Throughout the last five millenniums, there have been many amazing empires. Ostensibly successful was the Indus River Valley from 2500-1500 BCE, and Ancient Greece from 750-338 BCE. Later, the empire of Aksum existed from 100-750 CE. All these empires were built because of their exceptional locations, therefore proving that geography is clearly the mother of history. Despite unpredictable flooding, the Indus River Valley prospered to the best of their ability. Meanwhile, Greece had serious issues concerning arable land, but they managed to overcome this and become a great empire was well. Finally, like Greece, Aksum was also located on hilly land, but overcame this challenge and became a major trading power in Africa, using the surrounding waterways.. Clearly, geography was a major factor in the success of these empires.
Geography is clearly the mother of history, and the Indus River Valley is a great representation of this statement. First of all, the Indus River Valley had the Indus and Ganges Rivers which had unpredictable flooding. This led to the destruction of crops and homes, which led to starvation. However, it also gave them fertile soil because the flooding left behind silt deposits. The fertile land was called the Indus Ganges Plain. The fertile soil made land that was ideal for growing crops and allowed them to have food surplus including wheat, barley, cotton, rice, dates, and sugar cane. They were also able to trade these items for other things that they needed. Another thing that the people of the Indus River Valley had to deal with were the monsoons, which dominated the climate. Monsoon season is from October to May. Winter monsoons from the Northeast brought dry air and the monsoons in mid-June from the Southwes...
... middle of paper ...
...age of and used to the best of their ability. This clearly depicts how geography is the mother of history.
The success of the Indus River Valley, Ancient Greece, and Aksum was all based on their geography. They faced some difficulties, but still managed to maintain the empire in order to create the best empire possible. Despite mountainous land in Greece, hilly land in Aksum and unpredictable flooding in Indus, all of these civilizations were able to benefit from the geography and become the best civilization possible. All of the ancient empires were amazing and adapted to their landscape in spectacular ways, but these 3 civilizations highlight the significance of the phrase, “geography is the mother of history.” We can learn from all of these civilizations to improve our community by using some of the ancient methods to adapt to the geography of the location.
Burbank and Cooper in their book Empires in World History portray the evolution of power and the development of different states. They elaborate on how powerful cities and states imposed their rules and waged conquest on surrounding territories. Political dynasties developed strongly among states inspired by religious, politic and economic trends. The Han dynasty of China and the Imperial Rome were some of the powerful states that developed during the third century. The two states adopted different strategies and ideas in developing of their emperor. The Roman, for instance, developed a more advanced for of governance as opposed to the Han. Their system of governance emerged as an expensive identity around the Mediterranean. These two empires controlled and conquered their territory in unique and different ways that made them strong and remarkable during their heyday.
Blij has clearly put this book into historical significance by mentioning the idea of geography and how it plays a role in societies all over the world. However, the five themes of culture regions, cultural diffusion, cultural interaction, cultural ecology, and cultural landscapes are all clearly defined within a specific context to a particular nation. Through reading this intriguing piece of literature I received the underlying notion that Blij firmly believes that landscapes of the world realm are not going to change. De Blij worldview of regions, diffusion, interaction, ecology, and landscapes has allowed him to simultaneously link issues together from the United States all the way to Southeast Asia.
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.
Though the river had many benefits it also had, it’s disadvantages such as flooding and water shortages related to droughts (Soomo, 2013). Mesopotamians had to be inventive and so created levy’s, canals and irrigations systems to help them adapt to the river’s challenges. They learned how to live with these environmental factors and came up with inventive strategies to overcome obstacles.
The Egyptians honored the river for providing food for them by nourishing the land and making it fertile with its yearly flooding. The Nile also provided for quick transportation between Upper and Lower Egypt, allowing for Menes, the King of Upper Egypt, to unite the two and creating the first unified state. In the Indus River Valley civilization the river is also given honor as it can be reflected by one Indian name for “river”: lok-mata or “mother of the people.” The Indian people’s way of life was also defined by the monsoon, a seasonal wind. This shows the similarities in the civilizations areas that led to their early uprisings, common for all ancient civilizations, is a river to provide for food and water, so that they may become farmers and cultivate the land in a single settled area. Rivers and a water source were most important for these ancient civilizations as it can be seen, that gods were thought of to provide for them, leading to polytheism in these
As Americans we live in isolation, surrounded by advertisements, electronic screens, fast food, the internet, etc. We live these lives while thousands scream out in hunger and thirst begging to nourish their families. Living lives in excess, often unknowingly supporting a system that is not sustainable, breeds capitalism, and unplugs us from the rest of the world. Having been raised in a typical suburban home my ideas of culture were going to Olive Garden or walking by Riverside in Minneapolis. However, Geography 111 has challenged what I believed, truly allowing me to grasp that I am not part of solution I am problem that spreads neocolonialism, capitalism, and western culture wherever a profit can be made. Learning about these topics and combining it with a geographical perspective I know will enable me to break from the molds and forge new paths.
Geography has provided natural resources and boundaries for cultures continuously over many generations. The topography led civilization to have protection from other cultures and plentiful natural resources that they used for human survival or for an economic profit. With a good amount of resources available, cultures like India and China thrived in the creation and expansion of their civilizations. Geography helped India and China civilization develop their culture, spread their religion, and determine the rate at which each civilization’s ideas were transferred. The physical features that India and China lived on helped their cultures form and thrive into their current form.
Geography played a big role in history and made each empire unique in its own way. Geography had positive and negative effects when it comes to location, access to resources, and trade. For the Spanish and Mongol Empires, geography played a role in state formation as well as affected their strategies of rule. Considering that the Mongol Empire began in the 11th century and the Spanish Empire in the 15th century, the affects that geography had were significantly different regarding their state formation and forms of ruling, however, there were some slight similarities in the process of building up their empires. Both the Mongol and Spanish Empires were similar in that they used trade as a mechanism for expansion and connection, however, they differed in that the Mongol Empire focused on conquering territory throughout the Afroeurasian landmass while the Spanish Empire devoted its attention to overseas territory.
The main ideas presented in “Why Geography Matters…More Than Ever!” revolve around what exactly geography is, and the implications of the subject. Geography is the study of the physical world and human actions, it also covers the affects of human actions. Geography influences a plethora of topics and geographers do research on numerous subjects. “Geographers do research on glaciations and coastlines, on desert dunes and limestone caves, on weather and climate, even on plants and animals”(7). The author stresses how underrated geography is the present times, and how the introduction of social studies have doomed the subject of geography for future generations. In a section detailing the teaching of geography
The Five Themes of Geography are: Location – Absolute points on a map or grid or Relative to where something may be; Place – The physical and/or human characteristics of a locations; Human/Environment Interactions – How humans have impacted the landscape or environment; Relationship between places Movement – How humans interact on the earth (i.e. how they communicate over distance (short or long)) and Regions – a unit of space that has commonalities defined by physical, human and environmental geography. The Explorers of the New World may have not known what the Five Themes of Geography were but they quickly learned. Of the five themes the ones that they all took advantage of was the physical Location and Place as they learned to navigate to and from as well as through their new environments. Over Time the explorers began to discover the relationships within their environments and original occupants of the lands as well as the regions in which they now occupied.
Throughout history, there have been a variety of great and powerful empires. However, regardless of how powerful they were able to become, each empire had it's unfortunate downfall and ultimate ending. Perhaps two of the most powerful empires ever to exist and crumble were the Roman and Egyptian empires, both of which enjoyed long periods of wealth and success in their pasts. While the two empires operated on extremely different terms and conditions, there is undoubtedly good reason for comparison of their downfalls considering that the causes generally surrounded the fact that the empire suffered invasions. Of course, this was not the only reason in either case, but in both circumstances invasion played a significant role in the fall.
In ancient civilizations, geography affected them in so many ways, like the climate, resources, and the landscape that they use. The climates affect them because monsoons were offend common that brought heavy rain and wind to the area. The mountains provided them with protection against invasions, but the mountains were also used for trading with other to get the resources that they needed.
Geographical concepts have been traced back to ancient days, geography is defining as the scientific study of the location of people and activity across earth and reasons for their distribution. It asks where and why things are where they are. Geographers organizes materials by the places they are located, thus being they have concluded that what happens in one place affects what happens in another place and can further affect conditions in the near future. Like any other subject geography has its own language and knowledge for better understanding of its concepts. Thinking geographically means learning the language, we need both geographical vocabulary and grammar in order to do this. Geography has concepts that enables us to have geographical
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.
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...