Culture has been defined as consisting of “The arts, beliefs and institutions that are passed on from generation to generation.”  The arts, associated with music, festivals, entertainment and museums have been considered as the defining aspects of culture. Culture, generally, is the sum total of all aspects of the life of a society including the arts, beliefs and technology of a society at any point in time. It is culture that determines our thoughts and our actions each day and each time. Culture determines whether our actions and our responses will be thoughtful, peaceful or violent. It is culture that moves a society into higher grounds of civilization and development; and it is also culture that leads societies into collapse and total oblivion. Societies that reached the heights of culture collapsed because of, 
  • Defeat in war 
  • Famine 
  • Forces of nature (Earthquake, Volcanic eruptions, Climate change etc.) 
  • Environmental degradation 
  • Degeneration in human life (e.g., Corruption) 
This article looks at the cultures of two ancient empires and three ancient kingdoms as examples of the rise and fall of cultures. We consider the Maya of Central America; the people of Mohenjo-Daro of Pakistan; Babylonians, the ancestors of modern-day Iraq, the Roman Empire, and the Great Zimbabwe state of Southern Africa. The article then raises issues on whether Africa will be able to learn from the cultures of these ancient nations and therefore avoid or prevent the challenges and errors committed by these nations in order to reach the heights and prosperity some of the modern European countries and America have reached; or whether Africa and its various countries will collapse into oblivion in the next hundred or two hundred years. 

The Maya 

The Mayan kingdom was founded in about 2,600 BCE and located in the Yucatan peninsula, bordering with Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Western Honduras and Northern Belize. The kingdom consisted of about 40 independent city-states each ruled by a dynasty of kings. The kingdom rose to prominence in 250 BCE. 
The Maya are reputed to have developed advanced systems in the following: 
  • Writing (Hieroglyphics) 
  • Art 
  • Architecture 
  • Mathematics 
  • Calendar making 
  •  Astronomy 
  • Construction of irrigation and terracing systems 
The Mayans were skilled farmers, weavers and potters and built the following in their cities: 
  • Temples, 
  • Pyramids, 
  • Palaces, 
  • Plazas 
  • Courts for playing ball 
  • Observatories 
They built underground reservoirs for storage of rainwater, and also built a network of roads through the swamps and forests of their kingdom to reach people in other lands for purposes of trade. 
The Mayan kingdom started to decline in 900 CE for several reasons including: 
  • Armed conflicts (civil wars with neighbouring city-states) 
  • Exhausted agricultural lands 
  • Deforestation 
  • Drought 

Mohenjo-Daro 

Mohenjo-Daro was founded in 2500 BCE. The city was situated on a land area of 300 hectares in the Indus valley of Pakistan bordering with India. Mohenjo-Daro had no kings but was rather governed by elected officials. 
At the height of its prominence, the city was noted for the following: 
  • Covered sewerage system with drains lining the major streets 
  • Planned street grids 
  • Standardized bricks 
  • Fired bricks 
  • Urban planning 
  • Civil engineering 
  • Public baths 
  • Assembly halls 
  • Central markets 
  • Large central well and other small wells. 
  • Granary with air-ducts 
Some other characteristics of the city were the following: 
  • Adequate water supply from approximately 700 wells identified in excavations. 
  • One well for every three houses 
  • Nearly every house had a bathing area and a drainage system 
  • The affluent persons in the city had their own private bathrooms. 
Other characteristics included 
  • Cleanliness 
  • Order 
  • Modesty 
Mohenjo-Daro maintained a “tightly controlled trade” system. Findings from excavations include the following: 
  • Scales and weights 
  • Jewels 
  • Children’s toys 
  • Bowls 
  • Furnaces for smelting mineral ores 
The city had annual rainfall but also experienced periodic floods from the Indus River caused by “overuse and expansion upon the land.”  The periodic floods led to street and other land repairs resulting in constant works to raise the streets above the flood levels. Mohenjo-Daro was eventually abandoned in the 19th century BCE, at the time when the Indus civilization started to decline. 

Babylon 

Trade and the ability to keep record of trade transactions between Babylon and its trade partners led to the quest for writing. Initially, Babylon and Samaria, nations in Mesopotamia, drew pictures and symbols to represent the ideas and messages they wanted to convey 5,000 years ago. These were known as pictographs. The use of pictographs spread to Egypt where hieroglyphics, an improvement over pictographs, was developed in 3400 BCE. The use of hieroglyphics was an important step for trade relations because hieroglyphics could be written on papyrus, on wood or clay tablets. 
By 2,700 BCE, the Egyptians and Phoenicians (people of present day Lebanon) had developed the basics of the modern alphabet. From that period up to the 5th and 6th centuries CE, the Greeks, the Romans and the Anglo Saxons made further contributions and developments to the art of writing. By the 14th century, the modern alphabet from A to Z had been developed as the standard way of writing in the western world. 
The journey to the development of the modern alphabet in the western world took nearly 5000 years after the initial quest for writing started. It always takes a spark of an idea from one person or a group of persons for an idea to grow, flower and blossom into a culture. 
Babylon, a city-state located on the Euphrates River, was founded in 2,334 BCE. The city-state grew into the Babylonian Empire in the period 606-536 BCE encompassing states such as Syria, Damascus and Nineveh, with Babylon as the capital of the Empire. Babylon existed for more than 2,000 years till 116-117 CE when it was conquered by the Romans. 
Babylon is credited with the invention of the wheel which made it easier to move goods by cart; an invention that has been the basis for thousands of modern inventions. Babylon is credited with introducing the sailing boat; and is also credited with the dividing the year into 12 months. Under King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE), Babylon became the seat of learning and culture. Hammurabi introduced laws for 
  • Peace and security 
  • Heightened the walls of the city 
  • Encouraged trade and prosperity 
Hammurabi made Babylon the centre for the following: 
  • Trade 
  • Culture 
  • Religion 
  • Wealth 
  • Luxury 
  • Military strength 
  • Mathematics 
  • Science 
  • Medicine 
  • Cosmology 
  • Astronomy 
Under the rule of Hammurabi, Babylon created, 
  • The concept of 60 minutes per hour 
  • The concept of 360 degrees circle 
Herodotus (484-430/20 BCE), the Greek historian, wrote that Hammurabi turned Babylon into a “rich, powerful and influential city.” 
Under Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BCE), the boundaries of the Babylon were enlarged to 900 hectares, that is 2,200 acres, making Babylon the largest city in the world. Nebuchadnezzar II also built structures to enhance the prominence and beauty of the state. 
Cyrus the Great, King of Persia (now Iran) conquered Babylon in 539 BCE. Alexander the Great of Macedonia also conquered Babylon in 331 BCE. In 116-117 CE, the Romans invaded Babylon with the aim of annexing Persia and Babylon into the Roman Empire; but they were disappointed on seeing the ruined state of Babylon. In 650 CE, Muslims conquered Babylon. 

The Romans 

Rome was founded in the Sixth Century BCE. The city was governed by a Senate and elected Magistrates also known as Consuls. 
Rome started to expand in the 3rd Century BCE through wars leading to the creation of Roman provinces. The provinces were administered under Military Commanders. In the 2nd Century BCE, internal conflicts, civil wars and conspiracies started in the Empire. 
In 44 BCE, Julius Caesar became the Dictator of Rome and was shortly after assassinated. In 42 BCE, the faction that assassinated Caesar was defeated by a military force led by Mark Anthony and the adopted son of Caesar called Octavian, in the Battle of Philippi. In 27 BCE, the Senate conferred on Octavian the title of “1st Citizen” with an additional change of name to Augustus, meaning “The Venerated.” 
Under the rule of Augustus, civil wars ended and for 200 years following the rule of Augustus, uprisings were put down “mercilessly and swiftly”, ushering in a long period of peace, social stability and prosperity. Later rulers after Augustus claimed the title of “Emperor” and expanded the Roman Empire. 
Within the period after Augustus, corruption had started in the Roman Empire. National positions could be bought and sold. Even the title of “Emperor” could be purchased. Free men and women in the provinces became Roman citizens by legislation.  
By 117CE under Trajan, the Roman Emperor, the Empire covered the Mediterranean Basin, North Africa, North and South Europe and the Middle East. 

The Fall of the Roman Empire (100-500 CE) 

In 313CE, Emperor Constantine the Great, declared his support for one God: the Christian God.  The Romans worshipped many gods and also believed that the Emperor was a god. The Emperor’s belief in one God therefore meant that the Emperor was not a god. Trust in the Emperor began to wane. 
The Empire had become very large with provinces in three continents: Europe, Middle East and North Africa. In 330CE, Emperor Constantine divided the Empire into two: Western Roman Empire, with headquarters in Rome; and Eastern Roman Empire with its administrative head in Constantinople. The Eastern Roman Empire was later referred to as the Byzantine Empire since Constantinople was originally called Byzantium, a city that had been under Greek control for several years. 
The Romans governed the Western Empire using Latin; and governed the Eastern Empire using Greek as the official language. This therefore required that Roman administrators had to be proficient in both Latin and Greek. 
Within this period: 100-500 CE, many ethnic groups began to attack Roman provinces in Europe and in all the Roman Empire. In 419 CE, the Visigoths entered Rome, set fire to the city; looted and destroyed many parts of the city. 
The Huns, from Northern and Middle Europe, under the war leader, Attila the Hun, attacked and occupied many Roman provinces in Europe. The Goths from Northern Europe attacked and occupied Roman provinces in parts of Europe. The Lombards of North-Western Germany attacked and occupied parts of Roman provinces. The Vandals from Central Europe attacked and occupied Roman provinces in Europe and in North Africa. 
The Ostrogoths attacked and took parts of Roman provinces in Middle and Southern Europe. Ostrogoths ruled Rome in the period 454-493 CE. And the Lombards ruled Rome from 566-568 CE. The Franks, Jutes, Angles and Saxons attacked and took parts of England. The Gaels attacked and took over Roman provinces in England and Scotland. 
By revolts in 476 CE, the Romans lost the Western Roman Empire to Germanic forces.  The Eastern Roman Empire however, continued to exist till 1453. 

Benefits gained by Roman provinces 

Some of the benefits the Roman provinces gained were the following: 
  • Latin and Greek became added to the indigenous languages of Roman provinces, helping to increase the vocabulary and grammatical structures of many languages in the world. 
  • The Romans built paved roads and bridges in many of their provinces and also constructed aqueducts for supply of water from distant sources such as rivers to public baths, farms, lavatories and households. 
  • The Roman culture was more advanced than many of the cultures of Europe and Asia at that time and this helped the development of the less advanced cultures of Europe and Asia. 

Benefits gained by the Romans from their provinces 

From their provinces, Rome obtained the following: 
  • Steady supply of slaves for many types of work. 
  • Food supplies 
  • Mineral ores for fabrication of types of equipment and jewels 
  • Tributes and taxes for paying the administrative costs of the provinces 

Difficulties encountered by Rome at the end years 

A number of difficulties and challenges confronted the Roman Empire in the years from 100-500CE. These included the following: 
Corruption:  By extending Roman citizenship to free-men in their provinces, Rome incurred the problem of acquiring many people with no loyalty to Rome as citizens. The consequence was that the military became filled with non-loyal Romans. The situation was one that became a source for corruption. 
The government itself had become corrupt. Positions such as Generals, Governors could be bought and sold; even the position of Emperor, as noted earlier could be purchased. This level of corruption led to: 
  • Political instability, and 
  • Loss of trust of citizens in their nation’s leadership 
Labour shortage: After many Roman provinces in Europe and North Africa had been taken over from the Romans by various indigenous ethnic groups the Romans called Barbarians, Rome entered a period of labour shortage. Skilled positions such as Accountants, Doctors and Engineers were occupied by slaves. When the provinces fought their way to freedom, the sources for slaves and professional and skilled labour was consequently taken away from the Romans causing labour deficit. 
Decline in Food supplies: Agriculture and food supplies from the provinces had completely declined, leading to high cost of food items. 
Overspending in keeping large military: The many wars Rome had to wage to acquire and administer their provinces had led to overspending and heavy financial losses. 
Oppressive taxation and inflation: To make up for its overspending and military losses, the Roman government imposed oppressive taxes that led to inflation, consequently widening the gap between the rich and the poor. 
As a further step to improve its finances, the Roman government started supply of new money into the economy; and this worsened the inflation situation. 
The Romans built a culture of war, control and domination of other nations and cultures. They built a culture of nobility and luxurious living for the ruling class of people in Rome and in its provinces; and a culture of servitude for the larger segment of the Roman society. And in doing this, the Romans were oblivious of the fact that they were gradually creating a discord and hatred between Rome and the indigenous people in the provinces; a hatred that would explode into battles for freedom and independence. Despite this, present-day Italy is a dynamic and prosperous nation consisting of 95% original Italians and 5% Ukrainians, Albanians, Rumanians, Africans and others.
The era of the Romans was beneficial in many respects as already noted. On the negative side, however, we note the following: 
  1. When a government becomes repressive, it encourages the institutions of state to become repressive and the citizens to react by becoming violent against the state and its institutions. 
  2. When a government becomes corrupt, it encourages citizens and institutions of state to be corrupt. 

The end 

The Roman culture was built on: 
  • Large military force                                                              
  • Large body of slaves for professional and domestic work 
  • External source for agricultural and food supplies leading to decline in agricultural production 
In May 1453, Constantinople, a city that was previously called Byzantium and consisted of Greeks, Armenians, Slavs, Bulgarians, Goths and many others; a city that was referred to as “The Golden Apple” and also as the “ultimate metropolis” was attacked by Ottoman forces. The Emperor at the time, Constantine XI Palaeologus, was killed in the war of Constantinople. The Ottoman Empire was a large Empire at the time, spreading from Egypt through Mesopotamia, Greece and all the lands around the South, East and North Western parts of the Mediterranean. After capturing Constantinople, the Ottomans changed the name Constantinople to Istanbul. The Eastern Roman Empire consequently came to an end in 1453. The Roman Generals, Governors and other local peasant leaders and warlords, carved out lands in the erstwhile Roman Province for themselves and established their own feudal kingdoms. 

Great Zimbabwe 

Great Zimbabwe is considered to have been founded in about 1000 BCE. Great Zimbabwe was a walled city that stood on a land of 720 hectares and was the capital of a state located on a land of 50,000 square kilometers in Southern Africa. 
From the account of Professor Shadreck Chirikure (13 November 2020), in the period beginning from 1874 to1906, all western explorers and archaeologists who visited the ruins of Great Zimbabwe drew comparisons of what they saw at the ruins with cultures of the Middle East, denying that Great Zimbabwe could have been built by Africans. 
In a visit to the site of Great Zimbabwe in 1874, by Professor Chirikure’s account, the German explorer Carl Mauch, concluded “that Great Zimbabwe was so advanced that Africans could not have built it.” Rather, “it must have been built by a vanished group of people from the current Middle East.”  
All western explorers and archaeologists who visited the ruins of Great Zimbabwe never went to the extent of backing observation with data collection by interviews with the local people. People do not suddenly vanish. They move, settle and merge with people in the surrounding areas. A lot of development occurred in the Middle East as far back as 2000 years BCE as indicated in the previous pages. But it must also be realized that the Mayan civilization occurred in the Yucatan peninsula, very far away from the Middle East. It is the human mind and the capacity for innovations, tributes of the human race, that dictate the progress of nations. 
“In 1929,” writes Professor Chirikure, “one of the first all-female directed excavation team in the world, led by Gertrude Caton-Thompson and Kathleen Kenyon, professional archaeologists,” visited the Great Zimbabwe site, held discussions with local people in the area of the site and concluded that “Great Zimbabwe was locally built.” 
“The walls and houses of Great Zimbabwe,” Professor Chirikure continues, “are a reflection of the creativity, engineering achievements, mathematics, and construction science of its inhabitants. Artefactual remains from Great Zimbabwe show that agriculture, cattle rearing and the processing and working of metals such as gold, iron and copper all involved the application of sophisticated knowledge of materials and human behaviour under different condition.” 
From the above account, the important lessons that could be leant from Great Zimbabwe are the following: 
  • Agriculture and its importance for food security 
  • Engineering 
  • Mathematics 
  • Construction science 
  • Creativity 
  • Trade (with locals and people in the Indian ocean) 
  • Materials processing: gold, copper and iron 

Lessons from the Maya Culture 

The Maya lived on a relatively small area of land.  Their culture collapsed because of civil wars between neighbouring city-states, most likely from conflicts over land and water resources. Although the Maya built water reservoirs, prolonged drought conditions and civil wars could have been the push factors that led to mass emigration from the Kingdom, most likely into surrounding areas in Mexico and South America. 
From the Maya we acquire lessons on the following negative practices: 
  • Avoidance of civil wars against states or people within the same country 
  • Avoidance of deforestation 
The positive factors to learn from the Maya include the following: 
  • Water conservation 
  • Forest conservation 
  • Effective agricultural practices; including irrigation and terracing 
  • Spirit of invention 
  • Spirit of industry 
  • Continuing learning 

Lessons from the Mohenjo-Daro Culture 

The Mohenjo-Daro culture collapsed mainly because of persistent periods of flood from the Indus River making it necessary to repair their lands and constantly raise the levels of their streets. Such repair activities could not be undertaken forever. The people had to abandon their city; move to other lands and merge with people in surrounding areas. 
From the Mohenjo-Daro culture, the negative lesson to learn from is the following: 
  • Building a city, town or village within the flood plains of rivers and other water bodies 
The positive lessons that could be learnt from the Mohenjo-Daro culture, however, include the following: 
  • Town and Country planning including using the grid system for streets planning 
  • Setting the maximum size of towns and cities to ensure resource conservation and supply 
  • Efficient and covered sewerage system 
  • Conservation of land 
  • Conservation of water resources 
  • Efficient water supply and distribution 
  • Provision and location of markets within the town and country planning system 
  • Provision of food storage system enough to cater for drought periods 
  • Putting measures to ensure order and cleanliness in towns, cities, villages and generally in the environment 
  • Putting measures to ensure fair trade by insisting on use of scales and weights 
  • Consistent evaluation of trade with other nations to ensure effective revenue mobilisation 

Lessons from the Babylonian Culture 

Cyrus the Great was in the process of waging wars to unite the Middle East as part of the foundation for the Achaemenid Empire. Babylon was just one of the cities he wanted to annex for the Achaemenid Empire. 
The achievements of Babylon were many indeed; they varied from religion to science, trade and many others including inventions such as 60 minutes per hour and 360 degrees circle, as already noted. 
From the historical information on Babylon, one does not really acquire any negative data on the Babylonian culture. This article therefore encourages the reader to go through the achievements of Babylon. The article will only lay stress on the following aspects of the Babylonian culture for some lessons. 
  • Science and Mathematics 
  • Trade and wealth creation 
  • National security 
  • Festivals, music, museums and other forms of entertainment 

Lessons to learn from the Romans 

The important lessons from Rome and its empire include the following: 
  1. Every nation should make the creation of food security a major priority and not be  dependent on other nations for food and other vital resources 
  2. A nation should at all times take measures for water conservation 
  3. A nation should make land and environmental conservation priorities in their nation building programme 
  4. Skill training and learning in mathematics and science should become priorities 
Lessons from the Culture of Great Zimbabwe 
Unfortunately, Africans were not part of the cultures that started writing their own stories from periods beginning from 2,500 BCE. A lot of information on African cultures and civilizations have consequently been lost to posterity. However, from the available accounts so far, the following important lessons could be learnt from the culture of Great Zimbabwe: 
  • Agriculture and its importance for food security 
  • Engineering 
  • Mathematics 
  • Construction science 
  • Creativity 
  • Trade (with locals and people in the Indian ocean) 
  • Materials processing: gold, copper and iron 

Conclusions 

History repeats itself and human life does not really change dramatically over all the years of humankind. The lessons we learn from the cultures of ancient empires, kingdoms and cities should help African countries, in the course of their development to build effective cultures based on effective institutions that will move the nations of the African continent higher to development, prosperity, and wealthy life for the people of the continent. Culture is the use of the mind in creatively building institutions, habits and practices that chart the course for progressive living within an environment. 
As an end to this article, it will be beneficial to bring the message in a recent video to the attention of readers: 
“In 2016, 1.5 million people went for protest in South Korea. 25 thousand police 
  men were dispatched with zero reported cases of violence on either side.” 
While pursuing the goals of building institutions and practices for cultural growth, it will be important to maintain peace without sacrificing personal rights and determination for success. 

Sources 

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  4. https://en.wikipedia.org >wiki>Maya-civilization 
  5. https://en.wikipedia.org >wiki>Mohenjo-daro 
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