Prior to the rise
of the great civilizations of antiquity, from the fourth millennium before Christ on, rationality played a minor role in human life.
In a great many, there were as many as six or seven that had been built upon the same site; and out of these great mounds there came a vast wealth of information disclosing the
nature of the great civilization that had flourished there.
Central America was the
cradle of great civilizations, natural reservoir of most of the living beings diversity, provider of water and oxygen, and the second of the continent.
In this landmark work, one of the world's most renowned Egyptologists tells the epic
story of this great civilization, from its birth as the first nation - state to its final absorption into the Roman Empire — three thousand years of wild drama, bold spectacle, and unforgettable characters.
Some experts speculate that drought and wars led to the eventual
decline of this great civilization; others believe that the Maya simply evolved into a less centralized lifestyle, abandoning great cities for numerous small villages.
Then, within 200 years, as the monsoon rains drifted southward owing to the libration of the Earth's axis, the desert suddenly took hold, driving the inhabitants of that formerly fertile region into Egypt and leading to the
flowering of that great civilization.
Open lesson by sharing all or part of the following: People, in ancient civilizations, were Ancient Rome, one
of the great civilizations of world history, is famous for its huge empire, its emperors, and the city of Rome itself, with the coliseum.
The water from these two rivers redeems from barrenness land that would otherwise be desert, and creates a fertile valley from which one
of the great civilizations of the ancient past emerged.
Now in this brilliant companion volume, Diamond probes the other side of the equation: What caused
some of the great civilizations of the past to collapse into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates?
In this remote area between Guatemala and Belize, one
of the greatest civilizations of its time built a city that lasted for centuries!