Editing Old World (section)

==Etymology==
In the context of [[archaeology]] and [[World history (field)|world history]], the term "Old World" includes those parts of the world which were in (indirect) cultural contact from the [[Bronze Age]] onwards, resulting in the parallel development of the early [[civilization]]s, mostly in the [[temperate]] zone between roughly the [[45th parallel north|45th]] and [[25th parallel north|25th]] parallels north, in the area of the [[History of the Mediterranean region|Mediterranean]], including [[North Africa]]. It also included [[Mesopotamia]], [[Iranian plateau|the Persian plateau]], the [[Indian subcontinent]], [[History of China#Ancient China|China]], and parts of [[Sub-Saharan Africa]].

These regions were connected via the [[Silk Road]] trade route, and they had a pronounced [[Iron Age]] period following the Bronze Age. In cultural terms, the Iron Age was accompanied by the so-called [[Axial Age]], referring to cultural, philosophical and religious developments eventually leading to the emergence of the historical [[Western world|Western]] ([[Hellenistic philosophy|Hellenism]], "[[classics|classical]]"), [[Near Eastern]] ([[Zoroastrian]] and [[Abrahamic]]) and [[Far Eastern]] (Hinduism, Buddhism, [[Jainism]], [[Sikhism]], [[Confucianism]], [[Taoism]]) [[cultural sphere]]s.