ancient

civilizations2
P ar t
GEC 17: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY
persia
greece
rome
 Founded by Cyrus the Great around 550 B.C., became
one of the largest empires in history, stretching from
Science in the ancient Persian civilization Europe’s Balkan Peninsula in the West to India’s Indus
Valley in the East.

The Persian Empire is the name given to a series of dynasties centered in modern-day Iran that spanned
several centuries—from the sixth century B.C. to the twentieth century A.D.
This Iron Age dynasty, sometimes called the Achaemenid Empire, was a global hub of culture, religion,
science, art and technology for more than 200 years before it fell to the invading armies of Alexander the
Great.

QANAT (WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM) CONCEPT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

A gently sloping underground channel that carries After conquering Babylon, Cyrus the Great freed slaves and
water from an aquifer or water well to houses and declared that all people had the right to choose their own
fields. It is used for the irrigation of crops and for religion and established racial equality. This declaration was
drinking water. recorded in clay called the Cyrus Cylinder.

BATTERY SULFURIC ACID

A ceramic pot, a metal tube, and a rod of a Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Jakarta al-Razi, a Persian
different metal were used to create the Baghdad astronomer, mathematician, and geographer, was the
Battery or Parthian Battery. first to discover sulfuric acid.

YAKHCHAL (REFRIGERATOR) BACKGAMMON

The yakhchal is an ancient evaporation cooler Was first invented in Iran in about 3000 BC. It is one
which has a two-fold meaning: yakh means of the oldest surviving board games. Excavations at
“ice” and chal means “pit.” Shahr-e Sukhteh in Iran found a board game with
two dice and 60 checkers.
Science in the ancient Persian civilization

ALPHABET
While the physical appearance of Old Persian symbols is
cuneiform, the actual shapes of the signs do not correspond to
signs in the older system using similar phonetic values.
Pahlavi alphabet, Pahlavi also spelled Pehlevi, writing system
QANAT (WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM) BATTERY
of the Persian people that dates from as early as the 2nd
century BCE, some scholars believe, and was in use until the
advent of Islam (7th century CE).

POSTAL SERVICE
Riders and horse-drawn wagons carried mail that consisted
mostly of governmental dispatches from one place to
another.

ANIMATION
An earthenware goblet discovered in the Burnt City in the
Sistan and Baluchestan province is believed to be 5,200 years YAKHCHAL (REFRIGERATOR) CYRUS CYLINDER
old. Sequential pictures similar to the one on the goblet can be
found throughout medieval Islamic Persia.
TAXATION SYSTEM
It was an important component of the Achaemenid state
administration and was known as Achaemenid Taxation.
In the Persian Empire under Cyrus II and Cambyses, subjects
were mostly obliged to deliver only gifts, and regular taxes were
first introduced under the rule of Darius I (r. 522-486 BC). While
the system of state taxation already existed under Cyrus II, it
was not regulated and people who did not pay taxes had to
ANIMATION ACHAEMENID TAXATION
deliver gifts and vice versa.
 LOCATION: Greece is a country in Southern Europe
Science in the ancient greek civilization locate at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa. Its
mainland is located at the southernmost tip of the Balkan
Peninsula.

Greece is a landscape of mountains and sea. Land useful for

farming is found in valley bottoms, hedged in by steep slopes, or on
small islands, confined by water.

A typical Greek city was built around a fortified hill, called an

“acropolis”. Located here is the city’s chief temple, the city’s
treasury, and some other public buildings.

At the center of the city was the “Agora” – the central space where
public meetings were held, and where traders set up their stalls.
The agora was often flanked by colonnades.
 Greeks and Science and Technology Development
THALES OF MILETUS (638-548 BC)
developed the theory of matter based
upon water.
SOCRATES (470-399 BC)
emphasized the study of human nature in
relation to society; established the theory of
skepticism
EMPEDOCLES (493-433 BC)
assumed that there were more than one kind of
matter and postulated four roots of elements:
earth, air, fire and water.
HIPPOCRATES (400 BC)
started the science of medicine and is known as the
greatest physician of antiquity and regarded as
the father of medicine. He stated that diseases
have natural causes and the body has the power to
repair itself. His name is always associated with
Hippocratic Oath, an oath traditionally taken by
newly graduate physicians to observe the ethical
standards of their profession, specifically to seek to
preserve life.
ARCHIMEDES (287-212 BC)
performs experiments which lead him to discover the laws of the
lever and the pulley that resulted in the invention of machines
which could easily move loads. He calculated the value of pi,
which was a geometrical calculation that helped determine the
width, or circumference of a circle. He excelled in geometry,
calculus, theoretical mathematics, hydrostatics and displacement.
PTOLEMY (100 AD)
one of the greatest astronomers who founded the
Geocentric Theory (Earth-centered) and wrote
Almagest.
ARISTOTLE (384-322 BC)
regarded as the father of Biology, undertook a
large-scale classification of plants and animals. He
introduced a method of scientific thinking that still plays
a role today. Engrossed himself in studying many areas
of science like Physics, Astronomy, Meteorology etc.
His ‘scala naturae’ of Great Chain of Beings one of the
first theories in biology. The species form a scale from
simple to complex putting animals that laid warm and
wet creatures alive as the highest form but evolution is
not possible.
Greeks and Science and Technology Development

DEMOCRITUS
developed atomic theory; elaborated HIPPARCHUS
idea that matter consisted of atoms. discovered the length of the month which is only
one second off from the length the we use today.
PYTHAGORAS (497-581 BC)
Mathematician, held that numbers were
ERATOSTHENES
basic to matter; the Pythagorean theorem.
determined that the circumference of (the distance
around) the earth was 28000 miles, which is only
three thousand miles more than what we know
PLATO
today.
dealt with the nature of the universe;
ascribed geometric forms composed of
bounding planes to the elements of earth,
fire, air and water based upon their physical THEOPRASTUS
properties. regarded as the father of plant science, wrote
“History of Plants” in which he described the
forms, behaviour, morphology and properties of
ARISTARCHUS some 500 food and medicinal plants. Most
both mathematician and an astronomer, outstanding botanist of early botany. He wrote
Aristarchus discovered new theories about “Causes of Plants” in which he described grafting
the way the planets move in their orbits. methods, seeds, effect of temperature upon
Aristarchus thought that even though the plants, the relations of weather to soil and the
earth revolved around the sun, it also spun tastes and perfumes of plants. The manuscript
on its own axis, or spin-point, as it followed also deals with the medicinal uses of plants.
its orbit around the sun.
 TECHNOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF GREEKS
WATER MILL
revolutionary invention and have been used all over the world
for the purpose of metal shaping, agriculture and most
importantly, milling.
WATER CLOCK/ CLEPSYDRA
created the concept of time. It is first used in courtrooms where the
time of the lawyers and the witnesses’ speeches could be known
as soon as the water supply run out of the vessel.
ODOMETER
measures the distance travelled by a vehicle
such as a bicycle o automobile.
CATAPAULT
a device that assist in throwing heavy objects or
arrows over a large distance.
COMMUNAL SHOWER ROOMS
Cold water only, the Greek believe cold water toughened
the skin. Made use of it in their many baths and spas.
VENDING MACHINE
A coin inserted into the top of the machine drop onto a pan
which was attached to a lever, which then opened a valve,
allowing, wait for it, holy water to flow.
CARTOGRAPHY
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. It
has played an important role in travel and navigation since
ancient times.
ASTRONOMY
The Greeks applied their skills in Math to help describe
the starts and the planets.
GEOMETRY
Geometry is one of the oldest branches of mathematics,
possibly older than arithmetic. And its practical necessity
demanded the use of various geometric techniques way
before any of these recorded in the history.
COLUMNS
Ancient people used these columns to construct
buildings with high roofs.
Science in the ancient roman civilization ANCIENT ROME’S NOTABLE SCIENTISTS
The term Ancient Rome refers to the city of
Rome, which was located in central Italy; and also
to the empire it came to rule, which covered the GALEN(129-199 AD)
Great physician and surgeon. He influenced the development of
entire Mediterranean basin and much of western various scientific disciplines including anatomy, physiology, pathology,
Europe. At its greatest extent in stretched from pharmacology and neurology, as well as philosophy and logic.
present-day northern England to southern Egypt,
and from the Atlantic coast to the shores of the
Persian Gulf.
www.timemaps.com/civilizations/ancient-rome/

Beginning in the 8th century B.C., Ancient Rome VITRUVIUS

extensively grew from a small town in Central Writer whose work has provided us with important knowledge
Italy’s Tiber River into an empire. Overtime, the about ancient Rome. He was also an architect and an
engineer; sometimes referred to as the first architect.
Roman Empire encompassed most of continental
Europe, Britain, much of western Asia, northern
Africa and the Mediterranean islands.

PLINY
Described almost a thousand species of plants, most of which
were highly valued for their medicinal uses.

Rome was built on seven hills, known as “the seven hills of

Rome”—Esquiline Hill, Palatine Hill, Aventine Hill, Capitoline Hill, Quirinal
Hill, Viminal Hill and Caelian Hill.
Science in the ancient roman civilization
ARCHES
The Roman arch was the foundation of Rome's architectural mastery
ROADS AND HIGHWAYS and massive expanse of building projects across the ancient world. It
From the Italian Peninsula up to the Northern Africa, allowed the Romans to make bigger buildings, longer roads, and better
the Romans built series of roads in all the places they aqueducts. The Roman arch is the ancestor of modern architecture.
have conquered. The network of public Roman roads
covered over 120,000 km, and it paved way for the free
movement of armies, people, and goods across the AMPHITHEATRE/ COLOSSEUMS
entire empire. Amphitheaters are large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised
. seating.
CONCRETE
The revolutionary concrete developed by the Romans
helped to build impeccable and lasting structures, AQUEDUCTS
playing a huge part in the architectural accession of The Roman aqueduct was a channel used to transport fresh water to
ancient Rome. The Romans used to combine their highly populated areas. Gravity and the natural slope of the land
cement with volcanic rock popularly known as “tuff,” allowed aqueducts to channel water from a freshwater source, such as
enabling the resulting concrete to endure possible a lake or spring, to a city.
chemical decay.
. ROMAN NUMERALS
NEWSPAPER
Rome was the first empire to establish a sophisticated
system of circulating written news which it published
IX Constituting one of the most popular numbering systems still in use
today, the first use of these numbers dates back somewhere between
900 and 800 BC.
the Acta Diurna which translates as “Daily Events.”

TREPANNING
JULIAN CALENDAR It is the drilling of a hole into a person’s skull to supposedly treat a
Dating system established by Julius Caesar as a health or personality problem and removing the offending section of
reform of the Roman republican calendar. bone.
ancient

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GEC 17: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY

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