Achievements of the ancient world shaped the world we live in today. Around 10,000 years ago, most people in the world lived as hunter gathers. But over the following centuries, something special happened: Civilization. From farming to building magnificent cities in Mesopotamia, this book explores the earliest cultures including Ancient Egypt, the Hittites, the Assyrians and the Greeks. It also explores the achievements of later centuries in the Near East, including the Romans, the rise of the Arabs, the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Turks.