Beer Beer was a key component in the interaction between humans and the environment during the Neolithic period because of its medical benefits. During the Neolithic period, there was no system of purification; thus, the river water used by the respective civilizations are vulnerable to contamination. A lack of clean water led to many waterborne diseases. On the other hand, beer requires boiling water; the process of boiling water killed off the germs and made the water safe to drink. In addition, the alcohol in beer made it a useful antiseptic in cleaning wounds. The abundance of wheat made beer an excellent form of currency. Along with bread, beer was the currency of the time. The government collects taxes in the form of grain and distributes it out as bread and beer to pay for the large scale government projects such as the Great Pyramids. The normalcy of bread and beer as currency equated them to prosperity and well being; in Egypt, their hieroglyph represented food, in Mesopotamia, they …show more content…
People used water for everything from growing crops to bathing. Before proper irrigation, people had to live near sources of fresh water. The Egyptians had the Nile, while the Mesopotamians had the Tigris and Euphrates; these rivers provide their respective civilizations with water to drink, animals to hunt, and plants to harvest. It is because of an adequate supply of clean water that these civilizations can prosper and flourish.
An uneven distribution of fresh water around the world also causes an increase in humanitarian organizations. The organizations help bring safe drinking water to developing nations and disaster areas. Still, not all people are peaceful. For example, when Egypt felt exposed to Ethiopia altering the Nile, they threatened to use military power. Another example is in Central Asia, the arid climates in some of the former Soviet Union countries causes a lack of water, leading to