I am very interested in ancient civilizations, like the Persian or Khmer empires. I like to imagine myself thousands of years ago when there were no laws, or land borders. Do you think back then that ancient people knew that people would be studying them and writing essays on them?
The Khmer Empire was based in present day Cambodia. It was established in 802 c.e. by King Jayavarman ll. Their main religion was Hinduism, followed by Buddhism. They have the largest Hindu temple in the world, called Angkor Wat, which took thirty years to build. At it’s peak, the empire expanded to Thailand, Laos, and Southern Vietnam. The empire later declined due to damaged reservoirs and increasing Chinese immigrants, who started what is now present day Thailand.
The Chinese Empire started in 1500 b.c, from the Shang Dynasty. This empire was started in the Yellow River Valley, along the eastern coast of China. According to recent excavations, they were very extravagant people. They built statues of ceramic, jade, bone, and bronze. They also believed in human and animal sacrifices much like the Aztecs. The Shang Dynasty was led by 31 kings during a 600 year existence. They were later conquered by the Chinese state of Zhou, who became the next Chinese dynasty.
The Indus Valley was an ancient civilization located i what is now Pakistan and northwest India. Religious practices and agriculture date back to 5000 to 4000 b.c.e. Modern excavations near the capital city of Harappa have led to theories of a highly developed city life, including bathrooms and drainage systems. They also may have had a writing system. They followed a polytheistic religion much like Hinduism. Their decline later came due to being conquered and their writing and trading systems failing.