How geography shaped ancient civilizations

Ancient civilizations are associated with ancient history, from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. What can geography help us understand about how ancient societies developed and met the needs of their communities? The lessons trace how landscapes and resources shaped settlement, movement, and ways of living.

2 articles, 1 video, 1 book · about 3 hr 1 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   ancient civilizations · Wikipedia · 54 min read

   Hittite warfare and technology advanced through improved iron working and light chariots with spoked wheels, techniques the Hittites spread widely. They cast iron with molds and then hammered it, making weapons and tools stronger and cheaper. Austronesian expansion into Polynesia paused at Fiji, Samoa and Tonga until around 700 AD, when another surge of island colonization began. It reached the Cook Islands, Tahiti and the Marquesas by 700 AD; Hawaii by 900 AD; Rapa Nui by 1000 AD; and New Zealand by 1200 AD. In ancient Mesoamerica, some animals were domesticated, notably turkeys and dogs, but the lack of suitable large animals precluded the development of animals used for transportation or labor. By 2000 BC most of Mesoamerica was practicing agriculture.

2. Read
   

   Before Flint: How Ancient Civilizations Maintained Their Drinking Water - JSTOR Daily · JSTOR Daily · 2 min read

   Petra, capital of the Nabatean state, supported 30,000 people despite receiving less than 10 centimeters of rain per year. The Nabateans cut cisterns into solid rock and lined them with plasters to prevent percolation and corrosion.

3. Watch
   

   Deciphering Secrets of Ancient Civilizations, Noah's Ark, and Flood Myths | Lex Fridman Podcast #487 · YouTube · 2 hr 5 min watch

   A flood story from Mesopotamia predates the biblical Noah narrative. Irving Finkel, a longtime curator at the British Museum, discusses it alongside cuneiform and Mesopotamian history.

4. Book
   

   Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies · Bookshop.org

   Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond argues that environmental differences shaped gaps in power and technology, and that civilization developed through linked preconditions rather than superior intelligence. Diamond describes how agricultural surpluses supported specialization and population growth, leading to social and technological innovations, ruling classes, bureaucracies, nation-states, and empires.

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