The Beginning of Civilization
The beginnings of civilization were mostly found along rivers because these cities depended on the rivers for farming, hunting, and many other things, some examples of civilizations that started about 5,000 years ago, are the Indus river valley, Egypt which is located near the Nile River, China which is near the Yellow river, and Mesopotamia which is located in between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. These early kingdoms/empires are proof of the beginning of civilization.
The ruins of the Indus River Valley were discovered in the 1920's. The Indus river valley is found in modern Iraq, this river starts near the Himalayan Mountains, and travels into the Arabian Sea. Especially two cities, Mohenjo-Daro, and Harappa, these two places show advanced city life. Houses had bathrooms and an advanced sewage system. The people in this civilization, used the Indus river to irrigate their crops, drink water, and wash. These people also divided eachother socially with a Caste System, at the very bottom were the outcasts then above them were commoners, peasants and servants, above them there were
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Found near the Zagros Mountains and in the Arabian Plateau, which is part of today’s Iraq, but also part of Iran, Syria and Turkey. The people form this early civilizaton used irrigation, which brought water to large parts of the land through a network of canals. The land was fertile, with irragation and an advanced sewage system, Mesopotamia became a place that could support a large population. They believed that the gods contolled everything that happened to their city. They used cuneiform to keep records, and archaeologist have translated some of their records helping us understand the way this early civilization
The first civilizations and the rise of empires began with small groups or villages existing with the use of hunting, fishing, and foraging. (William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel, World History, vol. 1, 1) Within a few thousand years, people learned how to cultivate food crops and this led to an increase in population. Increased food production resulted in larger communities. The cities began to expand their cultural and religious developments leading to the beginnings of civilization. (Duiker, World History, 1) The first civilizations emerged in Mesopotamia and Egypt during the fourth and third millennia B.C.E and had various components in common. Each of these civilizations was established in a river valley so they were able to provide and produce the agricultural resources needed to survive and uphold the population. (Duiker, World History, 1) Mesopotamia developed in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates River known as “the land between the rivers.” These rivers provided irregular and catastrophic flooding for the city-state. They created an intensive irrigation system to improve their agriculture. The first people to create Mesopotamian civilization were known as the Sumerians. These people were the first city builders and created the major city’s named Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Umma, and Lagash. These cities were built with surrounding walls and defense towers. A six-mile-long wall enclosed the city of Uruk. Mesopotamia lacked
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
The earliest forms of civilizations were said to be located on the three river valleys of the Tigris-Euphrates River in ancient Mesopotamia, the Nile River in ancient Egypt and the Huang He and Indus River in ancient India and China. These three river valley civilizations had many differences yet still lived common life styles. Although the civilizations are located on different continents, they share similar social, political, and economic beliefs from their intellectual developments to types of government to religious beliefs and trading systems.
Mesopotamia had begun to see people near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and they all spread out not too long after. The first sign of settlement in Egypt was located near the Nile Delta. First settlers were spotted by the Indus River Valley for India. China began by the yellow river. Soon everyone that one first located dispersed and grew to be a part of their culture and land at which they were promptly discovered. In comparison, each of these civilizations first began by a river. From that river they began their new society that continued to grow and discover. All the areas showed a sign of life and a chance to
Ancient civilizations have had profound effects of what we know as the modern world today. The primary purpose for anything that lives is to survive. Throughout history animals, plants and humans have adapted to their surroundings. All living things have changed throughout time. The thing that differs humans from rest is, humans are more cognitively advanced. Over the course of time the shape and size of the human skull has changed. The size of the human brain has increased, which has allowed humans to adapt more to their surroundings. To survive, humans were making tools for hunting and to cut with. The closer you lived to the equator the darker your skin may have been, so you could adapt to the intensity of the sun’s rays. If you lived further
The Indus Valley Civilization was an ancient civilization located in what is now Pakistan and northwest India, on the rich flood plain of the Indus River. The first evidences of religion can be traced back to 5500 B.C.E. Similarly, archeological records show that farming settlements formed around 4000 B.C.E. By 2500 B.C.E. dozens of towns and cities had been established and the Indus Valley Civilization was at its peak (Violatti). The Indus River Valley Civilization had some sort of writing system that is still unknown to modern scholars. The evidence suggests they had a highly developed city life; there was irrigation for farming and an underground
Ancient river valley civilizations are one of the earliest societies in the world. The rises of these ancient river valley civilizations started the first cradle of civilization. The Indus Valley Civilization, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Mesopotamia, and Ancient China are the earliest civilizations that were successful enough to make enough food for everybody. Every one of these civilizations had three things in common: they all had a special relationship with the river, they created their own writing system, and they all relied on trade.
The civilizations of the Nile River valley, the Mesopotamia valley, and Indus Valley marked human progress toward fixed settlements and the development of a rich culture. These civilizations shared many characteristics that contributed to their success. What made these civilizations unique were the contributions that each one gave to the world. They contributed their own ideas and accomplishments in the areas of religion, science, and mathematics. These contributions defined each civilization and how they would be remembered, as well as, their importance to the world.
Early civilization shared similar common features, because all of these societies were under the same pressures. Their whole purpose was survival as it is to this day. Each societies main focus was to become established, stay in one place provide food, shelter and protection for their families. Early civilizations materialize along rivers, because rivers supplied a continuous and dependable supply of water for farming and human consumption. Agriculture today has had an enormous benefit on today’s society, there are now more farmers growing organic fruits and vegetables because the realize the great health benefits organic foods have on human consumption, providing less risk of pesticides and or chemicals on their food.
In the following treatise, the research that will be presented will provide criteria involving similarities and differences in three attributes of life in the four primary river valley civilizations. The river valley civilizations are composed of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China. While each of these civilizations is unique in their habits and traditions, they share many similar qualities. For this work to be as comprehensive as possible, the primary focus will be on comparing and analyzing the cultures and ambiance, or environments, political organization and religious beliefs, and social structures of each society. The following categories are going to be analyzed by utilizing the frameworks of the four river valley civilizations. Without further ado, a juxtaposition of the ancient river valley civilizations.
The earliest societies, such as Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt exhibiting indicator traits of civilization developed along the floodplains of great rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq, and the Nile in Egypt. People had settled in Mesopotamia by 7000 B.C. and the First Dynasty of Egyptian
There were four main ancient River Valley civilizations: the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia, the Nile River of Egypt, the Indus River of India, and the Yellow River of China. These civilizations showed specific similarities and contrasting differences. Many of these differences and similarities showed up in the three categories of the technological advances, the types of government, and the geography of the civilization. Two civilizations that are very interesting to delve deeper into and study the contrasting societies are China and Egypt. Since China and Egypt were both isolated from the outside, they developed with a strong focus on technology and learning with strong governments to hold the nations together.
A reason that the emergence of the First Civilizations was a negative development for humankind was that it lead to many inequalities.
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.
The one thing that made civilization possible was the digging stick. The digging stick tool made holes into the ground to plant seed. Afterward, animals where worked to cover the seed with soil.