The ancient world is marked by the rise and fall of various civilizations, war, cruelty, slavery, torture, injustice, civil war, abortion/euthanisia, and tyrants. Sun dials, water clocks, water wheels, levers, cog wheels, and the screw were known to the ancients. Libraries were founded where "books" were catalogued and collected. The ancients had numerous other inventions that were lost due to the Gutenburg printing press. Information carefully preserved by Christians was by passed for the new and modern. It would take the passing of a few more centuries before the flush toilet and hot/cold running water for the average home to be reinvented for example. (These were avilable in Abram's Ur of Samaria as well as in India and other ancient civilizations.)
            In the Nile Valley, wild animals became domesticated, plows were invented, people united under a king's leadership to till fields, the potter's wheel was invented, metals were smelted while glass, paper, and ink were produced. The central concepts of an afterlife and a reward for virtue carried through from the times of Adam and Eve even though the theology became distorted. Wanting man to be pre-imminent, the humanists created their gods in the image man felt they should be.
            The Sumarians, Assyrians and Chaldeans contributed cuniform, a calendar, a system of numbers/weights/measures, advanced the engraver's art, silver replaced grain for the medium of exchange, and copper was replaced by bronze. Hammurapi (Babylon) distorted God's Law and gave a repressive, humanistic code of laws. Schools were connected with temples as the ancients knew thoughts have consequences. In order to pass on their humanistic theology, like today, it must be passed on through education. Therefore, education became centralized. Sennacherib (Assyrian) built the first known aquaduct and the Assyrians constructed a road system, originated a posting system, elaborate seige machinery, introduced the cotton tree from India, and created the earliest known library collecting literary, scientific and religious writing. The Chaldeans made advancements in astronomy and originated the names of the seven days of the week from five planets, the sun, and the moon.
            The Greeks gave a humanistic notion for the freedom for certain individuals and departed from Adam and Eve with freedom for all based upon God's Law-Word written on everyone's heart. Individual Greek names have come down to us with their accomplishments --- Meton's calendar, Herodotus increased geographical knowledge (probably based on earlier maps), Aristotle advanced botany/anatomy/zoology, Archimedes aided in the notion of gravity and higher mathematics, Euclid's geometry, Hipparcluis gave us trigonometry and catalogued almost 1100 stars, Eratosthenes computed the earth's diameter, Herophilios discovered the optic nerve, and Pythias learned of the moon's influence on the tides.
            As the Greek culture became weighed down with its own corruption and debauchery, the Romans appeared on the scene. Rome developed but soon its senators and the wealthy plundered the provinces, performed court tampering, and bribed the electorate. The real power soon rested with the army and civil wars ensued. Under the tyranny of the Caesars, a fragile "peace" was attended by prosperity. Under Tiberius, Christ preached and the flood gates to Freedom were opened. The Roman government oppressed its citizenry with a growing bureaucracy, depreciation of money, a huge welfare state, an aggresive military, taxation, debauchery and moral baseness. Wanting to correct these problems without changing their behavior, the Romans placed the burden on the Christians. While still being persecuted, the Christians had infiltrated into all areas of society. Tax collection, various military aspects, education, and many other responsibilites were placed upon the shoulders of the Christians. Through the college of hard knocks, Christians gained practical experience in handling the fundamental structure of a culture. As the humanists plunged the world into a Dark Age, only the Christians were equipped to restore freedom through God's Law-Word into every area.