Thirst: Water and Power in the Ancient World

by Steven Mithen

Water is an endangered resource, imperiled by population growth, mega-urbanization, and climate change. Scientists project that by 2050, freshwater shortages will affect 75 percent of the global population. Steven Mithen puts our current crisis in historical context by exploring 10,000 years of humankind’s management of water. Thirst offers cautionary tales of civilizations defeated by the challenges of water control, as well as inspirational stories about how technological ingenuity has sustained communities in hostile environments.

As in his acclaimed, genre-defying After the Ice and The Singing Neanderthals , Mithen blends archaeology, current science, and ancient literature to give us a rich new picture of how our ancestors lived. Since the Neolithic Revolution, people have recognized water as a commodity and source of economic power and have manipulated its flow. History abounds with examples of ambitious water management projects and hydraulic engineering―from the Sumerians, whose mastery of canal building and irrigation led to their status as the first civilization, to the Nabataeans, who created a watery paradise in the desert city of Petra, to the Khmer, who built a massive inland sea at Angkor, visible from space.

As we search for modern solutions to today’s water crises, from the American Southwest to China, Mithen also looks for lessons in the past. He suggests that we follow one of the most unheeded pieces of advice to come down from ancient times. In the words of Li Bing, whose waterworks have irrigated the Sichuan Basin since 256 bc, “Work with nature, not against it.”

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Anthropology, Archaeology, Science, History Of Science

384 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2012

About the author

Steven Mithen is Professor of Early Prehistory at the University of Reading, having previously served as Pro Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor. He received a BA in prehistory and archaeology from Sheffield University, a MSc degree in biological computation from York University and a PhD in archaeology from Cambridge University.

Reviews

[Brock Meier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thirst: is a useful introduction to how the harvesting and control of water resources have dramatically affected world history and the rise and fall of cultures.

Each culture surveyed appears in its own chapter, allowing easy location of a particular people of interest.

I believe the main fault of the book lies in its brevity. Each of the chapters could be fleshed out in greater detail, increasing its usefulness.

[Sergio · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 estrellas.

De alguna manera me dejó un poco insatisfecho. Curiosamente lo sentí medio seco, pero puede deberse a que esperaba otro estilo de escritura y un tipo más variado o colorido de información.
Bien referenciado. Útiles imágenes y fotos, aunque de baja resolución.

[Homero · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly inspiring, well-written, thought provoking book. Interesting to read about how water has shaped political turmoils and civilisations in the past

[bibliotekker Holman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really enjoyable book in which archaeologist Mithen looks closely at several of the most accomplished hydraulic cultures of the past as a way of pointing out there is still much to learn from them.

[Elentarri · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, Steven Mithen examines the history of water management in the ancient Levant, Sumer, Greece, Petra, Rome, Constantinople, China, Angkor, the Hohokam, Mayan civilization, and the Incas. His aim is to determine what present societies can learn from the past by examining how past societies and ancient civilizations have been affected by climate change and how they managed their water supplies and developed hydraulic engineering to do this.

The book is fairly interesting, providing a brief overview of the various civilizations' rise and fall, as well as their water management methods. However, it could have been so much better if the author had included more technical or in-depth discussions of the engineering feats with cross-sectional diagrams etc. The book does include maps, photos and schematic diagrams, but doesn't illustrate in enough detail how the various engineering efforts functioned. It would also have been interesting if the author had included water management methods from Africa (besides Egypt)and Australia, assuming there are any, of course.

For anyone interested in Mayan engineering, I recommend https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

[!Tæmbuŝu]

KOBOBOOKS

Reviewed by The Guardian (6 Sep 2013)

[Sam Worby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Steve Mithen's books usually. I found this interesting but dry and disappointing in comparison to his other books.

[Mills College Library]

333.91009 M6841 2012