River Valley Civilizations Compare and Contrast Essay
September 28, 2014
The Nile River Valley Civilization started at the northernmost peak of the Nile River, the Indus River Valley Civilization started along the south-western part of the Indus River. These civilizations Originated around 3000 BCE due to the Neolithic Revolution. These civilizations became important largely because of their agriculture developments. From 3100 BCE to 1900 BCE, the Indus River Valley Civilization and the Nile River Valley Civilization had similar agriculture, geographical benefits and social hierarchy but differed in their ruling class because of the religious denomination in each civilization and the importance of religion in the civilizations.
The two civilizations had great basis agriculture, both had complex irrigation systems and depended heavily on farming. These Irrigation systems are one of the reasons for such a successful agricultural civilization because the irrigation systems take advantage of the fertile soil created from the two rivers. Food surpluses of crops, including barley and wheat in both civilizations, were very important to the development of the civilizations as a whole. The two River Civilizations differed because of the Indus River Valley reliance of trade with China. The Nile River did have an extensive trade route system, with upper and lower routes, however only some livestock was the major import into the civilization. The success in agriculture in both civilizations is the reason for the development of food surpluses and larger civilization such as Harappa in the Indus.
The Indus River Valley and the Nile River Valley shared common geographical benefits. The Indus had natural borders consisting of mountains and the Arabian Sea, sheltering the civilization from attack and disease and the Nile had the Mediterranean and Red Sea as a shelter. These geographical advantages helped prolong the existence of the two civilizations.