History studies the past, from prehistory to modern times. Primary sources are important, and history is periodized into prehistory, ancient civilizations, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Age. Herodotus and Thucydides are considered the “fathers of history”.
History is the study of the past, including the prehistory of man, up to our origin in Africa about 200,000 years ago. Modern history is generally believed to begin in classical antiquity, around 800 BC, when large numbers of scholars started writing things down. Herodotus of Halicarnassus (484 BC – ca. 425 BC) and Thucydides (ca. 460 BC – ca. 400 BC) are generally regarded as the “fathers of history”, with the latter paying particular attention to using a scientific approach in studying of history, attributing major events to human choice rather than divine intervention.
Today, history forms a huge component of human knowledge in general, alongside cultural and scientific knowledge, both of which overlap with history. Historians place great emphasis on primary sources; people writing based on events they or their close friends actually experienced, rather than secondary sources, writing simply based on hearsay. Comparisons between primary sources are also important: without comparisons, it can be difficult to substantiate historical claims. Of course, the story of an invasion will be written differently by the conquerors and the vanquished.
History is generally periodized in several broad strokes, to make it easier to analyze and understand. The first is prehistory, which spans a couple hundred thousand years, from the inception of mankind to the Neolithic Revolution, which began between 10,000 and 8,000 BC. The Neolithic Revolution marked the beginning of agriculture, the establishment of the first cities and non-agricultural classes.
Thousands of years after the Neolithic revolution, various ancient civilizations were founded: Mesopotamia (5000 BC), the Indus Valley Civilization (3300 BC), Ancient Egypt (3150 BC), Ancient China (3000 BC), the Minoan Crete (2700 BC), Mycenaean Greece (1600 BC), the Kingdom of Israel (930 BC), Ancient Rome (900 BC) and many others. Historians study them civilization by civilization, with objectivity as the primary goal.
The end of the era of ancient history is arbitrary, but the year AD 476, when the Western Roman Empire fell, is often cited. Between about 476 and 1492 is the period known as the Middle Ages, while from 1492 to today it is called the Modern Age. Modern history focuses mainly on the last 500 years.
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