Because they lived in parts of the world so shit you needed to be good at it or you died, so both the methods and technology for farming needed to be improved to survive.. Meanwhile areas like the "Fertile Crescent" could piss about and not worry about inflicting mass starvation anywhere near as often.
Technical point, but I disagree. There's a reason some of the earliest known highly organized civilizations arose in semi-arid lands. Across Turkey, the Middle East, Egypt, Iran, etc., you HAD to have things like wells, irrigation systems, dams, or you were 100% at the whim of nature and you died if there was a flood or a drought. Canals, qanats, dams, locks, etc. are just vital to life in these areas.
The German historian Wittfogel termed these empires "hydraulic empires." The government controlled water and access to water, therefore the government controlled the lives of its citizens. He also believed this is why there was such a despotic and autocratic impulse in these areas.
Because they lived in parts of the world so shit you needed to be good at it or you died, so both the methods and technology for farming needed to be improved to survive.. Meanwhile areas like the "Fertile Crescent" could piss about and not worry about inflicting mass starvation anywhere near as often.
Technical point, but I disagree. There's a reason some of the earliest known highly organized civilizations arose in semi-arid lands. Across Turkey, the Middle East, Egypt, Iran, etc., you HAD to have things like wells, irrigation systems, dams, or you were 100% at the whim of nature and you died if there was a flood or a drought. Canals, qanats, dams, locks, etc. are just vital to life in these areas.
The German historian Wittfogel termed these empires "hydraulic empires." The government controlled water and access to water, therefore the government controlled the lives of its citizens. He also believed this is why there was such a despotic and autocratic impulse in these areas.