Most of the civilizations discussed in this section of class were established on major rivers - Essay Example

Contribution of River Nile in the Egyptian Civilization College Egyptian Civilization The ancient RiverNile valley resulted in the Egyptian and the Nubian civilization. People began creating communities around the River Nile. The river provided resources for all the aspects of life of the community; life was dependent on the river and the life it brought with it (Spielvogel, 2009). The Egyptian civilization resulted in a number of technologies and modernization of the ancient Egyptian communities that lived close to the river.

Ancient Egyptian technologies included their architectural design of the Pyramids which were built to house Pharaoh (Quie & Bell, 2011). These were made of perfectly curved blocks whose construction have remained a mystery since it is not known how the builders carried the over five tones of building materials to the top of the building. Another technology included the production of dyes and inks by the use of plants, soot gum, fish and water. There were also water and sundial clocks.The seasonal flooding of the River Nile resulted in the deposition of fertile silt from the deserts thereby promoting agriculture along the river (Spielvogel, 2009).

The Egyptians ploughed using human and animal drought machinery. Since the River Nile was prone to seasonal flooding, trenches were constructed to guide water to crops hence promoting basin irrigation. Agrarianism was a major practice in the ancient Egypt. The communities in the Upper Nile however carried out fishing, hunting and gathering as their major economic activities (Spielvogel, 2011). They hunted Zebras and cattle to bring food into the Nile. Agricultural products, game meat and fish were traded amongst themselves on a barter trade basis.

The hunters and gatherers exchanged their game meat with farm products from the agrarian communities. This was because there was no trade and cultural diffusion between Egypt and the surrounding countries at that time.The river did not only provide water for irrigation and fish, but also provided a means of transport. The communities around the Nile used boats to travel along the river from one settlement to another (Quie & Bell, 2011). Winds helped boats travel against the river current and along the river.

For fear that large boats would capsize; the Upper Nile communities used small boats such as canoes to travel through the region. Egyptian social system was strict and the government was centralized; it was divided into social classes in the order of the Pharaoh, Pharaoh’s family and relatives, nobles, priests, scribes, soldiers, workers, peasants, foreigners and slaves. In addition, the head of state was considered as the representative of god on earth (Spielvogel, 2011). This was meant to ensure that political leaders did not amass political and social power.

Leadership was on hereditary basis. The land also consisted of religiosity, with polytheism being a major practice. They believed in the god of judgment, gods of success, chief god in charge of the heavens among others. They also believed in after death and embolism and burial patterns depended on the dead person’s social status (Spielvogel, 2009). That is, duality was held with high prestige. These included the desert and river valley, the Upper and Lower Egypt as well as life and death: these were considered an important organizing principle of the Egyptian’s world view.

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