New Modern Way of Keeping Time
More than 50% of today's Human Race doesn't believe in any gods. Also, please consider that the actual world population is 8 billion and the followers of Christianity worldwide are 2 billion which is a quarter of humanity or 25%.
Why I'm saying the above?
Because having this year's date as 2026 and the past history dates of any facts or civilizations divided into Before or After the birth of a man that Richard Dawkins defines, with all due respect, as a "bedouin from a desert tribe" seems to me simply INCORRECT and greatly offensive for all the Human beings who didn't fall under the spell of any religion!!!!!!
So, considering this, I would propose that we begin counting the years starting from the first artifacts or sites clearly recognizably made by the first HUMANS close to us, that left an unequivocal sign of CIVILIZATION!!!!
To find a common ground that doesn't offend anyone in any culture or civilization would not be easy so, I will force myself to just use common sense and logic. Some people with an open mind, might agree while others who are "crystallized" in old beliefs will never agree so, I will forget about them!!!
I suggest not going back to pre-history, which is too far away, but just identify some artifacts and civilizations to which all reasonable people can agree.
The Caves of Altamira
It would be great to start with the Caves of Altamira, located near the historic town of Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, Spain. It is renowned for prehistoric cave art featuring charcoal drawings and polychrome paintings of contemporary local fauna and human hands. The earliest paintings were applied during the Upper Paleolithic, around 36,000 years ago.
But, honestly, it seems to me too far away so, I would suggest starting with the Lascaux cave paintings. They are the combined effort of many generations and, with continued debate, the age of the paintings is now usually estimated at around 17,000 years ago so, this could be considered……..
Year 1 of modern human kind!!!
So, our year today will be……..…. 17,026.
Göbekli Tepe
Then, we can position in time the incredible site of Göbekli Tepe.
Göbekli Tepe is an archaeological site of a temple in Southeastern Turkey and has been dated back to 8000 B.C. so, it would be year 7,000. These dates were discovered by carbon dating old tools found during excavations. This building is in fact the oldest structure on earth that we have found to date.
Uruk - The First City
There are many other cities or civilizations or sites that can be cited but I don't want to bother you with a lot of data and names so, I will skip to Uruk.
Uruk actually isn't just a single building but an ancient city. It is believed to be the first city ever created. It was made up of many temples and other buildings in Iraq and represents a turning point in the history of civilization.
Constructed in 4000 B.C. meaning year 11,000 of the New Dating, Uruk was home to about 40,000 people. So far, archaeologists have been able to identify 20 temples, 1 room, 2 normal halls, 1 great hall, and 4 buildings for bathing and other necessities in the remains. The various buildings within the city of Uruk allowed the 40,000 residents to live comfortably, even allowing for up to 80,000 inhabitants at various times.
Stonehenge
It's inevitable to arrive at Stonehenge!!!!
Archaeologists believe that Stonehenge was constructed around 3000 B.C. so it will be year 12,000.
Ancient India
One of the first great civilizations was India!!! Recent archaeological discoveries have revealed that comparatively advanced technological artifacts were found at the Rakhigarhi, an Indus Valley site that might prove that the ancient Indian civilization began as early as 8000 years ago which is for us year 9,000 of the New Dating.
Ancient Egypt
And now, forgetting for the moment the great civilization of China, it's time to consider the Mediterranean great civilizations so the Ancient Egyptian civilization which coalesced around 3000 B.C. (our new 12,000) with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first king of the First Dynasty, Narmer. Predominantly native Egyptian rule lasted until the conquest by the Achaemenid Empire.
China
So, the history of China. The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1000 B.C. (our new 14,000) from the Shang dynasty during the reign of king Wu Ding.
Ancient Greece
After China, the ancient Greek civilization, the period following Mycenaean civilization, which ended about 1200 B.C. (14,200), to the death of Alexander the Great, in 323 B.C. (15,023). It was a period of political, philosophical, artistic, and scientific achievements that formed a legacy with unparalleled influence on Western civilization.
Rome
At last, the queen of past civilizations: Rome!!!!!
As legend has it, Rome was founded in 753 B.C. (new dating year 14,247) by Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Mars, the god of war. Left to drown in a basket on the Tiber by a king of nearby Alba Longa and rescued by a she-wolf (in reality, it seems that they were saved by a woman named "she-wolf" for her wild aspect!!!), the twins lived to defeat that king and found their own city on the river's banks. After killing his brother, Romulus became the first king of Rome, which is named for him.
Conclusion
To conclude and to make it easier to arrive at today's date, we can use the actual numeration but adding from the beginning of the NEW DATING so today would be the year 17,026!!!
Thank you for reading!
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