The First River Valley Civilizations: Geography, Irrigation, Writing, and Early Societies in Egypt and Mesopotamia

Apuntes

[Diapositiva 1] The first civilisations or river valley civilisations E gypt and Mesopotamia [Diapositiva 2] When ? The first great civilisations appeared at the beginning of the Ancient Age . The Ancient Age is the period of history that begins with the invention of writing (around 3300 BC) and ends with the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476). [Diapositiva 3] Where? The Fertile Crescent , consisting of Mesopotamia (on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) and Egypt (on the banks of the Nile river). India (on the banks of the Indus river) China (on the banks of the Huang He river) [Diapositiva 4] KEY WORDS Rivers Irrigated agriculture First cities Invention of writing Hierarchical society [Diapositiva 5] Characteristics of river civilisations They are located next to large rivers whose waters they use to irrigate their fields. They developed an irrigated agriculture that produced more food and therefore supported more people. The population increased and villages became cities . Production surpluses led to the development of other activities such as handcrafts and trade . Society became more hierarchical and the first forms of state emerged. Writing was invented to cont...