Discuss the role of geography in the distinct characteristics of early civilizations. How did river valleys, for example, develop differently from other regions? What were the socio-economic consequences of such differences?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary but correct responses should include: Divergence was environmentally conditioned. That is, the greater or more diverse the resource base, the bigger and more durable the society it feeds. The great river valleys were large, continuous areas of fertile, easily worked soil, and for farming societies, exploitable land is the most basic resource of all. Environmental diversity gave the river valley peoples extra resources, compared with civilizations in less privileged regions. Egypt had the Nile delta at hand. In the Yellow River and Yangtze valleys, China had two complementary ecological systems. Mesopotamia had a hinterland of pastures, and Mesopotamia and Harappa had access to each other by sea. Their wealth and productivity excited envy from outsiders and invited attack. Continued population growth demanded ever more intensive exploitation of the environment. The vast collective efforts required for irrigation, storage, and monumental building left huge classes of people oppressed and resentful of elites.