Water and Religion

 Egypt

Egypt was located along Fertile rivers, which provided nutrient soil. the Nile river was calm and, the rain would come every spring and summer, flooding the Ethiopian mountains which flowed into the Nile. with the excess water running into the valley. In the fall, the water level would decrease, leaving behind the rich volcanic silt. The Egyptians settled on a narrow mass of vegetation located between arid deserts, which protected them from invasions.

Egypt had a polytheistic outlook on religion.

They didn’t have official religious text. There was not a set system of official myths and legends about the gods. Each community made the rites and stories about the gods on their own. When someone passed their body was mummified. The Egyptian Book of the Dead was considered a spell book and manual, it gave insight into the mummification practices and afterlife, including the final judgment of the soul given to the y God of the dead, Anubis.

Egyptians were governed by extremely powerful kings who declared descent and legitimacy from the gods.

After the development of Egypt, Two kingdoms emerged. They fought often over precious metals and control over the Nile River for trade. Over time, King Narmer gained control of the lower valley and united Egypt politically.

Laborers, artists, painters, and architects worked for years to dig canals, create manmade lakes, construct houses, and transport tons of limestone. Pyramid development helped the economy, but Egyptians believed their contribution to the pyramids to be an opportunity to become favored by the pharaohs and receive rewards in the afterlife.

Top Writers

Professor Harris

Verified writer

4.9 (457)

Camilabach

Verified writer

5 (298)

Karrie

Verified writer

5 (339)

hire verified writer

India

The Indus River was a geographical resource of India. They had access to the Arabia Sea. Due to deforestation, the soil was no longer able to absorb the large amounts of water otfulfillo allow the water to flow to streams or rivers. Because of the poor quality of the soil due to erosion, the land was unable to support agricultural use. Many years of irrigation on poorly drained land, decreased the production of crops and led the citizens to abandon Mesopotamia.

Their primary god was Indra, a war god who guided them in battle and was responsible for necessary weather for agriculture. Aryans believed in reincarnation: the belief that the soul transfers to another living thing after death. They also believed in karma: the belief that your actions in the world would determine reincarnation into the next, and would allow a person to be reborn into a higher caste. Buddhism became the state religion around 261 BCE.

The caste system also played a huge effect in the political structure of India. The political structure was decentralized and was rarely and briefly unified by central rule. The caste system aided in shaping the government structure that changed along with the caste system. Members of the Kshatriya caste, the warriors, formed small kingdoms across the region. Castes determined who was able to rule, Kshatriyas had a religious duty to fight and rule, and members of different castes had religious duties to fulfill various roles in society.

The Aryans brought their language, Sanskrit with them, and developed a written form once in India.

Civilians in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro developed an advanced water system, the first of its kind anywhere. Every city had a public pool in the center of town, likely used for public bathing or religious washing.

China

Most of the land in the Yellow and Yangtze River valleys was composed of a light, and easily plowed extremely fertile soil called loess, which was deposited along with northern China. They produced crops such as rice, millet, wheat, and barley. Soil erosion caused lasting sustainability problems and the replacement of the irrigation networks after flooding demanded a lot of maintenance.

People believed in the Mandate of Heaven; that a powerful force blessed the emperors and granted them the ability to rule. The emperor was seen as a symbol of unity and a link to heaven and earth. The people believed that the link could be broken by things such as natural disasters and civilian rebellions. Confucianism became a widely practiced belief. Confucianism was based on Ren, which means compassion, kindness, and benevolence, second, Li, for respect and etiquette, and lastly, Xiao, showing piety or the sincere devotion of an inferior to their superior.

They did not have a centralized political structure. the emperor ruled from the capital city, lived in a palace, and required protection from palace guards, he also ruled by consent from important landowning families called the feudal lords. The lords collected payment from civilians, who were legally bound to work on the land. Lords became jealous of each other which lead to fighting over land and revenue. This shook Chinese society politically, economically, and socially.

Bronze tools and weapons were invented and produced. They developed a writing system called oracle bone. Iron casting was invented which made the production of tools faster. Eventually, every farmer had iron agricultural tools and soldiers carried iron weapons. iron-use became widespread and durability was been enhanced with new techniques, allowing for productive farming and more lethal warfare.