Hydraulic Societies

Paper Summary:

This analytical research paper examines the rise of four "hydraulic societies",so called due to their dependency on water, of Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India that existed in the time period 3500 BC to 1000 BC. Furthermore, the paper highlights the history as well as the decline of the aforementioned civilizations popularly referred to as hydraulic societies.

From the Paper:

"Many academics and various experts in the related field are of the view that the needs for irrigation of crops gave birth to some of the earliest civilizations of Asia. However, an American historian of the 1950's by the name of Karl Wittfogel vehemently argued about the reasons for the emergence of these early civilizations that he called "hydraulic societies" (Pearce) in order to illustrate "the many complex hierarchical societies that developed across Asia" (Pearce). This American historian was of the view that the four hydraulic societies of Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India, which lived along riversides, came into existence "specifically in order to organize the large labor forces necessary to create and maintain the water-supply systems for irrigated agriculture" (Pearce). Thus, where crops and land irrigation was the sole reason believed by the scholarly figures, there was a confrontation on the exact cause of emergence of the hydraulic civilizations that whether it was due to the labor-intensive tasks or due to the need to grow crops through the irrigation means or the need to organize people as well as the resources (Pearce)."

More papers on Hydraulic Societies:

• Analytical Essay # 147305 : "The Hydraulic Societies of the Ancient World"
• Comparison Essay # 25212 : "War in Pre-state and State Societies"
• Research Paper # 91697 : "The Historical Importance of Water"

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