QuoteReplyTopic: Oldest civilization in the world? Posted: 20-Jul-2006 at 14:41
Wait. There's got to be more to this. I don't claim any true knowledge about this subject, so I'm going to try to reason this out. Italy was not unified until the 19th century. It then goes to reason that the people of the various states did not refer to their language as "Italian" but as a derivation of the name of their state. Ah, wait!!! I seem to remember reading that modern Italian is based mainly on the Tuscan dialect, in the same way that modern Spanish is based on the Castilian dialect of Spain, dating from a time when Spain was not a unified country. But, I also seem to remember that Tuscan was merely one of several dialects of Italian. Italian as a language may have been spoken since the Middle Ages but in the form of its dialects, and referred to by a multiplicity of names (except "Italian") based on region or state, and only became the standard language in the 19th century. Italy was unified by Sicily. I wonder why the Sicilian dialect did not become the standard Italian.
Ha,
Mamikon theres still no proof of your audacious claim that 90% of
Itally's population didn't speak Itallian. Its not in the book, its not
in the records maybe its just all in your head.
Could you source this claim, I'm still waiting, thanks.
I gave you the title of the book, the author and where to find it...the rest is up to you
The Sumerian civilization is supposed to be the oldest- dating back to around 3500 BC. That's why the ancient near east is called "The cradle of Civilization"
Ha, Mamikon theres still no proof of your audacious claim that 90% of Itally's population didn't speak Itallian. Its not in the book, its not in the records maybe its just all in your head.
Could you source this claim, I'm still waiting, thanks.
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.
Albert Pine
U can find the Gundastrep cludorn and
the Indus valley civilizationseals of Pashupathi imges side by
side and decide for ur self waht can be infered from this following link http://www.lugodoc.demon.co.uk/CERNUNOS.HTM
Scientific American Magazine
Digs Up A Cross-cultural Artifact Controversy
The Gundestrup
Cauldron is one of the enigmas of European archeology. The large silver
bowl was uncovered May 28th, 1891, in a peat bog adjacent to the town of
Gundestrup in Denmark. Held to be Celtic in origin, the various figures
hammered in the metal are described as Cernunnos, lord of the underworld,
Taranis, the sky-god and other deities of the Celtic pantheon. And there
are Indian elephants - poorly done with pointed shoulders, ears too high
on their head and other incongruous details indicating the silversmith had
never seen an elephant. One of the first archeologists to examine the
artifact did indeed conclude the vessel's carefully crafted scenes were
connected to India. Unfortunately, his reasoning was faulty and both his
wrong reasons and his right conclusion were thrown out.
But in the
March issue of Scientific American, British expert Timothy Taylor
convincingly resurrects the cauldron's Indian connection. "I saw that the
Gundestrup scene showing a pair of elephants flanking a central female
figure clearly depicted the ritual bathing of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess
of good fortune."
The most striking image on the cauldron is that
of a horned man in a yogic pose with reindeer and animals beside him, a
pose and setting very similar to that of a 4,000-year-old seal from the
Indus valley site of Mohenjo-Daro in India. [below]. The cauldron was not
made in India, for the man on it has laces on his shoes, placing him not
only in Europe, but specifically in ancient Thrace, a Roman province which
encompassed modern Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece. The cauldron likely
arrived in Denmark as booty from a military expedition, probably around
100CE. The cauldron was evidently hidden at the spot it was finally found,
and buried as a peat bog formed.
Taylor concludes that the
silversmiths had contact, perhaps extensive contact, with India and may
even have been an itinerant caste of metal workers from India similar to
the Romany or Gypsies who left India about 1,000CE for the Middle East and
Europe. What is most surprising to a Hindu, however, is the remarkable
relationships between the horned man on the cauldron and the Indus Valley
Seal - remembering that these artifacts are themselves separated in time
by 2,000 years.
There are the obvious similarities - the horns, the
animals on each side and the pose. The Mohenjo-Daro figure is a man, but
is dressed in the clothes of an Indus valley female. The yogic pose with
the soles of the feet pressed together is commonly practiced today and
known to channel the sexual energy. The Indus Valley figure has often been
identified as Siva in the form of Pasupati, Lord of Animals. The newly
revealed information about the seal - the yogic pose and androgynous
sexuality - further correspond to the attributes of Siva.
The
cauldron figure has the legs in a slightly different, but equally common
hatha yoga pose - one heel pressed against the perineum, which is also
used to channel sexual energy. Furthermore, says Taylor, "within the
pictorial grammar of the cauldron, on which males are shown bearded and
breastless and females beardless and breasted, the horned figure is of
ambiguous gender." That is, it has neither beard nor breasts.
One
can easily speculate on the significance of Taylor's analysis. First, his
ideas contradict the concept that the horned image is the Celtic God
Cernunnos indicating a much more direct relationship to India. Similarity
between the religion of the Druids and Hinduism was already noted. The
Encyclopedia Britannica states, "Celtic religion, presided over by the
Druids (the priestly order), presents beliefs in various nature deities
and certain ceremonies and practices that are similar to those in Indian
religion, they also shared certain similarities of language and culture,
thus indicating an ancient common heritage." Perhaps the Celts, the
original people of most of Europe, were part of an ancient continuous
cultural milieu extending from India to England
And, are you as tired as I am from calling me a Turk hater...I got to tell you, its getting old.
Great, Sumer is not enough, now you claim Etruscans are Altaic/proto-Turkic? whats next; life itself originiated in the steppes?
Take ten deep breaths, try to relax and cool off and then be a little more rational. Who called you a "Turk hater", man your suffering from some extreme form of paranoia, usually paranoid people think they hear things but you seem to think your reading things that just arn't there.
I never wrote that its a "definite" fact regarding the Sumerians, just that more research is needed to either proove or disproove the theory, there is a connection to Turkic-Altaic languages and a religous one. Why is it such a crime to even mention this, let the historians do their work and not extremists
The Etruscans were non-Indo European, I didn't write these theories, if you actually cared to look at the links I provided they are not some warped Turkic fantasy but rather studies not conducted by Turks which are trying to discover more about the Etruscans because little is known. There seems to be a linguistic connection, mythology similarities, governance similarities and so on.
I gave you the title of the book, go read
Yeah sure and there's another book called, "The Brittish Bulldog" it explains the situation of Itally in full, its a great read go and find it.
Now if we all gave sources like this we wouldn't have much credibility, what is this, if you don't have a source make it up, yes were very used to those sort of historical inventions and fetish fantasies of pain some certain extremists have, wouldn't you agree Mamikon
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.
Albert Pine
Why is this upsetting you so much, I don't understand your frustrations.
and you lived through these years to witness this? why dont you ask Greek members here if they think their current civilization if a phantom of what it was three millenia ago
That really doesn't matter, today's Greece is not connected to the Ancient City States, they don't really have anything in common except a small minority of today's Greeks who may have somehow managed to keep a descendance from them.
obviously nothing is static, and "civilizations" do evolve over time,
They can evolve "naturally" which means they are in control of their civillisation, or they can "be" evolved by other civillisations who conquer and become the dominant power.
but you cant say that just because they did not have self rule, they lost their civilization.
Why not? they may not have "completely" lost it but they would have been changed so drastically that there not left with anything really in common with the past except some details.
Is it possible for me to say that today's English are the direct continuation of the people who built Stonehenge, the Mesolithic Britains or Neolithic Britains?
Unless you accept were all from North Eastern Africa originally and so all share the civillisations of the world as afterall were all "human"
Armenia has been under a muslim rule for a close thousand years and guess what I am still Christian...
I don't know why your suprised or think its somthing amazing, the Muslims weren't interested in self-conversion and as much as you hate the Turks they treated you better than the Byzantines.
If they wished to, they could have forcefully converted Armenians and totally assimilated them like what happened in Africa and the America's by the Europeans.
and the Armenian Church more or less still carries the traditions it had aquired at the time of its creation..
It does but Armenian civillisation has been under the dominance of others for nearly two thousand years, it was changed by the dominant powers in the region.
What makes you think Armenians didnt?
Aha, I see your problem, you only care about this because it would affect your notion of what Armenian is.
There is no subjectiveness involved in this, its literally a fact, Armenia has been under dominance of foreign civillisation for nearly two thousand years, Armenian culture today was shaped by this.
as a matter of fact I would; read Barricades and Borders, (plus my European History professor said so
I'm still waiting to hear that 90% of people in today's Itally didn't actually speak Itallian when modern Itally was formed
Greece traces its historical nation lineage back to the Etruscans.
How on Earth did you get to that
Etruscans were non Indo-European, they were not Hellenic, why would Greece trace its history to non-Hellenic people when there were plenty of other Hellenic states like the one that destroyed Troy.
Infact the Etruscans have been a mistery, more information is only recently beginning to surface. There is alot of evidence building up linking them to Proto-Turkic/Altaic people's.
no one did? I dont see "Roman Empire" on today's world map, do you?
The Roman Empire collapsed but was not conquered by a foreign people and civillisation, it evolved "naturally" the people of the heartland and foundation of the Empire evolved into today's Itallians on their own accord and never had other Empires and civillisations rule them. As the people were never conquered they kept their civillisation, language, culture etc and evolved into today's Itally via themselves.
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.
Albert Pine
It wouldn;t necessarily "cease" to exist but it would be diluted and
slowly disintegrated and changed to a point its unrecognisable to what
existed before by the dominant civillisation of the ruling powers. The
previous civillisation would not be living in the next thousand years,
only traces of it and the history would remain.
and you lived through these years to witness this? why dont you ask
Greek members here if they think their current civilization if a
phantom of what it was three millenia ago (as you claim)...obviously
nothing is
static, and "civilizations" do evolve over time, but you cant say that
just because they did not have self rule, they lost their civilization.
Armenia has been under a muslim rule for a close thousand years and
guess what I am still Christian...and the Armenian Church more or less
still carries the traditions it had aquired at the time of its
creation..
Originally posted by bulldog
It doesn't matter, Jews preserved their language, religion and customs
thanks to the religion which preserved their civillisation to a large
extent.
What makes you think Greeks and Armenians didnt? Just because today you
dont see half-naked Greeks running around in Athens yelling "Toga! Toga!"
doesnt mean they have lost their civilization.
Originally posted by bulldog
The part about the language is ridiculous, you wouldn't be able to back that up would you?
as a matter of fact I would; read Barricades and Borders, (plus my European History professor said so )
Originally posted by bulldog
Itally traces its historical nation lineage back to the Romans
Greece traces its historical nation lineage back to the Etruscans.
Originally posted by bulldog
, since
the time of the Romans no non-Roman has totally conquered and ruled the
people.
no one did? I dont see "Roman Empire" on today's world map, do you?
Originally posted by bulldog
As the people were never conquered they kept their
civillisation, language, culture etc and evolved into today's Itally
via themselves
So if they (Greeks) ruled Greece for a couple of hundred years and for the next thousand years another empire ruled Greece, Greek civilization somehow ceases to exist? you cant be serious...is this your definition of "civilization"?
It wouldn;t necessarily "cease" to exist but it would be diluted and slowly disintegrated and changed to a point its unrecognisable to what existed before by the dominant civillisation of the ruling powers. The previous civillisation would not be living in the next thousand years, only traces of it and the history would remain.
the land now known as Israel has been governed by foreign powers for how long?
It doesn't matter, Jews preserved their language, religion and customs thanks to the religion which preserved their civillisation to a large extent.
..Italy reunified in 1860s. During this time it has been reported that about 90% of the populace did not know the National language...
The part about the language is ridiculous, you wouldn't be able to back that up would you?
Italy as a nation has only been alive for a mere 150 years or so.
Itally traces its historical nation lineage back to the Romans, since the time of the Romans no non-Roman has totally conquered and ruled the people. As the people were never conquered they kept their civillisation, language, culture etc and evolved into today's Itally via themselves.
So it doesn't matter wether the actuall country Itally has only been alive for 150 years, the people that formed it were in existance before then and had never been totally ruled over since the times of their national ancestors the Romans.
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.
Albert Pine
"Your missing the point, I clearly stated civillisations which still
exist today, the ancient Hellenic city states do not have a continious
unbroken lineage to modern day people of Greece as they stop rulling
the area thousands of years ago. The Roman invasion, then the
conversion to Christianity and a whole new Roman then Roman-Byzantine
civillisation, followed by on top of that Turkic civillisation, has all
added to modern day Greece. The ancient city state civillisation is not
alive today, its a part of history, there are obviously still
connections not all was lost but it cannot be called the same."'
So if they (Greeks) ruled Greece for a couple of hundred years and for
the next thousand years another empire ruled Greece, Greek civilization
somehow ceases to exist? you cant be serious...is this your definition
of "civilization"?
Originally posted by bulldog
I was referring to civillisations existing today, ie people who managed
to stay in control of their lands and not be occupied and put under a
different civillisation to their own.
the land now known as Israel has been governed by foreign powers for how long?
Originally posted by bulldog
There is no such thing as the "pure race", I'm simply referring to
nations, it doesn't matter what races of people exist within a nation,
race doesn't make a nation, language, identity, common history, common
culture, to a certain religion etc etc
All these are things that Itallians have in common, it doesn't
matter that there may be different races among them, that's not
important, for someone to think its of any value it just bring "racism"
into the equation.
..Italy reunified in 1860s. During this time it has been reported that
about 90% of the populace did not know the National language...
using your own definition, how does "Turkish of Turkey" (whatever that means) qualify?
how do you come up with those abstract definitions and pick
"civilizations" to fit these definitions out of thin air...I bet you
didnt even know that Italy as a nation has only been alive for a mere
150 years or so.
there is Greece, Armenia, Egypt, Iran (Persia), Israel, China, India + Pakistan (assumingly the indus valley civilizations were progenitors of both countries)...unless you think old is 1000 A.D.
Your missing the point, I clearly stated civillisations which still exist today, the ancient Hellenic city states do not have a continious unbroken lineage to modern day people of Greece as they stop rulling the area thousands of years ago. The Roman invasion, then the conversion to Christianity and a whole new Roman then Roman-Byzantine civillisation, followed by on top of that Turkic civillisation, has all added to modern day Greece. The ancient city state civillisation is not alive today, its a part of history, there are obviously still connections not all was lost but it cannot be called the same.
The same can be applied to Ancient Egyption civillisation, Persia, India, Armenia etc
Israel is an intersting one as Jewih civillisation has managed to perserve its unique identity and return to the areas it began from.
China also to a large extent kept its civillisation from after the Mongol conquest although there was a brief Japanease invasion.
I was referring to civillisations existing today, ie people who managed to stay in control of their lands and not be occupied and put under a different civillisation to their own.
Itallian
Chinease (to a large extent)
Turkish of Turkey
Fit this category.
Moreover, "Italy" was only a geographical term until modern times. And the current Italians are a mix of the Romans and germanic tribes, Greeks, Africans, ostrogoths, visigoths (and any other goths you can think off) and etc...while Turkey (Anatolia) of 1000 AD you speak off was full of "non-Turk" people like Armenians, Greeks, Kurds, Arabs, Georgians, Persians, Romans and of course the newcomers (Turks)... it doesnt take one day to "Turkify" all those people...
There is no such thing as the "pure race", I'm simply referring to nations, it doesn't matter what races of people exist within a nation, race doesn't make a nation, language, identity, common history, common culture, to a certain religion etc etc
All these are things that Itallians have in common, it doesn't matter that there may be different races among them, that's not important, for someone to think its of any value it just bring "racism" into the equation.
The same applies to Turks of Turkey, also I stated that the Turks of Turkey always claim their historical heritage which goes back to the Selcuk Empire prior to that the Karakhanids, Uygurs etc The Turks in Turkey trace a direct unconquered identity, they have never been conquered by non-Turkic civillisation.
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.
Albert Pine
If we adopt the "Out of Africa" theory of the evolution of man, then shldn't the Africans be the oldest people, and potentially the oldest civilization? I said potentially 'cause I haven't read anything about any African ancient cities, but who knows....
The oldest surviving Civillisations alive today would be,
Itallian -
Turkish of Turkey
there is Greece, Armenia, Egypt, Iran (Persia), Israel, China, India + Pakistan
(assumingly the indus valley civilizations were progenitors of both
countries)...unless you think old is 1000 A.D.
Moreover, "Italy" was only a geographical term until modern times. And
the current Italians are a mix of the Romans and
germanic tribes, Greeks, Africans, ostrogoths, visigoths (and any other
goths you can think off) and etc...while Turkey (Anatolia) of
1000 AD you speak off was full of "non-Turk" people like Armenians,
Greeks, Kurds, Arabs, Georgians, Persians, Romans and of course the
newcomers
(Turks)... it doesnt take one day to "Turkify" all those people...
Who were the Sumeians though? who were their ancestors?
There are many speculations into this, the strongest connection is to todays Kuwaiti's, however, a connection is also drawn to Hungarians and Turkic peoples. The link is said to be linguistic and religious, what is amazing is that Tengrism and Sumerian religion are very similar.
More investigations into this will ultimately discover the explanations behind this.
Stonehenge is the oldest civillisation in the world
Hey, what about ChatalHoyuk, Jericho? they're pretty old.
What is the longest surviving civillisation/culture however? I'd say Chinease, you could say that the Mongol period meant it didn't remain fully Chinease surviving but then again, the people who made China where Mongoloid from Northern China, the Southern Chinease were invaded and assimilated into being Chinease.
Itallians also could be one of the oldest surviving civillisations, they havnt been occupied since Roman times.
The Japanease?
The Turks, the Turks of Turkey havnt been ruled over for over a thousand years if we take into account the Selcuk Turk Empire and that its how they entered today's Turkey.
The oldest surviving Civillisations alive today would be,
Itallian -
Turkish of Turkey
These two surviving nations civillisations have never been conquered, ie the people living their today as Itallians in Itally and Turks in Turkey have never been ruled or occupied by anyone else.
Very interesting.
Edited by Bulldog - 11-Jul-2006 at 15:06
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.
Albert Pine
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