Starting in 3500 B.C., city-states began growing across Mesopotamia in the region known as the Fertile Crescent, which was surrounded by two great rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. Around five thousand years ago, starting in approximately 2600 B.C., settlements such as Harappa were built near the Indus River, an area that extends from northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India today. Mesopotamia and Harappa were similar in that their geography was both surrounded by the rivers. However, they had some distinct differences in their culture, lifestyles, and religions.
The Fertile Crescent had biological, ecological, and geographical diversity. Mesopotamia had climate variation, with winters being wet and summers being dry (Diamond
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They used irrigation to stretch these rivers’ waters into farmland. Because these rivers regularly overflowed, floodplains were transformed into rich, fertile farmland. With the irrigation technique, the Fertile Crescent saw rise in engineering advances such as canals and dams. Irrigation was usually used in dry parts of Mesopotamia because areas near the rivers and the sea already had extremely fertile soil that was “made up of rich mud brought down by the rivers from the mountains” (“Ancient”). Moreover, the Fertile Crescent had a variety of altitudes and geography, which contributed to diversity in crops and animals. Big mammals, such as the goat, sheep, pig, and the cow were domesticated in the Fertile Crescent (Diamond 141). The Indus Valley Civilization, also known as Harappa, had rather different geographical features than Mesopotamia. Harappa also had two rivers that surrounded them, which were the Indus and the Ganges. Its rich agricultural lands were surrounded by highlands, desert, and ocean. The …show more content…
The earliest Sumerian houses were built from reeds, but as cities began to develop and flourish, people started to build houses with mud bricks. Mesopotamia had several literatures written in cuneiform script that included prayers and myths, and the Gilgamesh Epic was the most famous poem that “pre-dated the Biblical story of Noah’s Ark” (“Ancient”). Mesopotamia was also known for art and sculptured figures made from stone and clay that usually depicted animals like goats, rams, and bulls. Houses in the Indus Valley were made of baked bricks that were usually two stories high. The houses had private bathrooms that included clay pipes that would connect to the sewers under the streets. The Indus Valley placed emphasis on music, and people were required to recite the Vedas, which contained the oldest recorded history
The civilization of Mesopotamia strived off of the fertile crescent ( also known as the Tigris and Euphrates river). The Tigris and Euphrates rivers were ideal for growing crops. The rivers gave fertile soil to begin farming which was the first step in starting a civilization, essentially obtaining a food source. The river
Mesopotamia, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was and is still an extremely important region for the water it provides. For this and its ability to support agriculture, it’s known also as the Fertile Crescent. It’s also been called the Cradle of Civilization for providing the earliest existence of a civilization.
Increased agricultural production brought on by early irrigation techniques used on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers helped to suppor...
Rivers and fields affected the people who lived in the Fertile Crescent throughout the years because of the fertile soil and water. Many people lived in the Fertile Crescent and prospered from the fertile soil by growing an abundance of crops. Once it was abandoned, the Fertile Crescent became cracked soil and vacant land.
Before the beginning of history, people from across the land gradually developed numerous cultures, each unique in some ways while the same time having features in common. Mesopotamia and Egypt are important to the history of the world because of religious, social, political and economic development. Mesopotamia was the first civilization, which was around 3000 B.C., and all other countries evolved from it. Mesopotamia emerged from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The soil was rich and agriculture was plentiful. The Semitic nomads occupied the land around Akkad. The Sumerians established the city-states. Villages became urban centers. Because of the formation of the city-states everything flourished. However, Mesopotamian agriculture lacked stones; therefore mud brick became their major building block. Their diet consisted of fish from the rivers. The rivers were flooded frequently destroyed the cities. Mesopotamians made their living from crops and pottery.
With the rich soil, foods were plentiful around the farm lands, which gave both countries the chance to establish largely dense areas, like what we now know as a city-state. The Nile River also served as a defense for the Egyptians. They enjoyed centuries of tranquility and peace in which they used to develop their civilization. For the Mesopotamians, this wasn’t the case. Mesopotamian society consisted of classes and social differences.
The Nile and Indus River Valley civilizations were both unique civilizations in their own way in comparison. Yet despite being separated by thousands of miles there are similarities in these two ancient civilizations. It is seen that amongst ancient civilizations, rivers are fundamental for them to prosper and provide for a relatively stable society for which a people can grow and develop. There are general similarities with pinpoint differences as well as general differences with pinpoint similarities. Both civilizations have left their influence on human civilization and history, with their unique characteristics of their religion, way of life, social classes, cultures, technological advancements, government systems, rulers and notable
What similarities and differences did Egypt and Mesopotamia have and why was Egypt more politically unified than its neighbor, Mesopotamia? I think in order to answer these questions it is important to look at how both societies lived. Egypt and Mesopotamia were two civilizations existing during the time period of 2000-1200 BCE.(text, 97) These civilizations were shaped by their environment, involved with trade, and faced changes in government after the 100 year drought; however, they differed in that Egypt was shaped by the Nile, traded goods for goods and changed their outlook on the pharaoh who was ruler of all; whereas, Mesopotamia was shaped by the Tigris and Euphrates, traded money for goods, and had a ruler over rulers. The governed harmonic life style of Egypt led this society to be more politically unified; whereas, Mesopotamia’s government led to many different ways of structure, thus creating a less unified society.
Mesopotamian temples were run like great households where the gods were fed lavish meals, entertained with music, and honored with devotion and ritual. Mesopotamians were religiously tolerant and accepted the possibility that different people might have different gods. They had a gloomy picture of the afterlife. Mesopotamian families had ceremonies to remember/ honor their dead. Religious teaching influenced daily life in a huge way. Religion played a big part in literature and art of Mesopotamia. Epic poems told how the world was created and of hero-king Gilgamesh, who tried to escape death by going on a journey to find the sole survivor of the great flood. The most imposing religious structure was the ziggurat, a tower in stages. Poetry about ziggurats was often compared to
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 months of May until October. This led to the devastation of agriculture. Not only did the Sumerians have to deal with the effects of the droughts, they had to deal with the consequences of flooding as well. The Tigris and the Euphrates surrounded Mesopotamia thus when it would overflow more devastation would occur such as the washouts of embankments. (Hause, 2001, pg. 7)
Egypt and Mesopotamia were two of the world’s earliest city-based civilizations, creating the basis for Middle Eastern and Western history. Both Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations existed on the banks of major rivers. While Egyptian civilization thrived along the Nile, Mesopotamia settled between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Although they shared this characteristic, it was also the cause of many of their differences in political systems, religions, and social stability.
The Mesopotamian geography affected their society because Mesopotamia was located on an open plain without protection from foreign intrusions. Egypt, on the other hand, was centered on the Nile River ad protected by natural boundaries. This allowed Egypt?s kingdom for prosper and last for thousands of years. Mesopotamia was not considered a nation or country, it was considered a region between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that established a number of highly organized city-states. Since each city-state was independent there was no capital of Mesopotamia.
Millions of years ago the procreant low lands in the river basins of Euphrates and Tigris was probably the home of some animal life, but no great civilizations. However, things change over time, and just a few thousand years ago the same fertile low lands in the river basins of Euphrates and Tigris became the home of a very rich and complex society. This first high society of man was located in what some still call "Mesopotamia". The word "Mesopotamia" is in origin a Greek name meaning "land between the rivers." The name is used for the area watered by the Euphrates and Tigris and its tributaries, roughly comprising modern Iraq and part of Syria. South of modern Bagdad, this alluvial plain was called the land of Sumer and Akkad. Sumer is the most southern part, while the land of Akkad is the area around modern Bagdad, where the Euphrates and Tigris are closest to each other. This first high, Mesopotamian society arose as a combined result of various historical, institutional, and religious factors. The reality of these factors occurring at a specific place within the fabric of space / time indeed established the basis for this first high civilization. Items like irrigation, topography, and bronze-age technical innovations played a big part along with the advent of writing and the practice of social conditioning (through the use of organized religion) in this relatively early achievement of man.
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...
Ancient Mesopotamia was one of the first of the ancient civilizations. It formed in present-day northeastern Egypt, in the Fertile Crescent. The Fertile Crescent is a crescent-shaped region of good farmland created by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The first people to settle in Mesopotamia made important contributions to the world, such as wheeled vehicles, and an early form of writing called Cuneiform. Later, the Phoenicians here developed an alphabet much like the one we use today. Also, the Sumerians of this region developed algebra and geometry. Most importantly, the Sumerians made extensive irrigation systems, dikes, and canals to protect their crops from floods. The Great Hammurabi of Babylon, another empire in the Fertile Crescent, made the Code of Hammurabi. It was the first significant set of laws in history. Also, the Hittites and the Lydians settled in Mesopotamia. The Hittites developed a way to produce strong plows and weapons. The Lydians created a system of coined money. The contributions from the region of Mesopotamia in ancient times are still used today and are very useful.