Characteristics And Development Of Ancient Civilizations

With governmental machinery that brought political and social order to their territories, effective political and military power enabled them to build regional empires and expand their authority to neighboring people. Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia were two great civilizations among the earliest to emerge in the Middle east and North Africa. Both made significant contributions in areas such as mathematics, medicine, agriculture, astronomy, technology, architecture, art and writing. They had differences as well, including their political structures. Most importantly is that Egyptians were under a centralized government, and the Mesopotamians had self-controlled city state governments.

Egypt would be nothing without their famous government and rulers. The biggest, most important ruler, of Ancient Egypt, was and is the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh was the most vital leader to not just of the government, but also of the religion in Egypt. There were tears of the Egyptian government. So, under the pharaoh, was the vizier. A vizier is the main overseer of the land. The other officials reported to vizier each day. Under the vizier, were the Nomarks. They rule over a certain area of land called a nome. Almost like a governor. A nome was almost like a state. The role of a nomark would be hereditary and be passed down from father to son. The laws of Ancient Egypt were believed to be partially codified. There were 8 books that set out the legal code. Most people believe that Egyptian law was based on common sense and the view of right and wrong. This is how Egyptian’s complex religion helped make Egypt a working civilization.

The political structure of Ancient Egypt was made of a government structure that was more enforced whereas the pharaoh was the Devine ruler, who the people perceived as a god and could not address while directly looking at him in the face (Backman). Noblemen appointed into the political structure were relatives of the pharaoh and upon his death, his son was to succeed him (Connan, 33-50). It was believed that Pharaoh descended from the gods and had the ability to ensure prosperity and controlled rituals which granted continued flow of river Nile that enhanced irrigation (Connan, 33-50). There was a high rate of bureaucracy in Ancient system influenced by this political structure and most people were illiterate peasants, they were highly regulated (Backman). On the contrary, Mesopotamia consisted of states that governed themselves before the proclamation of Sargon the great as the king in 2370BCE (Backman). The king here was not considered as divine and the majority of those who served in the political structure were just noble men from noble families with no blood relations with the ruling class (Connan, 33-50).

The Egyptian, Assyrian, and Persian Empires possess government structure and classification that is both unique and comparable. The Egyptian Empire was formed under a divine institution and part of a universal cosmic order: Kingship. Egypt has a government of absolute monarchy, which allows the leader of Egypt to have unlimited power along with the idea of “Divine Right,” a right to rule given from god. Furthermore, the Egyptians have developed an extraordinary administrative government organization and procedures: the bureaucracy. At the top of the hierarchy was the Pharaoh who had absolute authority over the people. Pharaohs are considered gods; by obeying the will of their pharaohs, subjects believed that they are contributing to the development of a world order. Next to the pharaoh, the official who held the most authority was the vizier, “steward of the whole

Over the course of human history, humans and our ancestors have made tremendous strides. From Homo habilis making the first stone tools to the Egyptians building The Pyramids of Giza, human history is nothing short of intriguing. If it wouldn’t have been for each stride made by our ancestors we probably wouldn’t live in the world that we live in today. When the Neolithic Era began in 9600 BCE, human civilizations gradually started to spring up all over the world. Humans set up civilizations from Mesopotamia in the Middle East, to China in East Asia, and all the way to Caral-Supe in South America. Although these ancient civilizations were separated by thousands of miles, they all share common patterns and

The people groups in ancient Egyptian were very different than our societies social groups today. Ancient Egyptians were grouped in a hierarchical system with the Pharaoh at the top and farmers and slaves at the bottom. The groups of people nearest to the top of society were the richest and most powerful. The Pharaoh was believed to be a god on earth and had the most power. He was responsible for making laws and keeping order. Ensuring that Egypt was not attacked or invaded by enemies and for keeping the gods happy so that the Nile flooded and there was a good harvest. The Vizier was the Pharaoh's chief advisor

Despite the ancient Egyptians' conservative nature and keeping to their core values, there were many changes within the infrastructure of their society during the middle kingdom. When Historians and scholars study the Old Kingdom, and the Middle Kingdom, One will notice that alterations to their religion, art, and architecture changed through both periods in history. Internal forces, as well as outside influences, shaped ancient Egyptian civilization. One would argue that the terms Old, middle and knew Kingdoms were of a hellenistic idea, instead of a Ancient Egyptian Ideology. The Old Kingdom founds its reign lasted from 2700- 2200 B.C. This time period consisted of the third through the sixth dynasty, beginning with Djoser and ending

An interesting question to ask oneself about ancient civilizations is “How did the various governments keep their respective populations under control?” By taking a look at some of the literature and forms of art, one can get an idea of the crafty techniques used by leaders to control the populace. The concept of social control has been around as long as civilizations have been. This can be seen in the Roman stoic ideals portrayed in the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, the Four Noble Truth’s teachings in India, and the emphasis on harmony in China with the Chinese Bronze Bell. It’s interesting to see the ways works of art and even religious texts were used to control the common people.

The civilization that flourished in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine were located in river valleys or along the Mediterranean coast. These civilizations developed highly complex cultures that shared many common characteristics. Some of the characteristics that they shared were justice, cultural diffusion, architecture and inventions. Because of these characteristic they achieved and contributed a lot to society as well as to future civilizations.

In 1950, V Gordon Childe drew up a list of traits of to what he considered to be the common characteristics of early civilizations. According to Fagan & Scarre, a recent archaeologist Charles Redman divided Childe’s list into primary and secondary characteristics. The primary characteristics included cities and states, together with full-time specialization of labor, concentration of surplus, and a class-structured society. For the secondary, the characteristics included symptoms or by-products of these major economic and organizational changes: monumental public works, long-distance trade, standardized monumental artworks, writing, and the sciences (arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy)(Scarre and Fagan 2003). One of the most common characteristics involve was a large, dense population living in a city. This essay well state and describe two early cities in Mesopotamia and explore the layouts and characteristics of these two cities. Also, whether each city is unique or share common characteristics with each other. The two cities are Maskan-shapir and Ur.

Most people believe that all ancient civilizations were the same: they all lived with a steadfast loyalty to their one and only king that ruled all of the lands, civilizations only achievements were monumental buildings, and they vacuously attacked neighboring societies to gain more land for millennia. While some of this knowledge is true to an extent, civilizations accomplished an abundance more than some realize. Some fail to register that early civilizations are unique from each other. Egypt and Mesopotamia were two distinct civilizations. Despite similarities such as both being river civilizations, Egypt and Mesopotamia contrasted with each other in the areas of, type of ruling, religion, and

Throughout the history of Earth, there have been many fascinating developments, the most prominent being the first civilizations, Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. They had many similarities, such as characteristics of early civilizations and social structures, but they also had their differences. The most embossed differences included the divergent geography, prior belief, trade, relations with other civilizations, and politics.

The early cities of Mesopotamia fell from one warlord to another, and were constantly changing, unlike the kingdoms of Ancient Egypt that kept its stability. The Egyptians lived along the Nile River, which probably made it easier to govern the people. The King was the owner and ruler of all Egypt and was considered a god by the people. The economy was a royal monopoly, the peoples duties was to serve the King. In the old Kingdom

Geography and the environment play a monumental role in the establishment and success of a nearly every civilization. For example, rivers bring water and allow for agricultural development, while mountains or deserts provide for protection and create a barrier. Many things, such as the aforementioned deserts and mountains, can offer both positive and negative influences on the society in question. The climate and amount of rainfall is directly related to the success or failure of crop growing, and thus related to the amount of time spent on simply surviving. Civilizations that are able to spend less time on subsistence farming are able to redirect that energy towards the establishment of arts, culture, religion, and science. Where a

During ancient Egypt, civilization was brought about because the people picked a ruler, or king. “Two of the most important sources of life for the ancient Egyptians were the Nile River and the Pharaoh” (William). At the time, society was very hierarchical; the society was divided into two groups: the privileged people and the majority. The king kept control and managed everything ranging from politics to religion.