Deepwater ports!? Civilisation began in the fertile crescent, where there were not a lot of glaciers, and spread largely by conquest. Ancient empires barely had seagoing vessels, let alone any use for deepwater ports, which is a very recent development.

More recently, these empires spread to the New World and Australia , while Africa remained the "Dark Continent". The reasons Arabs and Europeans failed to make headway into sub-Saharan Africa are documented in the history books. On the science side, one big breakthrough was anti-malarial drugs.