Chasing Civilizations: A Lifelong Fascination with the Ancient World
Traveling to see Ancient Stuff
When I was in junior high school, I was a serious history nerd. I’ve always been fascinated by history and how our knowledge of the past shifts as we discover “new” ancient civilizations.
Back then, the ancient city of Ebla was discovered in the northern part of Syria. Time magazine did a huge feature on it because it contained one of the largest and oldest libraries ever found, dating back to a high point in its civilization between 2600 and 2400 BCE. I was intrigued that we could still find massive places nobody had ever known about. As I grew older, I realized this was going to happen over and over again.
In pursuit of seeing these ancient places, we have traveled all over the world.
The Americas: Incas and Mayans
Before kids and camera phones, we visited Machu Picchu and the various Inca sites around Cusco, which are simply magnificent. While Inca Peru feels “old” to us, the high point of their civilization was roughly between 1438 and 1527, right before the Spanish colonization of the Western Hemisphere.
Several years later, we visited Belize, and as part of that trip, we crossed into Guatemala to see Caracol and Tikal. These Mayan cities reached their zenith around 600–800 CE. It was crazy to see these ruins scattered all over Central America. I’ve closely followed the shows chronicling the use of LiDAR by UCSD professor Albert Lin in the greater Mayan areas. Thanks to that research, we now know the Maya civilization was far larger, denser, more interconnected, and more heavily engineered than we ever understood.
The Classical World: Rome and Greece
My first trip to Rome was in 2007. It held a special place in my heart because I had studied Latin for two years in high school and always dreamed of seeing it. Rome did not disappoint. We saw all the famous landmarks and even visited Pompeii, but for me, wandering the Roman Forum was a dream come true. After reading so much about the Republic, Caesar, and the Emperors, walking the same ground they had walked was incredible. The Forum’s origins date back to around 500 BCE.
Several years ago, we took a family trip to Greece. Much like Rome, it was amazing to be surrounded by so much history. Seeing the Parthenon (where construction began in 447 BCE) was a very similar experience to the Forum. Greek culture stretches way back to the Mycenaeans and the Minoans around 3000 BCE, before the Bronze Age collapse sent Greece into a dark age, only to emerge again around 800 BCE. My one big regret in Athens was not seeing the Antikythera Mechanism, which some believe is the world’s oldest computer. A great reason to go back!
China and Ireland: Emperors and Tombs
As I posted previously, we visited China on a work trip last fall. While we saw a number of the main sites Americans are familiar with, the absolute high point for me was the Terracotta Army in Xi’an. This massive collection of soldiers and cavalry was created around 210–209 BCE for the first emperor of China. It really was a special thing to see.
More recently, we visited a good friend in Dublin to celebrate their birthday. On an off day, we took a journey out to Newgrange, a UNESCO World Heritage site where Neolithic settlers built massive passage tombs dating back to roughly 3200 BCE. We were actually allowed to enter the tomb and go into the main chamber, where, on the Winter Solstice, the sun aligns perfectly to light up the entire room for about 17 minutes each year. This site is older than both the Pyramids and Stonehenge, which is mind-blowing to me.
The Next Frontier: Göbekli Tepe
While there are many other sites to see in the world, the one that has captivated me the most over these last several years is the excavation at Göbekli Tepe and the other Tas Tepeler sites in southeastern Turkey.
To put this in context: these amazing temples and structures were built 12,000 years ago—before the advent of farming. They have pushed our understanding of when civilization started back by 5,000 years. Given the current situation in the Middle East, I don’t see that trip happening soon, but I am hoping that as peace returns, we will eventually make the journey there.