{"id":14086,"date":"2024-03-28T10:25:52","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T09:25:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aboutriver.com\/?p=14086"},"modified":"2024-03-28T10:25:52","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T09:25:52","slug":"did-the-nile-river-valley-begin-before-the-indus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aboutriver.com\/did-the-nile-river-valley-begin-before-the-indus\/","title":{"rendered":"Did The Nile River Valley Begin Before The Indus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The historical background of the Nile and Indus rivers can be compared and contrasted in order to answer the question of which one started first. The Nile is the longest river in the world, at 4,132 miles, and is located in North Africa. The Indus River is the second largest river in the Indian subcontinent, at 1,976 miles. It originates in the Indian subcontinent and empties into the Arabian Sea close to the city of Karachi in Pakistan. Both rivers have been important in their respective regions for thousands of years, and their history is tied to the rise and fall of great civilizations.<\/p>\n

Archaeological evidence indicates that the Nile is older than the Indus River. It is believed that the Nile Valley civilization may have started as early as 5,000 BC. This was around the same time as the early Indus Valley civilization was starting to form. The earliest settlers of the Nile Valley were from the prehistoric African peoples that used to exist in the area. The adaptation of their technique of irrigation for the cultivation of their crops is believed to have been responsible for their success in settling and establishing the foundation of their civilizations.<\/p>\n

By comparison, the Indus Valley civilization was known as the Harappan Civilization, and is believed to have been established some time between 3300 and 1300 BC. It was an urban civilization that extended over an area of 1.25 million square km in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent. In comparison to the Nile Valley civilization, the people of the Indus settled in smaller cities and villages, much like other ancient civilizations such as the Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia.<\/p>\n

The civilization of the Nile Valley and the Indus Valley had a common denominator: the dependence on rivers for their survival. The Nile is the primary source of water in Egypt and its waters have provided the impetus for the development and success of Egypt’s civilization throughout the ages. Meanwhile, the Indus was a lifeline for the Harappan civilization, providing them with the necessary water resources they needed to perform their agricultural activities. As with other river civilizations, such as the Tigris and Euphrates (Mesopotamia), the cultivation of land depended on water management, and both civilizations used systems of irrigation to control the waters.<\/p>\n