Regardless, we can rule out all ancient civilizations.
So you'd rule out Greece, with their mythology? The amazing Roman Empire - home to Roman Catholicism? You'd rule out Asia (Ancient China had an incredible strategist named Genhis Khan.) Ancient Japan, built upon Honor?

Their governments were corrupt in ways that make contemporary stuff look childlike in it's innocence.
Check out a conspiracy website sometime. Sure, it's all nuts, but really - If you don't know what others think is going on, how could you possibly condemn an ancient civilization?

Their populations were doomed to short, miserable, bleak and pitiable existances. Life and death were cheap...
Take India for example. People don't exactly value life there. True story - my father's there on a business trip. He's stop at a sign or light or something - this guy gets out of his car, goes and beats on a guy in another car, gets back in and drives away. 'miserable, bleak'? Or do you consider that a happy fairy tale?

when starvation, violence and laughably simple diseases are the top three killers in the world (the so-called "black plague", people catch it on occasions even today, it's often mistaken as a bad flu). We might as well shrug off their technologies.
Starvation and violence? It seems there's people in poverty in the USA, are you saying they don't starve? Even to death? And that's just in the USA. I won't talk about any 'third-world' countries. As for violence, there have been shootings. In schools. In the USA! Ah yes, shrugging off technologies. I mean, pfft - no one needs the wheel. No one needs clothing. (That wasn't sarcastic, it's true - we don't actually need those things.)

And for some reason, the way you stated that life and death are cheap I take it you've seen Full Metal Alchemist. If you haven't, it states that the adult human being can be built on the cheap. But science is missing something. Science only outlawed human alchemy because it wasn't able to do it. That's like.... quitting with technology. Saying ancient technologies are irrelevent. Etc.

I'd say past civilizations have given modern civs. a run for our money.

My appoligies if this is harsh.