Agriculture led to the development of civilization and a division of society by class because many technological advances were made in the agricultural society that were considered revolutionary. For instance, cities situated along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers built irrigation systems, an artificial application of water to the land. This stimulated farm-production tremendously and made possible to support thousands and thousands of people (42). This invention shows that at this point in time, humans were in an advanced state in society. Following this development, people were also more engaged in learning new things, such as how to smelt copper or how to harness power. Indeed, growth in agriculture led to a progressive stage in social development
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In Egypt, “the Nile overflowed its banks predictably every year on the parched ground in the summer after August 15, well after the harvest had been gathered, depositing its rich sediment…” (41). Furthermore, the transportation on the Nile was easier since winds blew from the north, while the river flowed from the south. Therefore, Egyptians had the more stable river, on the contrary of the Euphrates, which was unpredictable. Page 42 states that the Euphrates River “flooded suddenly and without warning in the late spring, after the summer crops had been sown and before the winter crops could be harvested.” The Euphrates did not have natural irrigation or benefits to vegetation, unlike the Nile River. This differing nature of these two rivers played a role in the civilizations that evolved. Mesopotamians developed a civilization based on cities due to the fact that the Euphrates didn’t offer any advantages to the crops because of its location diagonally across Mesopotamia. Meanwhile, Egyptians lacked urbanization and remained a country of peasant villages because of their reliable river and its benefits to agriculture. Consequently, the geography of these two major rivers influenced the different types of civilizations that evolved and the people’s way of
In Egypt, “the Nile overflowed its banks predictably every year on the parched ground in the summer after August 15, well after the harvest had been gathered, depositing its rich sediment…” (41). Furthermore, the transportation on the Nile was easier since winds blew from the north, while the river flowed from the south. Therefore, Egyptians had the more stable river, on the contrary of the Euphrates, which was unpredictable. Page 42 states that the Euphrates River “flooded suddenly and without warning in the late spring, after the summer crops had been sown and before the winter crops could be harvested.” The Euphrates did not have natural irrigation or benefits to vegetation, unlike the Nile River. This differing nature of these two rivers played a role in the civilizations that evolved. Mesopotamians developed a civilization based on cities due to the fact that the Euphrates didn’t offer any advantages to the crops because of its location diagonally across Mesopotamia. Meanwhile, Egyptians lacked urbanization and remained a country of peasant villages because of their reliable river and its benefits to agriculture. Consequently, the geography of these two major rivers influenced the different types of civilizations that evolved and the people’s way of