Compare And Contrast The River Valley Civilizations

One way early river valley civilizations affected the future was developing a written language. The Sumerians were the very first people to develop a written language. That language was called cuneiform. They used a writing tool to carve shapes into a certain surface. It was kind of like only using emojis to communicate. According to document 1, “Sumerians invented this writing system to keep track of business dealings because they traded with people who lived in lands that were hundreds and even thousands of miles away.” (Document 1). They used cuneiform for that and to keep records, and to pass new ideas from generation to generation.

River valley civilizations were common as complex societies began to emerge. The ways of life in the Nile and Tigris-Euphrates civilizations parallel each other, yet still have their differences. The beginnings of advanced societies in the Nile river valley were numerous small kingdoms that governed themselves. When an official named Menes rose to power, he unified Egypt and created a central government controlled by a pharaoh. The pharaoh was said to be a god in human form. Offspring of the pharaoh inherited their divine kingship. In Mesopotamia, city-states ruled by kings emerged on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. During the Babylonian empire, King Hammurabi created an extensive list of rules to govern his empire. Unlike Egypt, women sometimes

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.

When you look back in history to the development and the contributions of both the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations, you see that there was a lot accomplished, as well as a lot created. The earliest forms of writing developed in Mesopotamia, while Egypt was referred to the “Gift of the Nile” by traveler Herodotus (McKay,42). Development of cities was another major marker, especially in the “old world”, of how people eventually determined civilizations and what they represented. According to McKay, civilizations were determined by people who considered themselves more “civilized”, urban people mostly. Made up of cities, written rules of law, and social justice codes, Mesopotamia and Egypt would develop into two of the largest civilizations in history.

Although early river valley civilizations developed in four separate places, they seem to have more similarities than differences. This essay will compare and contrast the ancient Egyptian, Harappan, Chinese, and Sumerian civilizations.

Mesopotamian Civilizations contributed massively to the development for future civilizations. To begin, the Sumerians created the first written language. Cuneiform was the writing system to keep track of business dealings when it comes to trading with the people who lived in lands that were thousands of miles away. Cuneiform also kept records and allowed new ideas to be passed from generation to generation (Doc 1). Cuneiform is developed from pictographs that were sideways and used

During 3000 BC, Sumerian was the first cyclical empire, even though they came to a fall the Sumerian people made an impact on Western Civilization. This empire kept history alive, but never forgotten. The wheel was one of their many inventions which are still used today for cars, and manual labor like wheel barrels and lawnmowers. The epic poem Gilgamesh is still a book read today in English classes. This epic poem is inspiring and was an actual historical figure. The Sumerians contributed several ideas, the first organized religion temples and priests. The Sumerians also gave us the biblical story of the Garden of Eden, which was a story about a river dividing itself into 4 river heads, two of the four being the Tigris and the Euphrates River. The water supply was an accommodating way of trade. The Sumerians were the first international traders. They also invented writing, the Sumerians wrote of cuneiform blocks, now student can write on paper but it was a start being able to write thoughts down. The Sumerians had countless clever ideas; they also invented the potter’s wheel, which was used for making pottery to store food and goods. The plow was used for farming and the sailboat was used for traveling up or down the river, for trading or

Ancient Mesopotamia and the Indus River Valley civilization were two incredibly productive and successful empires. While Mesopotamian politics were slightly less focused on religion and more on other aspects, the two societies shared many social characteristics. They both had defined social hierarchies, as well as similar views on gender roles. These traits are helpful in explaining the similarities and differences between the two cultures.

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 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.

While describing the cultural among the people of Mesopotamia and Egypt, I learned the differences and similarities in culture. The birth of Mesopotamian Civilization began in c. 3000 B.C.E., in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers of Southwest Asia. Mesopotamia is a Greek word and it means ‘between the rivers.’ In contrast, the birth of Egyptian Civilization began in c. 3100 B.C.E., in a valley of the Nile River in Northeastern Africa. Egypt is a Greek word and it means ‘House of the Spirit of Ptah.’ Since there are several categories in the cultures of the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians, I decided to narrows it to three categories: Religion, Writing, and Geography. The three categories will present the basis to compare cultural differences and similarities.

Sumerians helped improve the economy. One of their few great inventions, was the wheel it became a very useful and important part of our everyday live. The wheel was invented rather later in time. When it was first created it was due to the fact that metal tools were needed to chisel fine-fitted holes. It was a concept stroke of genius, but certainley a challenge. 300 years later, the wheel was finally used for transportation and domestic purposes.

It was not until the ancient civilization where technological as well as engineering advances have had the greatest impact which stimulated other societies to adopt new ways of living and governance. The Egyptians have created simple machines such as a ramp, or sailing crafts. Mesopotamians, or the Sumerians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, have been credited with the invention of the wheel. The wheel has been the greatest technological advancement and innovation that has been made on earth to this day. It has helped many different cultures and society in various ways. The Sumerians were the first to ever invent the written language. The written language was also a very important and one that has made an intense impact on technological advances especially for in those times.

Sumerian arts and inventions flourished. The wheel itself, which led to the potters wheel and wagon wheels, were apparently invented in Sumer. (49). This lent sophistication to pottery and increased efficiency to farming. The Bronze Age found its origins in Sumerian civilization, which put metal tips on hoes, axes, arrowheads, daggers and many other tools. In Teotihuacan however, the economy " thrived on agriculture, craftwork, and trade in ceramics and quarried obsidian. " (98) There was no evidence in the text or lecture notes that they had achieved the amenities of the Bronze age.

This essay informs about the wheel and invention for ancient civilizations because it made them travel and advanced our ways of life today. This invention was valuable because it allowed transport and trade for the ancient empires. This invention was successful because it has advanced and evolved over time, it has also changed our way of life. This great invention has lead the present to building many advanced creations, like the car, bike, or even a plane. The wheel was invented by the Sumerians. The bike wheel or bike was created in 1802. The car wheel or car was created in 1926. It helped them import and export goods. This information is found in the essay below.