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Initially man was purely a hunter and gatherer until about 10000 years when agriculture began in south East Asia in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia is one of...

      

Initially man was purely a hunter and gatherer until about 10000 years when agriculture began in south East Asia in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia is one of the oldest centers of human civilization
a. Discuss the organization of early agriculture in Mesopotamia
b. Briefly explain the factors that favored early agriculture in Mesopotamia
c. Discuss the effects of early agriculture in Mesopotamia

  

Answers


Dana
a) The people of Mesopotamia did mixed farming where they grew vegetables, barley and wheat and kept animals such as cattle, donkeys, horses, sheep, dogs and goats.
At first basin irrigation was used and later canals were used to channel water into the fields. Dykes were constructed to prevent flooding. The shadoof method was used to draw water from the rivers and then poured into the canals to irrigate the fields
Large estates belonged either to the rulers or wealthy class. The worker provided labor required. The crops were harvested and stored in granaries
b) The factors that favored early agriculture in Mesopotamia are:
i. Fertile soils due to the deposition of silt by the rivers. This led to high yields and enough pastures for the animals kept
ii. Availability of water for irrigation from the rivers Tigris and Euphrates that enable crop production all year round
iii. Availability of storage facilities for the harvest such as clay vessels and woven baskets. The harvest was then stored in granaries
iv. Invention of farming tools such as iron drawn plough and seed drill that made agriculture more efficient and increased the yields as more land could be cultivated
v. Presence of indigenous crops such as wheat and barley
vi. Market for the products due to the high demand for food by the growing population
vii. Availability of labor from the slaves
viii. Political stability facilitated by settlement and farming
c) The impacts of early agriculture in Mesopotamia are:
i. Increase in agricultural activities and the invention of new agricultural tools led to an increase in food production
ii. Increase in food production led to increase in the population
iii. Early agriculture led to emergence of urban centers and development of trade between communities
iv. Early agriculture influenced the development of writing as management of estates required keeping of records
v. Early agriculture led to innovation of new farm mechanization
vi. Early agriculture led to decrease in the demand of labor due to the invention of machines and hence unemployment
vii. Early agriculture led to advancements in religion as most gods were connected to agriculture in one way or the other

Dana05 answered the question on May 21, 2019 at 13:26


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