Jose Cruz

Ms. Marlowe
4/16/2016
Period 5: Expository/Writing
Blog #2- A Blast from History Past
[8:00 pm, April 16, 2016]
The first step that I had decided to finish first was acquiring information from
civilizations past that showed remarkable signs of cultural flourish and enlightenment, or
"Golden Ages" that varied from the early civilizations of the Mayans, Egyptians, Romans,
Chinese, and Middle Ages. The common factors that led to their prosperity held similar to one
another, such as influxes of population, large amounts of trading and social gatherings, and
military conquests and activity. The mayans held their greatest achievements in creating
revolutionary techniques in farming, astronomy, the usage of time, creation of the calendar, and
achieving economic stability. They also had incredible beliefs in religion such as worshiping
many different gods that each held their own powers such as rain and storm and had some affect
on their record tracking and calendar to know the appropriate time to cultivate and farm. The
biggest contribution I believe they sustained their culture was their different viewpoints on things
and sense of exploration for answers and a strong belief in higher deities that influenced their
innovations, that could resemble past explorers in America who believed it was their god given
right to dominate the western plains. (Manifest Destiny.) Another civilization with heavy
influences of religion included the Egyptians, which held long standing in history with fame and
rulers. Art and writing also saw an increase during these times that included hieroglyphics and
pyramids that still hold impressive to these times. Their civilization greatly contributed to the
resource of the Nile they were located near and the might that the rulers had obtained through
conquests and titles of gods. The greatest factor would then be stated for the unification and
strong power that the rulers gained through conquest that also brought about new cultures and
items to be gained from the conquered lands. This also holds highly similar to the civilization of
Rome, which held the world's greatest military conquests in history and directly attributed to
their cultural growth with interactions with conquered lands with heavy greek influence in
philosophy and art. Both show the example of having strong and capable leaders in order to
protect the empires and cultural interactions between the peoples. The golden age of china
encouraged local government and smaller government, including state/central, and had available
funds for the people, along with retaining the strong emperor status of eliminating enemies and
conquering lands. Another important factor was the silk road which promoted trade and culture.
Trading an expansion was also highly impactful for the Middle Ages in europe, which stimulated
social standings and communications which produced urbanization, from there disagreements
and debates sparked new ideas and social standings in the land. The greatest reasons for the
civilization's peak would be the large diversity and contrasting ideals that produced new forms of
social practices and arts, or the ability to produce something different than the traditions of old

yet still held remnants of these traditions enough so that innovative new functions can be
practiced. There existed flaws of course with these civilizations that led to their demise, such as
weak leaders and high contrasting beliefs such as that of china that led to its' isolation for years,
and outside influence that corrupted the civilization and ultimately destroyed them. However, it
is important that the beneficial factors that should be followed of cultural exchanges, strong
competent leaders, and innovations in thinking and production that ultimately could improve our
own system of government today. I really enjoy learning these tidbits of fact from history, the
ability to gain knowledge itself invigorates me and inspires me to learn more from all aspects to
improve my understanding and how us as humans can develop better understanding of the world
from past experiences and knowledge. All of this information will help to promote a better
system of government, or in a manner for the government to acknowledge these feats and embed
them better to their current functions to become a more efficient function that serves the whole of
society.