Ancient art has two basic characteristics defining it "from below" and "from above" - it is art created by well-organized society, with a hierarchical structure of authority and clearly defined religious system (which distinguishes it from the prehistoric art) and it is pre-Christian art, what distinguishes it from medieval art.
In the history of ancient art is a mysterious gap - the so-called Dark Ages (c. 1200 - 900 BC), during which almost all the cultures underwent a profound crisis, they have disappeared at all, or after a long break they reborn in a much altered form. The reasons for this decline is believed to be the destructive raids of the peoples of the sea (if any existed at all), whose symbol is the destruction of Troy (VII) around 1200 BC.; Possible that he also has a relationship with a breakthrough bronze and iron ages.
The changes that followed the dark ages are so substantial that it makes sense to divide the whole of ancient art into two periods - the art of first civilizations and the ancient art.
This section presents the artwork of the first high civilization of Europe.

Civilization and its art have appeared almost simultaneously in the Bronze Age (around 3000 BC), in four independent areas:
In the Valley of the Nile in Egypt - State of pharaohs.
In the basin of the Aegean - Cycladic, Mycenaean and Minoan (Cretan) culture.
In Anatolia (in present day Turkey) – State of Hittite.
In Mesopotamia (basin of the Euphrates and Tigris) where he flourished and fell culture of the Sumerians, Assyrians, Akkadians, Babylonians and Persians finally.

Art of the first civilization developed during the two thousand years, during which time the Hittite culture disappeared from the earth, the remains of Aegean cultures mingled with the cultures of the invaders in ancient Greek culture, but cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia, despite many changes, preserved its characteristics until by the end of antiquity.