River Valley Civilizations Essay

Civilization. The word “civilization” comes from the Latin term for “city.” The first civilizations were the river-valley civilizations, so-called because they all developed alongside major rivers to secure an adequate water supply for agricultural production. 2 of the greatest river-valley civilizations were Mesopotamia and Egypt. All though they both supported having a patriarchal leader or king, Egypt had a strong, centralized government, whereas Mesopotamia was decentralized, and built based on small city-states operating independently.

River valley civilizations were common as complex societies began to emerge. The ways of life in the Nile and Tigris-Euphrates civilizations parallel each other, yet still have their differences. The beginnings of advanced societies in the Nile river valley were numerous small kingdoms that governed themselves. When an official named Menes rose to power, he unified Egypt and created a central government controlled by a pharaoh. The pharaoh was said to be a god in human form. Offspring of the pharaoh inherited their divine kingship. In Mesopotamia, city-states ruled by kings emerged on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. During the Babylonian empire, King Hammurabi created an extensive list of rules to govern his empire. Unlike Egypt, women sometimes

The river valley civilizations of Sumer, Egypt, India, and China were historical pillars of innovation. Not only were they each responsible for having forged new technological innovations, but they each created their own system of writing as well. Each of them meets the requirements of being labeled as a “civilization” because each had a form of social organization, trade and economic activity, government, division of labor, and some form of record keeping. What sets them apart from one another are the specifics within the similarities they shared. These similarities and differences within their technological innovations and writing are numerous.

The first civilizations and the rise of empires began with small groups or villages existing with the use of hunting, fishing, and foraging. (William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel, World History, vol. 1, 1) Within a few thousand years, people learned how to cultivate food crops and this led to an increase in population. Increased food production resulted in larger communities. The cities began to expand their cultural and religious developments leading to the beginnings of civilization. (Duiker, World History, 1) The first civilizations emerged in Mesopotamia and Egypt during the fourth and third millennia B.C.E and had various components in common. Each of these civilizations was established in a river valley so they were able to provide and produce the agricultural resources needed to survive and uphold the population. (Duiker, World History, 1) Mesopotamia developed in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates River known as “the land between the rivers.” These rivers provided irregular and catastrophic flooding for the city-state. They created an intensive irrigation system to improve their agriculture. The first people to create Mesopotamian civilization were known as the Sumerians. These people were the first city builders and created the major city’s named Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Umma, and Lagash. These cities were built with surrounding walls and defense towers. A six-mile-long wall enclosed the city of Uruk. Mesopotamia lacked

Another important factor is the rivers allowed civilizations to have more trade routes, and get to places inland faster, as well as the sea. The societies could trade their resources for ones they didn’t have, which allowed their technology to grow and their populations to expand. Trade “brought in new goods and immigrants” which allowed for an increase of resources and technology. Many of the River Valley Civilizations traded with each other sharing their technology.

There are many civilizations built on rivers. These civilizations experience many advantages, and disadvantages because they live along rivers. Rivers give the natural resource of water. Throughout history many great countries thrived on rivers, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, to name a few. Water from a river can be useful and therefore some civilizations thrived on their rivers, and for other communities the river was their doom.

Sometimes in our generation, people take for granted the things the originally invented by ancient civilizations. Somewhere around 3500 B.C. in southwest Asia the first of the River Valley Civilizations were born. The ancient River Valley Civilizations of Egypt, China, and Mesopotamia all made key contributions to future societies. (OI) Two contributions from each of the Mesopotamian Civilizations that influenced future civilizations.

The earliest forms of civilizations were said to be located on the three river valleys of the Tigris-Euphrates River in ancient Mesopotamia, the Nile River in ancient Egypt and the Huang He and Indus River in ancient India and China. These three river valley civilizations had many differences yet still lived common life styles. Although the civilizations are located on different continents, they share similar social, political, and economic beliefs from their intellectual developments to types of government to religious beliefs and trading systems.

All the civilizations lived among rivers. The ancient Egyptians lived among the Nile River. The ancient Egyptians highly regarded the Nile as incredibly important and life giving. The Nile was important because it watered all of the land and in return deposited silt that was used to grow crops to feed all the animals and people.

    The river valley civilizations developed writing systems. Each writing system was unique, but they also had similarities between them. The people from Mesopotamia had a writing system called “cuneiform.” The Egyptians had a writing system called “hieroglyphics.” Cuneiform was a writing system based on pictures (3.) Just like cuneiform, hieroglyphics was also based on pictures (11.) Both writing systems presented objects or ideas. Also, they were both carved into stone.

Around the year 3000 B.C.E., many major early civilizations began to form. These civilizations consisted of China, Egypt, the Indus Valley, Mesopotamia, the Norte Chico, and the Olmec. All of these 6s civilizations developed along a major river or major river system. All of these rivers that major civilizations developed along had similar characteristics. (For example, all of these rivers annually flooded, depositing silt along their banks.) In eastern America at this time, there was the Mississippi river which was similar to the other rivers in other parts of the world that prospered significant civilizations. By the discovery of the Americas, the Mississippi had not prospered a significant civilization. There are a number of factors that go into assuming why a major civilization failed to form in this part of the world.

These three civilizations created cultures that built societies and people for future generations. Starting around 3100 BC they began. The rule of King Menes began the Egyptian civilization by unifying the Upper and Lower Egypt into one kingdom (Duiker and Speilvogel 17). The Mesopotamian civilization located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, began with the Sumerians people (Duiker and Speilvogel 9). Also, in now what is modern day India, another civilization began. It was located in the Indus River Valley with the Harappan people (Duiker and Speilvogel 38). Three early civilizations laid the foundation for what would be the progression of future civilizations, all of which would greatly influenced the world.

The earliest societies, such as Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt exhibiting indicator traits of civilization developed along the floodplains of great rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq, and the Nile in Egypt. People had settled in Mesopotamia by 7000 B.C. and the First Dynasty of Egyptian

The economy of ancient China was based on agriculture. China was made up of farming villages along its rivers. Manufacturing and trade were carried out by merchants and artisans in walled towns.

There were four main ancient River Valley civilizations: the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia, the Nile River of Egypt, the Indus River of India, and the Yellow River of China. These civilizations showed specific similarities and contrasting differences. Many of these differences and similarities showed up in the three categories of the technological advances, the types of government, and the geography of the civilization. Two civilizations that are very interesting to delve deeper into and study the contrasting societies are China and Egypt. Since China and Egypt were both isolated from the outside, they developed with a strong focus on technology and learning with strong governments to hold the nations together.