古代近东被认为是文明的摇篮。美索不达米亚是西亚的一个历史区域，位于底格里斯河-幼发拉底河水系内。巴比伦尼亚是美索不达米亚下半部的一个亚摩利人国家，在苏美尔和阿卡德两个前王国的领土上建立了一个帝国。亚述是底格里斯河上游的一个地区，其国王在历史上的三个不同时期控制着一个大王国，覆盖了中东的大部分地区。古埃及是古代北非的一个文明，集中在尼罗河下游。大约在公元前8世纪，文明的火炬从近东传到了古希腊和罗马。希腊和罗马社会都很繁荣，并在欧洲、北非和西亚的大部分地区产生了巨大影响。文明的崛起与对神、超自然力量和来世信仰的制度支持相一致。许多文明都采用了自己的多神教形式，每个国家都发展了自己的神话，影响了东西方文明的文化、艺术和文学。
巴比伦和亚述的神话和传说
古埃及神话传说
古希腊罗马神话传说
The Ancient Mythology: Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek and Roman Myths
The Ancient Near East is considered the cradle of civilization. Mesopotamia is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system. Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia where an empire was created out of the territories of the former kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad. Assyria was a region on the Upper Tigris whose kings controlled a large kingdom at three different times in history, covering most of the Middle East. Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River. Around the 8th century BC the torch of civilization was taken from the Near East to ancient Greece and Rome. Both Greek and Roman societies flourished and wielded great influence throughout much of Europe, Northern Africa, and Western Asia. The rise of civilization corresponded with the institutional sponsorship of belief in gods, supernatural forces and the afterlife. Many civilizations adopted their own form of Polytheism and each of these nations developed their own mythologies which influenced the culture, arts, and literature of both Eastern and Western civilization.
Myths and Legends of Babylonia & Assyria
Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt Mythology
Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome
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