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Period: Ancient Asia

This historical period is very broad and includes the earliest human civilisations in the Middle East, China, and India. The literature, religious texts, and laws which emerged during this period have had a profound influence on the direction human culture has taken over the past millenia. The major historical events and intellectual movements of that time, which influenced the development of liberty, include the following:

  • the codification of law in ancient Sumeria
  • the emergence of religious texts, such as the Old Testament, with accounts of the origin of the world, moral philosophy and laws to guide human life, and the earliest efforts at writing history
  • the philosophy of Confucius

26 People in this Group:

sort name   name   birth   death ↓
Jeremiah Jeremiah 7 BC
Various Old Testament (Various Authors) ?
Misc (Upanishads) Misc (Upanishads) ?
Misc (Rigveda) Misc (Rigveda) ?
Misc (Mahabharata) Misc (Mahabharata) ?
Misc Misc (Confucian School) ?
Solomon King Solomon 1000 BC
Lao Tzu Lao Tzu 600 BC
Moses Moses 1300 BC ?
Job Job 600 BC ?
Micah Micah 800 BC ?
Amos Amos 800 BC ?
Hosea Hosea 800 BC ?
Isaiah Isaiah 800 BC ?
Samuel Samuel ? ?
Urukagina Urukagina 2350 BC ?
Anon. (The Babylonian Deluge) Anon. (The Babylonian Deluge) ? ?
Shudraka King Shudraka 200 BC ?
Mencius Mencius 371 BC 289 BC
Chuang Tzu Chuang Tzu 370 BC 301 BC
Confucius Confucius 551 BC 479 BC
Buddha Buddha 560 BC 480 BC
Zarathushtra Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) 628 BC 522 BC
David King David 1010 BC 970 BC
Hammurabi Hammurabi 1792 BC 1750 BC
Gilgamesh Gilgamesh ? 2700 BC