The need for water in ancient societies

This chapter states the very first basic fact about civilization. It started near water sources such as rivers. This makes sense and, as the chapter states, in order for a civilization to survive it needs to have a surplus of food. However, even though we know when the first written history started, the first time when a civilization started by water is still uncertain as irrigation techniques were already in place at the time. The first civilization most likely started in Mesopotamia, in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Not only did civilization start in these two valleys but elsewhere as well, such as the Nile in Egypt. Looking at all the evidence, one thing is certain, and that's that without water these civilizations might not have survived as the water was necessary for irrigation from crops. That's not to say that early man couldn't have survived, before that time we were hunters and gatherers but not farmers. The trick was when man discovered how to plant his own food to eat, that's when civilizations probably began their early formation.