Role of geography
Geography plays a very important role in shaping the history
of a civilization. Through the geography we can determine how successful was
the civilization and how far was beneficial or not beneficial for them. The
mountains, rivers, deserts, seas, etc had a huge impact on the growth of every
civilization, in all aspects. For example if the area is very mountainous and
very rich in fertile land, so this will lead to trade since they cannot grow
crop and therefore lead to trade as a major occupation, etc. This way all the
four civilizations; Mesopotamia, Egypt, Harappa and Chinese, geography played
the greatest part in shaping these civilizations.
Similarly, a civilization called Mesopotamia evolved. The
word Mesopotamia comes from the Greek word meso (middle) and potamas (rivers)
meaning the land between two rivers. According to today’s geography it evolved
in Iraq, southern Iran, parts of Syria and Turkey. In olden times it would lie in the fertile
river valleys within the Syrian and Arabian Desert to the south and the Zagros
Mountains towards the north. It had two
major rivers; Tigris and Euphrates, both of which rose from the Taurus
Mountains in eastern turkey. The
confluence of these rivers was at a city called Basra in Iraq, which emptied in
the Persian Gulf. These rivers were sort of a main source of living in
Mesopotamia. The Tigris was a very rough and a fast flowing river as compared
to the Euphrates. The desert served an effective means to travel around before
the widespread use to camels begun. The
climate experienced here was very hot. The rains were very unpredictable and always came at the time of harvest and
would destroy most of the crops. We can see that agriculture was the main
occupation, because most of the settlements would rise or emerge on or near the
rivers. Though the floods came and destroyed the crops but it carried huge
amount of fertile soil and silt with it, which was rich in cultivation of crops
but only disadvantage was that it occurred or rather came at the wrong time and
would destroy the crop completely. Some earlier records show that the upstream
communities took advantage of their position. Mesopotamia was rich in several
natural resources. There were many resources available on the alluvial low
lands; such as clays, limestone, gypsum, poplar, date palms, reeds, bitumen,
etc. Whereas metal ores, precious stones
like chert, basalt, granite, etc and a huge variety of trees, were found on the
foothills and on the zagros and Taurus Mountains. Due to the availability of resources,
exchange of good of natural resources started, it also gave rise to warfare and
territorial expansion of power and cities. They also made extensive and
creative use to raw materials. Slowly, the civilization started growing; better
agricultural facilities, animal husbandry was practiced, hunting, fishing, and
other activities started, which gave a better lifestyle to the people. Soon we see that villages shifted to town and
gradually cities and urban societies.
This gave rise to various other factors, such economy, regional
centralization, irrigation dependent farming system, temples, etc. these
factors played a very important role in shaping this civilization.
The Egyptian civilization. Egypt is located in the eastern
part of Africa. Its surrounded by desert on both side; Arabian desert, Libyan desert. Egypt is characterized as hot and almost a
rainless area. The Nile flows from south
to north. The Egyptian called the Nile River as “iteru”, meaning the great
river. But only 22% of it flowed through the Egypt. The Nile valley and the
delta are the largest oases on earth. Previously it had 7 branches but now only
two; Rosetta and Damietta; this is the most fertile and prosperous region. The
eastern desert had various mountains which ran along the red sea. The mountains
are completely barren. Whereas the western desert has some oasis at least in
the middle of the desert. Egypt is protected by these deserts and exists mostly
as a long narrow strip of cultivable land. Most of the ancient sites are located
in this area. Egypt was completely dependent on Nile. The Nile flood water receded in September and
left behind a lot of rich and fertile soil. The best thing about the floods of
Nile was that it came at the right time, and deposited silt which was very
necessary for agriculture. The river in the south was shallow and rocky with
numerous boulders making navigation difficult, whereas the north was much deeper
and made navigation much easier. The Nile was the life of the ancient Egypt.
The fayoum oases, a major depression which mattered a lot to Egypt. This was
popular for hunting and fishing and soon by 15th century BCE, the
population density was much higher as compared to the Nile valley. The dry arid
climate of Egypt made it possible for preservation of the old artefacts,
scripts, etc to be preserved in extremely good conditions. And due to this we
are able to know a lot about Egyptians, since they had a habit of writing
everything on papyrus and because of the extreme arid climate all these scripts
have survived really very well, not only the script but the mummies, tombs,
grave goods, murals, etc. Around 3500
BCE people started shifting from north of Africa towards the fertile Nile
river. Nile was the life line of ancient Egypt providing fertility and
prosperity in shaping this great civilization.
The Harappan civilization. Harappa spreads over the Indus
and Saraswati river valleys in Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, western UP and Jammu
in India and Sindh and Baluchistan in Pakistan.
The rivers were again an important part in shaping the civilization. The
geography of the Indus valley civilization is highly similar to that of Egypt,
which is rich in agriculture land, surrounded by highlands, desert and oceans. There is evidence of dry river beds overlapping
with the Hakra channel in Pakistan and the seasonal Ghaggar River in India. Some archaeologists believe that over 500
harappan sites have been found along the dried up river bed of Ghaggar-Hakra
River and its tributaries. There were large fortified settlements, use to wheel
transport, existence of wheel transport. Expertise in metal marking etc. but
there was absence of large cities in the beginning as compared to the later
period. They were specialized craftsmen. Soon there was general transiton
noticed from regional variations towards a level of cultural uniformity, change
in social organization and perhaps a new ideology. Well planned urban centers
and small villages were growing. There was long distance trade with
Mohenjo-Daro. Large number of seals made of steatite and decorated with animal,
plant and other geometric figures were formed. Pictographic scripts, etc. the
river played a main role for agriculture and trade. Trade was the main
occupation in the Harappan civilization.
The Chinese
civilization. It spreads over 5026km across East Asia. It main boundaries are
India, Nepal, Mongolia, Korea, Pakistan, etc. the main desert here are the Gobi
desert and Takla Makan desert. The two main river here are the Yellow and the
Yangtze river. These rivers empty into the Bohia sea. These rivers are known as the cradle of the
Chinese civilization but at the same time the sorrow of china; due to it floods
which occur at the wrong time. There were three main heroes who played an
important role in shaping the civilization. 1. Suiren shi – he taught the
Chinese people to make fire and drill wood. 2. FuHsi- he was the inventor of
hunting and fishing. 3. Shennong shi – he introduced agriculture. The Yangtze river is the dividing line
between the north and the south china. These two rivers fostered farming
communities in 7000 BCE. Sophisticated cultures and societies grew with the
emergence of surplus agriculture and growing population. It was also very rich in silk.
Every civilization was different and unique in its own way.
Each has a different geography and chronology. But still are very similar to
one another. Most these civilizations evolved on or around the river. the
river, deserts, resources played a very important role in shaping these
civilizations. Floods were beneficial to some and not beneficial for some. But
each civilization found their way out. Geographical
features are very necessary for a flourishing civilization. Climate,
agriculture, rivers, deserts, and all the other features play a very important
role in shaping a flourishing civilization.
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Latika Parmar
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