History 1001 Rise of Early Western Civilizations

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James Villard June 13, 2012 The great empires of western civilizations rose and fell over the periods of time. The Egyptian empire saw a great rise in power around 2025 B.C.E. with the beginning of the Middle Kingdom founded by the warrior Thebes. The middle kingdom pharaohs were different from the past rulers. The middle kingdom focused their work force on economical and infrastructural matters rather than the construction extravagant tombs. The middle kingdom was prosperous for about 4 centuries then it fell. The fall to the middle kingdom brought the Second Intermediate period. The delta was occupied by the Hyksos and upper Egypt was split by the native Egyptian chiefs. Egypt returned to unity and the climax of wealth and power with the New Kingdom. The New Kingdom’s pharaohs conquered many nations that brought great prosperity. The raids of the Sea people brought upon another decline of Egyptian empire. The Persian, Greek, Roman, and Muslim later absorbed the Egyptian kingdom. The Greek empire began with consolidation of Macedonia and the Greek city-states to fight the Persians in war by Phillip II. Alexander the great then took power and led the armies through Persia and assumed the throne. He then did not return to Greece he marched his armies east to the Indian Ocean and conquered most of the known world. Alexander did realize that he alone could not control all of his newly acquired territories alone. He received the alliance of the foreign countries by allowing them to continue their customs and traditions. During this period following Alexander’s control, Greece shifts from the polis era to the institutionalized central empire. Under this the empire the cities become healthier and show economic growth. As the size of the government grew the involvement of the common man decreased. The Greeks construct the library of Alexandria and many other
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