Ancient Mesopotamian Agriculture

In Egypt specialized labor was a feature to societies in the southern part of the Nile River valley, Egyptian and Nubian lands build patriarchal societies that placed authority in the hands of adult males. The Egyptian economy was really productive because of it’s location and prosperity of the location, Egypt was a center of trade, linking lands in southwest Asia, the eastern Mediterranean, and sub Saharan Africa. The Nile allowed Egyptians to travel back and forth due to the winds, all you needed to do is change your sail. Mesopotamia is known as the fertile crescent. There was much farming in ancient Mesopotamia. Farmers would dig trenches from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to keep their soil moist. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers were very important in Ancient Mesopotamia,

Mesopotamia’s climate consisted of temperatures rising from 110 to 120°F in the summer. This led to many dry days that eventually led to a severe drought. Basically, there was little to no rainfall from the

Beginning with Mesopotamia, according to McKay Mesopotamia was part of the Fertile Crescent, which was where the first agriculture developed (McKay, 35). Moving from Mesopotamia to the city-state Sumer, many farmers brought with them their farming tools and trade abilities so that they could successfully farm in warmer, more arid climates (McKay, 35). Irrigation was a major part of the process and was needed for them to succeed. As the civilization grew, people built temples in Mesopotamia, where farmers would use them to store food items and animals. To the Mesopotamian people, the belief of Polytheism, which is that of many Gods controlling the earth and world, brought a distinct outlook on life (McKay, 36). Sumerian

Economically, these two civilizations both shared prosperous success in similar manners. One connection between Mesopotamia and Egypt is that they both manipulated their designated rivers to perform critical trade operations by using them as routes. They were able to communicated and send goods with other civilizations in a farther location via the river system. Also, these two civilizations were very productive in the agricultural field due to the strategically created irrigation systems that provided water to their fertile soils to provide lush vegetations in Nile and Sumer. The one difference between Mesopotamia and Egypt in terms of economy is that the Nile government controlled most if not all of the trading monopoly, and they had their citizens pay substantial taxes.

Mesopotamians developed specialized crafts and supported private entrepreneurship. They also were involved in foreign and domestic trade.

In regards to interactions between humans and the environment, Mesopotamians were superior in not only utilizing their environment in agriculture, but also in metallurgy. Soon after 6000 BCE, humans in Mesopotamia began using irrigation techniques to improve agriculture in the region, and started working particularly with bronze and iron in the formation of tools and weapons. The people of early Mesoamerica began experimenting with the cultivation of things like squash and beans by

Mesopotamia was an ideal place to start civilization. It has natural barriers as well, which are rivers and mountains. Because the rivers surrounded Mesopotamia, it was suitable for farming. With the Map of Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent seen in document 2, it can be proven that the area of Mesopotamia is located in the Fertile Crescent. In Mesopotamia, farming

For example in document one the farmers lived in villages that eventually grew into small towns and then cities. If we never settled we would've never been civilized as we are today. Writhing was also a massive turning point in our history. If the Mesopotamians did not create a form a writing we would have never been able to communicate or talk with anyone else in our society (Document 3). Also in document 4 the Mesopotamians made various utensils to prepare and eat out of. This helps us understand what they used to eat and eat out of. As shown in document 5 Neolithic farmers used deer antler to farm. They would shape the tools and use them for a variety of different things. In document 6 Neolithic people learned how to domesticate a number of different animals such as sheep and goats. Also they learned how to domesticate flax. This is a big step forward to help them with further domestications. Lastly people in this era did the job that they did best (Job Specialization). For example if one farmed but was better at making tools for farming then they would specialize in that area work. As you can see there are were many different turning points in the Neolithic

Mesopotamia was the land of four primary civilizations: the Sumerian, the Akkadians, the Babylonian and the Assyrians. The Hebrews, like the Akkadians, belong to a group of people known as Semites and from there we can see the influence of Mesopotamian culture in some of the Hebrews traditions. During the same time, civilization began in Egypt, and there can be seen a distinct difference in the social, religious and political system from Mesopotamia; that the link between the two

The overflow, flooding, or lack thereof of the rivers as well as weather differences contributed greatly to the economic stability of each country. As previously stated, Mesopotamians were farmers. The flooding of the Tigris and the

The ancient lands of Mesopotamia are unknown territory for many people. It is one of the earliest civilizations in the world. The first great civilization, located between Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was developed in 3500 BC. Word “Mesopotamia” is derived from two Greek words meaning ‘land between two rivers’. The region is a vast, dry plain through which two great rivers flow. People of Mesopotamia were ‘Sumerians’. Tigris and Euphrates created fertile river basins for the region. World’s first cities grew up in Mesopotamia. The people of Mesopotamia were among the first to use the written words and a language of their own. Mesopotamia is known as the “cradle of civilization”. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers provided rich fruitful soil and

Through the archeological discoveries, we can infer some details into the lives of the people who originated in the cities of Mesopotamia. The root word of Mesopotamia refers to ‘between rivers’, this infers to the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, figure 1. Because the environment influenced people to settle, we can see a change in their political, social, and economic structure as they begin to form a complex society. This is the period where we see a complex engineering system as people started to develop canals and other technologies for a more efficient agricultural development. An early culture to settle in the lowlands of Mesopotamia were the Hassuna culture, their civilization were characterized by “small settlements with a few hundred inhabitants, who lived in rectangular houses with several rooms” (Feuerbach, 2015). Another culture to settle in this area were the Samarran culture; even

Mesopotamia was the world's first civilization--the first time people settled down to live together in one place. They didn't have to rely only on hunting and gathering to get food because they knew how to farm and could save up food for the winter. Since they had so much extra time now (the time they used to spend hunting animals and gathering plants), this allowed them to begin creating objects and ideas to help them live a little easier.

Mesopotamia was a successful farming community early on. Utilizing the Tigris and Euphrates rivers this community was able to create a successful way of farming through the use of irrigation and drainage ditches (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010). Once the use of irrigation became large scale and widely used it was possible to support a larger community base and thus encouraged expansion throughout the civilization.

Mesopotamian civilization began in the Fertile Crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and was where agriculture, the Bronze Age, and writing (cuneiform wedges to ideograms/combination of pictures, to phonetic writing) developed.