For this essay I considered the question of what factors contributed to the emergence of city-states in Lower Mesopotamia and the influence the landscape played in the formation of the civilization which emerged. Through my research on this topic I found that there is much evidence to support the claim that landscape was a very large influence on the emergence of civilization and that most of the contributing factors were, in some way, linked to geography.

In order to fully understand the topic, I first explored what the definition of civilization is. The first criterion for civilization, that I could think of, is domestication and an agricultural economy capable of producing a stored surplus. From this, I felt the need to examine the origins of Mesopotamian agriculture.

With the glacial retreat after the last ice-age (roughly 10000 BC) the Mesopotamian climate improved and many modern plants and animals began to become concentrated in specific areas. Around 9000 BC the vast majority of Mesopotamian peoples were hunter-gatherers. With the concentrations o

Since there was vast domestication and agricultural advancement in Mesopotamia permanent housing soon evolved and with that came the need for a governing body. As the population grew and more people began to reside in specific areas there became a necessity for laws and rules of conduct that would be fair and impartial to all. All of these factors I associate with civilization are inter-linked and stem from domestication.

It also seems that settling might have been a choice not a necessity of domestication. It is easier on very young children, the elderly, pregnant and nursing mothers to settle in one place rather than being constantly on the move.

As people began to domesticate the land there was a need to stem the destructive power of the Tigris and Euphrates floods. Even though the flooding deposited fertile silts into the Mesopotamian basin, after people started to settle and farm, these floods just destroyed crops and killed people and animals. Dikes and irrigation ditches had to be constructed in an organized way by many people. This lead to the very beginnings of basic government and civilization.

In conjunction with geography and domestication, an argument for population pressure as a factor towards the beginnings of civilization can also be made. Population pressure occurs when the population begins to ex

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