Harappan civilization: Did you mean...?

EPISODE 1: THE REVOLUTION The first part tells the story of the troubled birth of the world's first democracy, ancient Athens, through the life of an Athenian nobleman, Cleisthenes. In the brutal world of the 5th century BC, the Athenians...

In this third segment from Dr. David Neiman's lecture series, he describes how humans first developed the concept of the written word in Mesopotamia.

In the fourth part of his lecture, Dr. Neiman explains that writing is invented in the Mesopotamian region of Sumer. He describes that once a writing style is developed, literature flourishes. He then describes the first (probably) literary...

The Predynastic Period in Ancient Egypt is the time before recorded history from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic Age and on to the rise of the First Dynasty and is generally recognized as spanning the era from c. 6000-3150 BCE (though physical...

Part one of Dr. David Neiman's nine-part lecture outlines the rise of the earliest civilizations in the Near East geographically and with reference to the development of writing.

In part six of his nine part lecture on the Near East, Dr. Neiman discusses the importance of Sumer's influence on Egypt. Further, he details how the building of the temple towers, named "Ziggurat" lead to the development of the Egyptian...

EPISODE 2: GOLDEN AGE The second part recounts the Greeks' heroic victory against the mighty Persian empire through the life of Themistocles, one of Athens' greatest generals.The episode opens in 490 B.C. when tiny Athens prepares to safeguard...

In the fifth part of his lecture, Dr. Neiman explains that as the writing system developed, the Sumerian and Akkadian civilizations start describing their world. The autobiography of the Akkadian King Sargon of Akkad is recounted.

Dr. David Neiman discusses the development of hieroglyphs and the use of papyrus and ink in Egypt. Further, he describes how the Phoenicians revolutionized writing with the invention of the alphabet, and that even though the scribes resisted...

The Babylonians developed a calendar based on the moon and sun cycles. The Lunar calendar was designed to work in conjunction with the solar cycle by adding leap months known an "intercalary" months.