What is Ancient history?
[[File:Parthenon (30276156187).jpg|thumb|right|The [[parthenon]] of [[Ancient Greece]]]] '''Ancient history''' is all the [[event]]s we know about between the invention of [[writing]] and the start of the [[Middle Ages]]. Writing is one of the greatest [[inventions]] of the human species. It was invented after the [[Neolithic revolution]] in which people settled in small towns and started [[agriculture]]. Writing dates from about 3,300 [[BC]], which is over 5000 years ago, in the [[Middle East]]. The first people to use writing were the [[Sumerians]] and the [[Ancient Egypt]]ians.<ref>Robinson. Andrew 1995. ''The story of writing''. Thames & Hudson, London.</ref> Before writing, the only things we have are the [[tools]] and [[monument]]s made by earlier people. This is studied by archaeology rather than history. The period of ancient history ends with the early [[Middle Ages]]. == Study of ancient history == Finding facts about ancient history is difficult because people wrote less in those times: only [[scribe]]s could write. Most of what they did write has been lost. There were very few copies made because there was no [[printing]]. What people wrote they wrote by hand. More people could read and write in [[Ancient Rome]] than in other places but much of what they wrote is now lost. === Archaeology === [[Archaeology]] is looking at things that were made or used in the past to learn about that time. Things like [[Pottery|clay pots]], solid tools, and metal weapons often exist at the same time. Things like paper, wood, and cloth can be easily broken, burnt or damaged. Some ancient things found using archaeology are: * The [[Egyptian pyramids]] - Big tombs made by the [[Ancient Egypt]]ians for their king and queens. * The city of [[Pompeii]] - A city from [[Ancient Rome]]. When a [[volcano]] (a mountain that makes fire and hot rocks) killed the people living there, the city was buried and the things inside it were covered with rock and ash. This meant that they did not change for a long time. * The [[Terra