12 parts · 12 chapters
Ancient Kingdoms of the World
The great early states of every continent, with Africa's ancient kingdoms given their proper place beside Egypt, Greece and Rome. Maps use real coordinates; dates before about 1000 BCE are approximate; every chapter names its sources.
Twelve parts: Mesopotamia; Egypt; Kush and Meroë; Aksum; Persia from the Achaemenids to the Sasanians; Greece; Rome; Maurya and Gupta India; the Maya, Aztecs and Inca; Great Zimbabwe and the Swahili coast; the Mongol Empire; and a closing comparison of why empires rise and fall.
the first statesWriting, cities and law in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
AfricaKush, Meroë, Aksum, Great Zimbabwe, Kilwa.
the classical worldPersia, Greece, Rome, Maurya and Gupta India.
the AmericasMaya cities, Aztec Tenochtitlan, the Inca roads.
steppe powerThe Mongols and the largest land empire.
patternsWhat made empires rise, and what brought them down.
00
Mesopotamia: Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, Assyria
Cities, writing, law
1 ch · ~8 min01Egypt
Three thousand years on the Nile
1 ch · ~8 min02Kush and Meroë
Africa's other pharaohs
1 ch · ~8 min03Aksum
A great power of late antiquity
1 ch · ~8 min04Persia: Achaemenids to Sasanians
Empire by administration
1 ch · ~8 min05Greece
Democracy, philosophy, and their limits
1 ch · ~8 min06Rome
From city to empire, and Africa within it
1 ch · ~8 min07India: Maurya and Gupta
Edicts and numerals
1 ch · ~8 min08The Maya, Aztecs and Inca
Empires without iron or wheels
1 ch · ~8 min09Great Zimbabwe and the Swahili Coast
Stone cities and ocean trade
1 ch · ~8 min10The Mongol Empire
From the steppe to most of Eurasia
1 ch · ~8 min11Why Empires Rise and Fall: Comparing Them
Patterns, not laws
1 ch · ~8 minSources and methodBuilt on the UNESCO General History of Africa, Marc Van De Mieroop, Ian Shaw, Stuart Munro-Hay, Peter Garlake, Mary Beard, Romila Thapar, Michael Coe and others, cited per chapter.