Indus River Valley Civilization Essay

Superior Essays
The Earliest civilization in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East was Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia is bordered on its sides by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Mesopotamia, in fact, is Greek for “between the rivers.” The rise of Sumerian Civilization began when the first Sumerian cities began in the lower part of Mesopotamia, and Sumer became a great empire inside of Mesopotamia. The Indus River Valley Civilization is the first civilization in India. The Indus Valley is located in the subcontinent of India in South Asia. It is between the Thar Desert and The Hindu Kush. The Indus River Valley Civilization is known for its well-planned cities and ancient language that cannot be read because the language died off along with the Civilization. …show more content…
The Indus River Valley Civilization was located in present-day Pakistan, in the Indus Valley. There were two main cities in the civilization, they were: Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro. They were huge cities that were about 3 miles around. They were thought to be twin capitals of The Indus River Valley Civilization. The greatest thing about Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro was that they were carefully well-planned. These cities were said to have rivaled cities in Sumer. The cities were laid out in a grid pattern with large bricks that are much larger than bricks that are used nowadays. These bricks were oven-fired clay bricks, which meant that the people mixed dirt and water to make mud and then they turned it into clay bricks. The homes that the Indus Valley people lived in were surprisingly modern considering it was a civilization that was alive around 2,500 B.C. In these houses were baths, drains, and even water chutes that continued on to a sewer system underneath the streets of the city. This showed that the Indus Valley People were very intelligent and had a government that was organized very …show more content…
Most of the Indus Valley people became farmers. Among the crops they grew were barley, dates, melons, and wheat. They also grew a crop that is called cotton and were the first to take its fibers and weave it into cloth. However, not all of the Indus River Valley People were farmers. Some of them were merchants and traders. The merchants and traders helped the farmers work to be credited by packing the finished crops onto cargo ships. These cargo ships carried cotton cloth, copper, ivory combs, pearls, and grain to far off places as exports. They developed a writing system when they sailed down the coast of the Arabian Sea and up the coast of the Persian Gulf. The Indus Valley people reached the Sumer people in Mesopotamia on this voyage; it is believed that the contact with Sumer stimulated the Indus River Valley people to develop a system of writing. This system of writing came into play when archaeologists looked at the religious beliefs of the Indus Valley People. There were many statues so they are believed to have been polytheistic like many other ancient civilizations. They worshipped a female goddess believed to be the creator, and also many sacred animals. These high regards for animals were passed on through generations and later became a part of Indian culture.
However, around 1750 B.C., The

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In Chapter 1, the cultures and societies discussed include Mesopotamian civilization, Egyptian civilization, the Hittite empire, and the Persian Empire. Major influences from these civilizations and empires have contributed to Western Civilization. Mesopotamian civilization developed between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers and evolved to three definite societies: Sumer (2000s B.C), Babylonia (1000s B.C.), and Assyria (after 700s B.C.). The first known cities were founded by the Sumerians using architecture of mud and brick.…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    This video is about the Indus Valley Civilization, which is cities around the Indus River. Since it was near a river agriculture was a big part of the development. I learned a lot more about the Indus Valley then what we had talked about in school. The Indus Valley Civilizations was one of the bigger civilization during that time. The two main cities were Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.…

    • 67 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout Global history, there have been many river valleys which play a big role on early civilization and make the important contribution to the world. Three civilization of these is Mesopotamia, India, and China. Mesopotamia is the land that located between Tigris and Euphrates river. This can be considered as the reason why Mesopotamia called Mesopotamia. In Greek, it technically means between two rivers, and obviously this is exactly what was happening.…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mesopotamia Dbq Essay

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages

    From the beginning of the Mesopotamian civilization to the end of the Indus river, many inhabitants of the river valley civilizations adapted to their environment. In order for them to adapt to their environment, they had to adapt to by living in caves, made use of their natural resources, built walls to protect from enemy attack plus floods, and create irrigation systems to get water for their animals and crops. The lives of people in ancient times were shaped by the geography of their region by the rivers, the shelter they lived and the natural barriers that surrounded their region. The lives of people were shaped by the geography of their region because of the rivers.…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ancient Sumer In the middle east, along the great Tigris and Euphrates rivers leading to the Persian Gulf explains where the Sumerian civilization settled. The Sumer civilization were referred to as the first river valley civilization, since rivers ran through the land. The land was not considered desirable due to all the flooding, mud slides, and depositing fertile soil. Although the rivers overflown their banks and created a nuisance, the people worked together to generate and develop their land.…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sumer, Uruk, and Akkad were probably the most known cities in the Fertile Crescent. Sumer was in fact the southernmost city of all of Mesopotamia. The Sumerians called themselves the “black-headed people.” The Sumerians helped invent cuneiform, which was a form of picture writing. Akkad ruled over a vast part of the Fertile Crescent.…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    They had to get used to the new environment and overcome it to thrive as a civilization. Our civilization today was strongly influenced by ancient civilizations, specifically 3 of the river valley…

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sumerians Research Paper

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Uruk, for example, was the first technical city according to many historians. Sumer began in 5000 and ended in 1750 when a neighboring city attacked. During this period, there was trade and a form of writing, one called Cuneiform script. Writing was mainly developed for trade, so that traders could write long distances. Before Sumer was a civilization they were a bunch of city-states.…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Agriculture was a major part in the lives of those in Mesopotamia. As a result of these rivers, the population was allowed to grow creating a division of labor, and the growth of cities. Because the rivers often flooded, and drought ruined entire crops, the people began to believe that the gods controlled…

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Sumerians turned to trade in order for their civilization to thrive. The Sumerian people discovered that copper and tin together made bronze. This discovery made trade efficient because they could produce tools and weapons that were then sold to other nations. Not only were goods transported in the trade network but stories, writings, and art were also spread. Egypt was developing around the same time as Sumer in Mesopotamia around a river as well.…

    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    When we think of Mesopotamia or Egypt we can automatically assume that these two civilizations were of prominence to today’s society. Mesopotamia and Egypt were two very different civilizations with very different values, beliefs, norms and even Religions. Yet both artistic styles and interests were somewhat similar and composed of common materials and resources used to make certain sculptures and paintings. Both civilizations contributed greatly to our art advancements and made it possible for us to better advance over the years with the use of their techniques and style. Mesopotamia is considered to be one of the first human civilizations.…

    • 1286 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The geographical features of a land will determine if it is suitable for farming. Humans began with hunting and gathering, which caused them to constantly travel. Traveling took up most of early humans’ time, not allowing them to focus on different aspects of development. Ancient Mesopotamia became one of the first civilizations, due to its geographic features. Mesopotamia was located between two rivers, the Euphrates and Tigris River.…

    • 1459 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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…

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    These two civilizations learned to use their land that surrounded them to their advantage, create successful society and they also shaped some aspects in the way we still live today. To begin, Sumerians…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Dyana Postelle Many times the best way to understand civilizations is in reference to another civilization or civilizations in the same time period, or by comparing advancements in language, size, and trade, or by comparing city-state and territorial-state perameters. In this essay I will discuss the Indus Valley Civilizations, and more specifically Mohenjo-daro with regards to its similarities and differences to Mesopotamian, and Egyptian civilizations, and its status as a city-sate or territorial-state. Although the Indus Valley Civilizations were bigger than Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, they are the least known about.…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays