﻿FAR 
  EASTERN 
  CIVILIZATIONS 
  — 
  BISHOP 
  

  

  475 
  

  

  To 
  return 
  to 
  the 
  Bronze 
  Age, 
  however, 
  the 
  third 
  and 
  second 
  millen- 
  

   niums, 
  before 
  our 
  era 
  were 
  marked 
  by 
  great 
  disturbances, 
  widely 
  felt 
  

   in 
  the 
  Old 
  World. 
  The 
  ancient 
  kingdoms 
  of 
  the 
  Near 
  East 
  fell, 
  in 
  most 
  

   cases 
  through 
  invasion 
  by 
  peoples 
  having 
  war 
  chariots 
  and 
  improved 
  

   weapons 
  of 
  bronze. 
  It 
  was 
  such 
  peoples 
  that 
  overran 
  and 
  conquered 
  

   Mesopotamia, 
  Egypt, 
  Asia 
  Minor, 
  northwestern 
  India, 
  and 
  northern 
  

   China. 
  These 
  movements, 
  when 
  traced 
  backward, 
  all 
  point 
  to 
  the 
  

   western 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  Eurasiatic 
  steppe 
  belt 
  (see 
  map, 
  fig. 
  1) 
  as 
  their 
  

   region 
  of 
  dispersion. 
  Significant 
  too 
  is 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  bronze 
  weapons 
  

   and 
  war 
  chariots 
  appeared 
  latest 
  and 
  survived 
  longest 
  at 
  the 
  two 
  ex- 
  

  

  RIVER-VALLEY 
  CIVILIZATIONS 
  

  

  -OFTHE- 
  

  

  ANCIENT 
  WORLD 
  

  

  ©Babylonian 
  

   Egyptian 
  

   Indus 
  Valley 
  

  

  ©Early 
  Chinese 
  

  

  # 
  Use 
  of 
  Bronze 
  

   in 
  Antiquity. 
  

  

  Figure 
  4. 
  — 
  River 
  valley 
  civilizations 
  of 
  the 
  Ancient 
  World, 
  showing 
  (in 
  black) 
  

  

  area 
  of 
  use 
  of 
  bronze. 
  

  

  tremities 
  of 
  their 
  region 
  of 
  occurrence 
  — 
  in 
  the 
  British 
  Isles 
  in 
  the 
  west 
  

   and 
  in 
  China 
  in 
  the 
  east, 
  having 
  gone 
  out 
  of 
  use 
  slightly 
  earlier 
  in 
  the 
  

   latter 
  region 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  former. 
  

  

  BRONZE 
  AGE 
  CIVILIZATIONS 
  OF 
  THE 
  NEAR 
  EAST 
  AND 
  OF 
  CHINA 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  illuminating 
  to 
  compare 
  and 
  contrast 
  the 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  civiliza- 
  

   tions 
  of 
  the 
  Near 
  East 
  and 
  of 
  China. 
  In 
  the 
  former 
  region 
  the 
  de- 
  

   velopment 
  of 
  the 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  has 
  been 
  traced 
  step 
  by 
  step 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  

   antecedent 
  Neolithic 
  cultures 
  into 
  the 
  fully 
  developed 
  metal-using 
  

   civilizations 
  of 
  early 
  historical 
  times. 
  This 
  evolution 
  required 
  at 
  least 
  

   4,000 
  years 
  and 
  in 
  some 
  particulars 
  much 
  more 
  than 
  that. 
  

  

  