1. Ancient Civilizations

Abstract

One of the most important differences among Ancient civilizations of Eurasia and the Near East, is that between archaic and Axial ones. The archaic societies were characterized by a relatively low level of autonomy of the different elites. Axial civilizations constitute one of the most dramatic revolutionary developments that have shaped the course of human history. Axial civilizations constitute one of the most fascinating developments in the history of mankind, one of the most dramatic revolutionary developments that have shaped the course of human history. The tendency to the continual potential reconstitution of institutional formations, up to revolutionary changes, of different combinations between cosmological visions and institutional formations, structures of power and collective identities, was reinforced in Axial civilizations by the fact that with the institutionalization thereof a new type of inter-societal and inter-civilizational world history emerged. The major institutional contours that developed within the Axial civilizations were continually reconstituted. Keywords: ancient civilizations; archaic civilizations; Axial civilizations; human societies; institutional formations; institutional patterns