Themes in US and World History Task # 1 Nina Valentin 1. Without the seasonal flooding of the Nile, hunter gatherers in the Predynastic period would never have settled into agricultural villages which would lead to the development of Egyptian culture (history.com). In Ancient Egyptian the majority of the population where farmers. The peasant population depended on the cyclical flooding of the Nile to fertilize the surrounding land for cultivation. Since the majority of the population was based in small farming villages along the Nile, agriculture was the basis for their economy (history.com).
Irrigation from the two rivers made it possible for the early settlers to farm and had abundant crops for trade. Furthermore, the supply of water from the two rivers were used for grazing areas for cattle and sheep. As a result, Mesopotamian had a lot of food variety they can choose from and permitted others to look for different jobs; for example, making clay pots and tools. Thus, new jobs developed and buildings and dams were built (Britannica, 2011) Part B The development of the chariot provides as a great example of diffusion throughout the continents. Chariots was invented in Mesopotamia to carry a driver and an archer for war.
Unlike the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the Nile floods at a predictable time of the year and in relatively predictable stages. This made it possible for the ancient Egyptians to follow a very stable agricultural cycle and compile substantial food surpluses. Although later on taken over by Alexander the Great, the Nile River remained a source of fertile land and a river upon which the Egyptian calendar was based on. It is not clear how much influence, if any, the kingdoms of the upper Nile had on the later history of sub-Saharan Africa. Knowledge of ironworking certainly spread, facilitating the expansion of agriculture in other parts of the continent.
In what way did Mesopotamia and Egyptian civilizations differ from each other? Besides Mesopotamia, another civilization grew up in northeast Africa, along the Nile River. Egyptian civilization interacted with Mesopotamia civilization for thousands of years on exchange of goods and technologies produced a quite different society and culture. These two civilizations differed from geography, environment, religions and politics. In Mesopotamia, the extremely flat land between Euphrates and Tigris River in present day Iraq and Kuwait, the unpredictable floods by Euphrates River forcing the farmers into heroic effort to keep the ripening grain fields from being drowned by water.
Three of the major ancient civilizations that created important inventions are the Sumerians, the Chinese, and the Egyptians. The Sumerians lived in Mesopotamia, which is now present-day Iraq. The Sumerians changed from hunting and gathering to farming and herding. They wanted to stay in one spot. Because where they lived didn’t get much rain, they created irrigation to water their crops.
In chapter 2: The Art of Mesopotamia and Egypt were in some ways very much alike. Mesopotamia and Egypt both had a great agriculture that helped them gain a little wealth. The Nile was a big part of the agriculture between the people. The most important waterways were the Indus and the Huang He in Asia, the Danube in Europe, and the Mississippi in North America. These rivers helped farmers with transportation, which then helped their agriculture grow.
The Ancient Egyptians thought of Egypt as being divided into two types of land, the “black land” and the “red land. “ The “black land” was the fertile land on the banks of the Nile, and was mainly used as a growing land for their crops because of their deposition of rich, black silt every year after the Nile flood. The “red land” consisted of a barren desert and acted as natural barrier to protect Egypt from invasions by neighboring countries. Despite being a desert, it was a source of precious metals and semi-precious stones. The ancient Egyptians believed that it was important to record and communicate information about the religion and government.
The A-frame acts as a fulcrum which allows the users strength to be maximized thus lifting a lot more water, then other conventional methods. The shaduf was used to allocate water from a well into buckets which were then used to water crops. Most of the farming in Egypt was done in an oasis called Fayum. Since the ground was saturated with water, farmers could build dikes or canals to move from the oasis out into the farm land to water their crops. Neither the shaduf, or irrigation ditches would have been used to great effect if it were not for the basic’s of geometry.
Ancient Egypt - Land of the River "All of Egypt is the gift of the Nile." It was the Greek historian Herodotus who made that observation. The remarkable benefits of the Nile are clear to everyone, but through history he was the first to talk about it and consider its fascination. Through history, the Nile played a major role in the building of civilizations. The first civilizations to appear in history started on a river valley or in a place where resources are numerous and example of these are in India where Indus river is found and Tigris where Euphrates is found and many other places (cradles of civilization).
Mesopotamians, ancient Egyptians, and early Maya developed similar methods of understanding their world and shaped them to enhance their lives by worshipping gods and solving problems that increased agriculture production that made their lives better. Just like Mesopotamia, the ancient Egyptians solved the threat of drought with irrigation that produce reliable agriculture. The Mayans didn't suffer from drought but, instead, they were faced with the challenges of poor draining soil that stifled agriculture. Each worshipped gods that would improve agriculture and possibly save the world. Mesopotamia Before the Mesopotamian civilization, there was little guidance or know-how on how to bring order to a large populations of people.