Task 1: Geography and the Development/Diffusion of Human Societies Princess Dana Catacutan Part A The most significant geographic factor that contributed to the development of the Fertile Crescent or Mesopotamia were the two rivers that surrounds it. Tigris and Euphrates rivers served great source of food and used for irrigation of crops. It was an ideal place for early people to settle in Mesopotamia to utilize the life giving water of these two rivers. Also, the two rivers were used for transportation and trade. Irrigation from the two rivers made it possible for the early settlers to farm and had abundant crops for trade.
Mesopotamia is a fertile flat plain that was created by rich deposits of mud and clay that the two rivers carried from highlands and mountains that today make up the eastern side of Turkey, which lay to the north of what was Mesopotamia and is currently Iraq. The access to flowing water and fertile soil created by the rivers was what lead to the settlement of nomadic people from the Arabian Desert, which is currently located in Iran and Turkey (Hollar, 2011, p. 10). According to archaeologists who have been excavating sites in Mesopotamia since the 1840’s, primitive settlements formed between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers as far back as 10,000 B.C. Further evidence shows that early settlers fought over this fertile land, which encouraged larger and more organized groups of settlers to form the first nations in the history of this region. Eventually a well-organized nomadic tribe that existed east of Mesopotamia took control of the fertile lands and founded the nation of Sumer around 3,300 B.C.
One environmental factor that contributed to the development of the United States is the large areas fertile land in a temperate climate (http://makewealthhistory.org). The United States has large amounts of fertile land which lead to a basis for an agricultural economy when it was first settled. The climate is never too hot or too cold as to limit the workable hours in the day. The climate in the fertile lands also has a longer growing season then an area that is extremely hot most of the time. So when the United States was first colonized it the growing season and fertile land made the economy flourish.
This was a similarity between Egypt and Mesopotamia because during this time period people relied on water for many things such as drinking, bathing and most importantly for keeping their land fertile. They relied on this fertile land to grow their own food. Not everyone had easy access to the river. Therefore these civilizations build irrigational systems to carry out water for everyone to access it. Despite these similarities, Egypt had greater differences with Mesopotamia.
Meso-american DBQ Meso-american society surprised European explorers as the cities and civilizations they found were flourishing and complex as opposed to the savagery they had expected. A large contributing factor to this relatively advanced culture was the specific role played by Meso-american technology. These many technologies affected all areas of life, from more efficient harvesting and better weaponry to the ability to create a specialized labor force, technology developed and shaped all facets of Meso-american society. Technology had an extreme impact upon agriculture in the Americas. This is evident through their ingenuity of floating gardens, knowledge of plants' uses such as the Maguey plant, the sowing of corn, and written records of agricultural products.
A.B. September 21, 2010 Irrigation in the Ancient Worlds. The ancient world was a time of invention. One of the major technological inventions was the irrigation system--the digging of canals for better access to water sources. Irrigation had many uses, such as trade routs and the transfer of silt-bearing water for agriculture.
The development of Mesopotamia, whose names translates to “land between the rivers,” was a direct consequence of the Tigris and Euphrates and the impact they caused on the region. (Kreis, 2006) These rivers frequently flooded the region. Due to this flooding, soil composition was greatly impacted. The land between the rivers, called the alluvial plain, was highly fertile and full of life because of the rich soil composition. The people present in the region started to transition from their nomadic lifestyles to agricultural lifestyles because of the surety and safety the rivers gave in providing farmable land to produce ample food.
a. Improved human nutrition resulting from enhanced hunting skills b. Dramatically altered weapons and warfare caused by the use of bronze technology c. The adoption of settled agriculture that allowed more densely populated societies d. Major advances in human brain function e. The development of the wheel which gave advances to pastoralist societies Many historians believe the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture led to societies that were more a. Isolated b. Egalitarian c. Patriarchal d. Dispersed e. Matriarchal The earliest religions of settled farming communities tended to focus on … a. a male / father protector god b. a female / mother earth goddess c. many complex anthropomorphic gods d. a covenant with a monotheistic God e. a dualistic afterlife of good versus evil The statue of a queen of Kush shown below was most probably influenced by the art of a. Greece b. China c. Egypt d. India e. Gaul Which of the following MOST helps to explain why the river valley civilization of ancient Egypt remained politically unified for much of its existence, while ancient Mesopotamia was frequently divided into rival
Geography and the Development and Diffusion of Human Societies A. Mesopotamia is known for its early human societies and also where some of the first civilization began. Mesopotamia is land that is surrounded by the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Mesopotamia sat at the bend of the Tigris River (Britannica, E.P. 2011). The water from the rivers would flow through bringing down soil from the mountains in which made the soil super fertile.
Canal systems limited flooding and turned the arid plains green, producing agricultural surpluses. 4. The Sumerians needed central authorities to organize maintenance of the canals, and this fostered the development of monarchy. 5. By about 3000 B.C.E., Sumer in Mesopotamia had twelve independent city-states containing populations of twenty thousand or more.