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.
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.
For the period 500 BCE to 1200 CE, the societies of Africa and the societies of Americas both developed primarily in isolation. The geography of these regions and environmental variations created great distance between the emerging civilizations within the two continents. For example, In Africa the civilization of Axum, located on the horn of Africa, emerged with ties to Arabia. The proximity to the Red Sea linked Axum with Egypt and subsequently Christianity. This civilization had a monarch political system, built monuments, and even developed a written language. While in the Niger valley a city-based civilization emerged that was absent of state structures. The Niger valley was driven by specialized economies, such as iron working, agricultural,
The River Valley Civilizations of Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, The Indus Valley, and China shared a lot of similar geographic qualities. One quality that they shared geographically is that they all have an important and major river going through them which supplies the people with water. In Egypt they have the Nile, in Mesopotamia they have the Euphrates and Tigris, the Indus Valley has the Ganges River and China has the Yellow River. With that said, they all have access to a major body of water that could be used for transportation or for trading goods. Additionally, each civilization has mountains, some more than other, but they all have them and they can be used to protection if under attack. Lastly, all of them either have steppes or deserts,
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.”
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.
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.
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 Egypt was the most advance civilization of antiquity. They had fairly advance Medicine, Architecture, Religion, and were also wise in philosophy. Greek culture learned a lot from Egypt, and they constantly referred to them and sought to find their ancestors in Egypt. The Nile was a fundamental element for the flourishing of the civilization of ancient Egypt, most of the population of cities were in the Nile valley and the Delta. The Nile was vital to Egyptian culture from the stone age.
Me: How did the geography impact the ancient Egyptians? King Tut: Geography impacted ancient Egyptians from rivers, mountains, and forests. We need to think of where to settle based on the geography in the area. One-way geography impacted ancient Egyptians was if there were rivers near or at the location they settled. Consequently, rivers were very helpful for ancient Egyptians.
There are many rivers in this wide world and they all have a story to tell but this one is like no other. The Nile shaped Ancient Egypt in such a way. The four “river civilizations” are China, Mesopotamia, India, and Egypt. The Nile is 4,258 miles long. It originates in Burundi, south of the equator, and flows northward through northeastern Africa, eventually flowing through Egypt and finally draining into the Mediterranean sea.
The geography of the land greatly effects the development of a civilization. The early civilizations lacked the expertise and knowledge of how to make their civilization grow and expand. These civilizations didn 't know how to create large irrigation
In three of the world's oldest civilizations, the development of Agriculture proved surprisingly similar. Despite long distances between each culture, especially in the case of Mesoamerica, all three developed “staple” crops that proved very important for their food sources (BBC, FAO, Nair, National Geographic). While China and the Indus River Valley domesticated various animals for food, Mesoamerica did not rely on domesticated animals nearly as much (BBC, Nair), not even for labor (FAO). Although the types of crops they grew resulted in different diets for all three civilizations, the Neolithic Revolution remained the fundamental basis for all their nutritional development (BBC, FAO, Nair). Even with various different features in climate,