Mesopotamia Rivers

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There are many important aspects surrounding the development of early civilizations, but the most important is the rivers that they were built upon. Civilizations such as Mesopotamia and Egypt, relied heavily on the rivers. Egypt and Mesopotamia were very prosperous in their time, and this would not have been possible without the help of the rivers. There are many ways that the rivers assisted the development of these civilizations, examples include: agriculture and irrigation, drinking water, transportation, and food sources. Though in the case of Mesopotamia, the Fertile Crescent was a huge advantage in their prosperity. Mesopotamia was an ancient region in the Mediterranean, the two rivers that the civilization was built on were called …show more content…
As time passed, the people thought of ways to deter floods, and irrigate their crops learned how to control the rivers, preventing floods, and bringing water to arid lands. They dug wide canals that allowed the river to flow into their farms, then they dug smaller canals leading directly to the crops, thus watering them. They put primitive floodgates on the canal openings to control how much water, if any, is released. This way, the Mesopotamians were able to grow a surplus of healthy crops each farming season. This irrigation system was rather primitive, but very effective. It essentially allowed the Mesopotamian culture to prosper, and assisted heavily in the way we look back at them …show more content…
The Nile River was of central importance to life in Egypt. The Nile River, the longest river in the world, begins in the center of Africa and flows onwards for thousands of miles. The areas that spanned 7 miles on both banks of river were capable of producing plentiful harvests. Flooding was gradual in contrast to Mesopotamian Rivers. Like Mesopotamia, Egypt was a river valley civilization. The Nile River played a key role in the development of Egypt’s agriculture and economy. The civilization of Ancient Egypt was indebted to the Nile River and its dependable seasonal flooding. The river’s predictability and the fertile soil allowed the Egyptians to build an empire on the basis of agricultural wealth. Egyptians are credited as being one of the first groups of people to practice agriculture on a large scale. This was possible because of the creativity of the Egyptians as they developed effective irrigation. Their farming practices allowed them to grow staple food crops, especially grains such as wheat and barley, and industrial crops, such as flax and
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