The First Great Powers

A little over 5000 years ago, the first agricultural societies crossed a major threshold with the appearance of kingdoms and cities in various parts of the world. This phenomenon attests an increase in social and cultural complexity that manifested itself in the emergence of dominant figures like the “priest kings” of Mesopotamia and the pharaohs of Egypt. These rulers, who based their power on their role as intermediaries between humanity and the gods, are well known to us through their abundant and sometimes monumental iconography.

At the same time, in the first cities founded in Mesopotamia and soon after in Egypt, the Levant and China, technological progress intensified and specialised economic production, population growth and monumental architecture generated an unprecedented social and cultural melting pot conducive to trade and innovation. The rise of the first great powers also marked the creation of authentic kingdoms, whose rivalry led to the proliferation of conflict and war. This period is known as the Bronze Age due to the widespread use of weapons made of this alloy of copper and tin in all continents. Axes, swords of all kinds and armour of increasingly fine workmanship have been found in caches and in the graves of these early elites, as well as spectacular bronze vessels used during rituals of communal collective consumption.