World Civilizations To 1500 - Essay Example

2. Geographical location of Ancient Mesopotamia determined early populating of these fertile territories. Mesopotamia is translated as "The land between rivers": it was situated between the Tigris and the Euphrates. The rivers and the climate of Mesopotamia attracted people: geographical location allowed them to grow different crops and contributed much to the state origin. But the geographical and environmental factor is not the only one which influenced the development of Mesopotamia. Political division of Mesopotamia as a combination of city-states - Uruk, Ur, Eridu and some others - determined its development as a constant struggle between them for political domination in the region.

Economics was linked with geographical factor: irrigation allowed people to grow more food, and they were able to trade services and goods. The rivers also were good transport routes. Geographical factor partially influenced the social structure of Mesopotamia - great amount of slaves and peasants could irrigate the territory and provide its fertility. Social structure provided economic development of Mesopotamia: class structure became a fundament of further development of city-states. Women position was not the same as men's, but there were many women gods in city-states pantheons.

Religion and intellectual achievements also influenced the development of Mesopotamia. Cuneiform writing system, science and religious structure provided high development of Mesopotamian civilization.3. Geographical position of Ancient Egypt had a similar feature with that of Mesopotamia: the Egyptian civilization was originated in the valley of the Nile which provided the population with fertile soil which was the source of the economic growth of Ancient Egypt. The Nile was also a principal way of travel and trade.

Agricultural development resulted in economical and social structure changes: plentiful harvest gave much food which could be exchanged for other goods. Economics of Egypt was very important factor of its development, and it influenced social structure of the population: food and wealth abundance led to class structure origination, and Ancient Egyptian society became highly developed. The main classes of Ancient Egypt were slaves, warriors, peasants, craftsmen and priests. Such strict class structure provided possibility of cultural development.

There were priests who developed science and religious knowledge in Egypt. The life of ancient Egyptians was very tightly connected with their religious views. The religion of Ancient Egypt was rather rich: the pantheon of gods was presented very widely and their images were so different, but there were some main gods which symbolized the basic mythological, religious and political views of ancient Egyptians. Ra (Sun god and the symbol of pharaoh's power) and Osiris (symbolized nature resurrection connected with the Nile flood, later the god of the underworld) were the main gods in Egypt.

So, such factor as geography is one of the main factors of Ancient Egyptian civilization, but economic and social structure, as well as cultural achievements (including hieroglyphic writing system) contributed very much in general development of Ancient Egypt. 4. Ancient India civilization development also was influenced by the