Weekly #2

Andrew B.

Mr. Wojewodski

Western Civilization

3 February 2011

Weekly Assignment

            Change is a very universal term and it can be a good thing or bad thing depending on what people a person asks. During the time period of Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, people were not used to change and did not really know what it was at the time. Mesopotamia was considered where civilization first started, and it was the first area where people actually gathered and lived their lives together. It is located in present-day Iraq near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which was a particularly great place to start a civilization with all the resources available. This was the area where the idea of agriculture really revolutionized and began to grow because many towns in this area had farms and they were able to sustain them most of the year. Architecture also grew because many cities and towns began to build buildings and towers to help protect themselves and have some sort of defense system. Urban growth was probably the most important thing that changed because civilizations began to grow so they built cities for people to live in and so there was a central place where everything happened. All of these ideas changed dramatically when Mesopotamia finally emerged as the first area with civilizations but it depends if the change really benefited them or not.

            Many of the first origins of art occurred in Mesopotamia because of the first civilizations that took place there. Art flourished in Mesopotamia as well as the Indus Valley because many types of art were made and it really reflected their culture. Art became so important in these areas that more and more of it was built and also became more complex as the years went on. Many civilizations in the future would use the basis of their arts to make their own art that reflected their cultures. Before the time of Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, there was not many examples of art that were discovered yet so it was probably difficult for the people in these areas to make art in their own way. Somehow this was accomplished on their own and the people realized that they exceled at it, so they continued to make more and more forms of art. Change in art was most likely a good thing because the art in Mesopotamia and Indus Valley would lay the groundwork for other civilizations to use and we would not have art if the people in the past did not start it and make it popular.

            An agricultural revolution really took place during Mesopotamia because the main focus was on hunting but people started to shift their attention to farms and crops. Hunting was still used during that time but not as much because the Tigris and Euphrates rivers provided fertile farmland for farmers to grow crops and use irrigation. Agriculture helped support families because the farms gave families the food they needed and it gave them the money since they could trade and sell their crops. Animals were also used to help produce and harvest crops from the farms and the domestication of animals was really helpful during this time. If the weather was really dry for a long period of time, farmers would use irrigation to water their crops and let them grow. The two rivers were the most important things in Mesopotamia because they gave life to just about everything and helped sustain the revolution in agriculture at the time. Even if the rivers flooded into the cities and the farms, dams were built to control the flow of water. I think it was hard for the people in Mesopotamia to transition to agriculture and farming because hunting was so important to them but I think this change was better for the development of the civilizations.

            Architecture was also a very important change in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley for many reasons. First of all, the first civilizations needed building and towers to help protect their cities and to help protect from attacks from the outside. Many of the blueprints for the buildings were based on the past because the people wanted to keep the traditions with them. High- scale palaces were also built in the cities for the noble people and for storage in case of emergencies. The people could actually live in permanent homes made of mud and plaster and the size of the house really depended on how wealthy the family was. There were also statues made of the gods and goddesses for the people to worship so the architecture could have also reflected their religion and their beliefs. The people could finally stay in one spot because of the homes they could live in and it was not necessary for the people to be nomads and wander from place to place in search of food. The main function of the architecture was to help defend the city and protect the farms that were prospering from any outsiders. I think the architecture was mainly a good change because it helped cities grow and prosper but maybe the people wanted to keep past architecture the way it was.

            Urban planning was very important in the Indus Valley because that area had the first urban areas and cities in the world. They also had the first urban areas to have sewage and draining systems and these were very advanced for their time. The cities were the main place for people to gather and they had a large population since cities did not exist before. The people there really had knowledge for urban planning because the quality of the cities was great and the effects of their knowledge are evident. Social interaction was also a major contribution to the growth of the cities because the people could make trades and sell products in the center of the cities. The cities made room for plenty of homes in the area and they all had access to clean water to use to bathe and cook with. They also built tall walls to protect the city from outside attacks and the overall city was heavily guarded all the time. I think that this change in urban planning was the best change in this time because the cities allowed for so much more activity and protection of the people and it gave people a place to live- something they never had before.