“Every epoch is vain” (author unknown)
This statement can easily be applied to civilizations as well. If we look at our everyday life, the reality of the Western / European / Atlantic civilization is all around us. We live by its standards, we think in its way, we work and speak the way its conventions teach us. But more than that! We live in the conviction that there has never been a more advanced or better civilization in the world than the current one.
But you know what? Every civilization thought that about itself. Today, we have truly reached the highest peaks of scientific and technological progress that humanity has ever had. However, the belief that this civilization is the best and the only one possible is not only incorrect but also very dangerous. The belief that it cannot be otherwise and that this is the only right way leads us to fallacies that we pay for troubled societies, political upheavals and violence, as well as for dissatisfied lives of individuals. The danger of only one truth, only one story, is that it denies existence to everything that does not fit within its framework.
That is why it is important to get acquainted with the most important civilizations that preceded or in some period competed with ours. By studying them, we discover different views on life and the world, different values that guided these people, as well as different institutions that organized and directed them. Speaking about them, we will not fall into the trap of idealizing non-European cultures. In addition to the many good things that these civilizations teach us, they also had their dark and destructive sides. We should also talk about them and learn and find wisdom in them.
Through stories and illustrations, this journey evokes the ideas and values of six ancient civilizations of mankind: Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, Andean and Mesoamerican. Each of them gave their own contribution and their own interpretations to the questions that plague modern humanity: What is a good life? What is wealth? What is friendship? What is love? What is success?… Bringing new interpretations of concepts that we often take for granted, this journey opens up space for a healthier and more inclusive relationship towards our societies and us as individuals.
