Most Important and Influential River in Human History?

[Rio Cana]

Also the battle at Volga/Stalingrad was less than a century ago, while Nile has been important for several Millennials.

Nile was important for watering crops and trade. But I do not think, the Nile has not carried or produced has much wealth has the Amazon.

[Cetacea]

The river deltas of Sundaland, origin of the first civilisation in SEAsia and the domestication of rice and bananas. Its inhabitants went on to populate 1/3 of the world from Africa to America, North intoAsia and India and across the whole pacific.

[Magna Libero]

Important in the area, sure, no one's disputing that. The thread does ask "in Human History," though, a somewhat wider field.

And there have been several influential rivers. Trying to pick one doesn't do this subject any justice.

No, that's the reason for why the thread was created; to argue on which river has been the most important.

[Cetacea]

The river deltas of Sundaland, origin of the first civilisation in SEAsia and the domestication of rice and bananas. Its inhabitants went on to populate 1/3 of the world from Africa to America, North intoAsia and India and across the whole pacific.

[Union Of Canadorian Socialists Republic]

Tiber River perhaps? A lot of rivers are historically important.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

And there have been several influential rivers. Trying to pick one doesn't do this subject any justice.

No, that's the reason for why the thread was created; to argue on which river has been the most important.

And no single river has been the most important. Some of the ones mentioned have been important for several reasons, at different points in history.

[Magna Libero]

No, that's the reason for why the thread was created; to argue on which river has been the most important.

And no single river has been the most important. Some of the ones mentioned have been important for several reasons, at different points in history.

Mention the two, three or four MOST important in your opinion?

[Shofercia]

Important in the area, sure, no one's disputing that. The thread does ask "in Human History," though, a somewhat wider field.

And there have been several influential rivers. Trying to pick one doesn't do this subject any justice.

From a truly objective viewpoint: this ^

It really depends on your perspective. If you're Slavic, then Rivers that helped you obliterate an army of Genocidal Maniacs certainly help! Because then, you're alive.

[Farnhamia]

And there have been several influential rivers. Trying to pick one doesn't do this subject any justice.

No, that's the reason for why the thread was created; to argue on which river has been the most important.

No, the reason for the thread is so I could tell you what the most important river is, but no one ever listens to me anymore.

[Shofercia]

And no single river has been the most important. Some of the ones mentioned have been important for several reasons, at different points in history.

Mention the two, three or four MOST important in your opinion?

Objectively - you cannot. If I did a poll in Egypt, asking what's more important, Nile or Yellow River, and I did the same poll in China, don't you think that I'd get completely different results?

[Magna Libero]

Mention the two, three or four MOST important in your opinion?

Objectively - you cannot. If I did a poll in Egypt, asking what's more important, Nile or Yellow River, and I did the same poll in China, don't you think that I'd get completely different results?

From an ethnocentric perspective, probably yes.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

And no single river has been the most important. Some of the ones mentioned have been important for several reasons, at different points in history.

Mention the two, three or four MOST important in your opinion?

The Tigris, the Euphrates, the Nile, the Rhine, the Ganges, the Indus, the Orinoco, the Thames, the Ebro... Gods, there are many.

[Shofercia]

Objectively - you cannot. If I did a poll in Egypt, asking what's more important, Nile or Yellow River, and I did the same poll in China, don't you think that I'd get completely different results?

From an ethnocentric perspective, yes.

All of us have an ethnocentric perspective. All of us are biased. It's why I get my news from many different sources, instead of just relying on the "Most Trusted Name in News".

[Nazis in Space]

Tiber River perhaps? A lot of rivers are historically important.

'Being the location of' is significantly different from 'Being of crucial importance for the development of'.

I know it's a bit unfair to pick out you specifically after a variety of people have mentioned it, and a variety of other rivers who were merely rivers where stuff happened, as opposed to being rivers that were instrumental and irreplaceable to make stuff happen (+ For thousands of years), but really, it does need to be said. To say nothing of the, well... Patheticness that is 'Hey, a battle was fought at this river at some point!' (Yes, you're innocent of that). It does take a rather... Lets call it a very, very focussed mind to rank such a thing higher than feeding the cradles of civilisation for thousands of years, and enabling the surplus value that produced things like writing, metallurgy, domestication, urbanisation, mathematics and so on.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

From an ethnocentric perspective, yes.

All of us have an ethnocentric perspective. All of us are biased. It's why I get my news from many different sources, instead of just relying on the "Most Trusted Name in News".

One usually veers towards the things that have influenced our cultures the most. I'm sure you agree the Tigris and the Nile were important, but so are the Volga and the other river you mentioned. And they're important to you because of the impact these bodies of water had for your Russian culture.

[Shofercia]

Tiber River perhaps? A lot of rivers are historically important.

'Being the location of' is significantly different from 'Being of crucial importance for the development of'.

I know it's a bit unfair to pick out you specifically after a variety of people have mentioned it, and a variety of other rivers who were merely rivers where stuff happened, as opposed to being rivers that were instrumental and irreplaceable to make stuff happen (+ For thousands of years), but really, it does need to be said. To say nothing of the, well... Patheticness that is 'Hey, a battle was fought at this river at some point!' (Yes, you're innocent of that). It does take a rather... Lets call it a very, very focussed mind to rank such a thing higher than feeding the cradles of civilisation, and enabling the surplus value that produced things like writing, metallurgy, domestication, urbanisation, mathematics and so on.

It's rather hilarious to call certain viewpoints "pathetic" while believing that urbanization was caused by a specific river, unless you're going for stand up comedy. Every major river can ensure that society produces more than it consumes, thus enabling the surplus to be used for advances in technology, so claiming that a specific river can do that, or even that top two or three rivers can, would be misinformed.

[Shofercia]

All of us have an ethnocentric perspective. All of us are biased. It's why I get my news from many different sources, instead of just relying on the "Most Trusted Name in News".

One usually veers towards the things that have influenced our cultures the most. I'm sure you agree the Tigris and the Nile were important, but so are the Volga and the other river you mentioned. And they're important to you because of the impact these bodies of water had for your Russian culture.

Correct

But the ones I named extend beyond just my culture. For instance, those who study Native Customs would find a journey down the Yenisei to be superbly interesting, irrespective of where they're from. So it's a mix of Culture, profession, how one was raised, etc.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

One usually veers towards the things that have influenced our cultures the most. I'm sure you agree the Tigris and the Nile were important, but so are the Volga and the other river you mentioned. And they're important to you because of the impact these bodies of water had for your Russian culture.

Correct

In essence there isn't, as I see it, just one river that is the most important and influential to human history. There are several.

[Libraria and Ausitoria]

The Thames.

By a long way.

[Petrovia-]

Tigris & Euphrates

[Trotskylvania]

'Being the location of' is significantly different from 'Being of crucial importance for the development of'.

I know it's a bit unfair to pick out you specifically after a variety of people have mentioned it, and a variety of other rivers who were merely rivers where stuff happened, as opposed to being rivers that were instrumental and irreplaceable to make stuff happen (+ For thousands of years), but really, it does need to be said. To say nothing of the, well... Patheticness that is 'Hey, a battle was fought at this river at some point!' (Yes, you're innocent of that). It does take a rather... Lets call it a very, very focussed mind to rank such a thing higher than feeding the cradles of civilisation, and enabling the surplus value that produced things like writing, metallurgy, domestication, urbanisation, mathematics and so on.

It's rather hilarious to call certain viewpoints "pathetic" while believing that urbanization was caused by a specific river, unless you're going for stand up comedy.

Except it's really undeniable that the geography of the Nile, Indus, Yellow, Tigris and Euphrates were instrumental in allowing the creation of civilization itself, and that the anthropological record demonstrates civilization and its attributes radiating out from these areas, spreading memetically to less favorable geographies that lacked the resources to really create civilization from first principles, but could do so with a bit of added oomph from outside.

[Shofercia]

It's rather hilarious to call certain viewpoints "pathetic" while believing that urbanization was caused by a specific river, unless you're going for stand up comedy.

Except it's really undeniable that the geography of the Nile, Indus, Yellow, Tigris and Euphrates were instrumental in allowing the creation of civilization itself, and that the anthropological record demonstrates civilization and its attributes radiating out from these areas, spreading memetically to less favorable geographies that lacked the resources to really create civilization from first principles, but could do so with a bit of added oomph from outside.

Are you saying that the Native Americans didn't have civilization Trotsky? Damn, I certainly didn't expect that from you.

[The Armed Republic of Dutch Coolness]

The Euphrate and the Tigris, who caused the development of farming.

Looking at Europe; the Rhine.

[Luveria]

The Rubicon, because it gave humanity the wondrous idiom of "Crossing the Rubicon".

[Hetalian Indie Rio de Janeiro]

The most important river in South America IMHO is neither the Amazonas nor the Orinoco, it is the Paraná-Paraguai drainage system.

I'm in doubt about Nile, Tigris-Euphrates, Indus or Yellow.

Surely Europe was completely irrelevant as civilization until a historically recent time, that Europeans suggest otherwise is as facepalm worthy as the people suggesting Mississipi. And even after it went significant, inheriting almost every start of a society reminescent of ours from the classical Middle East, the Greek civilization wasn't based around a river.