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| Sunday, 9 January 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Rivers and ancient civilizations Water is indispensable for all humans. It is indispensable within every organised community of humans such as countries, cities, towns and villages. Even in the jungle, this precious commodity is a life-giving substance.It could be seen that in most ancient human civilizations, communities usually lived near fresh water sources such as lakes and rivers. Egypt, Sumer and Babylon
The Egyptian civilization could be traced to around 4000 B.C. Their great pyramid builders probably originated in the period 2500 B.C. to 1000 B.C. Ramses the Great was one of the more famous pharaohs (emperors). Prophet Moses possibly belonged to this time in history. Parallel with the Egyptian civilization, there arose Sumer, which is regarded by historians as the "first recorded civilization". There are comprehensive records in terms of many achievements made during this period. It was in Sumer that the first stylus writing (on stone) called Sumerian Cuneiform was invented (the Egyptians invented Hieroglyphics). Sumer was located between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. Sumer was succeeded at the same location by the Babylon civilization, the most colourful of all ancient empires. The great periods of Babylon were during the reign of Hammurabi (around 2000 B.C.) and later Nebuchadnezzar (around 1150 B.C.). It must be noted that these ancient locations all existed within the area presently called the Middle-East. China In the Far East, the magnificent Chinese civilization has records dating to over 2000 B.C. China has many rivers, of which the Yangtze is the most well-known, leading out to the seaport city Shanghai. The Chinese people had a remarkable flair for disciplined mental development and exquisite pastimes such as seri-culture (silknorm culturing). Europe The Minoan civilization, starting at the isle of Crete (within the Grecian landscape), flowered as a full-fledged Bronze Age era of fine craft and great wealth in 2500 B.C. The world's first hand-drawn maps dating to 900-1000 B.C. show only a Greek world! The city states Crete, Sparta, Athens and Macedon were dotted with rivers and green valleys. The first ever western music expressions started in ancient Greece with the Modal system of scales (notation). So did drama traditions and fine poetry. Mohenjo-Daro In north-western India and Pakistan, on the banks of the Indus River, there existed in around 2000 to 1750 B.C. the great civilization of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. It is known to have been a very well-organised culture of the Indus Valley. Mayan civilization A lesser known civilization is that of the Mayans of Central America in the Guatamala-Honduras mountainous regions. According to archaeological research, they had been developing from around 500 B.C. and by 200 B.C. their first 'pyramids' were built. Their Golden Age however arrived much later from 300 A.D. onwards when they developed their own Hieroglyphic writing. The mountains of these areas are replete with lakes, valleys and rivers. These were the original civilized people of the Americas, going by records.All these indicate that river-bank communities in those "temperate" climes progressed rapidly in comparison with communities living in icy conditions or deserts. - Rohan Jayawardana |
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The oldest of the human civilizations were the Egyptian civilization
and those of the Euphrates Valley called Sumer and Babylon. The Egyptians
prospered from the waters of the River Nile. In fact, the bamboo
wilderness on the shores of the Nile was the original source of the
musical instrument called the flute, which is reed-based.
