Ancient River valley Civilizations

River Valley Civilization

The basic source of growth of civilizations has been the rivers. When humans came out of the caves and started living in soci- eties whilepracticing agriculture, it was the rivers which turned out to be their lifeline. If we see the larger civilizations all around the world we note that all of them had ini- tially thrived around the banks of some rivers.

• Mesopotamian civilization – The Tigris and The Euphrates rivers

• Egyptian civilization – The Nile river

• Indus Valley Civilization -The Indus and The Ganga rivers

• Shang China – The Yellow and The Yangtze rivers

There are many reasons for the thriving of a civilization along the banks of a river. The most important thing is availability of water. When water and soil are present, the flora and fauna of the region naturally starts developing and hence, provides food for subsistence of the humans living there. Due to easily available water, humans started cul- tivating by the river banks. The second most important dimension for the civilization to come into being are the settlements. As water is available nearby, other materials required for the construction of houses, like wood and mud also become very easily available due to which settlements started developing by the banks of the rivers.

Around 3500 BCE, the Mesopota- mian civilization began to develop around the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. Its towns and cities were self-sufficient in terms of resources needed for leading a life. One of these cities, Uruk is believed to be the first “educated city” in human history.
Around 3100 BCE, the Egyptian civiliza- tion had its beginnings. It was different from Mesopotamian civilization in many ways. Here, the people used to cultivate pulses which prevented salts from accu- mulating in the soil and hence, made the shil more fertile. Due the substantial length of the Nile river, they used it for navigation also. Two cities had devel- oped, one at each of its ends, which later got connected to each other after a period of around 100 years.

Around 2600 BCE, the Indus Valley Civi- lization had its beginnings at the banks of the Indus river. Its inhabitants were people of Harappa. Even today their script is a matter of research.Although this civilization was larger than both the other civilizations thriving during that period both in terms of numbers as well as in expanse but surprisingly, no mention of any kind of violence has ever been found to have happened here.

The Shang China civilization began to develop by the banks of the Yellow river by around 1700 BCE. Accordint to experts, it was a patriar- chal society. Mention of many acts of violence is found here.