The Axial Age

The Axial Age is said to have been the period of antiquity circa 800 B.C. to 200 B.C. characterized by human thought directed toward understanding man’s place in the world. The axial age emphasizes the transitional and arguably pivotal role between the declining empires of ancient Egypt, Southwest Asia, northern India and Zhou China – standing as a time period which inspired the rise of ethical, philosophical and religious cultures throughout the world. The expansion of culture and religious beliefs prevailed in this millennium, thus expanding people’s social, political and cultural views. The time period of the axial age undoubtedly gave way to major philosophical and cultural change, some of which are still recognizable in our society
Upheavals freed people from domination of Assyria and Persia, entailing development of new social and political methods of organization. Within the axial age came the formation of new city-states as people became clustered into more concentrated settlements – these were largely governed in the forms of tyranny, oligarchy and democracy, identifying these settlements as self-governing states. The states held profound rivalries, with competition for honor and prestige shaping behaviors and generating organized events – such as The Olympic Games which began in 776 BCE. These self-governed states prospered through their development of open trading markets and a system of money that enabled efficient exchange – ultimately establishing a culture founded on market-based economics and private property. With the lack of monarchial rule, ideas became freely expressed. Some thinkers took a naturalistic view of humans and their place in the universe which became manifested in their art. The axial age thinkers within city-states didn’t accept traditional explanations of the universe and in the fifth century BCE Greek philosophers began to focus on humans’ place in society. Some key thinkers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle who encouraged self-discovery through knowledge, with the recognition of the limits to one’s own faculties and the questioning of authority and truth. Competition
In the Americas, the Omlecs had a base view that human sacrifice was necessary in order to appease angry gods, in turn leading to the development of elaborate temples where people could worship. In West Africa, the Nok peoples evolved interregional trade and cultural contact as they expanded their horizons. In sub-Saharan Africa, foundations for community life were created through areas of complex cultural movements – the Nubian culture of Meroe came in close contact with both Egyptian and Sudanic cultures, influencing their worshipping, ideas and economic