How did geographic factors influence the historical and cultural development of the ancient world?  Explain, using examples from AT LEAST TWO of the following regions:  the ancient Middle East, Egypt, India, or China.

 

Answer:

Ancient Egyptian civilization developed along the Nile River in large part because the river's annual flooding guaranteed reliable, rich soil for growing crops. Enacted struggles for political control of Egypt showed the importance of the region's agricultural production and economic resources. The Nile River molded ancient Egypt in that it provided a waterway for trading, a means of defending against enemies, and a water source for agriculture. Each year, the river flooded the land around it. This caused silt deposits to develop and made the land fertile for agriculture. They also sold a lot of their wheat throughout the Middle East enabling the Egyptians to become wealthy. Egypt's geography contributed to all aspects of Ancient Egyptians lives such as the Nile River being their source of food, water, and transportation and the desert offering natural protection. 

Ancient Egyptians developed wide-reaching trade networks along the Nile, in the Red Sea, and the Near East. Their technology included the ability to build large construction projects such as pyramids and palaces, simple machines such as ramps and levers, and a complex system of government and religion. The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt were the supreme leaders of the land. They were like kings or emperors. They ruled both upper and lower Egypt and were both political and religious leaders The Pharaoh was often thought of as one of the gods. These elements of Egypt's geography make their civilization very prosperous and the first civilization to form in the ancient world.

Most of the Ancient civilizations developed in the Tigris-Euphrates and Nile river valleys. Geographic factors, including scarcity of water, have influenced the cultures of the Middle East. The location has made the Middle East a meeting ground for many peoples and a center from which ideas have spread around the world. The Middle East is a huge and diverse geographical area placed in southwest Asia and northeast Africa. Mountains and deserts divide the Middle East into six zones that are both geographically distinct and have influenced the development and maintenance of cultural traditions through much of the history of the region. Many of those rivers have their sources in the various highlands of Africa and the Middle East. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers both rise in the highlands of eastern Turkey and western Iran, the Taurus Mountains.