Compare And Contrast River Valley Civilization

Ancient River Valley Civilizations Computers, airplanes, space travel, and huge cities, how did we get here? It all started with the ancient river valley civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and the Indus River Valley. When comparing these ancient civilizations what did they all have in common? What made them unique?

Egypt, Mesopotamia, Shang/Zhou dynasties/China, and the Indus Valley are all different ancient river valley civilizations. All have different aspects of civilizations. Some aspects of civilization include technology, writing/language, specialized jobs, government, etc. These decisions were made based on the climate and biome the civilization was located in. These things needed to be taken into account because certain aspects of civilization were not suitable for every civilization. A written language was key to creating a thriving civilization, helping many tasks become easier. Writing was composed of many things, but the most important include a government building, a library, and a written language.

Life in the ancient river valley civilizations was different for each region. A perfect example would be the Egyptians river and the Yellow river both are river valley civilizations but each have different geography, social structures, beliefs, gender roles, literature, weapons and technology.

Ancient civilizations began in areas that had arable land and other features such as rivers. Civilizations succeeded in these environments because they could settle down and not live a nomadic lifestyle. Because the land was arable, agriculture prospered and people relied on the geography to grant them the elements needed for survival. In China and Egypt, geography greatly influenced and affected the lives of the people living there because of the prosperous rivers and large natural barriers.

Mesopotamia is one of the earliest civilizations in the world; hence it is called the cradle of civilization. Located between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, Mesopotamia is the perfect word for this region since Mesopotamia also means the land between rivers. These two rivers created the Fertile Crescent which was surrounded by barren territories. People in this area gave up hunting and gathering and instead slowly shifted into agricultural means of getting food to help them survive. They started domesticating animals and planted their own crops.

After the Neolithic Revolution Era, civilizations in Asia and Northeast Africa started to form. All of the civilizations in that area were located near water, so that’s why they were all called, River Valley Civilizations. The most advanced ancient river valley civilization was the Indus Valley Civilization. According to Document 5, it states that “While the cities of Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt were built with very little planning...the cities of the Indus Valley were sophisticatedly planned. The cities were built on a grid system.”

Throughout time civilizations have risen and collapsed. Some were conquered while others simply disappeared. The Egyptian civilization thrived near the Nile River from 3000 B.C. and was later conquered by the Persian Empire around 525 B.C. In the other hand, the Mayan civilization developed in Yucatan Peninsula around 200 B.C., and mysterious disappeared around 900 A.D. However, these two cultures share many factors in common such as developing calendars and building pyramids. Even though civilizations developed in different time periods, they can still have many factors in common such as environment, language, and architecture.

The Indus Valley built large mud walls and drainage systems to lessen the effects of massive flooding. In Greece, many wars occurred between city states due to the differences in culture caused by separation by mountain ranges. In Aksum, they utilized their access to different bodies of water to become the head of trade. Each of these civilizations utilized their geography and its advantages, but also eventually fell victim to its disadvantages.

The Yellow and Yangzi river valley people of China during Shang times were prosperous civilizations in their time. In addition, so were the Egyptians and Nubians on the Nile River. Both groups of peoples had their own traditions and ways of living, based on environment and where they migrated from. While these civilizations are quite different, they have more in common than some would realize. While they differ in religious views and political organization, the Chinese and Egyptians have similar agricultural practices and writing systems.

How one river changed a Civilization Ancient Egypt has had many great discoveries and natural resources from their land that have really changed their society. One of the most important resources to them was the Nile river Valley. It has been said that without the Nile river Egyptian Civilization would not have been possible (Life along the Nile). The Nile river running as the longest river in the world is 4184 miles long.

For example they used engineering to build their cities. One economic similarity that these civilizations have is trade. In Mesopotamia they used the Tigris and Euphrates river to trade with neighboring civilizations. In Egypt they used the Nile river to trade with other civilizations. In India they used the Indus and the Ganges river to trade.

Geography played a huge role in the lives of both the ancient Egyptians and the Mesopotamians. It affected much more than crop cycles or the weather; it affected everything about the way each group lived, including the way each viewed their own separate gods. Egypt and Mesopotamia aren’t very far apart by our standards today, but those 900 miles back then made a lot of difference. The main things both civilizations had in common were things like being dry deserts that lay close to rivers with fertile soil for crops to grow. These similarities are what allowed both groups to flourish and expand into a long-staying civilization of people.

Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt were two early human civilizations that lived during the bronze age in harsh desert environments located not far from each other. Both civilizations were built around rivers that they depended on for survival. There is evidence that these rivers had great influence on both the societies politics and culture. Egypt was built around the very strong and reliable Nile River. Ancient Mesopotamia was established in the fertile crescent between the less reliable Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Ancient Mesopotamia"Land between the rivers" (3500 B.C.E) and Ancient China(as early as 3500 B.C.E) are two of the many civilizations in history. Both civilizations left evidence of their way of life and accomplishment Mesopotamia ranging from the 12- month calendar, plow, cuneiform, ziggurats and number system based of on 60 count. China from ink, pictographs martial arts, great wall of China, and the art of porcelain. Mesopotamia had several civilizations within its own such as Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians etc.

Ancient Civilizations Egypt, Mesopotamia, and India are some of the early civilizations, that helped to shape the world as we know it. Each ancient civilization had many contributions to society. Some would include irrigation, grid like house system, and written languages. Ancient Egypt is one of the most common ancient civilizations. We all know them for the pyramid but that 's not all that they achieved.