hose of New York City?

6. Compare a mining community with an agricultural community and
record the differences in social order and attitude toward life.

[1] Henry Thomas Buckle, _History of Civilization in England_. General
Introduction.

{152}

CHAPTER IX

CIVILIZATION OF THE ORIENT

_The First Nations with Historical Records in Asia and Africa_.--The
seats of the most ancient civilizations are found in the fertile
valleys of the Euphrates and the Nile. These centres of civilization
were founded on the fertility of the river valleys and the fact of
their easy cultivation. Just when the people began to develop these
civilizations and whence they came are not determined. It is out of
the kaleidoscopic picture of wandering humanity seeking food and
shelter, the stronger tribes pushing and crowding the weaker, that
these permanent seats of culture became established. Ceasing to wander
after food, they settled down to make the soil yield its products for
the sustenance of life. Doubtless they found other tribes and races
had been there before them, though not for permanent habitation. But
the culture of any one group of people fades away toward its origins,
mingling its customs and life with those who preceded them. Sometimes,
indeed, when a tribe settled down to permanent achievement, its whole
civilization is swept away by more savage conquerors. Sometimes,
however, the blood of the invaders mingled with the conquered, and the
elements of art, religion, and language of both groups have built up a
new type of civilization.

The geography of the section comprising the nations where the earliest
achievements have left permanent records, indicates a land extending
from a territory east of the Tigris and Euphrates westward to the
eastern shore of the Mediterranean and southward into Egypt.
Doubtless, this region was one much traversed by tribes of various
languages and cultures. Emerging from the Stone Age, we find the
civilization ranging from northern Africa and skirting Arabia through
Palestine {153} and Assyria down into the valley of the Tigris and the
Euphrates. Doubtless, the civilization that existed in this region was
more or less closely related in general type, but had derived its
character from many primitive sources. As history dawns on the
achievements of these early nations, it is interesting to note that
there was a varied rainfall within this territory. Some parts were
well