Lab 7 North Africa-Southwest Asia



This week we focused on North Africa and Southwest Asia.  These two regions are combined into the same module since both have more in common in the sense of geography and religion than North Africa has with much of the rest of the continent.  This area was where the first ancient civilizations were built including the Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Babylonians.  It is also the birthplace of three of the world's largest religions including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.  We discussed the harsh and arid landscape and the need for these civilizations to build around water sources.  The Persians were able to develop quants, or underground tunnels used to extract groundwater from below mountains and transport it downhill where it could be used as irrigation.  We learned that much of the world's oil supply comes from this region with Saudi Arabia being the largest exporter in the world.  We discussed how 2000-year-old seed found in a jar in Israel were germinated resulting in growing a date tree that has been extinct for many years.  We discussed the "Arab Spring" which was a political movement that sparked protests and revolutions throughout the region.  

In our week 7 lab we discussed how GIS can be used in heritage management by documenting and sharing the location of certain sites is appropriate and also how to protect those sites.  We used the map to identify specific attributes of archaeological sites, airports and seaports.  For example: Philae Temple was built in the Ptolemaic Dynasty, is located at 24.03N and 32.88E. Marsa Alam International Airport has one asphalt runway, and the information was last updated in 2017.  Suez Seaport is operated by the Red Sea Port Authority and the nearest airport if Hurghada.  We used the measuring tool to identify the distance between archaeological sites and the closest airport or seaport (pictures below).  Also, from the map you can observe that because of the arrangement of archaeological sites and ports in relation to the Nile the river has been very important to the people of Egypt going back to the ancient civilizations.  Ancient and modern civilizations are right along the banks of the river because it provides a source of water in an arid region. 
Distance from Bent Pyramid to nearest seaport: 9.25 miles

Valley of the Kings to Luxor International Airport: 69.5 miles




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