In this paper, the research will compare and contrast some of the river valley civilizations’ religion, government and how they controlled nature which allowed them to thrive. River valley civilizations are the first recorded civilizations and they get their name because each of them depended on a river to survive and to thrive. The two civilizations being focused on in this paper will be Egypt and Sumer, both of which achieved great things during their existence.
Ancient religion developed for several reasons. Most times, ancient people developed religion as a source of hope. Living in river valleys in ancient times was dangerous for many reasons, mainly because of rivers. Although the river helped provide them with sustenance, the river
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Both had many very impressive advancements, for example Sumer was the first to use bronze. Some of the most impressive things ever built are Egyptian pyramids. They were made of 2 to 15 ton blocks and some of the pyramids reach to over 481 feet tall. The Egyptian government was led by Pharoahs; the Pharoahs was seen as living gods by the ancient Egyptians. In early Egypt, there was a lower and upper Egypt. King Narmer unified the upper and lower around 3000 B.C. One of the most famous rulers in ancient Sumer was Hammurabi. Hammurabi was famous for his “codes” because he was the first to have set laws and he expected the citizens to know and follow them. The code of Hammurabi was a stone figure with the laws carved into it. This was an ingenious advance in government considering the method is still used. Egypt also had advancements to government, but not quite as important as Hammurabi’s codes. Ancient Egypt was the first civilization to allow people to change social class. In Egypt, one could change into another social class, most times it was by marriage, but sometimes it could be from merit. Most times, in other river valley civilizations, people from different social classes rarely interacted. Ancient Egypt being the only ancient river civilization allowing social interaction between all classes was of great importance and a major achievement for the …show more content…
Sumer and Egypt weren’t the two most ground breaking of the river valley civilizations, but they did have some interesting innovations. Although irrigation didn’t originate in Sumer, Sumerian society did develop its own irrigation system that brought water from the river to crops. The irrigation system allowed ancient Sumerians to have water even when the river was low which was lifesaving because they could keep their crops and livestock alive during a drought. Egypt also had their own invention for irrigation, therefore, both Sumer and Egypt were not the first in the history books to develop irrigation, however, both developed their own original system. In Sumer, they came up a different type of irrigation that controlled the floods. They would build a larger version of their crop irrigation, so instead of it flooding their village it would flood the irrigation. In Egypt, they saw the river as one of their main gods so this was their attempt at controlling nature. Religion was a huge part of most river valley civilizations and was a way of controlling nature. In Sumer, they built walls as protection around their cities to make up for their lack of natural barriers, and this was yet another example of controlling nature. Natural Barriers was one of the more important features of an
Ancient Civilizations Egypt, Mesopotamia, and India are some of the early civilizations, that helped to shape the world as we know it. Each ancient civilization had many contributions to society. Some would include irrigation, grid like house system, and written languages. Ancient Egypt is one of the most common ancient civilizations. We all know them for the pyramid but that 's not all that they achieved.
#1 - In what ways was geography crucial to the establishment of the small kingdoms and empires we have discussed thus far? Paragraph 1: Throughout all of history, geography has impacted the way small kingdoms and empires have been created. The Phoenicians are impacted by living on the coast and the Persians are impacted by living on the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia.
Have you ever thought that everything had to start somehow? Like where did the wheel come from, or how did we start writing? Many people take these inventions for granted or don’t care about who worked hard to create them. Without these inventions, we wouldn’t have cars, a written language, or certain rules. Around 3500 B.C., the first, ancient River Valley civilizations were Sumeria, Egypt, and China.
The Nile River shaped many aspects of Ancient Egyptian society, including its population distribution, agriculture, and economic development. The Nile River is the structure of
Ancient civilizations began in areas that had arable land and other features such as rivers. Civilizations succeeded in these environments because they could settle down and not live a nomadic lifestyle. Because the land was arable, agriculture prospered and people relied on the geography to grant them the elements needed for survival. In China and Egypt, geography greatly influenced and affected the lives of the people living there because of the prosperous rivers and large natural barriers.
Stable government systems were also created based off these social classes, which had a role in the development of religion as well. Trade routes were formed along the Nile and Euphrates that allowed Egypt and Mesopotamia to trade with other civilizations as well and also allowed for civilizations to expand their regions, and ultimately increase their wealth. One of the main differences between the social classes of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia is that Egyptian women had more choices than Mesopotamian women, which could be because of the fact that Mesopotamia was influenced by empires where women had no choice for the lives they lived, while Egypt was somewhat
Tribes of the Americas Cherokee Some people say that the Cherokee are divided by two nations while others say that they are united across two nations. The two nations have existed for the past 150 years. There are the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians from Oklahoma and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
After the Neolithic Revolution Era, civilizations in Asia and Northeast Africa started to form. All of the civilizations in that area were located near water, so that’s why they were all called, River Valley Civilizations. The most advanced ancient river valley civilization was the Indus Valley Civilization. According to Document 5, it states that “While the cities of Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt were built with very little planning...the cities of the Indus Valley were sophisticatedly planned. The cities were built on a grid system.”
During the bronze age both Ancient Mesopotamians and Ancient Egyptians developed forms of religion that highly reflected their habitat. They had many similarities in their politics even though they had completely different forms of government. Both societies were also known for their discoveries in art and technology. They developed their own forms of writing, different tools and architecture.
Also, the Nile River affected the culture of the Egyptian civilization because it became a large part of their religious beliefs. This proves that geography had a large part in shaping the civilization in the Egyptian river
ANCIENT EGYPT: The Creation Epic Myth Historical Thesis Essay World History Maria Landrum One of the first civilizations was Egypt, which primarily began around 3100 B.C.E, and was heavily dependent upon rivers to sustain the agricultural economy (Strayer 74,77). The Nile River, known as “that green gash of teeming life” was at the core of life for Egyptians and their culture reflected a stable, and hopeful attitude toward life (Strayer 75). The mythological belief in gods’ powers and blessing on the lives of Egyptians culturally held a strong grasp and wove into the fabric of Egypt’s advanced literature and engineering of the time (Strayer 75). Egyptians primarily believed in mythology and focused on their Pharaoh as a ruler to be a god
The Sumerians began to settle and farm the flat lands in southern Mesopotamia around 3300 BC. The region’s curved shape and the richness of its land lead it to be called The Fertile Crescent. The Tigris and Euphrates river and held in Mesopotamia, the flow southeastward to the Persian Gulf. The advantage that attracted the Sumerians was the good soil, but there were definitely some disadvantages to the new environment as well. Unpredictable flooding was an issue, considering that the Tigris and Euphrates river were near the area.
Their sole source of nutrition was through games and wild plants that were inconsistent in the amount as well as quality, which made the people to follow the migration patterns of games and the changing climate. Due to this frequent moving, nomadic societies were never in their shelters for too long, never developing the idea of private property. For this reason, nomadic societies developed tools and ways of communication, but never cities, urban centers, and a centralized government. As a result, the economic developments of nomadic societies were rather minimal: no distinctive technology for survival other than tools and better clothing, and definitely no city developments. On the other hand, early river societies had abundance
Few of the architecture skills used by the Egyptians are still used today. They built huge tombs for their Pharaoh, called pyramids. It was really important for these pyramids to be done correctly. Ancient Egyptians were masters at what they built. Most of these pyramids and inventions are still standing today.
In Mesopotamia they had new inventions. For example they had the wheel, the sail, and the plow. In Egypt they had came up with the idea of pyramids. The pyramids were built by slaves and other workers. The pyramids were made for the Pharaohs or the Egyptian god-kings.