Composition ‘A’ by Piet Mondrian (Date: 1923)
The Issues
Ancient Mesopotamians did not panic when faced with climate change and its consequences for water flows and soil quality. Rather they adapted. They did not reduce their standard of living or increase the costs of obtaining essential inputs to production. Instead they revolutionised the water technology and water management techniques by raising watercourse banks to protect water reserves, by draining off excess waters after floods and overflows, by distributing water to where it was needed, and by conserving and storing the water that would be required in the future.
Mesopotamians increased the productivity of agriculture by squeezing more from less. In the long run, extending through the 4th and 3rd millennia, Mesopotamians consolidated the greater value to be derived from large scale production units within agricultural estates by exploiting economies of scale in water and then by centralising authority over multiple estates a…