How did the geography affect the advancement of civilization in the Fertile Crescent?

History tells the story of human kinds past. The human species evolved from hunters and gatherers to Neolithic people, who began to build villages, which turned to cities all around the world. This transition gave humans a new way of life, focusing on things like building cultures and monuments, which will stand the tests of time. Throughout history, many civilizations have sprung up with different cultures, ideas, technologies, and political systems. However, not all these civilizations were successful and many were destroyed for several reasons. From starvation due to a bad harvest all the way to warfare, early civilizations had much to deal with to try to survive. When it comes down to it, geography determines the success of an early …show more content…
Through evolution, humans began adapting to different environments to which they migrated, which began giving humans physical differences like skin color. Fast forward to when cities were formed, geography impacted agriculture, economics and militaristic strategies. Geography is the single most important factor that decides if a civilization will prosper and survive throughout centuries.
The most revolutionizing factor that caused humans to settle and develop a civilization was the ability to farm. 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. To the north were the Caucasus Mountains. The snow that melted from the Caucasus drained down into the rivers that caused them to flood. With the melted snow came silt, which made the soil very rich (Lecture, 7/12/16). This flooding created fertile land where farming was ideal. As farming became more popular, villages …show more content…
Many battles have been lost throughout history due to geographic negligence, from the Battle of Thermopylae to World War II. Warfare is one of the biggest reasons for the destruction of a civilization. Laurentiu Grigore says, “Military actions, regardless of context, take place in a given space and time. The geographic area is the context of the military action, with all its natural and artificial factors…” (Grigore, 2014). A civilizations resourcefulness to protect itself from invaders relies heavily on the ability to use the geographic advantages. Mesopotamia did not have many of those advantages, such as mountains and harsh deserts, so the leaders focused on building walls. Walls were so important in the Mesopotamian civilization that the kings’ ability to rule was measured by how strong his walls were. Michael Vollbach explains, “Walls demonstrated whether the king was proficient in his job. The worst thing that could be said about a king, as was mentioned of Gilgamesh of Uruk was that “he did not keep good walls” (Vollbach, 11). The stress on keeping strong walls is a result of the lack of natural geographical defenses. Some civilizations like the ancient Egypt had very tough geographical features, that in their early years, gave them no outside influence and time to improve on other aspects of a civilization besides militaristic needs (Lockard, 50). In many cases, numbers of soldiers do dictate

From KNILT

Lesson Objectives:

• Students will be able to describe how the geography of Greece influence the way people lived and how they interacted with others

Key Terms to Know

Directions:Look up each term in your textbook (pages 116-120) and define each in your Social Studies Notebook.

• peninsula
• Crete
• Mycenae

The Geography of Greece

Located in southern Europe, Greece is made up of the mainland and hundreds of small islands spread throughout the Ioanian, Aegean, and Mediterranean Seas. As a peninsula, the people of Greece took advantage of living by the sea.

• They were fishermen
• They were traders
• They were sailors

The mountains in Greece did not have fertile soil good for growing crops, like in Mesopotamia, but the mild climate allowed for some farming.

• They grew barley, wheat, olives, and grapes
• They raised sheep

The Greeks, like many other ancient civilizations, felt deeply connected to the land they lived on. While living on the land helped to develop a strong sense of pride in their country, the distance between the islands and the mountains did not help to support unity in Greece. The Minoans and Mycenaeans of ancient Greece used their geography to their advantage.

Click the link below for an introduction to Ancient Greece

Introduction to Ancient Greece

Ask Yourself

• How did the geography of Greece lead to strongly independent Greek communities?
• How did Greek communities communicate with each other?

Activity

Directions: Use your textbook and social studies notes on the Mesopotamian civilization and ancient Greek civilization to compare and contrast how each civilization used and benefitted from living near the water. Use a 3-column matrix chart like this: Media:influence of water.pdf

Homework

Directions: All that we know about ancient Greek civilization we know through the discoveries of archaeologists. Imaging that you write for TV Guide. Write a 1 paragraph description of the program that will feature those discoveries.

Click below for Lesson 2

Lesson 2: How did the Minoans and Mycenaeans take advantage of Greece's geography?

'Click below to go back to the homepage

It's All Greek To Me!

How did geography influence the development of civilization in the Fertile Crescent quizlet?

How did geography influence the development of civilizations in the Fertile Crescent Brainly?

How did geography affect the development of early civilizations?

How did geography shape life in the Fertile Crescent?