Charles Mandy G.

Ayran 2009-41856 History II

I. Summary What the ancients did for us, this is the main focus of the film. It yearns for us to discover, comprehend, and value the pieces of idea and works of our Asian ancestors that have progressed and evolved through time by the power of innovation. The film was split into three subparts demonstrating different civilizations: The Mesopotamia, India, and China. As a whole, the film covered the civilizations inventions, religions, evolution, arts, culture, and their way of living. The Mesopotamian civilization, which was the center of the ancient civilizations in the world, was located in the region of Fertile Crescent in the Southwest Asia. This civilization came to existence through the rivers of Tigris and Euphrates which can now be seen in Iraq and Jordan River. This civilization was composed of different empires: Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Chaldean, Hittite, Phoenician, Persian, and Hebrew. The film acquainted us with the knowledge that Sumerians and Hittites have played a vital role in farming, from plowing to planting, and up to harvesting. This may be attributed to the Sumerians discovery of wheel, which the farmers can use for plowing and transporting agricultural products, and to the Hittites ideology of using steel for creating hoes and scythes. The Hanging Garden of Babylon, one of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World, during the Chaldean Empire also boosted up their creativity and ingenuity. In line with this, is the creation of the famous Archimedes screw for the water systems of the Hanging Garden of Babylon. The film also paid attention to how Mesopotamians studied the patterns of the stars in the sky for predicting time and seasons. Furthermore, the book of Babylonian Liver Omens showed to us that the field of medicine was also blooming and growing up since their time. Mesopotamians also have a great contribution to arts by introducing us to the artistic and imaginative world of pottery.

Next in line is the civilization that evolved in the region of South Asia, the Indian Civilization. Some of their most important contributions are the rockets, sundial, and scales. They also expounded to us some of the religions that are now widespread in the world, Hinduism

and Buddhism. Then, we have witnessed the Indian artistry through different evocative and eloquent sculptures and statues. In addition to their skills is their ability of weaving cotton and then applying to it the dyeing technique for the production of flamboyant clothes. The Harrapans established the symbol for zero (O), a symbol that is so useful up to the contemporary period. Not only they have presented to us the symbol for nothingness but they also instituted the numbering system (1-9) that is of great assistance to all the people. Last but not the least is the Chinese Civilization in the East Asia. They are the one who started the use of paper, printing, fireworks, wheelbarrow, and many more. Their remarkable inventions are still of great help to everybody. The astonishing Great Wall of China is also one of their brilliant accomplishments that is still standing firm up to now. We can also see their innovation of rivers into canals for easier transportation and bigger economic advantages. Additionally, Chinese also introduced silk worms for silk production and the Silk Road as the one of the centers of trade and industry. Lastly, we can truly see their aid in detecting earthquakes through the use of seismographs.

II. Reaction Felix Adler, a main influence on modern Humanistic Judaism, said There is as yet no civilized society, but only a society in the process of becoming civilized. There is as yet no civilized nation, but only nations in the process of becoming civilized. From this standpoint, we can now speak of a collective task of humankind. The task of humanity is to build a genuine civilization. This quotation makes me wonder on how our ancestors built the very foundation of a society that is in the process of becoming civilized. In my point of view, one of the hardest things in life is building the foundation because it is the foundation that determines the strength and endurance of an entity. Would it stand alone? Would it last for hundreds of years? Lastly, would it be of great help to other people and to the future generation? It is truly flabbergasting to know that almost all of the things that we are using today are products of the imagination and creative minds of our ancestors. Then I am truly amazed with God giving us the gift of innovating things to a higher level. Even though some of their inventions are not working that much, I can say that it is still truly appreciated by many since it is the one that started it all and it is also the one that built a very solid foundation to all other inventions.

Our knowledge about the inventions of our ancestors can be applied in our day to day lives. One good example is when we do not have a clock, since we know that the principle behind sundials is the position of the sun and our shadows then we can estimate the time through the use of knowledge of such inventions. Another example is applying the principle behind the seismograph of the Chinese to our life, we can build a simple imitation of that invention in our house and then we can now know if an earthquake is happening. Although it is just an approximation, at least we still know that an earthquake is happening and then we can lessen the possible harms and dangers that it may bring us. Going back to the quote above, I agree that there is no such thing as a civilized society. It is because I believe that there is no end to being civilized, it is an upward process, and therefore we must keep on striving towards civilization. If we know that we are becoming civilized then we should inculcate in our minds that our target is becoming more civilized. A good analogy is the word best, we always think that best is superlative and therefore it is already the highest form of good, but we are wrong, there is still a better best, which is in fact higher than that of what we know as the highest. Lastly, let us all remember that becoming civilized is a joint effort from all the members of the society or nation, and therefore we need cooperation, respect, and trust to our fellow men.