Flooding Comparison Summative
By Matthew Jeong
Flooding: When water overflows or submerges usually dry land with water which usually comes with large quantities. Flooding has been with us humans multiple times. Sometimes, the waters destroyed our crops. Or maybe it helped nourish and grow the crops. Either way, flooding has always been with us. Today I will compare two topics of flooding. The flooding currently in Kenya, Africa and the flooding in which Ancient Mesopotamia had to deal with.
Currently in Kenya, Africa, there is flooding. It has been going on for a few weeks. Approximately more than a 100 people are deceased and more than 260,000 people have been displaced due to the flooding. Along with the flooding, people are concerned
…show more content…
The Sumerians built their civilization in the fertile crescent, between two rivers. The Euphrates river and the Tigris river. There was silt there, good for planting crop seeds, however when the seeds became crops, it was hard to farm due to the little rainfall. Not only that, but when rain did come, the crops were flooded. The reason why it flooded is because the Tigris and Euphrates rivers water levels depended on the beginning point of the rivers: Eastern Asia Minor. When there was a large amount of rain, crops flooded, livestock died, and homes were washed away. And if there was too little rain, the crops dried up. This was a big problem because the Sumerians’ food depended on it. So farmers decided to control the rivers by creating something called irrigation. Irrigation is a way of supplying water to one place to another. That way, the crops would get sufficient water to grow. The irrigation system consisted of a network of canals and ditches in order to bring water to the fields. Now, as for the flooding, they built walls to keep out floodwaters. This way, surplus food was produced meaning that everybody would not have to be a farmer and the civilization could have a variety of jobs such as scribes, soldiers, and etc. This is the way the farmers dealt with the flooding
Floods can be a very dangerous natural disaster because a flood has the power to move cars, buildings, and cause massive damage to life and property. Even the small floods that are only 30 centimetres or so can do massive damage to houses and if the
On the other hand, Mayan irrigation system was less complex compared to Moche’s, because they had extremely rocky landscape that prevented Mayans from constructing complex structures of the system. Even though Mayans still had their irrigation system, they rather developed their own ways of saving or finding water from nature, such as water caves.
According to the quote, effects of the rising of the water were transportaion, food, and water. Transportaion for Mesopotamia was cruical because they (tribes and communitites) were often nomadic because the availability for food and water was limited. During this time period, food usually consisted of animals which included food such as meat and crops and the Nile River help supplied food and water.
...dant amount of flash floods. This lies in contrast to Egypt, which received even less rainfall than Mesopotamia, and was thus totally dependent on the Nile for watering crops. The Nile River flooded regularly, allowing for easy basin irrigation. Lastly, Rome, in contrary to Egypt, grew up on the banks of a river, the Tiber, but substantial amounts of natural rainfall in the area made extensive irrigation for agriculture purposes unnecessary. Rome’s primary water issue was the lack of good drinking water; the Tiber was often brackish and unpleasant, so the Romans had to build aqueducts. All of these civilizations had a separate and distinct relationship with water, and thus each had their own way of dealing with its conditions.
The first civilization to rise was the Mesopotamia, located in present day Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and Egypt, along the Nile River. It’s split in two ecological zones. In the south Babylonia (irrigation is vital) and north Assyria (agriculture is possible with rainfall and wells). By 4000 B.C.E., people had settled in large numbers in the river-watered lowlands of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Archaeologists have shown that large-scale irrigation appeared only long after urban civilization had already developed, meaning major waterworks were a consequence of urbanism (population). Mesopotamia cities were made of people called the Summerians in the land of Sumer located on the south of Babylonia. The Summerian city was one of
Irrigation affected farmers. The reason why is because farmers were losing money because their crops were not growing due to lack of water. Now that we have irrigation farmers can irrigate their fields. About 100 years ago, an underground passageway was built to help irrigate the fields and is still used today. Irrigation has changed Yuma because it has affected different people. The most important people affected was the farmers. The reason is
The ancient two ancient civilizations of Africa, Kush and Nubia are under risk of being flooded and complete destruction will begin in the next three years if the four new proposed dams Dal Dam, Kajbar Dam, Shereik Dam, and Upper Atbara Dam in northern and central Sudan are built.
As the empire expanded, there was a need for more farmland, but there was not always a water source available. The Incas grew corn, cotton and squash. Garciasco de la Vega, speaking about the farming in the Incan Empire, said, “The engineers showed great cleverness and skill in supplying water for the crops since only scattered sections of the land could grow corn” (Document 4). Their success with irrigation helped them expand their empire. Without it, it would be more difficult for them to subsist in a growing empire.
The factors of irrigation, inherent topography, and useful bronze-age technical innovations paved the way for the agricultural revolution to occur in the land of Sumer and Akkad. The people of the Tigris and the Euphrates basin, the ancient Sumerians, using the fertile land and the abundant water supply of the area, developed sophisticated irrigation systems and created what was probably the first cereal agriculture. This historical factor resulted in an excess of production of cereals, dates, and other commodities. The consequence of excess is the emergence of a productive peasant agricultural system and a redistributive economy that fuels the progress of civilization.
Rivers were a very important part of the development in the earliest of civilizations, as it provided their lively hood and opened them to trade with different civilizations expanding their culture by offering those goods that they needed or were not able to produce on their own. Rivers were also vital to the success of the earliest civilizations agriculture, health and transportation. In some areas if there were no rivers they would not be able to grow crops which dictated the main food source, therefore, the entire life of those people and their decedents the effects of which are still visible in many areas today. Early Mesopotamia “The Land between the Rivers” location was special because the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers brought large amounts of freshwater to the area. Even, though it hardly rained they were able to utilize the river’s provisions.
The conditions of river valleys favored farming in these and other such river valleys. Floodwater spread silt across the valley renewing the soil and keeping it fertile. Animals that drank from the river were also a source of food. The river also supplied the people with a regular source of drinking water and the means of transportation. However rivers also posed challenges. Farmers had to control flooding and channel waters to the fields. Early farmers built dikes, dug canals and also made irrigation ditches. Such projects required leadership and a well-organized government.
Above, is a quote from a man recovered from an article of writing back in the ancient Egyptian times. Irrigation is a form of re-routing water, to parts of land that the water is needed, in farming terms. For Example, there are two crops, one crop is getting all the water, and it’s flooding. With irrigation, the farmer will re-route the water towards the other crop, as well as sharing the water with the crop that was being flooded. So now, both crops are getting enough water and they are not flooding nor suffering from drought.
Did the Great flood really happen? Was it all just a big made up story? Or did the Bible speak the truth. Evidence from all around the world has pointed to the fact that the flood happened. The city of Ur was destroyed by a flood. All the different stories in the world of the flood save one family. Abraham could have carried the story of the flood of Ur. The theories of the flood do not contradict the Bible. Also the Black Sea wasn’t always a body of water. Although the Great Flood was thought to be a myth, scientists may have found evidence the flood existed because scientists may have found the boat, they have found houses underneath the Black Sea, and many cultures have variations of the flood.
The Indus Valley is primarily known for the rise of a large civilization, and this took place in the not so distant past. The first settlers in the Harappan area established themselves near the Ravi River around 3300 BC in a small agricultural village ( Kenoyer 3). The date of 3300 BC means that agriculture in the Indus Valley first appeared a mere 3000 years ago. Though the first agricultural settlements may have been small, large cities eventually developed. Other archaeological records estimate the age early Indus Valley occupation at between 2175-1750 BC ( Fitzsimons 10). So through this information it can be concluded that the early Indus Valley had agricultural beginnings within the last 3500 years. The region lies in a lowland valley along the Indus river, the Himalaya mountains, along with other river tributaries feed the river causing severe flooding ( Fitzsimons 11). Due to the severe flooding in the Indus Valley technological innovations had to take place to combat the problem. “Against the menace of the river the men of this civilization built huge walls of brick surfaced with baked brick” ( Fitzsimons 11). Although little evidence of irrigation has been found, perhaps due to the close pro...
Providing extremely fertile soil is one, if not the most important, roles the Nile River played in the life of the ancient Egyptians. By providing fertile soil, the Nile made it easy for cities and civilizations to grow alongside the banks of the river. This fertile soil comes from the annual flooding of the Nile. This replenishes the top soil with silt deposits that hold much needed nutrients for crops to grow. Ancient Egyptians developed highly complex irrigation methods to maximize the effect of the Nile waters. When the Nile overflows in mid summer, Egyptians divert the waters through the use of canals and dams. As the water seeped into the farm land, rich deposits of silt ensured a good harvest for the year. This allows the civilizations of Egyptians to grow enough food to feed the community. Without the annual flooding of the Nile, Egyptians would have a very difficult time growing necessary amount food to sustain life. Most of the land in the Egyptian nation is dry desert. Very little rain falls year round here. The river provides the needed water to grow the crops as well as provide drinking water for the people. Th...