Following the Prehistoric Period (alter 4000B. C), man started improving on his way of life all over the world. The regions (cradles) of the world that witnessed these first ancient civilizations were:
- Africa: Egypt's Nile valley saw a rich civilization which later on spread to the Eastern Mediterranean. The peoples affected by this rich civilization were the Egyptians, The Phoenicians, The Berbers, The Carthaginians. Also in North Africa were the rich civilizations of Kush. Aksum which later on spread to Nok, sao and Zimbabwe in the South.
- The Middle East: Mesopotamia. (the land between the two rivers, Tigris and Euphrates) saw a rich civilization like that of ancient Egypt. In this civilization many peoples of the region did great things such as building cities, inventing different forms of writing. These peoples were the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Chaldeans, the Hittites and the Persians.
- India and China (the Far East): These civilizations developed along the banks of great rivers. These rivers include the River Indus, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and in lands such as Tibet, Manchuria and Mongolia.
- Europe: The classical civilizations of Greece and Rome. These came later than those of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. It was from the latter civilizations that the two classical civilizations gained inspiration.
- The Americas (North and South America): These were the Aztec and Maya civilizations of Peru m South America.
After viewing the world’s prominent ancient civilizations listed above, it will be necessary to know the general factors that contributed to the rise of these civilizations.
