The Role Of Geography In Nile Valley Civilization Development
Geography has always been important in the development of a civilization. The geography of all of the civilizations explains how civilizations have developed and progresses. Prehistoric men have found different ways in order for them to survive, such as hunting, fishing, and domestication. The food supply of hunters from the Paleolithic and Mesolithic Age had become uncertain. There are reasons that made the food supply uncertain such as poor luck in hunting, migrations or blights among animals, or strange cycles of increase and decrease affects the animal's population. After that, men domesticated animals to provide a more stable food supply. In the Neolithic times, men used their greatest innovation known as agriculture. In agriculture, men learned how to plant seeds and grow food. They also learned how to use fertilizer, and they invented the plow. They grew food such as wheat, barely, rice, and millet. An important event took place where men shifted from food hunting to food production known as the Neolithic Revolution. The new food sources helped men to permanently settle in a region and contruct their new homes.
One of the reasons for Neolithic men's great inventiveness was establishing permanent settlements. During the times in the Paleolithic period, men lived in small groups where game was abundant and they could find adequate shelter. However, farmers from the Neolitch period gathered in huge settlements in areas that include stable natural advantages such as fertile land for agriculture. There are lots of small districts on earth where men settled together, but the results were special significance in four river valley civilizations. They are the Nile Valley, Tigris-Euphrates Valley, Indus Valley, and Yellow River Valley. In these four river valleys, men first attained a comples form of culture called civilization.
A civilization has the following characteristics: technical skills, highly developed forms of group living, division of labor, and intellectual goals. Out of all of the ancient river valley civilizations is the Nile Valley in Egypt. Egypt is a huge country, but most of Egypt is a desert. Egypt is located on the continent of Africa, and its current name is the United Arrow Republic. The Nile Valley includes the Nile River. The Nile is the most significant river of the Nile Valley. Its unique characteristics include natural dams, silt, flooded plains, and ferile land. It is also 12 miles in width and 4, 000 miles long in length. There was small or no rainfall, and its flood moisture is beneficial for just one planting. The Egyptians learned to keep the land from being dehydrated by getting water from the Nile and bring it to the fields in short canals. The improtance of the Nile's behavior is the renewed soil. With the renewed soil, the Nile Valley farms continuously for more than 6, 000 years, and its soil is still rich. Other advantages of the Nile Valley include climate, natural resources, and its location. For climate, it's beneficial for farming for the Egyptians. For natural resources, Egyptians used clay, granite, sandstone, and limestone for building. For its location, it's surrounded by deserts or seas, and it includes defense against invaders.
With these geographic features and natural advantages of the Nile Valley civilization, the Nile became a pathway for transportation and trade, and Egypt made an agricultural economy and became a farming country to today.
