GODS Kingdom Community: The Divine Order of The Egyptian Empire & The Roman Empire

Homo sapiens, or human beings, have been around for nearly 300,000 years. For most of that time, however, they had no written history. During this time of “prehistory,” humans spent most of their lives moving from place to place, hunting for food, building crude shelters, and protecting themselves from wild animals. Around 5000 BCE, things slowly began to change. For the first time, humans started to settle down in one place. They began growing their own food and building permanent homes. The first cities were formed. People began using metals, such as copper and bronze, instead of stones to make tools. Then, around 3000 BCE, they created a system of letters and began to write. This new form of living was called civilization. The people of early civilizations needed water for drinking and for their crops, so they settled near rivers. One civilization, called Mesopotamia, was established between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now the nation of Iraq. The capital of this civilization was the city of Babylon. Egyptians early civilization was founded by the Nile River valley around 4000 BCE. The waters of the Nile, the longest river in the world, were essential to the development of ancient Egypt. Every year the river gently flooded the valley, enriching the soil with silt and minerals. This fertile black soil made it possible for the Egyptians to grow a wide variety of foods. Without the Nile River, Egypt would have been nothing more than an empty desert. The Egyptians developed their own system of writing called hieroglyphics. This system was based on a series of pictures showing common objects such as a human eye. Later, a group of people known as the Phoenicians used pictures or symbols to represent sounds. This was the first alphabet. Christianity developed during the time of the Roman Empire. Jesus, a Jew, lived about 2,000 years ago in the region called Palestine, which was then under Roman control. Jesus preached against violence and hatred and in favor of brotherhood and love. After his death in 33 CE, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Earlier, in 330 CE, the emperor Constantine, sensing trouble ahead, moved his capital east to the city of Byzantine in what is now Turkey. The city was rebuilt and renamed Constantinople. While the western half of the Roman Empire collapsed, the eastern half did not. In fact, the Byzantine Empire thrived in many ways. Emperor Justinian codified the old Roman law into a clearer and more systematic form. The Byzantine Empire also excelled in architecture and art. The church of Hagia Sophia, built in the shape of a Greek cross, was a masterpiece of engineering and design. Byzantine artists made mosaics—the composition of colorful bits of glass and stone into lovely patterns. They also created icons, beautiful religious images used to decorate churches to this day.