How did the development of agriculture differ from that of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China?
Egypt, Mesopotamia and China are some of the earliest civilizations in the world. Agriculture began when people settled down to carry out agricultural activities after shifting from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle (Fuller & Stevens, 2019). In these civilizations, almost every aspect of life revolved around agriculture (Fuller & Stevens, 2019). The civilizations of China, Mesopotamia and Egypt began 5000 to 3000BCE (Fuller & Stevens, 2019). The development of agriculture in these civilizations was possible because of factors such as the availability of water. For instance, the Yellow River, Yan Tse river, the Nile River, River Euphrates and the Tigris river provided these civilizations with water thus enabling them to carry out farming (Fuller & Stevens, 2019). Development of agriculture in these civilizations differed in the context of crops cultivated and farming methods as discussed in the subsequent paragraphs.
In Mesopotamia, agricultural activities involved the cultivation of barley, wheat, plums, grapes, dates and apples; together with the rearing of sheep and cattle (Lauvergne, 2017). Mesopotamians learnt the methods of domesticating plants and animals about 10,000 years ago (Fuller & Stevens, 2019). Agriculture in Mesopotamia emerged from the fertile crescent and irrigation canals were used in drier regions. Moreover, Mesopotamia’s geography and topography suited agriculture since it was flat and treeless (Lauvergne, 2017). River Tigris and the Euphrates provided water and deposited nutrient-rich silt to the fields making them more fertile.
In ancient Egypt, Agriculture was the foundation of the economy. Farming activities in Egypt began in the delta region and the Faiyum region during the predynastic period between 6000 to 3150BCE (Fuller & Stevens, 2019). During this era, Egyptians were able to transform large tracts of semi-arid land into rich fields after every annual inundation of River Nile. Egyptian land was so fertile that surplus food was stored in state-owned granaries. During the second intermediate period between 1782 to 1570, the introduction of new irrigation methods such as canals occurred (Lauvergne, 2017). The crops grown in ancient Egypt include melons, figs, vines, flax and pomegranates.
Conversely, with China being one of the most ancient civilizations in the world, agriculture dominated most of Chinese pre-industrial history. Agriculture in China began almost 7,700 years ago during the Neolithic period with wheat, rice and millet being the most pre-dominant crops (Fuller & Stevens, 2019). The cultivation of rice in ancient China was done in inundated lakes and rivers. Between 722 to 481 BCE, China experienced revolutionary improvements in farming technology through the introduction of cast iron tools and pull ploughs (Lauvergne, 2017).
References
Fuller, D. Q., & Stevens, C. J. (2019). Between domestication and civilization: the role of agriculture and arboriculture in the emergence of the first urban societies. Vegetation history and archaeobotany, 28(3), 263-282.
Lauvergne, J. J. (2017). Revolutionary leaps in the development of agriculture. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics, 134(5), 351-352.