Home > History of Eurasia

The three eastern regions developed in a similar manner with each of the three regions developing early civilizations around fertile river valleys. The civilizations in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and the Yangtze shared many similarities and likely exchange technologies and ideas such as mathematics, the wheel. Ancient Egypt also followed this model. Europe was different, however. It was somewhat further north and contained no river systems with regular floods to match those of the other regions. Thus Europe remained comparatively undeveloped, with only the southern tips of the continent namely Greece and Italy being able to fully borrow crops, technologies, and ideas from the Middle East and North Africa.

The steppe region had long been inhabited by mounted nomads, and from the central steppes they could reach all areas of the Asian continent. The earliest known such central expansion out of the steppe is that of the Indo-Europeans which spread their languages into the Middle East, India, Europe, and in the Tocharians to the borders of China. Throughout their history, up to the development of gunpowder all four areas would be repeatedly menaced by the nomads from the steppe.

Another important difference between Europe and the Asian regions is that while the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and China are ringed by mountains and deserts internally there are few obstructions. Throughout this meant that it was far easier to establish unified control over the entire region, and this did occur with massive empires consistently dominating the Middle East, China, and much of India. Europe, however, is riddled with internal mountain ranges: The Carpathians, the AlpsThe Alps is the collective name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria in the east, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany, through to France in the west. The highest mountain in the Alps is the Mon, the PyreneesFor other meanings see: Pyrenees, Victoria and Montes Pyrenaeus. The Pyrenees ( Spanish Pirineos French Pyrenees Catalan Pirineus Basque Aunamendi are a range of mountains in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain. They separ and many others. Throughout its history Europe has thus usually been divided into many small states.

During the first millenium the pinnacle of human civilization shifted northwards. In Europe the Mediterranean region was supplanted by the German and Frankish lands. In the Middle East the main power centre became Anatolia with the once dominant Mesopotamia its vassal. In China the power centre moved from the Yangtze to the more northern Yellow River. While India also saw its northern half become dominant. In part this is linked to technological developments, such as the heavy plow , that made life in northern latitudes more bearable. The southern areas tended to be lacking in natural resources and also had little timberTimber is a term used to describe clusters of trees. It is also used to describe wood throughout its processing from the time it is cut down to the time it is used as a structural material. The word timber is also used as an exclamation when a tree falls.. The Iron AgeIn mythology, the Iron Age is the age following the golden, silver and bronze ages and characterized by a general degeneration of talent and virtue, and of literary excellence. In Roman literature the Iron Age is commonly regarded as beginning after the t made large stands of timber essential to a nation's success due to the amounts of fuel needed for smelting iron. Southern regions had some timber but over time this became depleted.

See also:

• History of EuropeThis article discusses the history of the continent of Europe. The origins Main article: Prehistoric Europe Homo erectus and Neandertals settled Europe long before the emergence of modern humans, Homo sapiens''. The earliest appearance of anatomically mod
• History of the Middle EastThis article is a general overview of the history of the Middle East . For more detailed information, see articles on the histories of individual countries. The area now known as the Middle East has a history of human civilisation extending back 5,000 yea
• History of South AsiaThis article is about the History of South Asia . The territory of South Asia has been the home of many civilizations both ancient and modern. It is one of the cradles of civilization and one of the longest continuous civilizations in the world. Pre histo
• History of East Asia
• History of Asia
• History by continent