Life In Ancient Civilizations

Have you ever imagined what life was like in our forefathers’ time? If you’ve seen “The god’s Must Be Crazy,” then you are one step ahead. Have you ever wondered if you would survive during their time? Did our forefathers live a better life than we do now? This topic is one that sparks debate every time, even here on Hive. Many communities have featured it in their monthly prompts, with members sharing different takes on it. I’m pretty sure I have blogged about this topic more than 500 times (ahem ahem). The question of whether our forefathers lived a better life is like a coin with two sides. There are reasons to support that they lived better and there are also compelling reasons suggesting that they did not.

Digging deep into history, it is safe to say that our forefathers struggled to survive. I mean, back then, there were no social media platforms. They had no cellphones; they communicated with their loved ones using pigeon, smoke signals, letters, and some other methods. Imagine wanting to send a love letter to your loved ones and having it delivered by a bird that might die along the way? What a heartbreaking way to end a love story. Or how would you send a lengthy message to your partner? Through smoke signals? Well, things are different now. You can sit down and send lengthy messages to your loved ones just from the comfort of your home, thanks to social media platforms.

There were no cars at that time; only kings and rich people could afford to go places with horses. Imagine wanting to go to your girlfriend's house and having to trek under the hot sun. It wasn't until later that humans started developing other transportation methods. Life was really different that time, with stressful messaging methods and no vehicles. Aside from these, another significant difference was the system of government. Thanks to my government teacher, I am quite knowledgeable in this field. Government was my favorite subject back in school. I remember reading my government textbook from the first page to the last. One of the topics I was really interested in was systems of government; systems of government in my country and other countries. Most especially , the systems of government that existed during ancient civilizations piqued my interests. Unlike today's world, the system of government that existed at that time was complex and barbaric. Using the Old Oyo empire in Nigeria as a case study, power was vested in the hands of four levels; Alafin of Oyo, Are ona kakanfo, among others. It is the duty of the Are Ona Kakanfor to protect the empire, but When the empire suffers defeat, he must commit suicide. Although some places still practice this system, it is rare to find.

Simply put, no! Although some might argue that there are many benefits the first civilization had over the lifestyle we are living, one thing that is for sure is that they lived quite a stressful life. I'm not sure how long I'd survive with having to trek from one place to another when I could easily board a bike or a cab. I'm not sure I'd survive doing harm labor before I got anything done. Oh! Oh! Yeah! We’d also be wearing leaves instead of nice clothes. I'm not sure I'd survive that.

How would I survive without anime, cartoons, premier league, and social media platforms? Instead of doing these things, would I stay in the farm all day toiling from morning till night? I don't think I'd last a week. Our forefathers survived and lived longer, but I don't think I'd last a day. I wish teleportation machines existed so people would travel into the past, stay there for a few days to confirm if they preferred the life our forefathers lived.

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This is my entry to the INLEO monthly prompt. Day 2.