The Influence Of Water In Ethiopia And Egypt

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Water is the basis of every civilization. Thus, it is no surprise that it shapes civilizations in so many ways. Successful civilizations from the past can be viewed today as models of water’s effect. Romans engineered countless mechanisms to support their necessity for transporting water to their major cities, and they not only pushed their limits on the engineering front, the projects also created jobs for the people. Meanwhile, in Egypt, lower class workers would put their simple but effective machines to use. The political spectrum of water is found in Egypt as well, because the pharaoh takes advantage of the necessity of water for the people to gain respect and more power. The Chinese valued the water so much, they fought over it and it …show more content…
Ethiopia and Egypt are locked in a conflict stemming from control of the Nile River and the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). With Egypt pushing to stop the construction of the multi-billion dollar dam, Ethiopia has attempted to continue their pursuit of the Nile’s water. Relations between Egypt and Ethiopia have been shaky in the past, when negotiations were undergone in the 1950s over control of the Nile River. In the end, most of the water from the river was allocated to Egypt while a much smaller portion was presented to Sudan. Ethiopia also sought to obtain some of the Nile’s water, but the Nile Waters Agreement of 1959 only included Egypt and Sudan (Newton, Wolf, “Case Study of Transboundary Dispute Resolution: the Nile Waters Agreement”). As a result, Egypt was later able to construct the Aswan High Dam and progressively grow. Ethiopians were very displeased with the decision that allowed Egypt to reach these heights. Prime Minister of Ethiopia at the time, Meles Zenawi, said "While Egypt is taking the Nile water to transform the Sahara Desert into something green, we in Ethiopia – who are the source of 85% of that water – are denied the possibility of using it to feed ourselves." Today, Egypt is opposing Ethiopia’s construction of GERD. There has been speculation …show more content…
In general, ancient civilizations have each contributed some mechanisms during their lifespan, even if it was not particularly significant, it was based on their societies’ needs. The Egyptians brought the shaduf and saqiya to life, both machines aiming to bring water into a channel. The shaduf, appearing quite simple at a glance, actually utilizes quite a more complex design. It is built into the banks of the waterway along with a sturdy platform and two perfectly placed sticks that must hold another perfectly designed stick, quite a tough ask (Document 4). The saqiya is almost like an animal-run conveyor belt bringing water up from a well to a channel. The use of gears and an animal to power a machine were not often seen yet the Egyptians found a way to put it to great use so they could retrieve their water (Document 5). Even with their limited amount of water sources, the Egyptians still needed to secure the water so they could make use of it, the shaduf and the saqiya collectively accomplished that. The Romans have been revered for countless of architectural accomplishments, even as the years pass, easily eclipsing Chinese and Egyptian creations. The Romans’ main issue was that it needed to bring clean water to the cities and transport drained water away. The lengthy and incredibly demanding to construct aqueducts brought water to
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