River Valley Civilizations

The world we live in has truly evolved. But how exactly it has evolved, remains a puzzle. The quest to know more and more of what happened before us; who lived and how, their lives and logic, their languages and trade, their places and systems, is unending. The study of River Valley Civilizations is paramount for those in search of this knowledge. History has a lot to do with perceptions and interpretations, arguably.

Following were the main river valley civilizations which existed in the Neolithic Age (beginning 9500 BC):

1. Nile River (Egypt)
2. Tigris and Euphrates River (Mesopotamia)
3. Indus & Ganges (Pakistan/India)
4. Yellow and Yangtze (China)

The rivers served three distinct purposes:

1. Provided water for crops
2. Boats helped in carrying men and material
3. Formed a natural defense against invasions

These civilizations had a lot in common:

1. Their mainstay was agriculture.
2. They domesticated animals.
3. They were interested in measurement of time, and duration of day and night.
4. They experimented successfully with “manufacturing” pottery.
5. They lived in closed communities.
6. They designed seaworthy rafts and boats.
7. They had some form of government.
8. They developed basic financial systems, including some form of currency.
9. They had water conservation methods for farming and self-consumption.
10. They had well-defined families.
11. They made use of metal, copper/bronze/and perhaps iron.
12. They evolved community/pan-civilization languages.
13. They had walled towns and permanent structures to live in.
14. They practiced intra- and inter-civilization trade.
15. They experienced conflicts, wars and migration.
16. They had belief in higher entities and forces, for example, God.
17. They copied and improvised skills.
18. They developed and erected storage facilities.
19. They created fiber and developed the art of weaving.
20. The cultivated and harvested regular crop.
21. They had special rites for the dead.
22. They developed symbols for religious depiction.
23. They understood the need of protection from the forces of nature.

Ref Map: Ancient River Valley Civilizations of our World

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