The Early Civilization of The Nile Valley
The early civilization around the banks of the Nile began around 6000-5500 B.C. It created conducive conditions that encouraged human settlement in the region, The waters flowing quickly towards the north in the Nile created an excellent agricultural land, making civilization possible. Furthermore, it provided a route for trading to be possible between the regions that were situated up and down the river. The Nile River water flow was important in Egyptian civilization. During flooding, the river deposited silts and dirt rich in nutrients to the lands that surrounded the river, creating fertile land; thus, the agriculture production increased with its population. In addition to that, the Nile civilization was so crucial to the Egyptians because it provided food and resources, land for farming, and travelling means. It was dangerous to transport large-scale endeavours.
Egypt experienced political warfare, and it let to split into two regions and lifted of susceptible invasions controlled by the Assyrians, Persians and Greeks. The climate became unsafe and unreliable. People relied on water from the river for agriculture, but the Egyptian climate experienced roughly many years of a dry spell, and water became less. Additionally, the crops were also destroyed by infrequent and erratic flooding of the Nile, which led to the spread of hunger and famine. Finally, the economic and political discontent led to the fall of the Egyptian Empire. The distribution of wealth was not equal among the leaders and the population of Egypt.
Ancient Egypt
It is one of the oldest civilizations in the World. It happened after the union between the upper and lower part of Egypt between 3100-3050 B.CB.C. The power possessed by the Pharaohs facilitated the civilization. Additionally, the kingdom had a lot of wealth. It is mainly known for its developments in arts, construction, production and medicine. The achievement brought about by Egypt’s civilization is the pyramids at Giza. The life positioned the life of ancient Egypt around River Nile and the fertile lands around the river banks. However, farmers developed various irrigation methods that could help them control the water flows so that crops could grow in both rainy and dry seasons. In addition to that, the state well equipped the soldiers with crossbows and barbs, spears and round-topped shields made from the animal membrane. The primary duty of the army was to protect Egypt from foreign attack and to surmount external properties.
In context to this, loss of military influence and dreary military advancement led to the fall of Ancient Egypt, which was brought up by the availability of natural resources. In addition to that, Egypt lacked access to ore and other essential metals, thus making Egypt weak to more powerful competing armies.
Nubian Kush
The Kush civilization developed around the southern part of Egypt and along the river Nile. The civilization emerged from workers in Egypt, where the environment influenced their culture and daily activities, the influence brought about from neighbouring countries, and the available resources. In this case, they took advantage of the natural environment differently. For instance, the highland regions meant more rains; therefore, they cultivated crops. Additionally, the grasslands meant that trading natural resources such as animal hides, ivory, and ostrich feathers became important.
Nubia was the home to several territories, and the most known kingdom was the Kingdom of Kush, which dominated Egypt in the eighth century. Kush was invaded by the Ethiopian Kingdom of Aksum and the three rising kingdoms; Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia. Furthermore, it began to weaken as an influence by the first era shattered by the war with the Roman sphere of Egypt and the decay of its traditional commerce.
Aksum
Aksumite civilization began around the 4th and 3rd centuries B.CB.C. Due to its location in the Horn of Africa, Aksum benefited from the maritime trading system linked to the Roman Empire. In this case, the location gave access to allow trading across the Red Sea, Indian ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea, making Aksum a powerful trading center. It thrived for many centuries and was a particular sizeable regional state and access to massive trade routes connecting the Roman Empire to India and the Middle East. Aksum was a metropolis with a high population of more than 20,000 people.
Additionally, it was remarkable for its sumptuous monuments and written scripts; thus, it introduced the Christian religion to the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. Its geographical location led to the uplift of Aksum, around 2000 meters above the sea. The climate was conducive, rainfall patterns, and the fertile soils made the area fertile; thus, agriculture did well in that region. It was also strategically located near the trade routes, and the Aksumites took advantage of all commercial opportunities.
Aksum declined because of attacks from the Islamic forces, which cut off Aksum’s formerly thriving international trade and connections with other Christian reimbursements and things. Further, Aksum escaped from these attacks, but it went to less fertile lands, thus leading to its weakening as a power. Lastly, the forests were cut down, thus leading to deforestation, causing soil erosion and agriculture to downfall.
Civilization in North Africa
Phoenicians in North
The Phoenicians civilization began around the mid- 12th-century B.C, due to the decline of most cultures. They were well known as the sea traders and colonizers. They developed a maritime trade network that promoted exchanging ideas, knowledge, and culture between civilizations like Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece. The Phoenicians’ main contribution to civilization was the introduction of the phonetic alphabet and contribution to the economy of Pan Mediterranean. Furthermore, their civilizations made their neighbours adopt most of their cultural practices. The ultimate Phoenician colonization started in the centuries when the Late Bronze Age collapsed in 1200BCE when the Levantine city-states took over the power space created by the fall of numerous significant nations. The culture was comprised of some independent city-states that shared Semitic language and belief systems establishing the Eastern Mediterranean. The state established its economy on the sale of timbers, woodworking, and the manufacture of glass, making the city-states naval trade and manufacturing.
Despite all the activities that took place, it had its weaknesses, and this is because they were not all that strong to hold the mighty armies from Assyria, Babylon and Persia. Alexander the Great evaded the Phoenician city-states leading to the loss of their independence; thus, they lost their identity over Macedonian.
Greeks in the North
Greek civilization flourished after the fall of Mycenaean civilization around the 8th-century B.C When the Greeks fell into the hands of Romans, it was regarded to have an end. It is one of the most influential civilizations in the World because it laid the foundation for other civilizations in the West. In addition to that, it produced essential innovations in fields like; philosophy, architecture, government, and politics. Greece’s mountains, islands, and other features separated Greek from other people, which led to difficulties in communication; thus, independent city-states were developed. After Rome avowed war on Macedonia, defeated them in the battle of Cynoscephalae in 197 BC. Other factors that led to its fall include; the division of city-states in Greece, and this was difficult to unite them against enemies like Rome, there were poor classes in Greece, and they started to rebellious against each other and finally, the colonies in Greece had similar cultures hence there were no strong cronies.
Romans in the North
A system where a single individual governs people, an emperor or empress is known as an Empire. Rome is an excellent example of an Empire, and it was started when Augustus Caesar declared himself to be the foremost emperor of Rome in 31BC. Additionally, during the ruling of the Roman Empire, its culture spread in Europe, and still, it has an impact in the Western World today. The Empire came to an end in 476AD, and the leading causes were; disasters and diseases, Rome’s emperor, and its military.
One of the primary reasons that led to the fall of Romans was the collapse of pins where other external forces defeated the military. Rome scrambled with the Germanic tribes for many years, but the barbarian group of Goths intruded the Empire’s borders. Additionally, the attacks that faced Rome led to over-taxing its people and the gap between the rich and poor enlarged. Therefore, to avoid all these taxes, wealthy people migrated their country to other nations, thus leading Rome to a labour deficit.
References
BUTZER, K. W. (2020). HISTORY OF THE NILE VALLEY. The Oxford Handbook of Egyptology, 99.
Emberling, G., & Williams, B. (2020). The Oxford handbook of ancient Nubia. Oxford University Press, USA.
Harrower, M. J., Nathan, S., Mazzariello, J. C., Zerue, K., Dumitru, I. A., Meresa, Y., … & Anderson, M. C. (2020). Water, Geography, and Aksumite Civilization: The Southern Red Sea Archaeological Histories (SRSAH) Project Survey (2009–2016). African Archaeological Review, 37(1), 51-67.
Scott, J. C. (2018). The Phoenicians and the formation of the western World. Comparative Civilizations Review, 78(78), 4.
Wengrow, D. (2018). What makes civilization? the ancient near east and the future of the West. Oxford University Press.
Wright, Z. V. (2020). Realizing Islam: The Tijaniyya in North Africa and the Eighteenth-Century Muslim World (p. 307). The University of North Carolina Press.
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