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"This unit focuses on the location of major rivers and the different landforms that are created by fluvial systems. How humans have manipulated rivers to become settled societies. The growth of different civilisations that have development along major rivers."

"n the early part of the first millennium B.C., Persians started constructing elaborate tunnel systems called qanats for extracting groundwater in the dry mountain basins of present-day Iran (see figure 1). Qanat tunnels were hand-dug, just large enough to fit the person doing the digging. Along the length of a qanat, which can be several kilometers, vertical shafts were sunk at intervals of 20 to 30 meters to remove excavated material and to provide ventilation and access for repairs. The main qanat tunnel sloped gently down from pre-mountainous alluvial fans to an outlet at a village. From there, canals would distribute water to fields for irrigation. These amazing structures allowed Persian farmers to succeed despite long dry periods when there was no surface water to be had. Many qanats are still in use stretching from China on the east to Morocco on the west, and even to the Americas."

"Most rivers in Iran are seasonal and have traditionally not been able to supply the needs of urban settlements. Major rivers like the Arvand, Aras, Zayandeh, Sefid and Atrak were few and far between in the vast lands of Persian antiquity. With the growth of urban settlements during the ages, locally dug deep wells (up to 100 meters deep) could no longer keep up with the demand, leading to the systematic digging of a specialized network of canals known as Qanat."

"Ancient Persians have always been well-known for the ways they had treated water, supplied it, preserved it, harnessed it, transferred it, redirected it and distributed it. Water management in a geographical location where it cannot be found abundantly all year round is a challenge by itself. It represents the determination of a nation to survive and thrive. "

"Analysis of deep sediments around the Nile River in Egypt has shown a massive drought 4,200 years ago contributed to the end of Egypt's pyramid-building era, according to a new U.S. study."

"A 3,250-year-old Hittite dam at Alacahöyük features striking similarities to modern water management construction. Archaeologist Aykut Çınaroğlu says the dam in north-central Turkey was built for irrigation and drinking water, and the dam's clean water is still used by local farmers today. "

"Ancient Persians were well known for the ways they procured and supplied water. Water management in a geographical location where it cannot be found abundantly all year round is a challenge. It represents the determination of a nation to survive and thrive. There are different water-related structures and facilities in Iran for the Iranians as well as foreign travelers to visit and appreciate how water has been managed for centuries in this country."

"Ancient Persians were well known for the ways they procured and supplied water. Water management in a geographical location where it cannot be found abundantly all year round is a challenge. It represents the determination of a nation to survive and thrive, DestinationIran reported."

"Thousands of years after their owners' mouths stopped moving forever, the teeth of Egyptian mummies are telling scientists details about their civilization. After analyzing the oxygen isotope levels in teeth recovered from the mummies, researchers at the Université de Lyon in France were able to determine that the ancient Egyptians endured an extensive period of drought."

"Sumerian Language & Climate: Long Drought Killed Off Ancient Tongue, Research Suggests"

"A 300-year drought may have caused the demise of several Mediterranean cultures, including ancient Greece, new research suggests. A sharp drop in rainfall may have led to the collapse of several eastern Mediterranean civilizations, including ancient Greece, around 3,200 years ago. The resulting famine and conflict may help explain why the entire Hittite culture, chariot-riding people who ruled most of the region of Anatolia, vanished from the planet, according to a study published today (Aug. 14) in the journal PLOS ONE."

"Where some people might see only a sere landscape and crumbling stacks of bricks, he sees a civilization that became increasingly hierarchical and income-stratified, held together by ritual that came unglued when a series of droughts left too many people with not enough food. It's not a new or radical story, Stuart said. "It happened in Rome and in Byzantium.""

"Ancient numeration systems can be an interesting topic of study for elementary and middle school students. First they can learn more about the mathematics of our own system by comparing it to the systems of ancient civilizations. In addition they can learn more about those ancient civilizations from understanding better how they wrote numbers."

"The Sumerians had developed an abstract form of writing based on cuneiform (i.e. wedge-shaped) symbols. Their symbols were written on wet clay tablets which were baked in the hot sun and many thousands of these tablets have survived to this day. It was the use of a stylus on a clay medium that led to the use of cuneiform symbols since curved lines could not be drawn. The later Babylonians adopted the same style of cuneiform writing on clay tablets."

"Babylonian Religion and Mythology"

"Here is a little history: in 605 b.c.  the Babylonian army defeated the Egyptians in a battle."

"The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) "

"Regions of ancient state political systems that evolved into complex civilizations "

"Ancient Mesopotamia was the earliest civilization in world history, and the longest lasting. It was probably also the most influential, as all later western civilizations were built on foundations it laid."