Categories: Disambiguation Ancient history is from the period of time when writing and historical records first appear, roughly 5,500 years before the Birth of Christ. ... Periodization is the attempt to categorize or divide historical time into discrete named blocks. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... This article describes the ancient classical period: for the classical period in music (second half of the 18th century): see Classical music era. ... Location within Italy The Roman Colosseum Rome (Italian and Latin: Roma) is the capital city of Italy and of its Latium region. ... Map of Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was the civilization of the Nile Valley between about 3000 BC and the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. As a civilization based on irrigation, it is the quintessential example of a hydraulic empire. ... Mesopotamia ( Greek: Μεσοποταμία, translated from Old Persian Miyanrudan the Land between the Rivers or the Aramaic name Beth-Nahrin two rivers) is a region of Southwest Asia. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Far East is a term often used for East Asia and Southeast Asia combined, sometimes including also the easternmost territories of Russia, i. ... Importance and applicability Most of human history is not described by any written records. ...