Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Agriculture In Ancient Mesopotamia

Agriculture In Ancient Mesopotamia Have you ever wondered once where and when agriculture was first practiced in this world and the methods used to develop it? First of all, agriculture, a bit similar to farming, is the occupation, the business, or the science of cultivating land, producing crops, raising livestock. The birth of agriculture was preceded by hunting and gathering which was the only way of surviving for the ancient occupants of the world. Civilization started in the Middle East of the blue planet and many discoveries have been made including agriculture which is one of the most important. Indeed agricultural activities in the Mesopotamian kingdom are dated back between 8000 BC and 6000 BC. The Ancient Mesopotamia was located in the Middle East, precisely on the Asian continent. The situation of the empire was also part of the agricultural development. It consisted of two principal seas such as the Euphrates and the Tigris and was surrounded by many vast seas where they could draw water for additional sup ply. Despite the arid climate and scarcity of rains in Mesopotamia, they made use of irrigation as principal method to water their crops. However, the invention of agriculture came with its consequences which appeared both good and bad for the Mesopotamian kingdom. Although agriculture was a great discovery for the Ancient kingdom, helped by its location and methods, its impacts appeared to be both positive and negative. It is clear that before the advent of agriculture, hunting and gathering was the surviving method. People were going inside bush to hunt wild animals for their meat and skin and were collecting natural consumable plants or grains. In fact agriculture intervened just between the years 8000 BC and 6000 BC with the domestication of animals such as goats and crops growing in the Ancient Mesopotamia. According to Robert Chadwick, the author of First Civilizations: Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, three mains assumptions could be the reasons of the advent of agriculture and each of them having one major reason. He said: The three hypotheses presented all maintain that there was one major cause behind the origins of agriculture. In the case of the oasis hypothesis it was a great climatic change; foe the nuclear zone hypothesis it was a certain set of conditions that created a special ecological region where agriculture could occur; for the population pressure hypothesis it was the increase in human population (Chadwick, 27). This is to say that the real factors which started agriculture are not really determined despite the fact that researches are being made about the whole issue. As we said above, agricultural activity was actually apparent in the beginning of the years 6000 BC. The early settlement of the cultivating activity was achieved through many steps such as the Hassuna, the Samarra and the Halaf according to the Encyclopedia AMERICANA (p. 737). These establishments took place from the North to the South of the worlds first civilization. More importantly, there was a great variation of crops that the Mesopotamian society were domesticating or cultivating in their time. In the New Encyclopedia Britannica it is said that:à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and the wild prototypes of grains and leguminous plants, such as wheat, barley, bitter vetch, pea, and lentil were present. This explains that there was diversity in their food production which was a good step in the development of agriculture of the Ancient Kingd om. In addition to that, Louis and Jenifer of the website best.berkley.edu who posted an article titled Farming and agriculture of Egypt and Mesopotamia added that: Farmers raised grain, fruit, vegetables, and barn yard animals. Without any doubt we can state that the discovery of agriculture in the ancient kingdom was being useful as the products were in abundance, varied and diverse. For agriculture to develop, the land has to be in a good location with a fertile soil. In fact, the agricultural settlement of Mesopotamia occurred in many places from the North to the South. The ancient kingdom possessed a very fertile soil favoring the development of cultivations activity. Precisely, as the ancient kingdom is located in the Middle East, it appears to be the first place where agriculture began in a general way. In the plains of northern Mesopotamia, the Zagros and the Taurus foot-hills were among the first places where the cultivating activity was practiced. In the Encyclopedia AMERICANA, it is said that: Agriculture began in the Middle East, in the Zagros and Taurus foot-hills, home of wild cereals and wild goats and sheep. From there the earliest settlements were established on the plains of northern Mesopotamia (Agriculture, 737). Moreover, the three cultural phases listed in the Encyclopedia AMERICANA such as Hassuna and Halaf which took place in the northern pa rt of the empire and Samarra was more a southern settlement. Also, the people called Ubaid extended their culture from north to the south before they settle along the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia to Syria where they also practiced agriculture (Agriculture, 738). More importantly, along the coasts of the present day Iran, Anatolia, Syria, Iraq and Palestine were cited among the places where cultivations occurred and made the populations to settle around in order to have a good improvement of the new discovery (Agriculture, 864). While talking about the sites where there was evidence of farming, we should not forget to mention places like Zawi Chemi Shanidar, Shanidar itself, Karim Shahir, Qalat Jarmo, Jericho, Catalhuyuk and many others appearing to be locations where agricultural settlements occurred in the Ancient kingdom of Mesopotamia. Even though the Mesopotamian soil was fertile in a way that agriculture was very easy, there was a problem linked to the scarcity of rains. Nevertheless, they knew how to overcome the issue by the use of methods such as irrigation. In Fact, irrigation is the fact to bring additional water supply to a dry area in order to help crops growth. Certainly, the land consisted in its interior of wide rivers such as the Euphrates and the Tigris representing the most important ones from where water could be drawn to the cultivations fields and surrounded by Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Aral Sea, Arabian Sea and Caspian Sea also (Ancient Mesopotamia, Encarta). Mesopotamia was totally dependent on irrigation and its two big rivers because of the scarcity of rains and the article wrote and posted by Larry Mays on the site Water Encyclopedia says: Irrigation was extremely vital to Mesopotamia (Mays, Ancient Irrigation systems, waterencyclopedia.com). The method of water flow control was first pra cticed in the two worlds first civilizations respectively Egypt and Mesopotamia. The application of the method needed a lot of physical work, correspondingly building. Activities such as building canals, ditches, tunnels, wide gaps where the water would come and stay and the maintenance of the infrastructures were constant in the area and it took them a lot of time to realize all this. Presently, according to waterencyclopedia.com, some abandoned canals and ditches still remain in the area but not intact, the farming activity of Mesopotamia started declining overtime caused by the accumulation of salt in the soil and in 1258, Mongols took over the empire and damaged the irrigation systems. By still dealing with Mays article on Water Encyclopedia, we got to know that the soil of the empire was full of silt, a major factor of soil fertility but constituted a continuous agent causing problems in the irrigation systems. Therefore, as there was not enough rainfall, the soil was kept its fertility because irrigation method could not wash a soil until removing its minerals components favoring good food production. Nevertheless, the Mesopotamian agricultural activity knew many problems such as flooding of water coming from the melting of snows in summer from the Turkish mountains according to the web page historylink.com and an unpredictable water flood from its two principle rivers respectively the Euphrates and Tigris according to the article of Louis and Jenifer posted on best.berkley.edu. However, irrigation carried many consequences on the farming activity in Mesopotamia. Irrigation maintained the fertility of soils because it did not deepen or sink the minerals as the way rainfall usually does. Minerals inside a soil are very important and help a fast and good food production at the end of an agricultural session. The topsoil did not wash away as it does on sloping land, and minerals did not leach deep into the soil as they do under heavy rainfall. Hence, the fe rtility could be maintained indefinitely by the use of fairly simple soil-management practices (Farming in Mesopotamia) said the web site historylink.com about the impacts of irrigation. Socially, the development of irrigation was helpful to citizens in a sense that it was a physical and intellectual work helping for additional knowledge and body welfare. A fertile soil combined with irrigation result to good and fast food production as we all know. Meanwhile, agricultural settlement also had a great impact on the ancient empire social life. In fact, changes occurred in the populations life right after the discovery of agriculture. Agriculture is an activity which is practiced in a long period of time in such a way that it can neither be done in one day nor with a constant motion of the cultivators; sedentariness is needed in such activities. The educational web site called Mesopotamian.lib.uchicago.edu also demonstrated the same idea by saying: The most significant change was the shift from a nomadic life-style to settled villages. In order to care for crops and herds of animals, people needed to live in one place (First Farmers, Ancient Mesopotamia). Moreover, as by then the population settled down in one place in order to take care of their crops and animals, there was obviously an increase in inhabitants because the rate of mortality would have probably reduced, especially infant mortality caused by the constant motion of po pulations. There was also increase in food production due to the determination of the population in order to have a peaceful life without starvation. Nevertheless, the settlement of population either in cities or villages created social classes and therefore there would obviously be conflict in places where there are different levels of people. This discovery of agriculture made by the early Asians and the methods they used to develop it helped them in varying food. As soon as they noticed it was working they cultivated many different types of crops such as vegetables, talk less of fruits. They knew how to domesticate animals and also even though agriculture became the principal activity, hunting still survived. Jenifer and Louis also talked about it and said: Some of the fruits they planted were dates, grapes, figs, melons, and apples. Their favorite vegetables that they grew were the eggplant. They planted vegetables such as onions, radishes, beans, and lettuce. Farmers irrigated land and started planting wheat, barley, millet, beans, and sesame seeds. They used spears to hunt, caught fish in nets, and killed birds with sling shots and arrows (Farming and Agriculture in Egypt and Mesopotamia). Ultimately, we can say that the discovery of agriculture proves once more that the Ancient Mesopotamia is one the worlds first civilizations. Agriculture was a great and genius invention made by the ancient people though it was not easy to practice it because of the scarcity of the rainfall, but irrigation was used as support for water supply. The use of irrigation made at the same good and harm to agricultural activity in Mesopotamia in a sense that there was fast and good food production, but the activity was becoming more and more complex because of salt accumulation due to irrigation. However, cultivation also had its own consequences both positive and negative. Population settlement has always had both positive and negative impacts on social life such as the coming together of population when it comes to work and class struggle between different people and that was the case with Mesopotamia before their decline.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Ray Kroc :: essays research papers

Ray Kroc PROBLEM STATEMENT : In order for McDonald's to reach its goal of "par excellence", it must use the full meaning and definition of marketing. Marketing is giving the target market what they want, when and where they want it, at a price they are willing to pay for it. REFLECTION / OPINION For McDonald's to achieve its "par excellence", they must focus on the fact that there is an ever changing market and that the wants and needs of consumers are constantly changing. Since McDonald's has been around for forty- one years, it is safe to say that they are the father of the fast food industry and that they have set an example for others to follow. When Ray Kroc bought the first McDonald's in 1955, he focused on what people wanted. With this focus came the utilization of Mr. Kroc's theory of QSC ( quality, service, and cleanliness ). QSC successfully got McDonald's off the ground, but as times changed, the company saw many more market segments and opportunities. In the 1970's and 1980's once again McDonald's lead the way in the fast food industry. The changes we saw included, for example, the fact that women were now a major part of the work force and dual income families were becoming a more common occurrence. McDonald's became a mastermind of marketing toward specific markets by pioneering ideas such as breakfast menus, healthier choices and alternatives, and "adult" foods. McDonald's has truly evolved into a world power by paying attention to the needs and wants of the changing market and adjusting to these needs. LINKING THEORY : Ray Kroc saw early on what needed to be done. He changed what was at one time a product orientation, into a marketing orientation. Back in 1955, this was still a new type of management. From the beginning, Kroc was already in the forefront of marketing. Marketing orientation focuses on the customer and what they want in a product, rather than product orientation which focuses on the product itself. McDonald's has taken every aspect of marketing orientation and utilized the philosophy to its fullest. McDonald's has focused in on the customer needs and wants, sometimes even putting the ideas into the consumer's mind before they even knew what they wanted or expected. McDonald's could deliver! They have done extensive market analysis and product development based on this analysis. They have packaged their food and priced it exactly to the market segment which they have targeted. Showing McDonald's innovations in marketing even further, is its early adaptation of societal marketing. Societal marketing takes into account the overall concerns of the target market, the environment, for example.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Coeducation in Pakistan

Coeducation is to educate both boys and girls together. in the modern world of today,coeducation is the new order of the day. most of the countries in the world have adopted this form of education. in Pakistan too, there are some schools where there is coeducation whereas, in many institutes there is sex-segregation. coeducation finds its origin in Sparta,Greece. at that time,there was no distinction between boys and girls. they studied and played together. they were given academic education along with physical training.Plato,the great philosopher theorized that coeducation was essential for the development of personality. he believed that coeducation was the only way to make boys and girls beneficial to the society. therefore,west has acknowledged and adopted the benefits of coeducation since long ago. In the subcontinent, during ancient times,coeducation was present at a few places. but,gradually girls education begin to be ignored. the educational system of that time was quite dif ferent from that of today. boys were sent to gurukuls where they spent most of their educational period.They were imparted physical and academic education. the former included warfare training while,the latter comprised of study of scriptures. in medieval india, women and people belonging to lower caste were forbidden from reading the scriptures. However,raja ramohan roy,the great social reformer revolted against this practice. his succesors also played a pivotal role in revolting against the illiterate practices. Islam has stressed upon the importance of education. infact, the first word revealed was â€Å"iqra† translated as† to read†. Islam has ordained both men and women to acquire education.Holy prophet P. B. U. H said â€Å"acquire education from cradle to grave†. similarly,islam also acknowledges that an illiterate and an educated man can never be equal. During the time of Holy Prophet(P. B. U. H),mosques were the only educational institutions. there are no instances recorded where holy prophet P. B. U. H forbade his wives from attending semon(khutba),the primary tool of education. Apart from this ,there are many examples which illustrate that muslim women accompanied there men to mosques and even inquired questions from Holy prophet in the presence of men.Even today,many liberal muslims acknowledge that morality emanates from heart. Quran, time and again, has emphasized muslims to guard themselves against immorality. it says â€Å"say to the believing men to lower their gaze and to guard their private parts†¦. †. many Islamic scholars acknowledge the fact that islam has not barred both the sexes from acquiring education together as long as morality is not infringed. Coeducation, in Pakistan has always remained a controversial issue. some people want this system to be adopted in all the institutions on the other hand, there is a sizeable portion of population that is opposed to it.Both the schools of thought present argument supporting their stance. proponents of coeducation argue that it is the need of hour and that it has the ability to eliminate the problems of the developing country. nonetheless,the opponents dare to disagree. to them,the system does not confirms to the religious, social and cultural values of the society. Coeducation has the ability to cope with the problems of developing countries. for instance,Pakistan is a developing country. it will be difficult for a developing economy to maintain separate instituitions for both sexes.if coeducation system is introduced in all the schools and colleges of the state, then the cost of separate infrastructure, stationary and recruitment personnel can be saved. A country can develop only by increasing the rate of literacy. unfortunately, for developing countries, there is a dearth of well trained teachers. if both girls and boys are taught together in the same class, at the same time then this issue can also be resolved. In coeducation, b oys and girls get the opportunity to intermingle and to understand each other. by studying together, they will develop mutual respect and understanding.Professor simon said â€Å" the only reason to support coeducation is that without it, boys and girls will not be knowing about each other for many years†. In a coeducational instite, boys and girls interact with each other freely. they become broadminded and overcome their shyness. There is no hard and fast rule that if girls will always intereact with girls and boys with boys when they grow up . therefore coeducation will boost their confidence level, which will be beneficial in their future life. such individuals will be more comfortable interacting with opposite sex be it at professional or personal level.Coeducation will provide both sexes an opportunity to learn to cooperate with each other. they will be working together in assignments and projects which will help them to understand the way opposite sex works. this will help them in their respective role taking when they enter practical lives. this cooperation will create a feeling a comradeship in both the sexes. Proponents of coeducation argue that such an educational system will be useful for their personality development. in a coeducation,boys will be free to intereact with girls.Doing so, will help them to understand opposite sexing a better way and allow them to develop a healthy personality.. they will,then not indulge in eve teasing. the students of today will be the citizens of tomorrow. it is the demand of today,to allow individuals to grow in a free atmosphere. In addition, coeducation will allow both the sexes to treat each other on equal terms. girls will become more confident and responsive and the boys will develop more tolerance. the relationship between them will be based on equality,respect and humanity. this will help them to overcome the centuries old system of male dominance.Researchers argue that coeducation has proved to be a better educational system as in such colleges,the results of exams are far better than in sex segregated schools. in coeducation, boys and girls compete with each other and try to remain ahead of the other one. this results in better academic results. A research conducted concluded that presence of girls in class prevents boys from indulging in unruly behavior. it also helps in fostering stronger bondage between teachers and students. generally, in coeducational classes, the number of violent outbursts are fewer. Presence of more than 55% girls in class room has shown better exam results.Particularly, at primary level,coeducation has shown exceptional results. Boys and girls in presence of each other become more conscious of their habits, style and appearance. they abstain from exhibiting immoral behaviour. they try their best to please the opposite sex by showing best behaviour. these habits become a part of the personality. Women of today are entering every profession in large nu mber. they are heading big organizations. They face similar challenges as boys while finding jobs or in professional life. therefore,it is imperative that they should be given education on similar grounds as boys.Although,it is a fact that both boys and girls have different ways of learning,but still it is observed that their joint education has a positive influence overall. Infact, the supporters of coeducation speak of its benefits as if it’s the only road to heaven. Every coin has two sides. An impartial eye should focus on both the silvery sides rather than adopting a biased attitude. The opponents of coeducation believe that in coeducation, boys and girls are exposed to each other. the temptation of flirting appears more attractive than the urge to open books.It also destroys the relationship between teacher and student as temptation cannot differentiate between teacher or student. People against coeducation state that it is not the panacea to the problems of developing countries,in reality it will sprout more problems. Anyone who has attended even a few schools and colleges in Pakistan knows the fact that they are frightfully overcrowded. even girls only institutes present a similar picture. therefore, new institutions are needed and if a few are reserved for girls and boys separately,it will not be an additional burden on the economy.Perhaps, the greatest harm that coeducation can cause is to lead to moral depravity. in coeducation, boys are girls are free to interact with each other. curiousity plays its role well in this regard. the immoral standards promoted by media fill up the gap created from the germs of curiousity implanted by satan. this coupled with the fact, that the students are deprived of sincere supervision, as the teachers themselves do not present an ideal picture of morality and decency. As a result, they fall victim to sexual impurity. Religious conservatives argue that coeducation will wreak havoc to the Islamic values.As boys and girls will be easily accessible to each other, this will promote development of immoral relations between them. they support their view by stating that during the time of Holy Prophet(P. B. U. H) educational instituitions were mosques where, though coeducation was present,but the chances of going astray were limited. they further emphasise that the present coeducational system are not at conformity with the Islamic approach to coeducational system. Supporters of coeducation believe that this system will promote understanding between both sexes.However, the opponents say that if boys and girls cannot understand each other in family and home then they will not be able to do so in coeducation. why is it that a person thinks he can understand the opposite sex only when he meets his neighbour’s daughter? Further, it is believed that coeducation is a western concept. many people want to adopt coeducation because it is prevalent in west. they think that if west has it then they must have it too. They want to be more western than the west. but,they should bear it in mind that a system should be adopted only if it goes along with cultural,social and religious values of a society.Certainly,our society does not accepts the present coeducational system. Antagonists of coeducation assert that it is an urban concept. boys will grow up to earn while girls will maintain their household. they emphasize that as both sexes will play a different role, there is no logic in teaching them similar curricula in a similar manner. Even teachers of some subjects such as biology hold opinion that it is easier to teach certain chapters more thoroughly in presence of only girls or boys in the class room. They find teaching certain topics embarrassing and difficult in coeducation.Nowadays, sex education is becoming a part of the curricular. this further acts as fuel on fire. Certain educationists believe that students do not remain focused in studies in the presence of opposite s ex. they remain more engaged in paying attention to opposite sex, than on lectures. Therefore,it is feared that coeducation will not raise the standard of education,instead will lower it. In coeducation institutions, boys and girls are more consumed by how they appear to the opposite sex. they spent countless hours contemplating what to wear, how to wear and where to wear.This leads to the loss of precious time which should have been dedicated to studies only. The only solution that springs to mind in view of Islamic injunctions and logic of common sense is that there should be sex segregated institutions. however, if a developing country like Pakistan is not able to do so in current situation then it is the responsibility of government to take measures to ensure that coeducation does not attacks the moral values preached by islam. Firstly, the curricula chosen should be such that does not risks morality.Secondly,government should be careful in choosing faculty. the teachers recruit ed should be an embodiment of decency and morality. meanwhile, the religiou conservatives should adopt an attitude of tolerance. Nonetheless,it is also important that some girl doctors should be educated in coeducation otherwise,our mothers and sisters will have compelled to expose their private parts before male doctors under ailment. but still,it is the responsibility of the government to ensure sex segregated educational instituitions whenever,it can bear the expenses.