Ancient World Geography

Geography of the Ancient World
In modern society it is quite easy for people to live anywhere. With today’s technology and logistic abilities, human civilizations are found everywhere from the coast to the mountains to the desert. In present day, you can do everything from eating seafood in Arizona to buying bananas at the store in Alaska. However, in ancient times this was not so because geography is what determined where civilization was located. In early times, life was sustained by farming and agriculture much like today, but the main difference was their lack of ability to transport what was needed to live. This resulted in the majority of thriving civilization being located in fertile landscapes. The thing that creates farmable land is …show more content…
This land was home to many different ancient civilizations. One would rule for a period of time and either would be conquered by another, or fail due its own internal issues. “Mesopotamia is made up of different regions, each with its own geography.” (Mesopotamia.co.uk). Mesopotamia is located in modern day Iraq. The northern region is made up of plains and hills where mountain streams feed the rivers. There are also seasonal rains making this area a very fertile, productive farmland. This region was great for farming and agriculture, so it is no surprise that many civilizations thrived here. The southern part of the area is made up of very hot and dry lowlands. Southern Mesopotamia was not as ideal for supporting life as the northern, but there were many civilizations that did well in that area also. Once man learned how to farm in this area, civilization was quick to follow. It was required that they had canals and other means of irrigation to support their crops. The word Mesopotamia is the Greek word for the land between two rivers. Another name for the region is the Fertile Crescent. Mesopotamia was filled with wildlife and edible vegetation. Some of the people that lived in this land were the Babylonians, Sumerians, Hebrews, Assyrians, and Persians. It was in this land that the birth of monotheism took place. This land is also thought to be the birthplace of civilization itself the two rivers …show more content…
Each of them had geography that supported farming and agriculture within the river valleys. However, much of Egypt was not so ideal for supporting life. The vast majority of Egypt is barren desert and had little to no plant life or wildlife, and Mesopotamia was made up entirely of farmable, life sustaining landscape. Since Mesopotamia was so accessible with its two bordering rivers, it was very susceptible to influence and invasion. Egypt may seem to have less attractive geography because most of it was not livable to the people, but the vast deserts that surrounded this land made it virtually inaccessible. The Egyptians were actually very fortunate for this because they had very little outside influence, and they were able to rule for a long time without being constantly invaded by other empires. “Mesopotamians lacked access to the great stones that Egyptians could import for their monuments.” (History-world.org). This is a good explanation of how the difference of geography between to two regions greatly contributed to the differences in societies. The Mesopotamians constructed most of their structures out of things like wood, small stones, and mud. That is why there is little no Mesopotamian structure still around today. However, Egyptians were able to use massive stones from nearby mountains to build their great tombs and other