Why this is a centre of interest

The Ancient Near East

Why this is a center of interest ?

In the history of the World, the Near East played a very specific role. It was in this area that for the first time several innovations on which our current way of life is based appeared, such as the invention of agriculture and livestock farming during the 10^th and 9^th millennia BC, of the metallurgy in the 6^th and 5^th millennia BC, of the first cities and writing systems in the 4^th millennium BC and finally of the first complex societies and States during the 3^rd millennium BC.

Of course other innovations cradles are known throughout the World, independent from the Near East, such as China or Central America, but none of them are as ancient as Near East. From a European perspective, all these economic and conceptual innovations appeared in the Near East few millennia before their diffusion in Europe, illustrating how Western civilisation is indebted to the East.

The Ancient Near East can be considered as a laboratory, where we can observe and understand our origins!

This historical reality accounts for Orientalism, a scientific and artistic trend related to that area which appeared as soon as the 18^th century AD, and due to which several museums, such as the Louvre or the British Museum, acquired some of their most important works of art currently in their collection. Ex Oriente Lux is a modern heir of this trend.

Centers of origin of the agriculture

Map of the world showing the centers of the origin of agriculture and its spread in the world :
– the Fertile Crescent (ca. 10000-9000 BC),
– the Yangtze and Yellow River basins (7000 BC) and the New Guinea Highlands (7000-4000 BC),
– central Mexico and northern South America (3000-2000 BC), eastern North America (2000-1000 BC),
– sub-Saharan Africa (3000-2000 BC).