The Role Of Water In Ancient Civilizations

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these prospering civilizations because of their lack of knowledge about water. At the beginning of human civilization, humans developed along waterways. As we learned in the Water and the Birth of Civilizations lecture, the original ancient civilizations grew up next to rivers, the Egyptians along the Nile, the Chinese along the Yellow and Yangtze, the Mesopotamians along the Tigris and Euphrates. Since these civilizations were not technologically developed it was hard for them to keep the environments they lived in able to sustain human cities. There would be droughts and flooding season, both of which destroyed the farming land causing people to run out of food. The civilizations had to develop ways to control the water without damaging the environment and over time they were able to harness the river's power. But at the start and development of these civilizations, it was a constant battle to manage the water, and this mismanagement of water ultimately …show more content…
Pollution and the improper treatment of water is a big factor that degrades environments the water is never cleaned and then pumped right back into the societies usable water. In the reading about the “Great Columbus Experiment”, it is stated, “…sewer and water matters, especially the stench that wafted over their area…”(Blackford, 93). Because of the loads on pollution, whether it be biological, chemical, or industrial, urban areas air would become toxic for the surrounding environment and lead to a variety of diseases in humans and animals. The absurd amounts of pollution often go on to hurt the surrounding waterways, because then the waters began to develop diseases, such as cholera, and overall become toxic for human use. It is important to know that the pollution of rivers and various other sources of water cause environments to deteriorate and that humans are mistreating these valuable sources of