What is the most beautiful civilization created by mankind?

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I think the most beautiful civilization is East Rome, the heir of Rome and the Hellenistic East, for these reasons he was hated by the West.

In effect what you mean by "East Rome" is the "Byzantine Empire" and its civilization.

The culture of Eastern Orthodox Christianity- which actually spread byond the boundries of what had been either Roman Empire. Traditional Russia is part of that culture.

Pious American Evangelicals and Papists bicker with each other and often forget that there is this whole third wing of Christianity in the East with its unique art and iconography which is niether Protestant nor Catholic.

Im partial to the Bronze Age Minoans myself. The surfer dudes and babes of the bronze age.
They were into the sea- were into porposes. Topless ladies somersaulting over bulls.
Exuberent art inspired by nature.

The Minoans were quite a civilization, and peaceful. I often wonder, 'what would have happened if Minoan civilization had been the basis of the West, and not the war-like Greeks and their Mycenaean progenitors who killed off the Minoans (with the help of vulcanism)?'

I personally do not like the term 'Byzantine' it is not what the people there ever identified themselves as. They clearly thought of themselves as Romans. Their empire was primarily greek, so a distinction is necessary between the two; but Eastern Roman Empire is a much better description IMO.

I liked studying the Eastern Empire, I epecially like to read about the Seige of Constantinople in 1453; thats how empires should go out. However, the tragity of the Empire was its reverence to the past, they could not see their errors. The decision of Justinian (the man in the picture at the top) to march west to reconquer the west was one of the worst in history. Not only did it ruin Italy as a center of governance but all that effort should have been in marching east to take out the peoples who were the greater threat to them. After this effort, the East was essentially on a slow fade away into decay and ruin.

Last edited by 91 on 24 Feb 2011, 1:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

Hah - I wondered if anyone would go Minoan. But, well, peaceful is as peaceful does. Leave us not forget that at least some of the Sea Peoples have been suspected of being Minoan.

Generally, humanity being what it is, a peaceable kingdom is one in a good defensive position where the internal Other has been permanently removed.

I love Moorish architecture specifically the Islamic influenced architecture of the Iberian peninsula. But early Irish law, as well as early Irish society also fascinate me. I'm not certain if one could be counted as more beautiful than another.

Haven't the 'sea peoples' been accused of being quite a few different civilizations?

The architecture of Moorish Cordoba has always impressed me. If I'm not mistaken, Cordoba was a major center of learning in Western Europe for a long time, which probably didn't make its Christian neighbors happy

Definitions and criteria, please:

Civilization [strict] meaning a fair proportion of the population centers are cities

OR

Civilization [loose] extending the range to culures lacking cities?


AND, very importantly,

Beautiful as measured by technologic aesthetics [art, lit, architecture, and such]

OR

Beautiful as measured by social structure and "quality of life"?

I could not begin to pick a choose without a sense of where the question is going.

The most outstanding accomplishment would have been jumping over the most bulls. Sort of like Evel Kaneval, but with Bulls.

ruveyn

LOL
Are you aware of the type of fashion their women wore?
I was going to post a picture but I realized it would probably count as pornography
In any case, their shirts were designed to show off their bare breasts

In terms of architecture? Hate to admit it, but I'd have to go with Iran, as exemplified by the city of Esfahan. Scroll through some of the pictures in this Google Image link - what have we (=the modern West) built that even comes close?

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=is ... 24&bih=481

Last edited by Natty_Boh on 24 Feb 2011, 12:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

Iran is a beautiful country with a long and rich history. It is tragic to me that it is so repressed these days
The oldest crap you'll find in North America of any real medieval architectural substance is in Quebec City

Yeah. It's possible that the Minoans who survived the catastrophe felt pressure from the Mycenaeans, who were also considered to be a part of the sea peoples by some. It's possible many Minoans mixed with the Myceneaens who ended up being a part of the mysterious 'sea people'

If I judged a country by beauty, it would have to be a draw between France (circa Louis XV), Japan (pretty much any of their gardens or castles) and The Vatican.

Funny no one has mentioned the Chinese or the Japanese.
They would take the simplest activity like flower arranging or making tea and turn it into a high art with spiritual significance.

I am sad how far we have fallen. There is an English TV program called "Antiques Road Show".
The things that our ancestors made a hundred or three hundred years ago were superb.

Or look at houses and buildings. Many Europeans live in houses that are 500 or 1000 years old.

Compare the cheap and nasty "McMansion" to the stately homes they built in Europe 100 to 300 years ago.

I could just weep for our lost glory.