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Ancient Civilization Research Paper

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Homo sapiens, or human beings, have been existed for nearly 300,000 years. For most of that time, however, they had no written history. During this time of “prehistory,” humans spent most of their lives moving from place to place, hunting for food, building crude shelters,protecting themselves from wild animals and from the wrath of nature. Around 3000 BCE, things slowly began to change. For the first time, humans started to settle down in one place. The people of early civilizations needed water for drinking and for their crops, so they settled mostly in river valleys where the land was fertile and suitable for agriculture. Easy access to a river or a sea was important because people need it for food (fishing) or irrigation, transportation and trade. Some of the earliest known civilizations arose in the Nile valley of Ancient Egypt, on the island of Crete in the Aegean Sea, around the Euphrates and Tigris rivers of Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley region of modern Pakistan, and in the …show more content…

The first and most extensive trade networks were actually waterways like the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates in present-day Iraq and the Yellow River in China. Cities grew up in the fertile basins on the borders of those rivers and then expanded by using their watery highways to import and export goods (Whipps, B. (2008, February 17). How Ancient Trade Changed the World. Retrieved Novermber 31, 2015, from http://www.livescience.com/4823-ancient-trade-changed-world.html ). The domestication of camels around 1000 BC helped encourage trade routes over land, called caravans, and linked India with the Mediterranean. Towns also began sprouting up anywhere that a pit-stop or caravan-to-ship port was necessary (Whipps, B. (2008, February 17). How Ancient Trade Changed the World. Retrieved Novermber 31, 2015, from

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The silk road was helpful to the people in china, central asia, Africa, and India/all the way to Rome and beyond because of the trade routes the silk road was able to have the right resources to make it successful and helpful to others who trade. Transition + Your own original Reason, Detail, or Fact For example, where the trade routes went across most of the whole entire world. For, trading horses, orange seeds, grape seeds, or anything popular or needed during their time made the trade routes easier so they wouldn’t have to travel all the way to go trade and get what they had needed. One supporting Example or Evidence from text or source document To explain, in the article “The Silk Road” it says, the silk road has been an important part of success domestication of the camel which was an animal that could carry heavy loads over

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There was a high demand for luxurious goods that were special to each region which caused a great increase in trade. This also occurred on the Trans-Saharan trade routes with gold. Religion also played a big factor in why trade was increasing in these two trade routes. Increases in technology helped trade become more efficient and faster. For example, the compass helped people trade along the Indian Ocean sea lanes.

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The Silk Road began in the 2nd century BCE with the diplomatic missions of Zhang Qian sent by the Han Emperor. The Silk Road was largely fragmented, commodities carried by merchants of many countries on the Silk Road from present day China to present day Turkey. The interaction of these different cultures created a cultural diffusion that can be seen in the resulting names, tools, jewelry, luxuries and house wares that these different societies adopted. Silk was one of the most important items traded along the Silk Road. Once the Silk Road was open techniques of weaving the silken thread did not begin to spread because this material was similar to that used by cloth weavers.

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483 Words | 2 Pages

There are many similarities and differences incorporated in West Africa’s and Southeast Asia’s patterns of interaction with Eurasian trade routes. In comparison, both used the silk road as a method of trade and commercial interaction, which let to both continents being able to assimilate the factors of gaining new resources and customs; second they both took advantage of the use of water for travel and this led through many Eurasian routes in order for them to culturally diffuse. However, Southeast Asian’s from the interaction of the Eurasian routes, was mainly or religious purposes; meanwhile Africa used the routes for profit through slave trade. 　　The role of trading and commercial selling was a big deal in the interaction aspect of the Eurasian trade routes. And one main similarity between Southeast Asia and West Africa is the method of gaining new resources from either direction of the trade routes.

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452 Words | 2 Pages

Ancient civilizations began in areas that had arable land and other features such as rivers. Civilizations succeeded in these environments because they could settle down and not live a nomadic lifestyle. Because the land was arable, agriculture prospered and people relied on the geography to grant them the elements needed for survival. In China and Egypt, geography greatly influenced and affected the lives of the people living there because of the prosperous rivers and large natural barriers.

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701 Words | 3 Pages

1. Since the beginning of time people have engaged in trade because of the vast resources other countries and people have to offer. As everyone can see in the first class lecture, people have been trading before the discovery of Columbus. Countries like Mesopotamia, India, and China were trading long before Columbus discovered the “new world”. At the time trade was mostly focused in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean where most of these great nation were located.

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210 Words | 1 Pages

“The Empire was always on the defensive and failed to take advantage of obvious opportunities to severely weaken the Barbarian tribes. This allowed the Barbarians’ numbers, power, and boldness to greatly increase almost ensuring their ultimate success. ”16 During the wave of Barbarian invasions, Rome started falling apart from the inside out from financial crisis. All of the outside attacks caused a disruption in the flow of trade from the east and west, in turn decreasing their cash flow.17

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The packet trade grew throughout the 1840s and 1850s. Packets ran fixed routes according to fixed schedule. Rivers like the Mississippi had long been important means of transporting goods and people, but with the establishment of steam power, they became the central way around

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With the rivers located just by ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, both civilizations’ culture depended on agriculture, and were formed around agricultural communities which supplied them with food. In Egypt, the annual flooding of the Nile contributed to their development in agriculture, while Mesopotamians depended on the Euphrates river, which was less dependable than the Nile because of its unpredictable flooding. The flooding of the two rivers in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia left a fertile layer of soil, making it easier to plant crops and allowing both communities to depend on their rivers for

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849 Words | 4 Pages

Located in the rainforests of Mesoamerica, the Mayan Empire was a highly successful empire with the first settlements dating back to as early as 1800 B.C. This empire, like many, experienced a rise, a successful age of wealth, and a decline. However, unlike most other civilizations, the decline of the Mayans is a highly speculated topic, with many circulating theories. The Mayan Empire was a rich agricultural, religious, and scientific civilization. The rise of the Mayan civilization can be dated back to around 1800 B.C., where small towns started to gather, and agriculture of plants like beans, squash, and cassava were booming.

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738 Words | 3 Pages

To travel the Mediterranean Sea Trade Complex you could just travel by boat, but the Silk Road was a challenge, that some hired others to take for them. You couldn’t take a boat across the Silk Road, so you would have to travel through deserts and rough terrain, proving difficult to last in, with the chance of a bandit robbing you, sandstorms, starvation or thirst. With all the deaths occurring on the Silk Road, it definitely left a huge impact on the civilizations there, by lowering population, distressing family members, and civilizations falling apart as a result of their leader dying. Size, spreading of cultures, and the deaths of many are all things that cause the very similar Silk Road and Mediterranean Sea Trade Complex to differentiate. All

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152 Words | 1 Pages

In addition, the holy city, Mecca was the main site for trade. According to the map, followed by Document C, ”Mecca, the holy city, had military campaigns and was in the middle of Arabia, near the coastlines.” Ultimately, Arabs transported goods to market places. Document A state 's,”Vast camel trains, bearing species, perfume, precious metals, ivory and silk, filed through the town, headed north on the way from Yemen … to the

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1020 Words | 5 Pages

Alexander the Great expanded east and helped to lay the foundations of trans-Asian trade. In addition, during the fifth century B.C., the vast area known as the Persian Empire improved travel through western Asia. Zhang Qian, the Chinese leader, saw the positive effects of westward trade. One specific example of this is the trade of the Ferghana horse, which he believed would be a great asset to his military when traded for highly coveted silk fabrics. (Source: Perez).

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Many Civilizations started along Rivers or Deltas. Rivers have became the main building blocks for the civilizations. Rivers have brought many advantages and disadvantages to these civilizations. That is the one common factor of these civilizations.

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767 Words | 4 Pages

One important resource that all early societies relied on was water. Water is not only necessary for human survival; it also was an important resource. It was vital in agriculture, providing fertile land and essential for plants. Many ancient civilizations created villages and cities around accessible sources of water. As populations grew, villagers came up with new and inventive ways on transporting water to different areas.

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