Ahmed, Abdelkader T., Farima El Gohary, Vasileios A. Tzanakakis, and Andreas N. Angelakis. 2020. “Egyptian and Greek Water Cultures and Hydro-Technologies in Ancient Times.” Sustainability 12 (22): 1-26.
This scholarly and peer-reviewed article focuses on a historical topic and comments on what hydro-technologies existed in Ancient Egypt. The authors admit that Egyptians created some water management tools and techniques that are currently used in some regions. This data was collected through various instruments, including “visits to historical areas and museums, comments, consultations, correlation, and exhibitions available in the cyberspace” (Ahmed et al. 2020, 1). The scholars stipulate that Egyptians built dams, canals, and specific irrigation systems to manage the water of the Nile river and protect themselves from floods. It seems that the authors’ goal was to investigate the state of technology development in Ancient Egyptians, and this information is helpful for people who are interested in history. This source is significant because it helps me investigate how Ancient Egyptians lived and provided themselves with water. A primary strength of this article is that the authors rely on primary sources to analyze the issue and arrive at conclusions. This paper helps me understand that water management technologies were decently developed in Ancient Egypt. Many experts also focus on how ancient civilizations addressed the issue of water supply.
Algaze, Guillermo. 2018. “Entropic Cities: The Paradox of Urbanism in Ancient Mesopotamia.” Current Anthropology 59 (1): 23-54.
This scholarly article considers the emergence of cities in Mesopotamia. In particular, the author focuses on the paradox of city development because urbanization leads to more mediocre sanitation norms and higher mortality rates. The author utilizes qualitative methodology and uses historical evidence to describe Mesopotamian urbanism and economic growth, challenging life conditions, and diseases. One can suppose that Algaze’s (2018) goal was to show that the development of sanitary conditions did not accompany the growth of cities in Mesopotamia, which implied negative consequences. These findings can be interesting for individuals obsessed with history and anthropological issues. I find the article valuable because it makes me understand that Mesopotamians achieved a decent level of economic development to build cities. However, the absence of modern health and sanitation standards led to epidemics and deaths. The qualitative analysis of multiple sources and the focus on historical facts are essential strengths of the source. The study also enriched my understanding of the paradox of Mesopotamia urbanization that significantly affected the life of ancient people. In the given annotated bibliography, this source is unique in covering both positive and negative aspects of the ancient civilization.
Du, Linyao, Minmin Ma, Yiwen Lu, Jiajia Dong, and Guanghui Dong. 2020. “How Did Human Activity and Climate Change Influence Animal Exploitation During 7500-2000 BP in the Yellow River Valley, China?” Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 8: 161.
The authors aim to describe the Yellow River Valley (YRV) civilization by focusing on animal exploitation. These scholars “reviewed zooarcheological data obtained from 38 Neolithic and Bronze sites in YRV, and compared them with paleoclimate and archeological records, to reconstruct the trajectory of animal utilization in this area” (Du et al. 2020, 161). Based on this methodology, the scientists identified that human activities and climate changes had affected animal exploitation in the YRV civilization. This study demonstrates that the inhabitants of these regions raised pigs and dogs when they dealt with hunting, but the import of herbivorous livestock highlighted the necessity to engage in cattle breeding. Since the authors aimed to assess animal exploitation practices and preferences in the YRV civilization, the study is valuable for individuals interested in history and archeology. This source is useful because it helps me understand how the region’s inhabitants approached livestock breeding during their development.
A significant strength of the article is that it connects historical data to archeological findings to generate valid and credible conclusions. From the study, I understood that the YRV inhabitants’ livestock breeding practices reflected their preferred activities and climate changes, meaning that appropriate conditions were necessary to raise herbivorous animals. No source in this annotated bibliography addresses the same issue, which makes this study unique.
Hnaihen, Kadim Hasson. 2020. “The Appearance of Bricks in Ancient Mesopotamia.” Athens Journal of History 6 (1): 73-96.
The author discussed the development of Mesopotamia and described how the appearance of bricks promoted construction practices in this civilization. Hnaihen (2020) relied on wedge inscriptions to investigate the topic and concluded that the civilization had appropriate conditions to manufacture bricks and actively use them. In the study, the author commented on the history of brick manufacturing and its types that were actively used in Mesopotamia. The article can be useful for historians, archeologists, and engineers because the author stipulates that Mesopotamians developed the shape of bricks that is typical today. Even though the study considers a narrow topic of Mesopotamian culture, it helps me better understand the civilization. In particular, I now see that Mesopotamians invested in the development of construction practices. Since the author relied on primary sources, it is possible to admit the high credibility of the findings. Finally, this source can be connected to the article by Algaze (2018). Bricks manufacturing could be considered a significant factor that promoted the spread of cities in Mesopotamia.
Kemp, Barry J. 2018. Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization. 3rd ed. London: Routledge.
The book presents a comprehensive overview of the Ancient Egypt civilization. Based on written documents, case studies, and artistic objects, the author aims to describe individuals who lived in those times. This work covers many subjects, including history, archeology, social science, and cultural studies. For example, Kemp (2018) comments on Ancient Egyptians’ identity, cultural peculiarities, bureaucracy, economic development, and other phenomena. That is why it seems that the author’s goal was to create an overwhelming source that people can read to find exhaustive information about the given civilization. The book offers much useful information for me to understand how people in Ancient Egypt lived and what their principal activities were. The work with multiple sources allows for suggesting that Kemp’s (2018) book provides objective data. From the source, I identified that the given civilization had featured decent developed levels in the cultural and economic spheres. However, this book also has some similarities with the article by Algaze (2018). The two sources focus on the positive and negative aspects of the selected civilizations, meaning that the authors analyze the issue from different points of view.
Wang, Wei, and Lachun Wang. 2020. “The Influence of Witchcraft Culture on Ancient Chinese Water Relations-A Case Study of the Yellow River Basin.” European Journal of Remote Sensing 53 (sup1): 93-103.
This article looks at the Ancient Chinese civilization and identifies a connection between witchcraft activities and water management practices. That is why the scholarly paper covers the areas of history and theology. The authors rely on historical documents and geographical maps to find a relationship between water availability and people’s settlement practices. Wang and Wang (2020) comment on the prevalent witchcraft activities in the YRV, admit the role of sacrifice, and connects the findings to water control approaches in Ancient China. The authors’ goal was to demonstrate that in this civilization, individuals had primitive religious beliefs and relied on worship to protect themselves from floods and droughts. I find the source valuable since it describes Ancient Chinese’s way of thinking. This article’s limitation refers to the failure to include primary documents in the analysis. However, the source is still beneficial because it offers important information about life in the YRV civilization. It is possible to find a connection between this study and the article by Ahmed et al. (2020). The two papers focus on the ancient civilization’s efforts to manage water resources.