1. Geography and cultural diffusion affected the development of the River Valley Civilizations in the following way.
> Early river valley civilizations had to find a way to overcome the many obstacles encountered in creative ways.
> They developed advanced agriculture systems.
> They understood the flooding of the rivers so they could take advantage of the fertile soil left by the flooding.
> That is how these civilizations grew and prosper.
> We are talking about the Sumerians, the oldest civilization on earth.
> Sumerians settled in the middle of two major rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates in the Middle East region.
> Sumerians established powerful city-states such as Eridu, Lagash, Ur, Nippur, Kish, and Uruk.
2. Writing systems such as cuneiform and the alphabet developed because these were good forms of communication.
> Through this form of writing, early civilizations recorded stories and information of their time.
> This form of communication was important to societies at the time because it allowed to establish contact with other civilizations.
> Early societies developed trade and other relationships needed to grow and prosper.
> This communication allows historians to understand those societies today.
> One example is the Sumerians, the ones who developed cuneiform writing of clay tablets.
3. This is the impact of the following religions/philosophies during ancient times and the way they still impact the world today.
Judaism.
> It created the belief systems of the Hebrew people.
> It unified jews under one religion.
> Its religious teachings are including in the sacred text called the Torah.
Hinduism.
> Established observation and contemplation as the correct way of behaving.
> Implemented a series of rituals to follow.
> Established the concept of moksha, to liberate a person from the karma cycle.
> Indeed, Hinduism followers aspire to live moksha as the ultimate goal of their lives.
Buddhism.
> Founded by Gautama Budha.
> Established the 4 Noble Truths to advance in life.
> These are the core teachings of Buddhism:
-truth of suffering.
-truth of the root of suffering.
- truth of the end of suffering.
- truth of the path to stop the suffering.
Confucianism.
> Confucious was the main representant of this ancient philosophy.
> Confucianism believes that humans are good and benevolent.
> Self-creation is a must in Confucianism.
> Confucianism fosters morals and virtue in individuals.
We can conclude that history teaches us how ancient civilizations lived and developed, the importance of ancient writing to understand the past, and how religions and philosophies have developed human belief systems.
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