PEPLEf the Brnze and Irn Ages thught the wrld was flat， and they knewnly a little bitf the wrld， the small part where they lived； and they thught that if yu went t far the wrld came t an end where yu wuldTUMBLE
F F
If we shuld g up in an airplane and lk dwnn the wrld at the place where the first civilized peplence lived， we shuld see several rivers， seas， and a gulf， and frm s high up in the air they wuld lk smething like this：
Mapf Mesptamia and Mediterranean ( 美索不达米亚和地中海地图 )Nw， yu prbably have never even heardf these rivers and seas， and yet they have been knwn lnger than anyther places in the wrld.nef these rivers is the Tigris River， and anther is the Euphrates. They run alng getting clser and clser tgether until at last they jin eachther and flw int what is called the Persian Gulf.
Yu might make these tw rivers in the grundf yur yardr gardenr draw themn the flr if yur mther will let yu. Just fr fun yu might name yur drinking cup Tigris and yur glass Euphrates. Then yu might call yur muth， int which they bth empty， the Persian Gulf， fr yu will hear a great many new names by and by， and as grwn-up peple give names t their huses and bats， t their hrses and dgs， why shuldn"t yu give names t things that belng t yu？ Fr instance， yu might call yur chair， yur bed， yur table， yur cmb and brush， even yur hat and shes， after these strange names.
Then， if we flew inur airplane t the west， we shuld in the nrtheast crnerf Africa see a cuntry called Egypt， a river called the Nile， and a sea nw named the Mediterranean. Mediterranean simply means between the land， fr this sea is surrunded by land. It is， indeed， almst like a big lake. It is suppsed that lng， lng ag in the Stne Age， there was n water at all where this sea nw is，nly a dry valley， and that peplence lived there.
Alng the Nile in what is nw Egypt， and alng the Tigris and Euphrates in what was then Babyln， Assyria， and Syria， lived peple wh were recrding their activities in writing and pictures that have survived t this day.
Certainly there were cave men andther primitive peples wh were drawing picturesf their wayf life. But because travel was nt easy in thse days， peple inne regin didn"t knw a great deal abut peple in anther partf the wrld. This was sn t change.
Many different grupsf peple lived in the cuntryf the Tigris and Euphrates and alng the Nile， and allf them wanted twn the best land. There were many battles. Peple mved arund a lt-because they lst a battle and had t mver just because they were lking fr a better place t live.
ne grupr familyf peple called Semites lived in the land that tday we call the Middle East， near the Mediterranean Sea and the Tigris and Euphrates. Mdern Arabs and Jews are Semites. They speak Semitic languages that are partfne language family and sund very similar. Here"s an example. In Hebrew， the wrd fr peace is shalm. In Arabic， the wrd fr peace is salaam.
Anther grupf peple lived alng the Nile. In Egypt andther partsf Nrth Africa， Egyptians and peple called Berbers were related t the Middle Eastern Semites. Nubians wh came frm the partf Africa suthf Egypt belnged t a grupf peple called Nil-Saharans. If yu lk at a map， yu22 美国学生世界历史 · A Child"s Histryf the wrldcan see hw they gt this name. They lived alng the Nile River and near the Sahara Desert. These Nubians traveled nrthward alng the Nile Valley int Egypt. And smetimes Egyptians traveled suth int Nubia.
Anther grupf peple came frm the area that is nw Iran. They are called Ind-Eurpeans， and they spread eastward int nrthern India and westward int Eurpe. Tday， peple in Eurpe， Iran， and India are descended frm these early Ind-Eurpeans. Just like the Semites， they speak languages that are related t eachther.
We knw nw that these ancient peples mved arund a lt mre than we used t think they did. They taught eachther t grw different kindsf fd. They exchanged gds with eachther. And smetimes peple settled dwn in the new land and stayed there. Just as the United States has seen many natinalitiesf peple mve here and becme Americans， peple in ancient times als migrated and settled dwn in a new land.
【中文阅读】
青铜时代和铁器时代的人认为世界是平的，他们了解的只是世界的很小一部分， 也就是他们生活的那一小块地方；他们认为如果你走得太远，就会到世界尽头，你 就会摔下去如果我们乘坐飞机向上飞，俯瞰世界上最早期文明人生活过的地方，就会看到 几条河流、几片海洋和一个海湾，在这么高的空中，它们看上去就是这样（参见第 20 页图）：
有可能你从未听说过这些河流、海洋，但是相比较世界其他地区，它们更早为人所知。其中一条河流叫底格里斯河，还有一条叫幼发拉底河，它们奔流着，逐渐 越靠越近，最后交汇在一起流入现在所谓的波斯湾。
如果你妈妈同意，你可以在自家的院子、花园里的地上做出这两条河，或在地 板上把这两条河画一画。出于好玩，你也可以把你的喝水杯叫做"底格里斯"，把你 的玻璃杯叫做"幼发拉底"。杯子里的东西最后都流进到你的嘴里，所以，你可以把 你的嘴巴叫"波斯湾"，因为，你会逐渐听到很多的新名词，就像大人给他们的房 子、船、马、狗取名字一样，你为什么不能给自己的东西取名字呢？比如说，你可 以用那些奇怪的名字给你的椅子、床、桌子、梳子、牙刷甚至帽子、鞋子命名。
如果我们乘坐飞机往西飞行，在非洲的东北角就会看到一个叫埃及的国家，一 条叫尼罗河的河和一片现在称为地中海的海洋。地中海的意思就是位于陆地之间， 因为它被陆地包围着。实际上，它就几乎像是一个大湖泊。据推测，在很久以前的 石器时代，在现在地中海的地方根本就没有水，只有一个干涸的山谷，而且曾经有 人在那儿居住。
居住在今天埃及尼罗河沿岸，和居住在昔日的巴比伦、亚述、叙利亚的底格里 斯河和幼发拉底河沿岸的人，当时用文字和图画记载了他们的生活，这些记载保存 至今。
当然，穴居人和其他原始人也用图画记载了他们的生活方式，但是由于当时的 交通还不便利，所以一个地区的人对另一地区的人不大了解。这一点很快就要改变。 生活在底格里斯河、幼发拉底河沿岸，以及生活在尼罗河沿岸的群落很多，他 们都想拥有最肥沃的土地，所以发生了多次的战争。人们经常迁移--因为打了败仗，不得不迁走，或者因为要寻找一个更好的居住地。 有一个叫"闪米特人"的部落居住在我们今天称为中东的地方，靠近地中海、底格里斯河和幼发拉底河。现代的阿拉伯人和犹太人都是闪米特人。他们所说的各 种闪米特语都属于一个语系，发音很相似。举个例子，"和平"一词在希伯来语中是 shalm，而在阿拉伯语中是 salaam。
尼罗河沿岸居住着另一个部落。埃及和北非其他地区的埃及人和被称为柏柏尔 的人与中东的闪米特人有血缘关系。来自非洲埃及以南的努比亚人则属于尼罗-撒 哈拉族。看一下地图你就会知道他们的名字从何而来。他们都沿着尼罗河居住，靠 近撒哈拉大沙漠。这些努比亚人沿着尼罗河河谷向北迁移进入埃及。有时埃及人也 往南迁移到努比亚。
另一批人来自今天所谓伊朗的地方，他们被称为印欧人。他们向东迁移进入印 度北部，向西迁移进入欧洲。今天的欧洲人、伊朗人和印度人都是这批远古印欧人 的后代。和闪米特人一样，他们的语言互相有联系。
我们现在知道，这些古代民族迁移的次数远比我们曾经认为的要多得多。他们 教会对方种植不同的作物，也彼此交换物品。有时，人们在一片土地上安家，长期 定居下来。如同今天的美国，很多不同民族的人来到这里成为了美国人，古代人也 四处迁徙，然后在新的土地上定居下来。