Around 3500 BCE, the first river valley civilization started to form in an area called the Fertile Crescent or Mesopotamia. This civilization, called Sumer, was built on the basis of agriculture. Because their whole civilization was based on agriculture, they needed to live on fertile soil where their crops could grow, and this caused them to live near rivers, specifically the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Similar to Sumer, starting around 2000 BCE, the ancient Chinese river valley civilization began to develop relying on the Huang He River to give them fertile soil for farming. Considering that the geography of the land drastically impacted the agriculture, the two civilizations depended on their geography to stay alive and thrive. The downside
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Ziggurats were temples built in the middle of each city-state where the citizens of Sumer could worship the many Gods of nature and try and make them happy. Since they believed that some of the Gods controlled nature, they worshipped them and prayed for good conditions for farming. Specifically, they asked the Gods to be able to predict the flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Moreover, Sumerians developed a number system with a base of 60 and used arithmetic and geometry. They used these numbers and methods to build city walls which protected the civilization from invaders as well as irrigation ditches as a way to adapt to the unpredictable flooding. Lastly, they built their cities around fertile soil so they could make fields of barley and wheat. If they were to settle in an area of infertile land like a desert or mountains, they wouldn’t be able to grow these crops that they lived off of and wouldn’t survive for long. The location of fertile soil, the unpredictable flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and the lack of natural barriers were all geographic features that influenced the unique characteristics of the civilization of …show more content…
Specifically, Sumer had problems with unpredictable flooding and lack of natural barriers and natural resources. China also had problems with unpredictable flooding as well as the abundance of natural boundaries that isolated them. Similarly, the unique characteristics of both China and Sumer were determined by the geography of the region because the geography was specific to that region which made the civilization develop unique characteristics. Sumer had Ziggurats, a number system and carefully located cities because the nature and geography forced them to become something different. China had the production of silk because of the abundance of Mulberry Trees in China and no links between the written and spoken language because of the large piece of land they lived on. Even though this happened thousands of years ago, geography still does influence every nation's culture. For example, people in Russia will wear fur coats during the winter because of the cold, but people in South America will wear tank tops because of the year round hot climate. In general, geography impacts the way people
Ziggurats were temples built in the middle of each city-state where the citizens of Sumer could worship the many Gods of nature and try and make them happy. Since they believed that some of the Gods controlled nature, they worshipped them and prayed for good conditions for farming. Specifically, they asked the Gods to be able to predict the flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Moreover, Sumerians developed a number system with a base of 60 and used arithmetic and geometry. They used these numbers and methods to build city walls which protected the civilization from invaders as well as irrigation ditches as a way to adapt to the unpredictable flooding. Lastly, they built their cities around fertile soil so they could make fields of barley and wheat. If they were to settle in an area of infertile land like a desert or mountains, they wouldn’t be able to grow these crops that they lived off of and wouldn’t survive for long. The location of fertile soil, the unpredictable flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and the lack of natural barriers were all geographic features that influenced the unique characteristics of the civilization of …show more content…
Specifically, Sumer had problems with unpredictable flooding and lack of natural barriers and natural resources. China also had problems with unpredictable flooding as well as the abundance of natural boundaries that isolated them. Similarly, the unique characteristics of both China and Sumer were determined by the geography of the region because the geography was specific to that region which made the civilization develop unique characteristics. Sumer had Ziggurats, a number system and carefully located cities because the nature and geography forced them to become something different. China had the production of silk because of the abundance of Mulberry Trees in China and no links between the written and spoken language because of the large piece of land they lived on. Even though this happened thousands of years ago, geography still does influence every nation's culture. For example, people in Russia will wear fur coats during the winter because of the cold, but people in South America will wear tank tops because of the year round hot climate. In general, geography impacts the way people