Why was the Nile River Important for the Rise of Successful States in Essay

Why was the Nile River Important for the Rise of Successful States in North Africa - Essay Example Scholars from the modern world have to piece together what they can find in order to make educated guesses about what happened before history books started to be written. One factor seems to be significant in several quarters of the world in early human history and that is the existence of particular regions that ideally meet the needs of human society. River deltas have been established as the earliest recorded locations of major civilizations in ancient times, such as the Persians, the Greco-Roman civilization, the Indians, the ancient Egyptians and the Chinese (Sherman, 2003). Archaeologists believe that human beings first shifted from a nomadic, hunter gatherer lifestyle, to a more settled, agriculture based lifestyle in regions that were fed by great river systems. The nutrients from fresh water rivers were gathered over millennia and over time they created fertile plains which were ideal for growing crops. As early humans learned to plant and harvest crops, rather than just gat her fruits and seeds that grew in the wild, they soon developed technologies like irrigation and long term storage facilities. The Nile provided a constant the supply of water so that the planted fields were irrigated, and food became plentiful. Cities grew up to store this food, and with increasing food surpluses humans gained the ability to have specialized professions. People were no longer living from hand to mouth, having to hunt or gather the next meal every day, because stored grain provided a certain security. New skills and trades developed in these cities, and the region around the Nile is one of these great early centers of human development. Much of the land in central and northern Africa is marginally habitable, with many areas of mountain and desert. The long river bank of the Nile provides the possibility of regular water supply and the development of trade between towns from the interior right to the edge of the Mediterranean. Land travel was difficult and slow in an cient times, and so the navigable waters of the Nile were like an ancient highway, allowing goods, people and ideas to be transported back and forth. The great Egyptian civilisation was highly dependent on the Nile as a channel of communication as well as a source of water for all human needs. Two great commodities were also available in the Nile region: vast quantities of clay, and also the reeds that could be soaked, fermented, and made into papyrus. So it was that the Nile provided the basics for writing, first using clay tablets that had marks pushed into them with a sharp, wedge-shaped implement, giving mankind the early cuneiform writing format. The tablets could be baked in the sun, making them a more permanent record. The disadvantage of clay is that it is heavy and it breaks easily. The invention of papyrus for writing on was an important technology that facilitated the transfer of ideas through scrolls that were passed along ancient trade routes. In the two millennia befor e the common era, the people living along the river Nile, and around its delta, were much more advanced than all of Northern Europe, thanks to the way that they learned to make use of the natural commodities that were available in this particular geographical context. It would be impossible to imagine the glorious ancient Egyptian civilization without the impact of the river Nile. The great monuments that exist even today such as the pyramids and the ancient town ruins would not have been possible without the availability of the slave workers, a great many of whom who came from central Africa and were transported in barges down the Nile towards the coastal region. Many of the stone quarries that provided the raw materials for building were also located upstream. It

OB week 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

OB week 7 - Essay Example Behavioral theories of leadership focus on the behavior of individuals, particularly if they could be trained to become leaders if they do not possess any specific leadership traits. Various independent factors come into play when determining leadership behavior, most notably a pro-target or considerate approach, both existing on extreme polar ends. Pro-target leaders are goal-oriented and emphasize on production and output where as considerate leaders may adopt a more democratic style of leadership. Innovation is a distinguishing attribute of a transformational leader who strives to create an environment that encourages individual growth and productivity thereby motivating individuals through availability of greater opportunities (Bass, 1991). Leaders who display consideration and the possession of specific traits have been identified as being effective (Robbins and Judge, 2013). Newer contingency or situational approaches towards leadership focus on the setting or the context of th e leadership scenario which becomes significantly important when considering long-term success. Contingency theories may help better identify present and future leaders through indicators like decision-making, goal-orientation, follower readiness, leader-member relationship, and so on. 2. According to the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory, an exclusively low number of individuals forming an in-group receive disproportionately favored as compared to an out-group (Robbins and Judge, 2013). In order to become an in-group member and be treated differently, members must prove that they are reliable, skilled, and most importantly, trustworthy. Leaders tend to trust in-group members more with challenging assignments and projects that require additional skills. Most likely, the in-group members also have a greater chance of promotion due to their relationship with the leader. Maintenance of a good relationship depends largely upon trust and respect which is mutual. The