《世界文明史》（美国威廉•麦克高希）称“古巴比伦、古埃及、古印度、中国、古希腊是世界上的五大文明发源地”。

According to the history of world civilization (William macgogh of the United States), "Babylon, ancient Egypt, ancient India, China and ancient Greece are the five birthplaces of civilization in the world".

《全球通史》（美国斯塔夫里阿诺斯）中提及：“中东、印度、中国和欧洲这四块地区的肥沃的大河流域和平原，孕育了历史上最伟大的文明。这些文明使欧亚大陆成为起重大作用的世界历史中心地区。更明确地说，中东的文明中心包括尼罗河流域、底格里斯河和幼发拉底河流域及伊朗高原；古中国的文明中心是黄河流域和长江流域；欧洲的文明中心在地中海北岸地区——这一地区从米诺斯文化时期至中世纪末期，一直在经济和文化上占有明显的优势。应该说明，这里所说的欧洲包括北非。”而在斯塔夫里阿诺斯的观点里，中东文明即包括了尼罗河文明和两河文明。

"The fertile river basins and plains of the Middle East, India, China and Europe are the four regions that gave birth to the greatest civilization in history," said Stavrianos. These civilizations have made Eurasia a major historical center of the world. More specifically, the center of civilization in the Middle East includes the Nile basin, the Tigris and Euphrates River Basins and the Iranian Plateau; the center of civilization in ancient China is the Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin; the center of civilization in Europe is on the North Bank of the Mediterranean Sea, which has a significant economic and cultural advantage from the Minoan period to the end of the middle ages. It should be noted that Europe here includes North Africa. " In Stavrianos' view, the middle east civilization includes the Nile civilization and the two river civilization.

日本NHK电视台的大型纪录片《世界四大文明》也认为中国、古埃及、美索不达米亚、古印度为世界四大古文明。

China, ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and ancient India are also regarded as the four ancient civilizations in the world in the large-scale documentary "four civilizations of the world" by NHK television of Japan.

英国BBC广播公司的大型记录片《文明的轨迹》里，将黄河、尼罗河、幼发拉底河、印度河称作世界四大古文明。

In the BBC's documentary "the trace of civilization", the Yellow River, the Nile, the Euphrates and the Indus are called the four ancient civilizations in the world.