River Civilizations: General Characteristics and Definition

The definition of "river civilization" was given by historians and archaeologists of the XIX century. This designation was the first state in the history of mankind. By regularity, all of them arose in the valleys of large rivers in connection with the exceptional importance for the then people of agriculture. Scientists distinguish four such civilizations: Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Indian and Chinese.

General characteristics

Emerged several millennia ago, ancient river civilizations - a vivid example of how natural 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 most favored the agrarians.

Such places were the valleys of rivers. In the basin of the Nile there was an ancient Egyptian civilization, on the shores of the Tigris and the Euphrates - the Sumerian, around the Indus and the Ganges - the Indian, next to the Yellow River and the Yangtze - the Chinese. Their cradle was the land between 20 ° and 40 ° north latitude

Ancient Egypt

The key features of river civilizations can be clearly seen in the example of Ancient Egypt. This state arose in the northeast of Africa on the banks of the lower reaches of the Nile. The first signs of civilization formed at the end of the 4th millennium BC. E. At that time, the first pharaohs united under their authority the Lower and Upper Egypt.

All river civilizations experienced ups and downs. Egypt had such several periods that changed each other. His highest flourishing was in the New Kingdom, which existed in the 16th - 11th 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, according to which modern mankind 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 features. Finally, the power of the pharaohs ended in 30 BC. E., When the northeast 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 ancient civilizations of the world are called river ones. The cyclic spills of the Nile were left in the fields of silt, which, mixing with the soil, increased the yield obtained.

Abundance and economic prosperity gave people more free time for technological, cultural and artistic activities. This pattern has become one of the deepest causes of the greatness of Egypt for several millennia.

All river civilizations of the ancient world tried to conquer and tame nature. The Egyptians built for this purpose along the Nile and its tributaries. With the help of them, water was diverted to agricultural fields with a crop. And although the irrigation system reached perfection in Mesopotamia, the Egyptians also had an outstanding system for their time.

Agriculture in this people was conducted according to river cycles. The Egyptians divided the year into three seasons: flooding, planting and harvesting. The most common was the grain economy, although there was also fruit growing and gardening. There were vineyards, flax was grown. It was used for spinning. Along the Nile coast grew papyrus, from which was made a unique Egyptian paper.

Life and religion

The dwellings of the Egyptians were built of raw bricks, thanks to which in the premises, even in the midday heat, there was a comfortable coolness. Each house had a kitchen with an open roof. The walls were painted white or carpeted with linen.

There was no general 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 arose 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 established in the ancient Egyptian society.

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia, or Mesopotamia, is a region in the vicinity of two great rivers - the Tigris and the Euphrates. Today this territory belongs to Iraq. Before our era there were different river civilizations. Unlike Egypt, in Mesopotamia there was never a single whole people. Different tribes conquered each other here for several millennia.

Even in comparison with other important rivers of antiquity, the valley of the Tigris and the Euphrates was particularly fertile. Beginning in the Armenian Highlands, water brought alluvial deposits to Mesopotamia. It was thanks to them that the local soil yielded rich harvests. Fertility attracted many people here. In addition, Mesopotamia was an important trading region, since it connected the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean.

Country of channels

For the period from the IV millennium to the VI century BC. E. In Mesopotamia, several states were replaced (Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia and Assyria). Their peoples differed from one another 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 the Euphrates.

For agriculture, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia built canals and reservoirs. Irrigation systems increased yields and allowed irrigation of the fields during the entire growing season. Progress led to the division of labor. There were crafts, then the class stratification began. It led to the emergence of slave owners and a huge exploited mass.

Irrigation and trade

Although there were always many slaves in Mesopotamia, free people who lived in the community were engaged in agriculture. They also had to serve the state in favor of the state, building and clearing the channels. Only representatives of the nobility were released from any earthworks. The more perfect the irrigation system, the more intensive the outflow of people from scattered small settlements to the provincial centers. These were already cities. They had characteristic buildings: a temple, workshops and a granary.

Around the cult constructions there was a collection of spare food funds. Mesopotamia was poor in forests and metals. Residents of Mesopotamia received these resources, buying them in exchange for their abundant 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 it took a new method of information transfer - writing. This is how the Sumerians had their famous cuneiform writing, which they applied with special sticks on clay tablets.

From the Near East, Mesopotamia was separated by vast deserts. The first peoples who settled it, lived not only in isolation, but also extremely poor. The crops were unstable and consisted only of unpretentious barley. For agriculture, only a narrow strip of land between the dead desert and the swamps was suitable. With the advent of canals and the irrigation system, people inhabited new, previously uninhabitable areas.

Indian civilization

Modern science in varying degrees knows where and when the river civilizations were born. For example, the history of ancient India remains one of the most poorly researched. This is due to the fact that its inhabitants left almost no monuments after themselves. A large stream of documentary evidence of India emerged only in the III century BC. E., When the army of Alexander the Great invaded here.

However, some basic facts can be ascertained. The Indian river civilization that originated in the Indus Valley is considered the third in ancient times after the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilization. Of all these, it was the largest in terms of space. This civilization is also called Harappsky. It existed in the XXXIV - XIV centuries. BC. E. Its key centers were the cities of Mohenjo-Daro, Rakhiharhi, Harappa, Dholavira and Lotkhal. The population of the valley in the heyday of civilization reached five million people. The Sumerians called India Meluhkhoy and even conducted maritime trade with her.

Cities of Indians

Harappians had developed metallurgy of bronze, monumental construction, small sculpture. The basis of agriculture was irrigation agriculture. It is believed that in the city of Mohenjo-Daro there were the most ancient toilets in the history of mankind, as well as the water supply and sewage system.

The agriculture of the Indians was supplemented by fishing and hunting. Sea fishing flourished on the ocean coast. Until the time when the 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 protected citadel and a lower town. They differed carefully planned layout. Residential houses were built two-story.

China

The Yellow River basin is another place where ancient river civilizations formed. In the third millennium BC. E. Here formed the ethnic community of ancient Chinese. The uniqueness of this civilization was its almost complete isolation from other peoples of that era. If they knew about China in the West, then this country seemed to be a mythical land, even more mysterious than India with its incredible elephants.

Gradually, this civilization spread beyond the boundaries of the Yellow River basin and settled in the south another large river - the Yangzy. Curiously, the lower channel of the Yellow River has been repeatedly changed as a result of floods and natural processes. Transformed and the shore of the Bohai Bay, where this river flowed. In ancient times, the Huang He Valley was completely covered with forest. Active human activity destroyed these thickets. After them, rhinoceroses, elephants, bamboo rats and tapirs disappeared. Like other river civilizations, the ancient Chinese state began human intervention in the environment.

Domestication of nature

The peoples of antiquity were very vulnerable to natural cataclysms. Why are they called river civilizations? They were created in valleys and at the same time did not know how to deal with the floods. Such catastrophes threatened the death of entire settlements. In the Chinese letter, the word "misfortune" was written for a long time in the form of a hieroglyph representing the river that emerged from the banks.

Only in the middle of the first millennium BC. E. Residents of the Yellow River basin learned to make iron weapons and went beyond the flood plains. Now they could cultivate previously inaccessible hard soils. Thanks to this, the population became less concentrated and began the colonization of the hilly regions of China. This was especially true of the northern steppe regions. Scientists who have determined where and when the ancient river civilizations originated, are still discovering new details related to the history of ancient China.