Compare And Contrast The Four River Valley Civilizations

The four river valley civilizations, formed in Mesopotamia (Tigris Euphrates River), Egypt (Nile River), the Indus River basin (Indus River), and China (Huanghe River), all had common features as well as distinctly different ones. When comparing these four civilizations, one may notice that each of their governments were run by kings. The difference though, is that China, Egypt, and India’s kings came from dynasties, whereas Mesopotamian rulers were chosen by their importance and strength as military leaders. They were also similar because of their reliance on agriculture and the river they built their civilization along. The river provided food, water for agriculture, and was a means of transportation and communication. The four civilizations

also differed in their forms of writing. For example, Mesopotamia had the cuneiform alphabet, the Egyptians had hieroglyphics, the Indus River people had Harappan writing, and the Chinese had ideographic symbols. They continue to present similarities through their interest in math and science. Although, even though they all had an interest in both math and science, Egypt and Mesopotamia were far more advanced than the civilizations along the Indus and Huanghe rivers. These similarities and differences among the four civilizations are what make them stand out and provide the people of today with an interesting past.