Before moving on to the
86. 7:31advanced level section, I need to address a slightly important point: the division of eras into
87. 7:35Paleolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages varies from region to
88. 7:41region. This is simply because not all places or regions experience the same
89. 7:46developments at the same time. For example, the discovery or emergence of agriculture: we
90. 7:50said that agriculture began in the Fertile Crescent region around 10,000 BC.
91. 7:55During this period, we say that the Fertile Crescent region ended its Paleolithic era
92. 8:00and began its Neolithic era, characterized by agriculture. However, in a region like Europe,
93. 8:06agriculture appeared a little later, around 6,000 BC. Therefore, during this period,
94. 8:11we say that Europe ended its Paleolithic era and began [music]. The Neolithic period, as well as
95. 8:17the Bronze and Iron Ages, means that once a region among the five
96. 8:22we mentioned no longer shows the use or manufacture
97. 8:26of tools from bronze, we say that this region has ended
98. 8:30its Neolithic period and entered the Bronze Age. The same applies to the Iron Age.
99. 8:35Each region differs depending on the beginning of tool use that characterizes each
100. 8:41era
101. 8:48. From here, and for several upcoming episodes in this series, simply put, in the section where we discuss
102. 8:53the civilizations of the ancient world, I will specifically talk about religious beliefs. This is simply because religion
103. 9:00is considered the essence of civilization and the main and fundamental driver of all human history. It is through
104. 9:07religion that humanity finds an outlet to satisfy its spiritual needs and its passion and desire to
105. 9:13know the origin of life, the universe, and even the origin of its own existence, from the moment it became aware of life until now,
106. 9:19throughout the ages. So, today, in this section, I will begin with the religious inclination and religious beliefs
107. 9:24of humankind. Prehistory—and here I mean religious inclinations and religious beliefs, not religion itself—
108. 9:30because before the advent of writing and the emergence of historical eras,
109. 9:34humanity didn't know any organized, fully codified religion. This is simply because all
110. 9:40prehistoric cultures were oral, not written.
111. 9:45Therefore, scientists rely on discovered artifacts, drawings, and rituals performed by
112. 9:51ancient humans to understand their religious inclinations and beliefs. So, what are these
113. 9:56religious beliefs? I'll start, contrary to what might be expected, with Neanderthals, not
114. 10:02modern humans. This is because numerous discoveries related to
115. 10:07Neanderthals have revealed several religious practices and rituals they performed,
116. 10:13the most important of which was the veneration of animals and the burial
117. 10:19of their dead. Evidence of Neanderthal veneration of animals comes from the discovery by scientists of several skulls in
118. 10:24a cave in the Heart Mountains. The bears that were associated with each other in a certain way
119. 10:31indicate that Neanderthals, in one way or another, revered these animals, or at least
120. 10:37It instilled in him a kind of awe and fear to the point that he kept their skulls. As
121. 10:42for the Neanderthal burying his dead, this means a kind of feeling
122. 10:47of life after death. Sometimes he would even place with the body of the deceased a kind of tool such as an axe or
123. 10:53an animal as a kind of protection for him after death. For modern humans, or
124. 10:58Homo sapiens, burial rituals evolved by placing a type of
125. 11:04amulet with the deceased. This amulet consisted of pieces of shell arranged in a specific pattern. They also
126. 11:10used a type of red dye, which scientists believe symbolizes blood
127. 11:16as a means of charging the deceased with life [music] on their journey after death. Furthermore, with the development of modern behavior
128. 11:21in modern humans, as we explained in the previous episode [music], they also began
129. 11:25to express their spiritual inclinations and religious beliefs in two ways. The first is
130. 11:30through visual art [music], or through cave paintings, where Homo
131. 11:35sapiens felt they had the ability to reproduce the sacred, which is the animal, through
132. 11:41drawing. The second way is through statues or sculptures, such as the statues of Venus and others,
133. 11:46as we see. These are featureless statues, and therefore, scientists believe
134. 11:51they represent some being, whether a god or an object. Humans express their spirit through sculpture,
135. 11:56and scholars trace the rituals, sculptures, and statues found among
136. 12:01ancient humans back to what are known as shamanic beliefs, such as animism, fetishism, totemism
137. 12:07, and others. Now, before anyone says, "What are you saying? I don't understand
138. 12:10anything," let's take it step by step and explain it calmly. We'll start with
139. 12:16animism, which comes from the Latin word "anima," meaning soul. Simply put, it's a belief
140. 12:22that everything that exists has a soul: humans, animals, inanimate
141. 12:29objects, and natural phenomena. This is what allowed ancient humans to venerate animals
142. 12:35and natural phenomena, because they believed these things possessed a soul capable of fulfilling their desires.
143. 12:41Incidentally, many religions still exist today that rely on the concept of the soul in
144. 12:47their beliefs, such as Shinto in Japan and some Hindu sects, as
145. 12:51we will see . Then, the second thing among the shamanic beliefs is fetishism. This is simply
146. 12:57a belief whose followers believe in a fetish or idol that has a special power and ability to
147. 13:03influence others. The third type of shamanic belief is totemism. This
148. 13:09belief is very famous in the Americas, Australia, and Africa. Its idea is simply based on what
149. 13:14is called the totem, which is an image of a bird, animal, or whatever it is that the followers of this belief
150. 13:21believe has a special spirit and is sacred. Therefore, they forbid breaking or destroying it. This,
151. 13:26as we can see, is very close to fetishism, but it is distinguished by the symbol of the totem. This is
152. 13:31the general concept of shamanic beliefs. As for prehistoric humans, their sculptures, statues,
153. 13:36and rituals stemmed from these beliefs, and the rituals developed
154. 13:42over time and became collective, awe-inspiring, and magical rituals, like the ones we used to have. We see it in
155. 13:47movies, where the tribal leader, or shaman, impersonates
156. 13:53the tribe's sacred animal by wearing its skull or performing the movements that
157. 13:58identify it. As we can see, this still exists today in primitive tribes
158. 14:03in Africa, the Americas, and sometimes Australia. So, we've learned a brief overview of
159. 14:08prehistoric human beliefs, which, with the discovery of agriculture, began to develop
160. 14:14and gradually transform into what is known as organized religion in the civilizations of the ancient world. This is
161. 14:20what we will talk about in the next episode, so stay
162. 14:26tuned
163. 14:35!