“When you talk about the past, you often times think about civilization coming and going, but in history there have been several empires that have stood the test of time. The ones that I am talking about are the Indus River Valley civilization (Indians), the Mesopotamians (Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians), the Egyptians, and the Chinese. They all have their differences, but they have a surprising number of similarities as well. Whether it be their geographies, their economies, their government, their culture, or their writing styles, there are stories to explore and knowledge to discover. Without further ado, I present to you, the river valley civilizations.”
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What makes a country significant? Is it land? Is it money? Power? Culture? Some combination of all of the above? Well, when you look into the past, you see several civilizations who have made it. Undoubtedly, they had their hardships, but they prospered when others didn’t. What was different about these cultures? What did they do right, where others went wrong?
Geography. The basis of life itself. Countless studies have looked into the prosperity of empires like the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians, and the common thread has always been geography. They were just located in a better area than their counterparts. They were able to thrive when others were just barely scratching out a living, and because of that, they were able to eventually conquer the little guys and turn them into slaves. It is a dog-eat-dog world, and back in the day, the most prosperous empires relied on the “birth lottery” but for plants instead. If they were lucky, they lived in a well-irrigated, fertile area, with lots of cereal grains and that led to people getting enough food and them being able to do things like create a language, or art work, or build magnificent structures, or attack their neighbors. Food is the fuel for the war machine, and if they lived in a bad area, they got no fuel. Simple as that. Sure, some cultures, like the Chinese and the Indians had to deal with things like floods and monsoon rains, but these disasters also helped make land fertile, so they were able to adapt to their conditions and blossom.
Next to geography, the next important thing in a well developed society is having a society. RULES. We all need them to quell chaos, and the best way to do that is to have a stable form of government. Between the four cultures we are looking at, we see several different forms of it. Religious leaders, leaders who employ religion, monarchs, pharaohs, empires, demigods, you name it. These different cultures had different leaders based on their beliefs. The heavily religious egyptians viewed their pharaoh as a god, and he or she would have the words of a deity. The Chinese had an emperor who had his rule passed down from generation to generation and unless he is toppled by force, his family would stay in power. These cultures used their governments in order to sustain the longevity of their people, and you can still see remnants of their reigns today, whether you’re talking about the pyramids and obelisks of Egypt, or the Forbidden City in China.
After you have a nice place to live and order, you need to start making bank! (No, not actual banks.) Economies are essential to keep a country alive, because without money, nothing happens. In these cultures, the method of choice was agriculture. As I said before, food fuels everything in a country, and when they have a surplus of food, they can sell it to those who need it and turn a profit, instead of living hand-to-mouth. After agriculture, trade was the next best choice of making money. You could rely on precious materials to stay precious, even behind a language barrier, or furs to stay exotic, or services to be wanted. Money makes the world go round, and if you don’t have the cash, your country just won’t last.
Now that you can live behind the almighty dollar, you can also live in your beliefs. Religion is the next step, and this is where the cultures branch off. The religion of an area is ultra influential in how other aspects of culture get imbued in society, so this next section is actually an amalgamation of not just religion, but culture in general. The Indians were followers of Hinduism and Buddhism which influenced the rulers at the time in the way they went about their rulemaking. Karma was pushed heavily in this society, as well as the Chinese for that matter. The Chinese and Indians used the pacifistic nature of Buddhism in times of peace to ensure peace stays. The Hinduism part of India was used to explain the unexplainable and to motivate the people during times of war. The Chinese however used Confucianism in order to talk to the masses, a religion/philosophy which pushed the idea of living a great life and achieving great things through doing good and humane things. The art of both Indians and the Chinese are indicative of several things: how much they both worshipped nature, the human body, spirituality, and the supernatural. On a related note, the Egyptians had their own views and beliefs, where they were able to have over 2,000 gods and goddesses which the all worshipped! Their art was mainly created to appease these gods and often times adorned the walls of a monument to them. They saw their gods as the reason for their existence and wanted to ensure their longevity. On the flip side, the Mesopotamians had many different gods, but they had strong ties in Zoroastrianism and the words of the prophet Zoroaster or Zarathustra. They believed that their actions, pillaging and expanding their territory, was in the name of their creator god, Ahura Mazda. They made art with their gods, animals, and was often times done on materials such as stone or bronze. The Chinese, the masters of the bronze forge, used bronze in addition to stone and jade, and eventually even moved onto paper, their own invention. The Indians sculpted with stones and into buildings.
The art and religion is great and all, but if you want to really expand your grasp on the world, you’re going to need to upgrade your arsenal! Technology was the name of the game for those who were seeking to efficiently cut down crops, or men! For example, the Chinese invented gunpowder, the Indians created mathematical and geometrical theories, the Mesopotamians created chariots (not the Egyptians, contrary to popular belief), and the Egyptians were the inventors of simple machines such as levers and ramps in order to build their extravagant buildings.
Speaking of buildings, all cultures have to live somewhere, right? They need a place of worship, they need a palace for the royals, barracks for the army, etc. etc. The architecture of each of these empires is unique to themselves, because only they lived in the area that they do, so they adapted to their environment the best ways they could. The Chinese used their knowledge of mathematics to create structurally sound buildings and made them ornate and beautiful, as is the norm of the time for them. The Indians created great palaces and walls in order to defend themselves from invaders. The Mesopotamians used mud bricks, wood, and stone in their buildings for lack of other building materials. The Egyptians used perpendicular and inclined planes to support their structures because of the sheer magnitude of their builds. These cultures all had places of worship and palaces/castles, but they had their own spin on it. Their own interpretation.
Finally, speaking of interpretation, you don’t get more unique than a language! Language is the expression of you culture, and these countries all had their own form of it, whether it be the Chinese logograms, the Egyptian hieroglyphics, the Indian alphabet (based on Sanskrit), or the Mesopotamian cuneiform, they all went to great lengths to record and share their history, culture, findings, beliefs, and lives.
In conclusion, these empires, while all great, all had very different constructions. They were built at the same time, not in the same ways. They were all unique, but unified. It is fascinating to pull back from all of this research and look at all the parallels that run between these magnificent cultures and where they branch off. I encourage you to look deeper into these cultures and found out more for yourself! You won’t ever regret learning about the history of the countries that still stand to this day, and how we were able to prosper from hunter gatherers to a full-blown civilization!
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What makes a country significant? Is it land? Is it money? Power? Culture? Some combination of all of the above? Well, when you look into the past, you see several civilizations who have made it. Undoubtedly, they had their hardships, but they prospered when others didn’t. What was different about these cultures? What did they do right, where others went wrong?
Geography. The basis of life itself. Countless studies have looked into the prosperity of empires like the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians, and the common thread has always been geography. They were just located in a better area than their counterparts. They were able to thrive when others were just barely scratching out a living, and because of that, they were able to eventually conquer the little guys and turn them into slaves. It is a dog-eat-dog world, and back in the day, the most prosperous empires relied on the “birth lottery” but for plants instead. If they were lucky, they lived in a well-irrigated, fertile area, with lots of cereal grains and that led to people getting enough food and them being able to do things like create a language, or art work, or build magnificent structures, or attack their neighbors. Food is the fuel for the war machine, and if they lived in a bad area, they got no fuel. Simple as that. Sure, some cultures, like the Chinese and the Indians had to deal with things like floods and monsoon rains, but these disasters also helped make land fertile, so they were able to adapt to their conditions and blossom.
Next to geography, the next important thing in a well developed society is having a society. RULES. We all need them to quell chaos, and the best way to do that is to have a stable form of government. Between the four cultures we are looking at, we see several different forms of it. Religious leaders, leaders who employ religion, monarchs, pharaohs, empires, demigods, you name it. These different cultures had different leaders based on their beliefs. The heavily religious egyptians viewed their pharaoh as a god, and he or she would have the words of a deity. The Chinese had an emperor who had his rule passed down from generation to generation and unless he is toppled by force, his family would stay in power. These cultures used their governments in order to sustain the longevity of their people, and you can still see remnants of their reigns today, whether you’re talking about the pyramids and obelisks of Egypt, or the Forbidden City in China.
After you have a nice place to live and order, you need to start making bank! (No, not actual banks.) Economies are essential to keep a country alive, because without money, nothing happens. In these cultures, the method of choice was agriculture. As I said before, food fuels everything in a country, and when they have a surplus of food, they can sell it to those who need it and turn a profit, instead of living hand-to-mouth. After agriculture, trade was the next best choice of making money. You could rely on precious materials to stay precious, even behind a language barrier, or furs to stay exotic, or services to be wanted. Money makes the world go round, and if you don’t have the cash, your country just won’t last.
Now that you can live behind the almighty dollar, you can also live in your beliefs. Religion is the next step, and this is where the cultures branch off. The religion of an area is ultra influential in how other aspects of culture get imbued in society, so this next section is actually an amalgamation of not just religion, but culture in general. The Indians were followers of Hinduism and Buddhism which influenced the rulers at the time in the way they went about their rulemaking. Karma was pushed heavily in this society, as well as the Chinese for that matter. The Chinese and Indians used the pacifistic nature of Buddhism in times of peace to ensure peace stays. The Hinduism part of India was used to explain the unexplainable and to motivate the people during times of war. The Chinese however used Confucianism in order to talk to the masses, a religion/philosophy which pushed the idea of living a great life and achieving great things through doing good and humane things. The art of both Indians and the Chinese are indicative of several things: how much they both worshipped nature, the human body, spirituality, and the supernatural. On a related note, the Egyptians had their own views and beliefs, where they were able to have over 2,000 gods and goddesses which the all worshipped! Their art was mainly created to appease these gods and often times adorned the walls of a monument to them. They saw their gods as the reason for their existence and wanted to ensure their longevity. On the flip side, the Mesopotamians had many different gods, but they had strong ties in Zoroastrianism and the words of the prophet Zoroaster or Zarathustra. They believed that their actions, pillaging and expanding their territory, was in the name of their creator god, Ahura Mazda. They made art with their gods, animals, and was often times done on materials such as stone or bronze. The Chinese, the masters of the bronze forge, used bronze in addition to stone and jade, and eventually even moved onto paper, their own invention. The Indians sculpted with stones and into buildings.
The art and religion is great and all, but if you want to really expand your grasp on the world, you’re going to need to upgrade your arsenal! Technology was the name of the game for those who were seeking to efficiently cut down crops, or men! For example, the Chinese invented gunpowder, the Indians created mathematical and geometrical theories, the Mesopotamians created chariots (not the Egyptians, contrary to popular belief), and the Egyptians were the inventors of simple machines such as levers and ramps in order to build their extravagant buildings.
Speaking of buildings, all cultures have to live somewhere, right? They need a place of worship, they need a palace for the royals, barracks for the army, etc. etc. The architecture of each of these empires is unique to themselves, because only they lived in the area that they do, so they adapted to their environment the best ways they could. The Chinese used their knowledge of mathematics to create structurally sound buildings and made them ornate and beautiful, as is the norm of the time for them. The Indians created great palaces and walls in order to defend themselves from invaders. The Mesopotamians used mud bricks, wood, and stone in their buildings for lack of other building materials. The Egyptians used perpendicular and inclined planes to support their structures because of the sheer magnitude of their builds. These cultures all had places of worship and palaces/castles, but they had their own spin on it. Their own interpretation.
Finally, speaking of interpretation, you don’t get more unique than a language! Language is the expression of you culture, and these countries all had their own form of it, whether it be the Chinese logograms, the Egyptian hieroglyphics, the Indian alphabet (based on Sanskrit), or the Mesopotamian cuneiform, they all went to great lengths to record and share their history, culture, findings, beliefs, and lives.
In conclusion, these empires, while all great, all had very different constructions. They were built at the same time, not in the same ways. They were all unique, but unified. It is fascinating to pull back from all of this research and look at all the parallels that run between these magnificent cultures and where they branch off. I encourage you to look deeper into these cultures and found out more for yourself! You won’t ever regret learning about the history of the countries that still stand to this day, and how we were able to prosper from hunter gatherers to a full-blown civilization!