The Historical Geography of Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region in southwest Asia where the world's earliest civilization developed. The name comes from a Greek word meaning "between rivers," referring to the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, north or northwest of the bottleneck at Baghdad. It is known as Al-Jazirah, or "The Island," to the Arabs (3). South of this lies Babylonia. However, in the broader sense, the name Mesopotamia has come to be used for the area bounded on the northeast by the Zagros Mountains, and on the southwest by the edge of the Arabian Plateau, and stretching from the Persian Gulf in the southeast to the Anti-Taurus Mountains in the northwest (5). Only from the latitude of Baghdad do the Euphrates and Tigris truly become twin rivers, the "rafidan" of the Arabs, which have constantly changed their courses throughout the ages. This region was the center of a culture whose influence extended throughout the Middle East and even the rest of the known world. This paper will focus on the importance of geography in raising this small region to such a level of high importance in the history of the world.
Explanation of the Applicable National Standards for Geography
The National Standards for Geography are being employed into school education programs throughout the United States. The source for the standards is Geography for Life in which they are published. The book suggests the essential knowledge, shills and perspectives that students should master by grades 4,8,and 12. One of these such standards is "knows and understands the physical and human characteristics of places." This is very important to the extent that people cannot fully understand a place unless they first ...
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...peoples. The geography of this area certainly played a central role in the importance and influence of these lands. Geography has had a heavy hand in the culture and history of Mesopotamia, as it does in all areas of the world.
Works Cited
1. Fertile Crescent Civilizations. http://killeenroos.com/1/mesodata.htm (4-27-99)
2. Fertile Crescent Home Page. http://www.leb.net/~fchp/FC-MNFM.HTML (4-27-99)
3. Kramer, Samuel Noah. The Sumerians. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1963.
4. Mallowan, M.E.L. Early Mesopotamia and Iran. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1965.
5. "Mesopotamia." Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1997.
6. Oates, David. Studies in the Ancient History of Northern Iraq. London: Oxford UniversityPress, 1963.
7. Oppenheim, A. Leo. Ancient Mesopotamia. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1964.
During the years of 3500 BC to 2500 BC, the geography of a land often impacted a civilizations development in great measures. Depending on the resources available or the detriments present due to certain topographical characteristics like rivers or deserts, a civilization could flourish or collapse. By studying the geographic features of growing societies like the Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris Rivers as well as the Mediterranean Sea of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the link between developing cultures and geography will be examined through sources, including Egypt: Ancient Culture, Modern Land edited by Jaromir Malek and Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization by Paul Kriwaczek. To determine the extent of its influence, this investigation will attempt to compare and contrast the role of geography in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, focusing on the civilizations’ various periods of development and settlement.
...cision, each command has a different way and uses a different chain of command. Because of that, every structure has to rehearsal its process of make a decision before a mission. In addition, a country, which takes part in multinational command, is responsible for support of its national forces. Furthermore, the Multinational Command Structure is a mosaic of national interest and politics’ wish. Every country has its rules of engagement and its national goals and reason why decide to participate in the operation. Finally, each Multinational command represents the structure of an alliance or coalition. NATO is the example of the alliance and the Integrate Command Structure. This alliance is the example of the treaty for long-term goals. The coalition is more relate to the Lead Nation Command and the Parallel Command. These commands express short-term goals.
The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt began to develop circa 3,000 B.C. Located near rivers, the lands offered fertile soil and an excess of crops that drew in many people. As more people arrived, the small settlements flourished into large, thriving civilizations. Many aspects of Mesopotamia and Egypt, such as their cities, their strongly organized government, and their religion, greatly contributed to the success of these two civilizations.
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.
...en. Through his lifetime, W.E.B DuBois contributed and paved the way for many changes in the black community such as social truths about African American people, and educating blacks on politicizing themselves.
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
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Lewis, Bernard. The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years. New York: Scribner,
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