The Ziggurat in Ur now Reconstructed model of

The Ziggurat in Ur (now)

Reconstructed model of Zigurrat in Ur

Babylon

Ishtar gate of Babylon (Berlin Pergamon Museum)

Various artifacts

Monsoon? -temperature difference between sea and land -winds that seasonally reverse their direction -location of monsoon events related to positions of intertropical convergence zone and jet stream

Fig. 7. Modeled rainfall on the ancient incense trading states of Axum (Massawa) and Sabaea (Aden). (BP=before present) R. A. Bryson and R. U. Bryson Site-specific high-resolution models of the monsoon for Africa and Asia Global and Planetary Change Volume 26, Issues 1 -3 , November 2000, Pages 77 -84

Some follow-up readings • Read this for several sides of an argument about the role of climate change in the collapse of ancient civilizations: – http: //www. jstor. org/view/00063568/ap 040380/04 a 00050/0 – Food for thought: Can climate change alone really threaten our civilization, or is adequate and wise governance and social organization capable of letting us survive as a society? • Follow this link for a scientific paper on the development of the Mesopotamian society in its natural environment: – Nick Brooks, excerpt from Environmental Catastrophes in Mauritania, the desert and the coast, abstract volume and field guide, 2004. – http: //64. 233. 167. 104/search? q=cache: 7 G 554 o_Wklo. J: www. cru. uea. ac. uk/~e 118/publications/Brooks-Beyond. Collapseabs. pdf+beyond+collapse: +the+role+of+climatic&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk& cd=1