STAS - Historical Antecedents

• Ancient Times: Sumerian Civilization, Babylonian Civilization, Egyptian Civilization, Greek Civilization, Roman Civilization, Arabic/Islamic Civilization, Chinese Civilization, Indus-Hindu Civilization, Persian Civilization
• Sumerian Civilization: Cuneiform
• Cuneiform - a set of word pictures depicted in symbols made of triangular marks.
• Sumerian Civilization: Sexagesimal
• Sexagesimal - using the number 60 as base, system of counting and a form of place notation.
• Sumerian Civilization: Ziggurats
• Ziggurats - Mountain of god, served as the sacred place of their chief god
• Sumerian Civilization: Potter's wheel
• Potter’s wheel - Wheeled vehicle made of solid wooden wheels on axles now regarded as the greatest mechanical invention of all time.
• Sumerian Civilization: materia medica
• materia medica - made up of assorted botanical, zoological and mineralogical ingredients
• Sumerian Civilization: seed plow
• Sumerian Civilization: sail boat
• Sumerian Civilization: intricate system of canals, dikes, and reservoir
• Sumerian Civilization: the city of uruk
• the City of Uruk - a great wonder not only because it is considered to be the first true city in the world
• Sumerian Civilization - divided the circle into 360 degrees
• Sumerian Civilization: Developed advances mathematical functions to permit accurately plot and forecast
• Sumerian Civilization: Zodiacal map of Sumer was used for practical mathematical and observational purposes.
• Sumerian Civilization: Code of Ur-NAmmu
• Code of Ur-NAmmu - the oldest surviving law in the world. It is the earliest existing legal text
• Sumerian Civilization: Fabrication of copper
• Babylonia - ancient region bordering the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (Southern Iraq)
• Nebuchadnezzar ordered the construction of the famous “Hanging Gardens of Babylon” and the Isthar Gate
• Babylonian Civilization: They adopted the Sumerian sexagesimal system of counting in units, Ziggurat and cuneiform
• Babylonian Civilization: Their measurements made use of fractions, squares and square roots.
• Babylonian Civilization: Book-keeping
• book-keeping, a simple but adequate system of double-entry accounting
• Babylonian Civilization: Zodiac signs
• Zodiac signs, concept of horoscope
• Babylonian Civilization: prediction of solar and lunar eclipses
• Babylonian Civilization: Jewelry making
• Babylonian Civilization: Code of Hammurabi
• Babylonian Civilization: The Babylonian Map of the World
• Babylonian Civilization: Astrology
• Astrology, the science of studying the position of celestial bodies.
• Egypt- located in the Northeastern part of the African continent, a desert country thriving on an agricultural economy
• Egyptian Civilization: hieroglyphics
• The Egyptian writing was in the form of pictorial symbols known as hieroglyphics, representing individual objects or actions
• Egyptian Civilization: They wrote with ink and brushes on paper made of papyrus reeds