I’m a little rusty, but here’s my best shot:
Rivers were essential for the first civilizations because they were the source of agriculture and the domestication of crops: without them groups of people would not live as close together and would not be considered a “civilization”
Examples:
Babylonian rivers: Tigris and Euphrates
Indus River valley civilization: in name
Ancient China: Huang He (yellow river) and Yangtze River
