Mesopotamia: A Thriving Ancient Civilization

How did the Mesopotamian civilization find ways to prepare for and overcome environmental disasters? What set Mesopotamia apart from other civilizations when it came to surviving for the longest period of time?

I believe that Mesopotamia flourished for such a long period of time because of its ability to create new and sophisticated (for their time-period) technology, a strong army, and their awareness of potential dangers.

The ancient Mesopotamians created tools to allow them to successfully farm even in difficult environmental conditions.  Mesopotamia was stationed between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, so that water could easily be used.  However, these water sources were undependable.  They may have dried up from the heat during the summer.  Therefore, the Mesopotamians created irrigation systems to overcome this issue.  They built ditches near rivers, making artificial waterways.  This way, they could ensure that their crop fields would receive water.  

Mesopotamians found an easy way to get food by domesticating animals.  This was different from the traditional hunter/gatherer lives that people had been living.  By domesticating animals, the Mesopotamians overcame problems such as a lack of animals in close proximity to people’s homes.  Because of domestication, there was always a steady supply of meat so the civilization wouldn’t starve.

Mesopotamia's strong army allowed the civilization to overcome environmental disasters in two ways.  First off, unlike in the Indus Valley region, the Mesopotamian army was large enough to keep unwanted immigrants from coming in.  This was helpful because if too many individuals started coming to Mesopotamia, there would be a greater strain on the land to produce more food.  The people who already lived there would receive less food, because there wouldn’t be enough for everyone to fulfill their needs.  

The army was also helpful because if an environmental disaster struck, the army could conquer more land to allow Mesopotamians to move to more fertile and healthier areas.  In the Indus Valley region, the individuals were restricted to the land that they had.  If there was a famine, their army wasn't strong enough to conquer more land so individuals had to hope that they could survive off of what they had.

The last reason that Mesopotamia was able to survive for longer than the Indus Valley region was because they were more prepared for environmental disasters.  In the reading called An Ancient Indus Valley Metropolis, it stated that many believe Mohenjo-Daro (a city in the Indus Valley region) was destroyed because of flooding.  This is quite possible because Mohenjo-Daro was very close to the Indus River. I also read from BBC History that the homes in Mohenjo-Daro had no windows looking out at the roads.  This makes it clear that individuals were not concerned about their safety if there was a flood. They weren't prepared to deal with a disaster like the one that probably hit them, and therefore when time came to escape their flooding homes, they couldn't.  

Unlike the Indus Valley “civilization,” the ancient Mesopotamian “civilization” was able to prepare and recover from environmental disasters because of their sophisticated technology, their strong army, and their preparation for potential disasters.