By By Bente
It is scientifically proven human knowledge that Africa is the birthplace of all humanity, the cradle of humankind, the human origin. The geographical location of the origin, of course, has played a decisive role in the geographical expansion of humankind but also much later in the development of human civilization. Τhe agricultural revolution and after that the emergence of civilization changed the course of humanκind. The first civilization activities of humankind were geographically related to the location of the origin, in interaction with the geography of areas beyond Africa. The location of Africa, the human origin, the exit points’ locations from Africa to the rest of the world, and the geography of the areas beyond Africa and its exit points, have determined the beginning and the course of human civilization.
We can set three points as landmarks. The first is when the Homo sapiens —our own species— anatomically modern humans, emerged from Africa. The second is when the decisive out-of-Africa dispersal of modern humans on the planet took place, that seems to have shaped humanity as it is today. The third is the emergence of civilization. There is a huge amount of time between these three landmarks. Regardless of the time points of the out-of-Africa dispersals, the number of dispersals and waves, and the number of human populations, from the beginning, the location of Africa and its exit points, geography and topography, have determined the direction, the movement and the distribution of the human populations and all the interactions among them. Exit points are the passages and crossroads from the origin to the rest of the world. The origin is the source of humankind and its location their beginning. The exit points from the origin and their location are the dispersal starting points of humans to the rest of the planet. The location and the distance from the source and the dispersal starting points, determined the course and distribution of the populations. The course and distribution of populations determined the course and degree of social interactions. Social interactions, and their degree and magnitude, is an integral decisive factor for human development. Until the beginning of agriculture, social organization was almost the same for all human populations, so probably there wouldn’t be too significant fluctuations in the rate of population growth, it would generally be proportional to the increase in quantity. Of course, geography and topography from the exit points and beyond played an inextricable role. In general, the larger the population, the more was its growth and the more were the social interactions. The closer to the exit points from the origin, the greater was the possibility of more populations and social interactions, always of course in relation to the geography, topography and the environment in general, of the various areas that humans got in touch and interacted with. The closer the distance from the exit points out of the origin of Africa, probably the larger the human populations and the stronger the social interactions among them, and for a longer time. For example, it took too many thousands of years for some Homo sapiens to reach the Americas and manage to grow there. The distance from the exit points, which are also the dispersal starting points, is crucial and determining for the population spread rates and distribution. The distance from the exit points out of the origin is determining for the length of time and quantity of human populations and social interactions among them. The beginning set and determined the course of things for the distribution of populations and social interactions, which applied even so many thousands of years later with the beginning of agriculture. The distribution of the population, the magnitude and duration of the social interactions were determined from the beginning by the location that the human species originated from and by the starting point of their spread. Exit points are critical, as the decisive starting points for the spread of humans on the planet. Τhe location of the origin and its exits points, geography and topography, have determined from the beginning, the direction, the movement, the distribution and all social interactions of human populations.
There were essentially two exit points and routes out of Africa, that seem to have been crucial for humankind. The one is where Africa meets with Eurasia, the open land route to exit Africa, through the Nile Valley to the Levantine corridor or the Levant, at the Sinai Peninsula. Sinai connects the Nile Valley with the Levant, links Africa with Asia, and it is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the north. The other is where the Horn of Africa and East Africa is closer to the Arabian Peninsula and Eurasia, at the present-day Bab-el-Mandeb Strait on the Red Sea, at that time with a much lower sea level and a narrower extension, which also may have allowed dry passage during some periods. The exits points were the one where Africa meets Eurasia at the Sinai peninsula, and the other where Africa is close to Eurasia in the Arabian peninsula, at the present-day Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. The first farming, as far as we know, appeared in the Levant region, in river valleys, such as Jordan’s and Euphrates’. The world’s first town is thought to have been at the site of Jericho, in the Jordan River Valley, in the Levant region as well. Both these two different, significant steps in the history of humankind took place in the same region, both right on the entrance from the one of the two exit points, in the Levant, and close to the other. The Levant, which is right on the entrance from the one of the two exit points from the origin of Africa, is in the western part of the Fertile Crescent, the eastern part being Mesopotamia. The Fertile Crescent is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, that contains the one of the two exit points and is close to the other. It is the entrance to the rest of the world from the exit points of the origin of Africa. Göbekli Tepe, the world’s first temple, constructed nearly a thousand years before Jericho, the world’s first town. Çatalhöyük was probably the second town in the world and was founded on the bank of a river that has since dried up. Göbekli Tepe, the world’s first temple, constructed nearly a thousand of years before the world’s first town, and Çatalhöyük, probably the world’s second town, both lie on the peninsula of Anatolia, which is bounded by Mesopotamia and the Euphrates river to the southeast and the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and they are both on the Fertile Crescent again. The first temple in the world seems to have been constructed much before the massive start of farming and the more permanent settling down of human populations. It was built by hunter-gatherers, nomadic groups. It was the first significant construction on Earth and it was in this region near the exit points from the origin of Africa. This reveals that there was already a more intense presence and activity of human populations in this region compared to the rest of the planet, long before the mass transition to agriculture, before humans massively searched for fertile land. The first significant construction of humanity was made by the exit points from the origin, and was by far the most intense sample of human presence and activity on Earth until then, and before the beginning of mass cultivation and settlements, the transition of social organization and the different course of population growth. The world’s first city is considered to be at the site of Uruk, in Mesopotamia, near the exit points again. Also numerous other cities, like Tell Brak, appeared in Mesopotamia. Cities allowed extended, more and more social interactions, more and more intense, and more and more population growth. Social interactions developed within and among cities. The Fertile Crescent region, and Mesopotamia in particular, are often referred to as the cradle of civilization. The history of human civilization seems to start by the exit points from the African origin. It emerged around the convergence of the two rivers, in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia, near the exit points. Two rivers by both of the two exit points from the origin of Africa, constitute the cradle of civilization, the suitable geographical place for civilization to emerge. The first agricultural and civilization activities of humanity took place in geographical places by rivers, in fertile river valleys, with fertile soil and a supply of water for irrigation, suitable for cultivation. Waterways also facilitated transport, favoring social interactions. Rivers, in relation to Africa and its exit points locations, played a decisive role and constituted the first cultivation areas, first settlements and between two rivers, the cradle of civilization. The world’s first farming, the first temple, the first town, the first city and the first civilization, all these different fundamental milestones in the history of humankind occurred by the exit points from the origin of human species, which is Africa. All these, except the first temple which is something different, have to do with the location of the exit points from the origin and rivers by the exit points, the topography around it. All these reveal the determination of geography.
Another cradle of civilization was right on the exit point from the origin and in the Fertile Crescent again, in present day-Egypt and in the valley of the river Nile, which flows into the Mediterranean Sea. Others cradles of civilization were, somewhat farther from the exit points of the origin to the east, at the geographical place of present day-India, in the valley of the Indus River and even farther at the geographical place of present day-China, in the valleys of the Yellow and the Yangtze Rivers. The more open and wider the road from the exit points was to the east, probably the larger the expansion of human populations and social interactions. Right above Africa, the human origin, is the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean Sea, with its geography, location and topography, and a temperate climate, specifically the particular Mediterranean climate, constituted a suitable place, offering favorable geographical and climatic conditions for the development of civilization. This sea, surrounded by the temperate Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land, facilitated transport through waterways, which is favorable for social interactions among human populations, an inextricable factor of development. The geographical space of Greece, the peninsula and islands, was the entrance to Europe from the exit points of Africa, the geographical passage to Europe, located in the Mediterranean Basin, next to Anatolia, with a suitable geography, location, topography and a temperate climate, offering favorable conditions, and was the suitable geographical place for civilization to begin on European ground. Present day-Greece was the entrance to Europe right on from the African exit points and also, from the north side above the Black Sea, it was the first peninsula, which was also temperate. Some of the first human civilization activities have been observed in the Anatolian peninsula, which is an extension of the route out of Africa, next to which is modern Greece, the geographical passage and crossroad to Europe. The first advanced civilization in Europe, developed during the Bronze Age, has been observed in Crete, the biggest island of the Aegean Sea, the sea between the two peninsulas, Anatolia and the Balkans. The Balkans is the first peninsula, at the entrance of Europe from the east, in the Mediterranean Basin. Subsequently, after the Aegean Islands, in a later phase of the Bronze Age, a civilization occurred in the Balkan peninsula, in what is now Greek mainland. Civilization expanded geographically in relation to the distance from the exit points. Later, in the Archaic and Classical periods, a civilization would be established, that would be centered in the Balkans, present day Greek mainland, extended to the islands around it, to the east on the coasts of Anatolia, and also to the west having presence and activity on the Italian peninsula, being beside the Balkan. This civilization, right between Europe and Asia from the exit point from Africa, located in the temperate Mediterranean Basin, and being just above the origin of Africa, is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Civilization generally in Europe during the Bronze Age, and also later in the Archaic and Classical periods the civilization that is considered the cradle of Western civilization, started in the suitable geographical and climatic conditions, right on the entrance of Europe from the exit points of the origin of Africa and in the temperate Mediterranean Basin. The next peninsula in the Mediterranean, beside the peninsula of the Balkans and present day-Greece, with similar Mediterranean features, is the geographical space of Italy. The middle peninsula in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, with a suitable geography, location and topography for the development of a civilization, that expanded across the temperate Mediterranean Basin and then across the European territory, that eventually evolved into the first empire in Europe. It started from the temperate Mediterranean Basin and its center and spread across Europe. From this peninsula in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, in the course of history, a civilization started that became the first empire which expanded across Europe. In the temperate Mediterranean Basin, being above the origin of Africa, civilization and history expanded geographically successively in relation to the distance from the exit points of Africa, from the Anatolian peninsula to the Aegean islands, to the Balkan peninsula, and to the Italian peninsula.
In general, the distance from the origin, which is also the productive source of nature for human species, affected the quantity and the movement of human populations. Social interaction, and its magnitude and duration, has been a principal factor for the human development and also for the advancement of human civilization. There is a huge amount of time from the beginning of humankind to the agricultural revolution and later the emergence of civilization. Human populations long before the agricultural revolution, started from Africa and spread across the globe. But the origin’s location determined from the beginning, and long before the agricultural revolution and the emergence of civilization, the distributions of populations and resulted in specific social interactions among human populations, in correlation with geography. The location of the origin and of the exit points from it to the rest of the world, along with the geography of the areas beyond Africa and its exits, determined the beginning of the course of human civilization. The geographical location of the origin, Africa, combined with the geography of the wider area, is what determined the first appearance and activities of humankind’s civilization and as consequence the course of it.
The history of civilization is the humankind in interaction with geography. The history of humanity in general, from the beginning as a species, is the humankind in interaction with geography. Humankind has evolved in interaction with geography, like every being on the planet has evolved in interaction with its environment. Any external superficial change that occurs in humankind is based on their interaction with geography, the interaction among human populations that already being in interaction with the environment in general.
It is geography that has determined the course of human civilization. Geography has in general determined the overall human evolution from the beginning of the human being, that, like every being on the planet has evolved in interaction with its environment, which applies also to the human civilization as an integral part of the evolution of humankind. Civilization is common and universal to humankind. We are just a species, as every organism in nature, evolving in interaction with the natural environment. The same goes for our one and common human civilization. As it applies before civilization, the same goes for the emergence of civilization and onward, as an integral part of human evolution. Human civilization, its beginning and as a consequence its course, has to do with the interaction of our species with geography.
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