History

History 115

Dec14, 2012

Part 1

The beginning of any civilization is the product of their environment. Customs behaviors and beliefs are created by a civilization’s physical surroundings. In the case of ancient Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Mayans, were greatly influenced by their environment. Mother nature helped build and create each of these civilizations. The Major rivers greatly influenced most of these ancient civilizations. We are going to look into these three well-known civilizations and examine how their environment influenced them especially in their worldviews.

Ancient Mesopotamian

Ancient Mesopotamian was one of the earliest civilizations and was located in the fertile valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern day Iraq. These fertile valleys became perfect for agriculture. Mesopotamia received little rainfall, but the Tigris and Euphrates brought large volumes of freshwaters to this region. Mesopotamians realized, by tapping these rivers, digging canals, and building reservoirs, they could irrigate. They produced barley, wheat, and peas. With the increased food supplies it also increased the human population. Mesopotamians believed that water was everywhere, the top, bottom and sides, and that the universe was born from this enormous sea. The fertile farmland effected what kinds of gods the Mesopotamians worshipped. Their entire lives most of the population depended on the proper flooding to happen, naturally they would have gods that control these things so that they worshipped them for the proper flooding.

Egyptian Civilization

Egypt emerged alongside Nubia and other agricultural societies in the sub-Saharan Africa. Domesticated animals and agricultural crops reached Egypt from sub-Saharan Africa by way of Nubia as well as from southwest Asia. Egypt had favorable geographic conditions, which made it possible to create a productive agricultural economy that supported the state. Momentous changes in climate conditions created...