Friday, September 6, 2019
World History Essay Example for Free
World History Essay Two civilizations have been hailed as being important to the history of the world and are usually referred to as the cradle of mankind. These are the Mesopotamia and the Ancient Egypt. The development of the city states of Mesopotamia and the stability of the ancient Egypt has been seen driven by geographic factors. Indeed the origin of these civilizations is almost similar; however due to geography, they differ in a number of factors both in the development and in their stability. It is this geographic aspect of their differences that will be the focus of this paper.            Both these civilizations owe their origin to the presence of important water mass, their people survived on the abundant resources that the rivers provided. Egyptian civilization would have been non existent had there not been a river Nile. It is this river that owes the survival of the livelihood of the Egyptians and a culture that was carried forth from one generation to another. Mesopotamia city states on the other hand were supported by two rivers. Indeed Mesopotamia is a Greek word that means ‘the land between two rivers’, these are Tigris and Euphrates lying in what is currently referred to as Iraq. Inadvertently, it is important to mention that similarities can be drawn on how these two civilizations were able to survive. Parallels can be drawn on the flooding patterns of the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates. River Nile used to flood once in a year bringing with it huge deposits of rich silt, leaving the surrounding areas well irrigated, â€Å"when the waters receded, they left behind deposits of black silt that were rich with vitamins and minerals.†(M. Solodky , 2006, 5) Euphrates and Tigris had similar behaviors only that they were largely unpredictable leaving dead trails and destroyed crops in their wake. The rich soil and well irrigated banks were viable for farming and agriculture. This attracted huge number of settlements and villages and small towns began cropping up along the banks (Waddel,l 2003).             One difference that can be discerned in the nature of these two civilizations between Egypt and the city states of Mesopotamia lie in the population dispersion. In Mesopotamia, settlement was around the two rivers meaning that it was highly clustered compared to the highly dispersed settlement along the Nile stretch. The growth of the Egyptian civilization was facilitated by the ease of transportation along the river Nile thus expanding the civilization’s influence (David, 2004).            The development of the Mesopotamia civilization was greatly inhibited by one geographic factor, lacking in the advantage that the Egyptian civilization had. Egypt had natural geographic barriers that acted as a natural line of defense allowing the civilization to thrive in isolation. The Mesopotamia city states lacked in this and they lived in constant collision with others, â€Å"the geographical features of Mesopotamia contributed to lack of stability, as there was no natural barrier to protect the city states from outside invaders.†(Deborah Preston, 2006, 11). The Mesopotamia city states could hence not stand for long and they fell under constant attack from the neighbors. On the other hand, the ancient Egyptian civilization was able to thrive well as there was no competition and the population was dispersed evenly, the existing villages and the small towns â€Å"had approximately equal access to the river and did not have to compete among themselves for water as their contemporaries in Mesopotamia were forced to do.†(Douglas Emily, 2004, 65). Trade was well coordinated and facilitated by the immense harbors along the Nile, a stark contrast to Mesopotamia. These two civilizations though similar in their economic activities and their reliance on the rivers had different geographic characteristics that would either ensure or derail their survival (á ¸ ¤agai Gershoni, 2000). References Douglas J Brewer, Emily Teeter (2004) Egypt and the Egyptians. Cambridge   University Press, 2004 Solodky (2006). The Technology of Ancient Egypt. The Rosen Publishing Group, Deborah Vess, Preston Jones (2006). AP World History (REA) The Best Test Prep for the AP World History: The Best Preparation for the AP World History         Exam. Research Education Assoc. David Christian (2004). Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. University of           California Press. a. Waddell (2003) Egyptian Civilization Its Sumerian Origin and Real Chronology. Kessinger Publishing. á ¸ ¤agai Erlikh, I. Gershoni (2000). The Nile: Histories, Cultures, Myths. Lynne Rienner           Publishers.
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