inundation every year the Egyptian culture was always sensitive to droughts.
Therefore, irrigation systems were established using canals and dykes extending
from the riverbank to the edges of the desert (Antoine 2017; Endesfelder 1979).
Even in good years with high floods, all parts of the valley could only be reached by
irrigation via canals (Radkau 2000). The fertilization of the land surrounding the
Nile was a premise for the establishment of a flourishing agriculture along its
riverbed (Breidbach 2015; Endesfelder 1979). The pace of the Nile, including the
inundation, set the pace for the ancient Egyptian culture. It tied the country into a
seasonal rhythm and determined the order of life including annual, daily, cultural,
and cult life.
2.2 Sumerian Culture
Mesopotamia, located between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, was a fertile region.
This rich agrarian landscape, however, only produced sufficient yields through
intensive farming and irrigation (Breidbach 2015; Radkau 2000). The Sumerians
recorded observed phenomena in written documents, which were collected in
archives or libraries. These collections included, among other things, knowledge
about mathematics, cosmology, natural history and medicine. Especially medicinal
knowledge can be found in such documents. For example, more than 250 medicinal
plants, 120 minerals and over 100 animal products were used as remedies. Furthermore, models of organs of sacrificial animals made of clay were used. These models
served as a kind of database for operating priests, displaying the special features also
of insights of animals (Breidbach 2015).
2.3 Chaco Canyon Culture: Environment and the Influence
of Astronomy
The following description of the achievements of the Chaco Canyon Culture implicates an outstanding knowledge especially about astronomy and technological
construction, as well as inventiveness in dealing with partly self-inflicted environmental problems, which they orally shared with several following generations
(Sofaer 1997). It also shows how overexploitation and unsustainable use of the
environment aggravated by unfavourable environmental conditions lead to degradation and uninhabitability of entire regions. While making an effort to survive in a
region as long as possible people learn from and communicate about nature.
However, as long as the underlying causes of the occurring environmental problems
are not identified and eliminated, there is no way of change and improvement—a
realization which is still valid today.
History of Environmental Communication and Education
47
Therefore, irrigation systems were established using canals and dykes extending
from the riverbank to the edges of the desert (Antoine 2017; Endesfelder 1979).
Even in good years with high floods, all parts of the valley could only be reached by
irrigation via canals (Radkau 2000). The fertilization of the land surrounding the
Nile was a premise for the establishment of a flourishing agriculture along its
riverbed (Breidbach 2015; Endesfelder 1979). The pace of the Nile, including the
inundation, set the pace for the ancient Egyptian culture. It tied the country into a
seasonal rhythm and determined the order of life including annual, daily, cultural,
and cult life.
2.2 Sumerian Culture
Mesopotamia, located between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, was a fertile region.
This rich agrarian landscape, however, only produced sufficient yields through
intensive farming and irrigation (Breidbach 2015; Radkau 2000). The Sumerians
recorded observed phenomena in written documents, which were collected in
archives or libraries. These collections included, among other things, knowledge
about mathematics, cosmology, natural history and medicine. Especially medicinal
knowledge can be found in such documents. For example, more than 250 medicinal
plants, 120 minerals and over 100 animal products were used as remedies. Furthermore, models of organs of sacrificial animals made of clay were used. These models
served as a kind of database for operating priests, displaying the special features also
of insights of animals (Breidbach 2015).
2.3 Chaco Canyon Culture: Environment and the Influence
of Astronomy
The following description of the achievements of the Chaco Canyon Culture implicates an outstanding knowledge especially about astronomy and technological
construction, as well as inventiveness in dealing with partly self-inflicted environmental problems, which they orally shared with several following generations
(Sofaer 1997). It also shows how overexploitation and unsustainable use of the
environment aggravated by unfavourable environmental conditions lead to degradation and uninhabitability of entire regions. While making an effort to survive in a
region as long as possible people learn from and communicate about nature.
However, as long as the underlying causes of the occurring environmental problems
are not identified and eliminated, there is no way of change and improvement—a
realization which is still valid today.
History of Environmental Communication and Education
47