ORIGINS OF SCIENCE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD 25 



Temptation of Eve, which was of Babylonian origin, and in 

 which the acquirement of knowledge was a form of sacrilege, 

 is an echo of a conception of the universe unfavorable to the 

 development of scientific thinking. The tumultuous exist- 

 ence of these peoples of Mesopotamia throughout many cen- 

 turies, during which one conqueror followed another, may 

 have emphasized the concept of unfriendly gods, while the 

 peace of Egypt may have been largely responsible for gods 

 who smiled on men. 11 The practical scientific achievements 

 of these Near-Eastern peoples, before the advent of any 

 European civilization, constitute the first great advance of 

 science. If there remained for the Greeks the first important 

 advance toward a theoretical explanation of the universe, the 

 material accomplishments of the Near East should not be 

 disregarded. The orientalist has done an inestimable 

 service in showing the foundations upon which the first 

 strictly European civilization was reared. 



CONTRIBUTION OF GREECE TO THE ADVANCE 

 OF SCIENCE 



In Greece, the seeds of scientific thought, which had 

 germinated among the earlier peoples of the Eastern Med- 

 iterranean, reached their full fruition in the ancient world. 

 We have been taught to regard the rise of Hellenic civiliza- 

 tion as a social and intellectual phenomenon unparalleled in 

 history. How Greece so suddenly came to her glory was long 

 a mystery. But the archaeological investigations of recent 

 years have established certain facts of continuity, previously 

 unknown. Investigations in Crete have shown the existence 

 of the so-called Minoan civilization, originating from an 

 indigenous neolithic foundation, which can be followed in 

 the lower strata of the hill of Cnossus, back to a period 

 perhaps as early as 7000 B. c. This neolithic culture artic- 



11 Jastrow, J., "Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and 

 Assyria." 



