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climate chagnge and its impact essay
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climate chagnge and its impact essay
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Fundamental societal changes leading to collapse of civilizations
The historical implications of climacteric change are not to be overlooked. For a period in history to be considered climacteric, there must be a multitude of wide ranging fundamental changes that have a long lasting effect upon civilization. The time period between 2000 and 1000 BCE was climacteric due to many factors, the most prominent being the radical changes in environment and government.
A stable environment is necessary for civilization to thrive. Without predictable ecological patterns, consistently providing enough food for a society is nearly impossible. In both Mesopotamia and Egypt, the agriculture was largely dependent on the flooding of their respective rivers. In Egypt, it was necessary for the Nile to flood on a consistent basis. If the Nile was late to flood, the soil would not be fertile enough to support agriculture; if the Nile flooded too soon, all of the crops would be destroyed. Although the Tigris and the Euphrates did not flood with the same consistency as the Nile, it is important to note that: without the fertile soil provided when the rivers of life and death overflowed, agriculture would be impossible. Between the years 2000 and 1000 BCE, the inconsistent food production that resulted from the volatile weather conditions greatly impacted the development of society.
In an effort to explain these unknown and volatile changing weather conditions, religion was built thousands of years ago to answer the unknown. The Mesopotamians, the Hittites, and the Egyptians were similar in a sense that they were polytheistic and depend on their rulers to have a connection with their gods. If famine or a drought occurred, the resulting deaths due t...
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The citizens of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Hittites believed that their government had a connection to the gods, a doomed enterprise in the climacteric period. When there was a lack of food supply for the people, they abandoned their home and the civilizations collapses.
The time period between 2000 and 1000 BCE can be considered climacteric due to many factors, the most prominent, being the growth and collapse of civilizations. During this time many civilizations collapsed such as the Hittites and, Mesopotamia and some prevailed such as the Egyptians. The Hittites fell due to constant invasion; economy was fragile and home land being poor in key resources. Similar to the Hittites, Mesopotamia collapsed due to overpopulation, war like tribes, and drought.
Bibliography
Fernedez-Armestro, Felipe. The World a History, Combined Volume (Prentice Hall 2007)
They felt that their gods were resentful, envious, and spiteful. This view developed from the many natural difficulties the Mesopotamians were troubled with. Their two water sources, the Tigris and the Euphrates, would flood violently and unpredictably, often destroying whole villages and cities. At times the rivers would produce fatal floods and on other occasions there would be droughts that would greatly reduce their water supply. The riverbanks would often be too steep and the rivers too wild to allow for transportation or trade. While Egypt enjoyed a natural perimeter that evaded invasion, Mesopotamia’s exposed plains gave way to repeated attacks. These extreme conditions resulted in the suffering and hunger of the
Two of the earliest and greatest civilizations, Mesopotamia and Egypt, show the transition from a Paleolithic society into a settled civilization. Both cultures had established kings; however, the Pharaoh is the god-king of Egypt, while in Mesopotamia the monarchs are priest-kings whom serve the gods. Although Mesopotamia and Egypt have some characteristics in common, which bring them under the “First Civilizations” category, their different views and beliefs about divine authority and how it is practiced set these civilizations apart and make them unique.
In the first civilization, both Mesopotamia and Egypt relied on a hunter-gatherer economic system, during that time, every country in the world strived on it. Mesopotamia had rich soil for agriculture, but experiences floods. For the Mesopotamians, these floods would destroy major cities, but for the Egyptians it would keep the soil rich all year long without the damage that the Mesopotamians had experienced. 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 peaceful development of their civilization. For the Mesopotamians, this wasn’t the case.
Through radiocarbon dating early villages, there is a clear link between the end of the drought and the emergence of early civilizations. I strongly believe there is a connection between the end of the draught and emergence of a substantial civilization in Mesopotamia. The area became more hospitable after the drought and because of that, people were able to flourish and set roots. With agriculture, Mesopotamia grew into a larger civilization. Though the area didn’t have everything needed for a city, the people of Mesopotamia were very innovative; using mud to build their buildings since wood and stone materials were not
4. About religion in general, whenever man defies god, his existence, or his actions, it’s considered to be an act of defiance and they are to face punishment. With this in my mind, we can infer that at a time where man was expanding in Mesopotamia, the belief in the gods and goddesses was declining. Thus, the punishment from the infuriated gods was to eliminate them all.
Ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt both emerged approximately around the same period (4000-3500 BCE). Many of their human developments, scientific accomplishments and philosophies contribute greatly to today’s modern world. Organized religion was first seen in those ancient civilizations. The religious systems in theses areas are intertwined with political and spiritual elements as well as a major influence on the cultural behaviors of the civilizations. In such governments, gods and goddesses are seen as the supreme religious and civic leaders. . The priestly class and divine kings would carry out their deity’s will, in ancient Mesopotamia and in Egypt, religion and government was designed as one. The Egyptians believed that they were the divine nation and their
Creation stories have profound effects on humans. Those associated with ancient cultures/civilizations aim to ensure the successful survival or well-being of themselves and that particular culture/civilization of their association, but not all are beneficial, prosperous, or fortunate. Mesopotamia’s “The Gilgamesh Epic”, Egypt’s “Hymn to the Nile-Documents”, and Mesoamerica’s Mayan and Aztec creation stories/religion are influential to establishing significant relationships within society, whether that is between humans and nature or humans and their “god(s).”
People of the ancient world often had questions about their existence and how life and people came to be on earth. Most ancient people answered these questions through religion. The Sumerians were the first important group of people to inhabit Mesopotamia and they were known to practice a form of worship called polytheism, which is the worship of several gods. Mesopotamians associated different gods with natural events, emotions, and other occurrences. Their main deities included An (the god of the heavens), Enlil (Lord Storm), Enki (god of wisdom), and Nihursaga (the mother of all living things)(p.22). The Mesopotamians believed that the gods controlled all of the events and occurrences in life. An ancient text called “Creation of Man by the Mother Goddess” (p.34) helps us understand how the M...
Mesopotamian and Egyptian religions shared two key similarities: polytheism and priestly authority. The religions in Mesopotamia and Egypt were both polytheistic. Their religions were polytheistic because Mesopotamians and Egyptians could not explain many things in that occurred in their lives. Therefore, they assumed that there are different gods for everything. This means that the religion had many gods for different things. In Egypt and Mesopotamia, priests were part of the upper class and were very important in the daily lives of civilians. Priests were part of the upper class because they were thought to have the ability to communicate with the gods. In Mesopotamia, the priests held the highest authority in the religious structure. Egyptian priests were not as powerful in government as Mesopotamian priests were, but they still had significant power. Egypt’s highest religious and military leader was encapsulated in the position of pharaoh. The pharaoh was at the top of all social classes and was considered to be a god-like figure.
Previous climate change predictions have provided scientists, archaeologist and ecologists with information about the past and future of humans. These indications are backed up by scientific research based off of the physics of the Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, land and ice. In addition, many researchers have recently turned their focus to past civilizations and their downfall. With information from Mark Kinver’s “Roman Rise and Fall ‘Recorded in Trees’” studies show that from the demise of the Argaric society to the fall of the Mayan, and Ancient Roman Empire, climate change has played a key role in regards to civilizations collapse and nuclear annihilation.
The people thought of all the gods to be wise and would seek their guidance in certain situations. Their religious beliefs brought this respect, and in some ways fear, to honor the gods so they would be gracious in return. “Religious beliefs instilled fear of the gods, who could alter the landscape, and desire to appease them” (Bulliet, 19). The Mesopotamians believed that the gods were human like in form, but that if they were to be unhappy by something the people did, they could alter anything in their lives, and in some cases even kill
Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, and Greece were all historical civilizations that made history the way it is today. The three civilizations differed in many different ways, but they were also quite similar in other aspects. The focus of survival, beliefs, daily life, and many other focuses connect the three civilizations.
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...
The factors that lead to the “collapse” of civilizations are almost directly related to those that created it. Archaeologists characterize collapse by a number of elements, some of which we have evidence for, others we do not. Most archaeologists are unsure of exactly what caused the decline of most civilizations in the ancient world, yet there are many clues to some of the events that could have contributed. The collapse of the ancient Roman Empire, the Mesoamerican Mayan, and the Egyptian cultures will be discussed in the following paragraphs, with a focus on the uniqueness of each.
Egyptians began to settle along the banks of the Nile River, Starting as far north as to the city of Alexandria all the way down south to Aswan. They developed into a well-structured society as Far East to the Red Sea and west to Dakhia, Oasis among many (Figure 1.). The Nile River reached far lending a hand in creating a well-known civilization that consisted of building pyramids and producing crops for their pharaoh. Evolving from hunters and gatherers into agriculturalists throughout history, Egypt has claimed to be one of the earliest and most spectacular civilizations of ancient times. One could wonder if, what led to the collapse of this great society resulted from the Egyptians interaction with the environment by overusing natural resources, seasonal flooding of the Nile River can play a role, or even worse feuding wars of rulers that see value in the great Egypt soil that are continuing well into the present day?