WHAT HAS PRECIPITATED THE FALL OF CIVILIZATIONS?

Wisdom, knowledge, progress, social justice, political justice, economical justice, morality, and the constitution that protects equality and individual rights, are strong pillars of all governments, civilizations, cultures, empires, societies, and families; bringing peace, stability, and sustenance; inducing development, success, economical fullness; promising a bright future, confidence, optimism, and certainty, altogether, all around. Creation of such societies seems utopian, fictitious, and even improbable.? In fact, what has made it improbable is nothing but our ignorance, our evils, our greed, our weakness, our indolence, and our egotism. History has proved that good societies have lived and sustained longer and better than bad ones. History has also witnessed that civilizations had so many evils and so much nonsense that they have eventually seen their invincible nemesis, that they have lost their power and prestige, that they have sooner or later fallen apart. They needed and still need to dispose of their folly and vanity and deadwood. There are cultures and societies that need more trimming than an orphan who has thoroughly left disheveled because of being familyless.?

?What is a civilization? A civilization is an advanced stage of human society marked by cultural, social, political, and economical developments. It has usually enjoyed a strong central government established in a metropolitan city, which controls all other sub-governments and societies far and near, if any. If one of those sub-governments tries to free itself from the control of the central government, it will be forced to give in and come back under the control of the central government.?

?A civilization could have the benefit of different languages and cultures, but it was controlled by the same laws. If a civilization invaded other nations and conquered them, then it would turn into an empire, whose conquests were called colonies, which in antiquity were called city-states, and the colonial resources, including its political, social, cultural, and economical establishments, were assimilated into the empire.? A perfect example of a civilization that ended up in multiple civilizations and empires is in Mesopotamia, an ancient, historical region situated in the eastern Mediterranean sea, covering present Iraq, as well as parts of Iran, Turkey, and Syria. Mesopotamia was the cradle of civilization, whose settlements date more than 10,000 BCE. It was the place that cradled Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus; it cradled other civilizations, other empires; it cradled chieftains, kings, emperors; it cradled languages, literature, agriculture, gardening; it cradled libraries, laws, technology, jobs, services; and it cradled social, economical, political, moral, technological, and psychological establishments that spread out far and wide.?

?To be sure, there is a clear distinction between civilizations and empires. This distinction is characterized by multiple elements. A civilization epitomizes human social development, culture, customs, society and progress. An empire is the epitome of power, superpower, kingdom, political power, hegemony, and domination of other states and countries. There is another major difference: an empire could be very short-lived, for example such as the two French empires. But civilization is a complex system of cultural, social, political progress covering a long period of time. The first French empire lasted for 3 months and 17 days; the second French empire lasted 17 years. Egyptian civilization, Byzantine civilization, and Roman civilization have lasted longer, perhaps millenniums.?

Civilizations have crumbled one by one not because of scarcity, economic change, or lack of physical resources, but because of corruption, luxurious self-indulgence, spiritual decadence, moral dissipation, injustice, and loss of values. Thus, a time-honored civilization with all its wealth, power, prestige, and fame, has encountered its nemesis in the form of natural disasters such as floods, famine, disease, geological, seismical, nautical, meteorological, and ecological disasters. Besides natural catastrophes, there is another form of catastrophes, which has been caused by humans: war has been one of the most catastrophic forms of disasters of all times. At times, war has proved more calamitous than natural disasters, having created enormities throughout all walks of life.

These civilizations and empires have been developing tremendously, with their nemeses hanging over them. They have either suddenly vanished or deteriorated and toppled over in the passage of time by means of wars or other natural causes. For example, such civilizations as Nabatean, which included Canaan and Arabia; the Olmec, which lived between 1200 and-400 BC in Mexico, descended from Maya and Aztec societies; the Mycenaean, inspired by Minoon civilization, lived in southern Greece around 1600 BC, came to an end, their fall relatable to natural devastation, civil unrest, or foreign invasions. Other civilizations and empires such as Minoans, Clovis, Khmer, Harappan, and Anasazi have fallen apart through either natural cause or wars, or both.? Recently discovered cities—Kunara in Iraq; city of Jaguar, Honduras; Tenea in Greece; Mahendraparvata, Cambodia; Angamuco, Mexico; cities of Etzanoa, and Rhapta, and Kweneng in Africa—have also followed the same destiny. Perhaps many other civilizations that are still hidden might have followed the same fate.?

Decadence has precipitated civilizations’ fall, which has followed three kinds of trends: First, sudden destruction, which is usually natural, happening either momentarily by a deadly earthquake or within hours or days. The example of this trend could be the event of Prophet Noah’s Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and destruction of Ad by violent wind. During Moses, the Egyptian kingdom was also toppled overnight. Second, gradual destruction, which takes longer time and wherein is usually involved war, covering regime changes, social and political changes, involving casualties, but not as immediate and categorical as seen in the first trend. The example of this trend has been seen in most other civilizations and empires such as the Persian Empire, Babylon Empire, and Roman Empire. Third, a blend of the first and second trends, involving all kinds of conditions, changes, phases, variation, causalities, and devastation; for instance, convergence of two or more civilizations; cultural, social assimilations (which happened in Mesopotamia); change in the system of government, for example, from kingdom to empire and vice versa (which happened during French and British empires).?

In the wake of most of these civilizations, two realities have been seen: a time-honored tree is toppled and a fresh seed starts growing in place of it.?

The time-honored tree represents the civilization and/or empire, which has been at the mercy of decadence. The seed is an allegory of the messenger of God to regrow a fresh tree with good fruit. This symbolism took effect when people of Prophet Noah vanished from the land by means of flood, in hopes that a new generation, a generation of innocence to be created. In other words, innocence should replace wickedness.? This symbolism is also true of the Pharaoh and his government, who slayed the infants, enslaved the people, and abused his power and transgressed beyond the pale. Although God sent Prophet Moses to him to let the people go and submit to God, acquainting him with multiple miracles of God, he refused and continued to be a transgressor. He and his forces were drowned in the Nile, and his power came to an end. The same is true of the people of prophet Lot, whose people committed sin, and whose civilization buried under the shower of fire and brimstone. Therefore, only those who were good people lived; the wicked were wiped out. People of Ad also sinned against God, and they were destroyed by a violent wind, an end to their civilization.?

These are a few examples that have been mentioned in the books of God. However, the rest of the civilizations and empires have met their waterloo, weakened, vanquished, or vanished either categorically or partly or undergone tremendous changes. These changes have happened in various ways: total annihilation of a civilization, or partial destruction, transformation of a civilization by mixing with or assimilating into other influencing civilizations, etc.?

As ? ? mentioned, destruction or change in a civilization has happened from two sources: either by natural inflictions or by human intervention. Both of these two sources individually account for multiple wreckages and changes.? Nature inflicts in the form of flood, wind, earthquake, storms, tornadoes, and other natural catastrophes. Human invasion of a civilization has caused major changes; for example, conquering and annexing a civilization, leaving wreckage behind, plundering resources, taking people’s lives, etc.??

Natural phenomena such as atoms, trees, planets, stars, etc., which lack the faculties to entertain the thoughts of freedom, will do their business according to what they have been assigned to.? Humans, who are bestowed with freedom, do their business according to their own understanding and disposition.? Therefore, the former has no accountability whatsoever, the latter does have.?

As far as people are in charge of their deeds, thoughts, and choices, they have the freedom to make their own destiny, for which they are inevitably accountable. Thus, people abused their freedom, committed all kinds of wickedness, going on such a crime spree that if they were not stopped or eliminated, the lands would be filled with them, and crime would have been high and low across the earth.?