Time, Historic

History (as opposed to prehistory) refers to a written record of the human past, so historic time is the period in which we have had such records. The line between prehistory and history is not [Page 1269]distinct, and there has been much debate among historians and archaeologists about where the former ends and the latter begins.

The distinction between history and prehistory is fairly recent, with the word prehistory first being used in the 1860s. At this time, anthropology underwent a shift known as the “time revolution” or the “revolution in ethnological time.” Prior to this revolution, the history of humankind was believed to extend back only a few thousand years, in keeping with beliefs about the timeframe of events in the Bible. The paradigm shift was spurred by the discovery of human tools near the remains of extinct species, and it also occurred around the same time that Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) was published. Humankind's existence was now lengthened by hundreds of thousands of years. It was during this time period that the field of anthropology emerged.

Because changes in the human way of life were gradual, no single date can be pinpointed as the start of history. The year 3500 BCE is often cited as the (approximate) date when recorded history began. This was contemporary with the beginnings of Sumerian society, located in Mesopotamia. The Sumerians developed cuneiform, one of the earliest known systems of writing. It began as a series of pictographs, in which different concepts and objects were represented by pictures, used chiefly for tallying and recording inventories of goods.

Another school of thought states that history began later, around 750 BCE, in Greece. It was during this period that writing began to involve analysis, instead of lists and simple records, as in prior times. For this reason, the period prior to these more detailed written records is sometimes referred to as “proto-history,” a period between prehistory and history.

Herodotus, who lived in Greece in the 5th century BCE, is sometimes referred to as the “father of history.” His account of the Greco-Persian war, known simply by the title History, is considered the first historical narrative of the ancient world. While other historical records had previously been written, his was the first to appear as a narrative whole. In addition to his narrative of the events of the war, Herodotus also described the political climate and social customs of the time, providing a rich source of information on Greece during the 5th and 6th centuries BCE.

While written records can provide information about a time period, historic sites, with their tangible artifacts, can provide even more information. Using both types of resources provides the most detailed information about a time period or culture. An example is the pyramids built in ancient Egypt, used as tombs and settings for funeral rituals. Inscribed on the walls of pyramids from the 5th and 6th dynasties (2465–2150 BCE) are pyramid texts, the oldest religious literature in Egypt. These hieroglyphic texts contain myths, spells, and incantations meant to protect the dead king or queen buried there. It is thanks to these writings that we understand the pyramids' purpose and Egyptian views of the afterlife. According to the pyramid texts, the tapered shape of the pyramids was meant to resemble a ramp or stairway for the soul to ascend to the afterlife.

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