Technology In The Fertile Crescent

The novel “Guns Germs and Steel”, by Jared Diamond, discusses the affects that science and technology have on society and politics. His ideas are reflective of almost all societies we know today and his explanations dive deep into our world history to show the patterns that occur as innovation excels in cultures and societies. The topics of Diamond’s novel ranges from the time of hunter-gatherer societies to modern Eurasia.

The emergence of agriculture was a major stepping stone in human history. During this birth of agriculture, also known as the Neolithic revolution, humans began inhabiting permanent settlements, grow their own crops, and domesticate both plants and animals for food (Weisdorf, 2005). Considering humans have been hunter-gatherers for the majority of their approximately 7 million years of existence, the emergence of agriculture in the Old World only occurring 10,000-5,000 years ago, marks a significant transformation in food sustenance techniques (Weisdorf, 2005). However, this turning point in history is associated with both positive and negative implications. There is much controversy over whether or not the introduction of

Agricultural Revolution occurred in many different regions of the world, including Fertile Crescent and Mesoamerica. Fertile Crescent, where the revolution first occurred in 9000-7000 B.C.E, was located in present-day Iraq, Syria, Israel, Palestine, and Southern Turkey. Mesoamerica, located in present-day Mexico, had the revolution occurred about 6000 years later since the agriculture started in the Fertile Crescent. Numerous differences between two different regions from different hemispheres show why Fertile Crescent had advantages over Mesoamerica in terms of Agriculture.

When the civilizations were first invented, there was a lot of chaos and confusion. This led to the invention of the different forms of writing. Each civilization had a form of writing for

- After the invention of paper, the Chinese also began to use it for wrapping

The first form of writing was created by Sumerians 5,000 years ago called Cuneiform (Document 1). Sumerians used 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 (Doc. 2). With a written language, ideas could be shared from generation to generation (Doc. 1). To write in cuneiform somebody would need to acquire a clay tablet, then bake it hard in a kiln (Doc. 1). If cuneiform had not been created, there may have not been written languages in the

In Ancient China, they developed a writing system for preservation. In China, people would use logograms, which are symbols that represent a word or a meaning.In the early days of the ancient Chinese civilization, people would write on oracle bone or tortoise shell.In Ancient India, writing systems were developed for recording data and information. The Indus script used signs and words and it was written from right to left. By 1800 BCE, the Indus valley civilizations started to fall and writing were often used anymore. Ancient Egyptians started to developed a writing system called, hieroglyphics because they needed a way to record important information. They believed that recording data and communicate information about government and religion was essential. Scribes were only ones to write in hieroglyphics and were written from left to right or top to bottom. In Mesopotamia, people started developing a writing system to information. Mesopotamia created a writing system called, cuneiform. Mesopotamian scribes would record important dates and event, and position of the stars. These ancient civilizations started to create their own writing system to record history and communicate information.

The transition to farming was a turning point in human history since people who remained hunter/gatherers couldn’t produce food as quickly as farmers, and couldn’t produce food that could be stored for a long period of time. Instead of roaming to search different locations for food, farming allowed them to drop seeds in soil that grow next to their

To start, the Sumerians invented cuneiform, which began the path to written language in the future. Cuneiform was the first written language. It was invented over 5000 years ago! (Doc. 1). They used a stylus to make imprints for writing. Written on the clay tablets it was used to keep records, document business

Key Concept 1.2. The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural Societies II. Agriculture and pastoralism began to transform human societies. B. Technological innovations led to improvements in agricultural production, trade, and transportation. Pottery improved agricultural production because it gave a way to store a surplus of food.

The domestication of plants and animals lead to great change in the development and structuring of communities, as the hunter-gatherer lifestyle was slowly replaced by permanent settlements of farmers and villages. We can see that the communities varied greatly dependent on their local ecology, the resources available, and the time period within which their community was based. The road to agricultural way of life in the MIddle East is characterized by Four distinct stages. It was during the Kebaran period, and Geometric Kebaran in which hunter-gatherers began to utilize the plant and animal resources of the region. Architecture became a prominent feature of the Natufian period, as communities began to transition to village life from

He compares three places that all developed food production and in which place it was more effective than the other two: Western Eurasia, specifically the Mediterranean and Fertile Crescent zones, New Guinea, and the Eastern U.S. Diamond first describes advantages of the Fertile Crescent that made it so suitable for farming. First, the Mediterranean climate with long dry seasons caused plants to adapt and consequently they were able to be stored for a long time. Second, the flora of the Mediterranean was previously abundant and productive, so they didn’t need to change much to be able to be cultivated. Lastly, many of the plants were self-pollinating, therefore they could keep the positive traits they were selected for by humans. These adaptations allowed food production to rise quickly and allowed for people to begin the process of civilization. Thus, the Fertile Crescent became one of the first cites of

One of the greatest revolutions in the history of homo sapiens was the adoption of agriculture, which changed the face of communities at every level of class. Though this change was built upon new ideas and allowed us to provide more food for more people, was it in fact a positive change at the time? Today in 2017, we can all look around and see where the agricultural revolution has gotten us in the long run, but authors such as Yuval Noah Harari (2011) claim that during the infancy of the agricultural revolution, life for the average citizen was often a worse one than that of the common forager. A change in food production created many other changes, such as permanent human settlement, biologically unconventional labor, and a larger population density. This paper explores the pros and cons of the agricultural society and the hunter-gatherer society

The ongoing argument concerning the rise of civilization is centered almost wholly around the domestication of plants and animals. The prevailing view of V. Gordon Childe’s principle “that social structure and organization were bent to the demands of technology.” (Childe 1954:23-4), is now directly challenged by what archaeologist Klaus Schmidt is determining from the excavation of Gobekli Tepe; “that far from causing sedentism, agriculture actually responded to it.” (James

American army officer Omar Bradley once said,“If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner.” The meaning of this quote lies in the destruction and devastation of humanity and geography during war. If we do not stop advancing in ways of killing and causing suffering, we will soon face the consequences of these technologies. Throughout World War I and World War II, there was a ginormous technological boom in which countries were competing to invent new weapons or vehicles used in warfare. Specifically, World War I could be blamed for the start of the creating of new technologies used in warfare even today. These technologies were often invented or created during World War I,