The definition of "river civilization" was given by historians and archaeologists of the XIX century. This designation was given to the first states in the history of mankind. By law, all of them arose in the valleys of large rivers in connection with the exceptional importance of agriculture for the then people. Scientists distinguish four similar civilizations: Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Indian and Chinese.
General characteristics
Ancient river civilizations that arose several thousand years ago are a vivid example of how environmental conditions influenced human development. The basis of the economy of the first civilizations was agriculture. Cultivation of land and cultivation of crops were the key to the prosperity of cities and settlements. That is why the first states arose in regions in which environmental conditions favored farmers most of all.
Such places were river valleys. Ancient Egyptian civilization arose in the Nile basin, on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates - Sumerian, around the Indus and Ganges - Indian, next to the Yellow River and the Yangtze - Chinese. Their cradle was land between 20 ° and 40 ° north latitude
Ancient Egypt
The key features of river civilizations are clearly visible on the example of Ancient Egypt. This state arose in northeast Africa on the banks of the lower Nile. The first signs of civilization formed at the end of the 4th millennium BC. e. At that time, the first pharaohs united Lower and Upper Egypt under their rule.
All river civilizations experienced ups and downs. Egypt had such mutually changing periods. Its highest flowering occurred in the New Kingdom, which existed in the XVI - XI centuries. BC e. Three ancient Egyptian dynasties belong to it (18, 19, 20). It was the New Kingdom that left behind the largest number of monuments by which modern humanity knows the mysterious ancient country. In the IV century BC e. Egypt fell under the influence of Greek culture and began to lose its unique civilizational traits. Finally, the power of the pharaohs ended in 30 BC. e., when the north-east of Africa was conquered by the Roman Empire.
Agriculture and river cycles
A significant number of ancient Egyptians were engaged in agriculture. Dependence on rivers important for agriculture is one of the reasons why the ancient civilizations of the world are called river ones. The cyclical floods of the Nile left silt in the fields, which, mixing with the soil, increased the yield.
Abundance and economic prosperity gave people more free time for technological, cultural and artistic activities. This pattern has become one of the deepest reasons for the greatness of Egypt for several millennia.
All river civilizations of the ancient world tried to conquer and tame nature. For this, the Egyptians built dams along the Nile and its tributaries. With their help, water was diverted to agricultural fields with crops. Although the irrigation system reached perfection in Mesopotamia, the Egyptians also had an outstanding time for it.
Agriculture of this people was carried out according to river cycles. The Egyptians divided the year into three seasons: flooding, planting and harvesting. The most common was grain farming, although there was also fruit growing and gardening. There were vineyards, flax was grown. It was used for spinning. Along the Nile shores grew papyrus, from which a unique Egyptian paper was made.
Life and religion
The homes of the Egyptians were built from raw brick, thanks to which a comfortable cool was maintained in the rooms even in the midday heat. Each house had a kitchen with an open roof. The walls were painted white or hung with linen carpets.
There was no common religion in Egypt. In each region there was a cult of a certain deity. Together, they formed one of the largest pantheons of antiquity. Like other religions of that period, the religion of the Egyptians evolved from fetishism and animism. Pharaoh Akhenaten tried to abandon polytheism and created his own centralized monotheistic cult of the solar god Aton. But this reform was not entrenched in ancient Egyptian society.
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia, or Mesopotamia, is a region in the vicinity of two great rivers - the Tigris and Euphrates. Today this territory belongs to Iraq. BC, there were various river civilizations. Unlike Egypt, in Mesopotamia there has never been a single whole people. Different tribes conquered each other here for several millennia.
Even compared to other important rivers of antiquity, the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates was especially fertile. Water starting in the Armenian Highlands brought alluvial deposits to Mesopotamia. It was thanks to them that the local soil gave rich harvests. Fertility attracted many peoples here. In addition, Mesopotamia was an important trading region, since it connected the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean.
Channel Country
For the period from the IV millennium to the VI century BC. e. in Mesopotamia several states changed (Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia and Assyria). Their peoples differed from each other in languages and some cultural features. But in general, their community can be called one great ancient Mesopotamian civilization. The source of its appearance was the creation of an irrigation system on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates.
For agriculture, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia built canals and reservoirs. Irrigation systems increased yields and allowed to irrigate fields throughout the growing season. Progress has led to the division of labor. Crafts arose, then class stratification began. It led to the emergence of slaveholders and a huge exploited mass.
Irrigation and trade
Although there were always many slaves in Mesopotamia, free people living in the community were also engaged in agriculture. They had to serve labor duty in favor of the state, building and clearing channels. Only representatives of the nobility were exempted from any earthwork. The more perfect the irrigation system became, the more intensive was the outflow of people from disparate small settlements to provincial centers. These were already cities. They possessed characteristic buildings: a temple, workshops and a granary.
Around the places of worship there was a collection of food stocks. Mesopotamia was poor in forests and metals. Residents of Mesopotamia received these resources, buying them in exchange for their plentiful harvest. Trade was conducted with many countries - from India to Egypt and from the Mediterranean to Arabia. By the III millennium BC e. the economy of the temples became so complex that to take them into account a new way of transmitting information was required - writing. That is how the Sumerians got their famous cuneiform writing, which they applied with special sticks on clay tablets.
Mesopotamia was separated from the Near East by vast deserts. The first peoples who settled it lived not only in isolation, but also extremely poor. Crops were unstable and consisted only of unpretentious barley. Only a narrow strip of land between the dead desert and swamps was suitable for agriculture. With the advent of canals and an irrigation system, people settled in new, previously unsuitable for living areas.
Indian civilization
To a varying degree, modern science knows where and when river civilizations arose. For example, the history of ancient India remains one of the least explored. This is due to the fact that its inhabitants left behind almost no monuments. A large flow of documentary evidence about India arose only in the III century BC. e., when the army of Alexander the Great invaded here.
However, it is possible to state some fundamental facts . The Indian river civilization that arose in the Indus Valley is considered the third oldest after Egyptian and Mesopotamian. Of all of them, it was the largest in terms of occupied area. This civilization is also called Harappan. It existed in the XXXIV - XIV centuries. BC e. Its key centers were the cities of Mohenjo-Daro, Rakhigarchi, Harappa, Dholavira and Lothal. The population of the valley during the heyday of civilization reached five million people. The Sumerians called India Melukhha and even conducted sea trade with it.
Cities of Indians
Harappans had developed metallurgy of bronze, monumental construction, small sculpture. The basis of agriculture was irrigation farming. It is believed that in the city of Mohenjo-Daro there were the oldest toilets in the history of mankind, as well as plumbing and sewer systems.
Indians' agriculture was supplemented by fishing and hunting. Sea fishing flourished on the ocean coast. Until the period when ancient river civilizations were born, people did not have cities in the classical sense of the word. With the advent of states, large settlements began to be surrounded by fortifications. The ancient Indian cities consisted of a sheltered citadel and a lower city. They featured a carefully laid out layout. Residential buildings were built on two floors.
China
The Yellow River Basin is another place where ancient river civilizations took shape. In the third millennium BC. e. it formed an ethnic community of ancient Chinese. The uniqueness of this civilization was its almost complete isolation from other peoples of that era. If China was known in the West, then there this country seemed a mythical land, even more mysterious than India with its incredible elephants.
Gradually, this civilization spread beyond the Yellow River basin and in the south settled another large river - the Yangtze. It is curious that the lower course of the Yellow River has repeatedly changed as a result of floods and natural processes. The shore of the Gulf of Bohai, where this river flowed , was also transformed. In ancient times, the Yellow River valley was completely covered by forest. Active human activity destroyed these thickets. Rhino, elephants, bamboo rats and tapirs disappeared after them. Like other river civilizations, the ancient Chinese state began human intervention in the environment.
Taming nature
The peoples of antiquity were very vulnerable to natural disasters. Why are they called river civilizations? They were created in the valleys and at the same time did not yet know how to deal with floods. Such disasters threatened the death of entire settlements. In the Chinese letter, the word "misfortune" was written down for a long time in the form of a hieroglyph depicting a river overflowing from the banks.
Only in the middle of the first millennium BC e. residents of the Yellow River basin learned how to make iron guns and went beyond the floodplains. Now they could cultivate previously inaccessible hard soils. Thanks to this, the population became less concentrated and began to colonize the hilly regions of China. This was especially true of the northern steppe regions. Scientists who have determined where and when ancient river civilizations originated still discover new details related to the history of ancient China.