This paper studies the street and block plans of Mohenjodaro and Sirkap of Pakistan, and Thimi of Kathmandu Valley. Mohenjodaro was a reknowned city of Indus civilization, while Sirkap of Taxila, was an important cultural center in later half of first millennium BC. While both of the cities are archaeological remains, Thimi is still a living town. The three cities, apparently separated by enorm...

THE ANCIENT WORLD passed from the Stone Age through the Bronze and Iron Ages to our modern developed society—a society that is dependent on metals and alloys for its very existence. However, an impressive body of metallurgical knowledge developed in the thousands of years since ancient man first found copper and became curious enough to investigate the behavior of this naturally occurring, rela...

The application of various modifications of fasting for its therapeutic value has been well documented during many different periods of our civilization. In the earliest eras of recorded civilization, humans found in fasting not only a method of treatment and prevention of some diseases, but a potent weapon for self-discipline and moral education. For this reason the fast became an integral par...

Numbers are present in every aspect of our daily lives. Whether we are making a phone call on our cell phones, calculating the waiter’s tip at dinner or counting pairs of socks to make sure none of them disappeared in the laundry the use of numbers is evident. It is easy to take them for granted considering how prevalent they are in the world today. But this wasn’t always the case. In fact numb...

The sound producing machinery of change is a viral element in the problems of civilization. A silent relation that is unmoved, as it is unexposed to the power of the discourse of change and a silent logic of volumetric processes, together illustrated to companion empirical nature are employed for the elaboration of historical conceptual paradox involving mind and matter. Mind, conceived as an e...

Many historians consider Japanese civilization developing along a distinct track against that of the Asian mainland and in particular, China, since the Heian period (794 – 1185). They believe the Japanese then began to shift their attitude toward Chinese civilization from assimilating at full scale to selectively adopting, and to gradually nurture and accumulate their native cultural tradition ...

Climate change has been implicated in the success and downfall of several ancient civilizations. Here we present a synthesis of historical, climatic, and geological evidence that supports the hypothesis that climate change may have been responsible for the slow demise of Minoan civilization. Using proxy ENSO and precipitation reconstruction data in the period 1650–1980 we present empirical and ...

The Meaning of Life and the Measure of Civilizations Barry Smith In what respects is Western civilization superior or inferior to its rivals? In raising this question we are addressing a particularly strong form of the problem of relativism. For in order to compare civilizations one with another we would need to be in possession of a framework that is neutral and objective, a framework based on...

A current and major difficulty in civilizational studies is how to deal with the concepts of “civilization” and culture.” As these terms are simultaneously distinct and overlap, arose through a historical process that was key to modernity and are also at the root of a variety of disciplinary connections, they constitute a perfect case of semantic entanglement. Confusion has resulted from this e...

Russian Culture and Civilization Class 1 What is Culture? Western vs. Russian Approaches to Culture: Observers and Participants Russia has inspired centuries of commentary and analysis by Western travelers and observers; the academic study of Russia began in the late 19th century. Russia was seen as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." Western researchers are trying to "crack the c...