History

Short Essay 1 Topic: Historians have often characterized ancient civilizations as either primary or secondary civilizations, or as what I would call hydraulic or non-hydraulic civilizations. Hydraulic civilizations are those that have had to learn how to manage and control the movement of water and in this regard, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Indian and Chinese civilizations have been called hydraulic or primary civilizations. On the other hand, we have Greek and Roman civilization, which are largely derivative (secondary) civilizations that did not depend on managing the movement of water. What influences did managing the movement of water have on developing civilizations? How might geography and environment influence things like society, thought, politics, and religious beliefs? This question requires that you take a comparative approach and consider the Ancient Near East (also called Western Asia) as well as Egypt, India, China, Greece and Rome. You are basically asked to compare developments in hydraulic and non-hydraulic civilizations.