Inventions
This important invention dates back to 3,500 BCE when the Sumerians first began using Cuneiform. It's presence indicates the end of prehistory.
What is writing?
This ancient civilization was discovered by railroad workers who found matching bricks
What is the Indus Valley?
This is the oldest known civilization in the Americas and is located in modern day Peru. It is notable for NOT using pottery, a staple of most other ancient civilizations!
What is Caral - Supe?
This famous megalith was built by the Beaker People in present-day Britain. Construction on this megalith lasted about 1,500 years.
What is Stonehenge?
The predictable flooding of this major river allowed the creation of Ancient Egypt to rise up in a desert. The flooding provided fertile soil, allowing the ancient Egyptians to farm along its banks.
What is the Nile?
These were used by the Ancient Chinese to write on and then heat in a fire until they cracked. The cracks would be interpreted to predict the future.
What are oracle bones?
This fabric was invented by the Chinese. They kept the secret of how to make it for 3,000 years!
What is silk?
This game was invented by the Olmecs in Mesoamerica. Players had to get a ball through a hoop high up on a wall without using their hands or feet!
What is Poc-a-Toc?
Stories and mythology were very important to the ancient Greeks. This story is about a hero's perilous, 10-year journey home from the Trojan War.
What is Odyssey?
Mummification was the preservation of human bodies that the Ancient Egyptians believed was necessary to send people into the afterlife. One part was to put certain organs into these vessels.
What are canopic jars?
What is democracy?
Siddhartha Gautama founded this religion. It follows eight principles that need to be followed in order to lead a good life and eventual Nirvana.
What is Buddhism?
This semi-nomadic, mound-building culture utilized massive trade routes that spanned much of North America.
Who are the Hopewell Culture?
This young king conquered Greece, Egypt, Persia, and the Indus Valley in only 13 years, creating the world's largest empire at that point in history.
Who is Alexander the Great?
This female pharaoh made Egypt richer by starting new trade routes to acquire exotic goods such as myrrh and ebony. She used some of this wealth to commission elaborate building projects such as her own temple.
Who is Queen Hatshepsut?
This ancient culture is thought to have discovered bronze smelting and iron smelting at the same time. It is difficult to study this culture due to the acidity of the soil which dissolves much archaeological evidence.
Who are the Nok Culture in West Africa?
The idea that there is only one true emperor of China at a time
What is the Mandate of Heaven?
This culture is known for making large geoglyphs of spirals, lines, and animals.
Who are the Nazca culture?
Ancient Rome has a bloody history. The tale of these two brothers is one origin story that has one brother murder the other in a disagreement over where to build the city!
Who are Romulus and Remus?
The Nok Culture in Western Africa was famous for this artform. It seems some of it was broken as part of a funeral ritual.
What is terracotta pottery?
This invention was originally made to line buildings up with the natural forces of the earth.
What is the magnetic compass?
This ancient king built roads, wells, trade routes, temples; promoted Buddhism; and gave rights to animals
Who is Ashoka?
This temple was the burial site to K'inich Janaab' Pacal, an important king in the Mayan civilization. Inscriptions in this temple helped scholars learn to read Mayan writing.
What is the Temple of the Inscriptions?
Ancient Romans enjoyed a Golden Age under this emperor. Many great writers and artists completed important work during this peaceful time.
Who is Casear Augustus (or Octavius)?
This is one of the most famous pyramids in Ancient Egypt. It is the tomb of King Khufu.
What is the Great Pyramid of Giza?