Five Ages of Civilization

Author: William McGee
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-02-01
Features: Seeking the development patterns of world history, exploring the division of labor within civilizational systems. This is not only a concise and fascinating history of civilization but also uses the history of civilization to predict its future! The main content of this book includes a of the five-thousand-year history of civilizational societies and an further of the upcoming new era. The author's historical perspective is built upon the theories of Spengler and Toynbee, and from this, he proposes his own historical and civilizational classification system. The author divides world history into five different eras in chronological order, associating each era with a civilization that has distinct characteristics and themes. In this book, the author attempts to propose new perspectives on certain historical civilizations to change traditional perceptions. Of course, not everyone agrees with the author's view of the future, but it is undeniable that the author's insight into historical processes and his foresight of historical prospects have won the recognition of the majority. This new form of religion's "prophet" may be Akhenaten, the Egyptian pharaoh who reigned from 1350 BC to 1367 BC. He was an important figure in the historical process of promoting monotheistic religion. A century before Moses, he declared that the religion passed down by his ancestors, the Amun-Re, was wrong, and that there was only one God—the sun god Aten, who ruled the world. Aten gave life to all. Akhenaten composed poems praising Aten but prohibited people from making his idols. He moved the capital from Thebes north to Akhetaten (Akhdeton) (i.e., "the city of the Aten in the sky"), and ordered the destruction of stelae inscribed with the name of Amun. While opposing the powerful priests who believed in Amun-Re, Akhenaten neglected state affairs. The Hittites invaded Egypt's Asian territories, and as offerings were no longer made, the treasury became empty. After Akhenaten's death, the priests of the Amun sun god religion regained power, and Akhenaten's successor, Tutankhamen, restored the old religion. Moses, who lived in Egypt in the 13th century BC, was the pharaoh's adopted son. He may have been familiar with Akhenaten's religious reforms long ago. Whether the monotheism of the Jews originated from this or not, at least Moses firmly accepted the concept of only one God. His Ten Commandments were as follows: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me." Not a single commandment in the Ten Commandments is related to religious rituals. All the commandments are about proper behavior and belief. Moses transformed the Hebrew tribes from an ordinary nomadic people into a nation that lived according to the laws of God. He pushed this society to follow a set of special ideals. Although his commandments are not entirely philosophical teachings, these ethical teachings delivered to the people in the name of God are as if they came from the mouth of a philosopher. Moses strongly opposed the Hebrews' obsession with money. He. The God in his sight, Yahweh (spelled Jehovah or Yahweh), is invisible, spiritual, and not a "carved idol" but an invisible God, whose existence is highly questionable from a public perspective. It requires considerable intellectual and self-discipline to believe in an invisible God, especially one whose existence is highly questionable from a public perspective. The God of the Hebrews in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was the God who led his people out of Egypt. This God demonstrated his worldly power by defeating the will of the pharaohs. Therefore, powerful rulers like you, the elderly, began to be subjugated to a new God who was omnipresent and all-powerful. A threat to monotheistic religion came from the fact that Hebrew kings married foreign women, and the queen would bring other deities into the royal family. After King Solomon's death, the Hebrews began to worship fertility gods like the sun god Baal and Aner to increase agricultural yields. At this time, a new religious sect emerged, led by Elijah and Elisha.