Axial Age

Axial Age (also Axis Age, from German ) is a term coined by German philosopher Karl Jaspers in the sense of a "pivotal age" characterizing the period of ancient history during about the 8th to 3rd centuries BC. During this time, according to Jaspers' concept, new ways of thinking appeared in Persia, India, China and the Greco-Roman world in religion and philosophy, in a striking parallel development without any obvious direct cultural contact between all of the participating cultures of the Old World.