Agricultural Advances in Ancient CivilizationsI Agricultural Advances in Ancient Civilizations I Visual Aids Clues in the Cuneiform 12 Visual Aid Ancient cuneiform tablets tell of

History-Social Science Standard

6.2.2.

6 California Education and the Environment InitiativeVisual Aids

Agricultural Advancesin Ancient Civilizations

California Education and the Environment InitiativeApproved by the California State Board of Education, 2010

The Education and the Environment Initiative Curriculum is a cooperative endeavor of the following entities:California Environmental Protection Agency

California Natural Resources Agency

California State Board of Education

California Department of Education

Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle)

Key Partners:Special thanks to Heal the Bay, sponsor of the EEI law, for their partnership

and participation in reviewing portions of the EEI curriculum.

Valuable assistance with maps, photos, videos and design was provided by the

National Geographic Society under a contract with the State of California.

Office of Education and the Environment1001 I Street • Sacramento, California 95814 • (916) 341-6769

http://www.CaliforniaEEI.org

© Copyright 2011 by the California Environmental Protection Agency© 2013 Second Edition

All rights reserved. This publication, or parts thereof, may not be used or reproduced without

permission from the Office of Education and the Environment.

These materials may be reproduced by teachers for educational purposes.

Lesson 1 The Power of Agriculture

1 Focus Questions 3

Lesson 2 Radical Revolution: Ancient Agricultural Advancements

2 Map of Egypt 4

3 Map of Mesopotamia 5

Lesson 3 Subsistence to Surplus

4 Data Tables for Counting the Crops and Crowds 1 6

5 Data Tables for Counting the Crops and Crowds 2 7

6 Graphing the Crops and Crowds 1 8

7 Graphing the Crops and Crowds 2 9

Lesson 4 Crowding Out the Crops

8 Cities of Ancient Mesopotamia 10

9 Cities of Ancient Egypt 11

Contents

Lesson 5 Sinking Civilizations

10 Changes in the Fertile Crescent 12

11 Where Agriculture Began… 13

12 Clues in the Cuneiform 14

13 Salinization 15

14 Causes of Salinization 16

15 Why Some Soil is Salty 17

16 Salts Build Up on Soil 18

17 Back in the Fertile Crescent… 19

18 Crop Changes 20

19 Problem Solved? 21

20 Why Does Some Land Become Salinized? 22

21 Evaporation and Transpiration 23

22 How does Land Become Salinized? 24

23 Salt Reaches the Surface 25

24 Salinization Affects the Land 26

25 The Effects Can be Large 27

26 Salinization in the San Joaquin Valley 28

27 The San Joaquin River 29

28 Will it Happen Again? 30

29 CSI: Crop Science Investigation: Part 2 31

30 CSI: Crop Science Investigation: Part 3 32

CALIFORNIA EDUCATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT INITIATIVE I Unit 6.2.2. I Agricultural Advances in Ancient Civilizations I Visual Aids 3

VA #1 Focus Questions

Focus Questions

Visual Aid1

1. What are the most important crops grown in California’s Central Valley?

2. What natural resources (found in the Great Central Valley) do plants need to grow well?

3. What did people in California do to the natural water systems in order to irrigate their crops?

4. How did irrigation affect agricultural production?

5. Are these irrigation systems still in place today?

4 CALIFORNIA EDUCATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT INITIATIVE I Unit 6.2.2. I Agricultural Advances in Ancient Civilizations I Visual Aids

VA #2 Map of Egypt

Map of Egypt

Visual Aid2

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

ARABIAN

SEA

REDSEA

PERSIANGULF

Wh

it e N

ile

0 300 600

Miles

SAUDI ARABIA EGYPT

SUDAN

ETHIOPIA

YEMEN

OMAN

SOMALIA

IRANIRAQ

ERITREA

ISRAEL

JORDAN

LEBANON

NIGER

Amman

Jerusalem

NIGERIA

CAMEROON

GABON KENYA

DEMOCRATIC REPULIC OF THE CONGO UGANDA

CONGO

CENTRAL AFRICANREPUBLIC

CHAD

LIBYA

UNITED ARABEMIRATES

A N C I E N T E G Y P T

Kuwait

Riyadh

Asmera

Addis Ababa

BAHRAIN

QATAR

Blu

e N

il e

Ni l e

Lake Nassa

r

Khartoum

Cairo


VA #3 Map of Mesopotamia

Map of Mesopotamia

Visual Aid3

E u p hr a t e s

Tig

r i s

CASPIANSEA

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

BLACKSEA

PERSIANGULFRED

SEA0 150 300

Miles

SYRIA

TURKEY

ARMENIA

GEORGIA

AZERBAIJAN

AZER.

CYPRUS

ISRAEL

EGYPT

JORDAN

KUWAIT

IRAN

RUSSIA KAZAKHSTAN

LEBANON

SAUDI ARABIA

M e s o p o t a m i a

Cairo

Jerusalem

Amman

Damascus

Beirut

Baghdad

Ankara

Tbilisi

Yenevan

I R A Q


Data Tables for Counting the Crops and Crowds 1

Visual Aid4

VA #4 Data Tables for Counting the Crops and Crowds 1

POPULATION IN ANCIENT EGYPT CHART

Description of Time Period

Dates Population

Pre-Agriculture on the Nile

8000 BCE 100,000

Agriculture on the Nile begins; first permanent

buildings built 6000 BCE 200,000

Old Kingdom: Invention of the shaduf and irrigation canals

2650 BCE 1 million

Middle Kingdom 2030 BCE 2 million

New Kingdom 1550 BCE 3 million

Late Period 1295 BCE 4 million

Beginning of Common Era

0 5 million


Data Tables for Counting the Crops and Crowds 2

Visual Aid5

VA #5 Data Tables for Counting the Crops and Crowds 2

CROP YIELD IN ANCIENT EGYPT CHART

Description of Time Period

Dates of Time Period Crop Yield per Person (Average)

Pre-Agriculture on the Nile

8000 BCE 2 kilograms

Agriculture on the Nile begins; first

permanent buildings built


Old Kingdom: Invention

of the shaduf and irrigation canals


Middle Kingdom 2030 BCE 400 kilograms

New Kingdom 1550 BCE 450 kilograms

Late Period 1295 BCE 550 kilograms

Beginning of Common Era

0 600 kilograms


Graphing the Crops and Crowds 1

Visual Aid6

VA #6 Graphing the Crops and Crowds 1

10000 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE

Dates of Time Period

Population

POPULATION IN ANCIENT EGYPT GRAPH

6,000,000

5,000,000

4,000,000

3,000,000

2,000,000

1,000,000

0


Graphing the Crops and Crowds 2

Visual Aid7

VA #7 Graphing the Crops and Crowds 2

10000 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE

Dates of Time Period

Kilograms

Per Person

CROP YIELD IN ANCIENT EGYPT GRAPH

600

500

400

300

200

100

0


VA #8 Cities of Ancient Mesopotamia

Cities of Ancient Mesopotamia

Visual Aid8

E u p h r a t es

R .

Ti

gr i s

R.

CASPIANSEA

M E D I T E R R A N E A N S E A

B L A C KS E A

PERSIANGULFRED

SEA0 150 300

Miles

Babylon

Ur

Uruk Larsa

Nippur


VA #9 Cities of Ancient Egypt

Cities of Ancient Egypt

Visual Aid9

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

ARABIAN

SEA

REDSEA

PERSIANGULF

Wh

i te N

ile

Bl u

e N

i l e

Nile

GizaMemphis

Cairo

Thebes

Abu Simbel

KermaNepata

Meroe

Karnak

0 300 600

Miles

Lake

Victoria


Changes in the Fertile Crescent

Visual Aid10

This presentation introduces the effects of salinization on the Fertile Crescent.

VA #10 Changes in the Fertile Crescent


VA #11 Where Agriculture Began…

Where Agriculture Began…

Visual Aid11

Where agriculture began…

…farming suddenly stopped. Lands in southeastern Mesopotamia were abandoned. The people of the area moved north, toward the Mediterranean Sea.

Why?

NubianDesert

Arabian Desert

Syrian Desert

LakeVictoria

Wh

i t e N

i l e

Bl u

e N

i l e

Ni le

R.

0 300 600

Miles

Ti g

r is R.

Euphra te s R

.

CASPIANSEA

M E D I T E R R A N E A N S E A

A R A B I A NS E A

REDSEA

PERSIANGULF


Clues in the Cuneiform

Visual Aid12

Ancient cuneiform tablets tell of the soil becoming “salty” in this area. They also tell of times thousands of years before where the ancient people cut down trees and cleared land to plant more crops to feed more people. Without plant cover, the ground around the rivers eroded, and the fields flooded.

But what does this have to do with salt?

VA #12 Clues in the Cuneiform


Salinization

Visual Aid13

Salt buildup in soil is called salinization.

Many crops cannot grow in soils with too much salt in them.

Certain elements that are naturally in soil (like calcium and sodium) form salts when combined with other elements.

VA #13 Salinization


Causes of Salinization

Visual Aid14

VA #14 Causes of Salinization

Salinization occurs when:

• The soil in an area contains many salts.

• Water used for irrigation in that area contains salts, too.

• The climate of the area is hot and dry; evaporation occurs at a greater rate than precipitation.


VA #15 Why Some Soil is Salty

Why Some Soil is Salty

Visual Aid15

When water and wind erode rocks and create soil, minerals are released. Some of these minerals form salts that remain in the soil.

As water travels down a river, it can carry dissolved salts from one area to another.


Salts Build Up On Soil

Visual Aid16

VA #16 Salts Build Up On Soil

In dry climates with low rainfall, there is not enough water to wash the salts out of the soil.

Salts build up on the soil surface where they stunt plant growth.

Water continues to evaporate from the land, leaving salts near the surface.


VA #17 Back in the Fertile Crescent…

Back in the Fertile Crescent…

Visual Aid17

In Mesopotamia, the climate was hot and dry. The soil contained some salt, and the river water, used to irrigate the fields, added more salt to the soil.

The fields did not drain well after being irrigated, so the salts built up in the top layer of the soil.


Crop Changes

Visual Aid18

VA #18 Crop Changes

When the soil first started getting salty, Mesopotamians switched from growing wheat to growing barley, which grows better in salty soil.

This worked for a while, until the “earth turned white” with salt. Mesopotamians started growing date palms, the only plant that could handle the super-salty soil.


Problem Solved?

Visual Aid19

VA #19 Problem Solved?

But you cannot live on dates alone. Without wheat or barley, the people of southern Mesopotamia could not survive. They had to be able to raise grain for themselves and for their livestock.

There was no choice but to move. The cites in southeastern Mesopotamia were abandoned as the people moved north to lands with better soil.


Why Does Some Land Become Salinized?

Visual Aid20

VA #20 Why Does Some Land Become Salinized?

Poor drainage of water (blue), combined with evaporation, leads to an increase in saltiness at the surface of the soil (brown).


Evaporation and Transpiration

Visual Aid21

VA #21 Evaporation and Transpiration

Together, evaporation and transpiration cause salts to build up on the soil’s surface.


How Does Land Become Salinized?

Visual Aid22

VA #22 How Does Land Become Salinized?

• Water from rivers, irrigation channels, and flood-irrigated fields seeps into the groundwater deep beneath the surface.

• The groundwater level rises.

• The groundwater has salts in it.

• The higher the groundwater, the more likely the salt will end up near the surface of the soil.


Salt Reaches the Surface

Visual Aid23

VA #23 Salt Reaches the Surface

The more shallow the groundwater (blue), the more likely the salt will end up near the surface of the soil (brown).


Salinization Affects the Land

Visual Aid24

VA #24 Salinization Affects the Land

From this…


The Effects Can Be Large

Visual Aid25

VA #25 The Effects Can Be Large

To this…


Salinization in the San Joaquin Valley

Visual Aid26

VA #26 Salinization in the San Joaquin Valley

The soil in California’s San Joaquin Valley contains salts.

The irrigation water used in this important agricultural area also contains salts.


The San Joaquin River

Visual Aid27

VA #27 The San Joaquin River

The groundwater is shallow and also adds salt to the San Joaquin River.

Water that runs over the surface of the land and drains into the San Joaquin River picks up salts.

Treated wastewater contains salt. These waters drain into the river, too.

Fertilizers, spread on soils to make plants grow, can also add salt to the soil over time.


Will it Happen Again?

Visual Aid28

VA #28 Will it Happen Again?

Soils are becoming saltier in places in the San Joaquin Valley, making some of the land impossible to farm. People are trying to solve this problem before valuable cropland in California is lost. Losing fertile land can affect our state’s economy and the people that live in the state.

Can we learn from the past and sustain our current political, economic, and social practices and systems?


VA #29 CSI: Crop Science Investigation: Part 2

CSI: Crop Science Investigation: Part 2

Visual Aid29

Mesopotamia San Joaquin ValleyBoth


VA #30 CSI: Crop Science Investigation: Part 3

CSI: Crop Science Investigation: Part 3

Visual Aid30

1. Describe how agriculture changed the land of Mesopotamia and what effect those changes had on the civilization. (5 points)

2. What can California learn from the example of ancient Mesopotamia? (10 points)

Printed on post-consumer recycled paper

California Education and the Environment Initiative622VA

Documents

Agricultural Advances in Ancient CivilizationsI Agricultural Advances in Ancient Civilizations I Visual Aids Clues in the Cuneiform 12 Visual Aid Ancient cuneiform tablets tell of