Daily Question," Describe the importance of water in the ancient world?"

In the ancient world, water provided conditions necessary for civilization to begin and flourish. In fact, because of all the benefits from the use of water, many ancient cultures worshiped water. Water helps the plant’s growth, “replenishes” the life of mammals, and gives us most of the necessities we need to live; therefore, people began settling in fertile river valleys. There was heavy rainfall in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia which caused many floods. This caused a lot silt, or fine residue to show up in this area making the land fertile. Unlike ocean water, fresh water found in rivers provided a resource to allowed plants to grow properly.

Initially, ancient cultures used the fresh water mostly for drinking, cooking, and washing (sanitization) but soon learned to irrigate the land with the fresh water. The development of an irrigation system provided an ability to control their food supply. With an ample supply of food and water, the populations in these communities began to grow.  In addition to agriculture, water was also used as a form of transportation along many rivers. As a result of the ability to travel to surrounding communities, trade activity began to occur forming an economy. 

Without a doubt, water was the key factor in developing organized communities.  The ability to control the food supply through farming changed lives in the ancient world greatly.  With a reliable food source and means of transportation, populations increased leading to the formations of cities. As time pasted, more sophisticated water systems were developed, cities’ grew, an economic system developed and more innovations were discovered. In fact, our modern world’s technologies were built on ancient world’s irrigation innovations. Although today we take the availability of water for granted, it is still an essential resource for civilization which needs to be protected.