Collapse of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Indus Civilizations

In class, we have recently studied three civilizations and how they rose. Now, we are learning how they collapsed. There are many different factors when it comes to the collapse of a civilization. It is amazing how similar the fall of three civilizations from all across the world can be. Some of the factors to their collapse include Climate Change, war, famine, drought, and small mistakes with extreme consequences. The three civilizations, whose collapse you are about to learn, are the Ancient Egyptians, the Mesopotamian, and the Indus River Valley.

The Egyptian Civilization began its decline around 2150BC. They started their downfall because of Climate Change. When the worlds climate began to change, it threw off the Nile Rivers seasonal floods. You may think that this would be a good thing because floods kill and destroy. However, these floods were extremely important. Since, the Egyptians lived in a very dry desert, the Nile floods were almost the only irrigation for their crops. When the Nile flooded, it brought the fields both water and silt, which are major factors that help grow crops. Since, there were no floods for nearly 20 years, the crops did not grow too well, and this caused famine across the land. Because the people were hungry, they became angry. Angry people do not care about the laws or order, and so, the social order became non-existent. The whole civilization was guaranteed to fall. With no crops, angry people, and no social order, everything was falling apart, so their civilization collapsed.

The Mesopotamian civilization began its downfall around the year 2200BC. They too were facing some problems due to Climate Change. However, they also made a fatal mistake. Their mistake was in the irrigation techniques being used by the people. They let the water sit on the fields for far too long, until it evaporated. This was not good for the fields. Letting the water sit for too long actually led to erosion, until the fields were gone completely. Also, due to Climate Change, this region became drier and more windy. This may have led to a drought, because if it’s really dry and windy at the same time, the rivers would have dried up. The drought led to famine, hunger. With everyone in the civilization hungry, and searching for food, they abandoned their respect for oder and the social structure. They started fighting amongst themselves for food and survival. With a war within the civilization, a drought, and no crops in the fields, their fate was sealed. They were doomed to collapse as the Ancient Egyptians had shortly before them, and they did.

The Indus River Valley Civilization faced their demise around 1990BC. Their reason for collapse is still to be determined, however, there are two possible, and logical, reasons for their downfall. The first is that Climate Change caused the Indus River to dry up and the people had to move away East. The second theory for their collapse is that the river changed its course, also due to Climate Change. Now, this is a very common thing for a river to do, rivers change course all of the time. The Indus River probably changes its course and was directed around the Indus civilization. When the river changed course, there would no longer be any water supplies and way to irrigate the fields. This would have led to famine and war if the people had stayed where they were. However, since they moved away, they were able to survive, but their civilization still collapsed. A civilization needs people, culture, etc. The people of the Indus River Valley civilization moved East to find a new home. The more widely believed theory is that the river changed its course.

All civilizations must collapse at one time or another, and all must collapse due to some factors. The fact that a lot of the factors of collapse are the same for many civilizations would make sense. Since, every civilization we have studied is located near a river, they were bound to run into some problems concerning the rivers. For example, flooding and drought were both common factors to the fall of many different civilizations. The rivers may be the secret to everything. The rivers are why the civilizations rose, and more often than not, why they fall. Climate Change was also a big factor when it came to the end of a civilizations existence. Climate Change caused the Nile to stop its seasonal flooding, it made Mesopotamia drier and windier, causing drought, and caused the Indus River to either dry up or change course. Nature is a magnificent wonder, capable of anything. Even bringing the end to the reign of large civilizations. Everything is connected.