Step into this lavishly illustrated time machine to unlock the secrets and hidden treasures of the first city-dwellers and their descendants. Visit ancient Mesopotamia (now Iraq), Egypt, India, China, and the Americas, where 5,000 years ago city civilizations developed for the first time in human history. Filled with a wealth of color and B&W photos, this extraordinary book provides a unique tool for studying the birth of civilization. By looking at art, architecture, technology, social organization, writings, and other points common to the areas surveyed, you'll see the amazing parallels that developed in these independent societies, as well as their points of divergence.