The first breakthroughs to civilization took place in
the Fertile Crescent, in the area between the Tigris
and Euphrates Rivers, and in the valley of the Nile
River during the middle of the fourth millennium
BC. The land is flat, and the climate there alternated
between the hot and the dry and the very wet, the latter producing flooding of the rivers and
swamps.
In Mesopotamia, the behavior of the
rivers was violent and unpredictable, while in
Egypt, the flooding of the Nile was more
predictable.The problem facing these peoples
inhabiting these lands was to control the water of these rivers by constructing a complex system of
canals, dikes, ditches, and reservoirs.
There were, in short, challenges to be overcome by
human skill and ingenuity. Once the rivers were
more or less under control, then agriculture
flourished, providing the sustenance for a large
and growing population.
Invented in the process
were the ox-drawn plow, the wheel and axle, and the sail.
They also developed metallurgy, learning
to use copper, tin, and bronze. Sumerian and
Egyptian civilizations share a number of feature,
some of which will be noted in the course of this
class. Important differences also exist.
In
Mesopotamia, life was uncertain (the rivers were difficult to control and the land was open to
invasion) and the outlook of the people was
pessimistic; in contrast, the Egyptians were more
optimistic (the Nile was predictable and the desert
shielded them from invasion).
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