During 3500 BCE to 1250 BCE, Mesopotamia and Egypt were different in writing systems because of their uses of the writing systems and what they represented. Another difference is their outlook of the world because of their environment; however they are similar in beliefs because they believe aspect of the world is controlled by a force. Firstly, Mesopotamia and Egypt are different in writing systems because of their uses for the writing system and the symbols representation. Mesopotamia used cuneiform. In the book, Ways of the World it stated, ’’Cuneiform is wedge shaped symbols on clay tablets representing objects, abstract, ideas, sound, and syllables used for records of economic transitions.’’ Differently from Egypt, they used hieroglyphs. …show more content…
Mesopotamia thought the gods were cruel and selfish. In the article, ‘’ Ancient Religions of Egypt and Mesopotamia it stated, ‘’Mesopotamia’s gods were seen as unpredictable beings of extraordinary power who had to be kept content by priests. People were at the mercy of the gods, so the job of humanity was to carry out their wills and make them happy.’’ In contrast to Egypt the gods were helpful overall and fair. In an article, Ancient Religions of Egypt and Mesopotamia it stated,’’ the gods were seen as kind and generous and generally well-disposed toward humanity. Egyptians believed that their gods had created Egypt as a sort of refuge of good and order in a world filled with chaos and disorder.’’ The reason for this difference is because of their environment. Mesopotamia’s environment was harsh. To be more specific they had two rivers, Tigris and Euphrates, which unpredictably flood Mesopotamia which ruined their crops. The Mesopotamian blames the reason for this on the gods, saying the gods was angry at them. Mesopotamia civilization was also opened, they had no natural defenses. Unless they created protection they were opened to invaders. This explains why the Mesopotamian came to dislike the gods because the Mesopotamian had many bad things happen to them and they thought it was the gods doing. The Egyptians’ environment was less harsh and they had natural defenses …show more content…
Both had polytheistic beliefs. In an article, Learning about Mesopotamian Religion and Culture it stated,’’ Mesopotamia believes in a polytheistic belief system, which means that the people believed in multiple gods instead of just one. They also believed in demons created by the gods, which could be good or evil. Each city had its own patron deity, some of which were connected to specialized occupations. There were also gods and goddess, the rulers of the sky, air, and more, which received more attention from worshipers.’’ Similarly, Egypt had the same belief. In a website called, Canadian museum of history, it stated,’’ every Egyptian town had its own particular deity, manifested in a material fetish or a god represented in the shape of an animal.’’ In another article called, Religion in Ancient Egypt it stated,’’ Egyptians' interaction with a multitude of deities who were believed to be present in, and in control of, the forces and elements of nature. The myths about these gods were meant to explain the origins and behavior of the forces they represented.’’ The reason is because there was no explanation of why the world was the way it was so the Mesopotamian and Egyptians believed there was gods and goddess that control certain things. Another reason is that they thought nature was different gods For example, in Mesopotamia there was god of the sky, a
Each Mesopotamian city states worshiped local gods and spirits. If they were part of a large kingdom or Empire, then they might be forced to worship the religion of the state but usually kept local beliefs intact. This is primarily because of how fragmented ancient Mesopotamia used to be. Egyptian Polytheism differs a lot from Mesopotamian Animism and Polytheism in several ways. The Egyptian’s worshiped the state religion alone and did not have separate local religions as often. The rough geography most likely helped with this along with the unity of Egypt. The ziggurats of Mesopotamia and the various monuments of Egypt have similarities and seemingly different functions. The Mesopotamians built ziggurats as temples, but the monuments of Egypt have various roles including for burial which reflects another major religious difference, the Egyptians believed in an afterlife which resulted in many artifacts preserved helping historians know more about their culture, not what was intended, but useful later
When you look back in history to the development and the contributions of both the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations, you see that there was a lot accomplished, as well as a lot created. The earliest forms of writing developed in Mesopotamia, while Egypt was referred to the “Gift of the Nile” by traveler Herodotus (McKay,42). Development of cities was another major marker, especially in the “old world”, of how people eventually determined civilizations and what they represented. According to McKay, civilizations were determined by people who considered themselves more “civilized”, urban people mostly. Made up of cities, written rules of law, and social justice codes, Mesopotamia and Egypt would develop into two of the largest civilizations in history.
Most societies that developed in ancient civilizations were centered around their belief systems. The Egyptians and the Mesopotamians were no different in this sense. Both civilizations were polytheistic and built elaborate temples to praise their gods. Additionally, the leaders in both regions were believed to be related to the gods because of the great power they held and the wealth under their control. However, the Mesopotamians had a pessimistic outlook on life because of the unpredictability of their environment. The Egyptians, on the other hand, had an optimistic outlook because the Nile River inundated their region regularly, which could be predicted by the stars. The similarities and differences in the religions of these two
Politically, although both Egypt and Mesopotamia had one main ruler, Egypt was centralized and whereas Mesopotamia was decentralized. Egypt centralized government led
Mesopotamian and Egyptian religions shared two key similarities: polytheism and priestly authority. The religions in Mesopotamia and
Known as one of the earliest civilizations, Mesopotamia and Egypt both share set amounts of similarities along with a share of striking distinctions. Environmentally, these two civilizations were formed in similar surroundings, yet their weather patterns show distinctions. Politically, both governments derived from a monarch, yet their laws and punishments distinguished the two’s court systems. Economically, they both shared prosperous success in similar manners. Socially, although the two lands followed a hierarchy, the value of women contrasted. Culturally, they both believed in a higher order of creation; however, their views of them were polar opposites. Intellectually, these two societies developed skilled abilities and creations that
Even though both prospered after a devastating drought, they both had different approaches in which they traded goods. I think that the approach, Egypt took, made it more unified than Mesopotamia. One reason is that, according to them, they wanted nice things to put into their tombs to use in the afterlife. The nice things were like furniture, and coffins that were constructed from wood that was imported in from Phoenicia. (text, 107) A second reason is that when ever the Egyptians colonized a new area they would build stationed forts to broaden trade routes. (text, 107) Plus, in Egypt, they traded goods for goods. (text, 107) In contrast, I believe that most of Mesopotamia’s businessmen were concerned with just getting the money and nothing else, because money was so much easier to transport than heavy loads that were being traded. (lecture, Dr. Kaz , Feb 9th 2009) When Mesopotamia recovered from the
The most apparent difference was these civilizations’ distinct type of rule. Egypt had pharaohs as their kings or rulers. Pharaohs were seen as holy figures and treated as gods, which allowed ancient Egypt to have a single, unified governing body, combining church and state. Mesopotamia was divided into city-states with a ruler governing each area independently. This led to a more fragmented political structure with recurring clashes and wars. The story of the Mesopotamian era is one of war, feud, and collapse; whereas ancient Egypt was mostly unified, sustaining a stable and well-structured
Both places practice polytheism and use a set person to be viewed as the connection to the Gods. But the variation occurs when Mesopotamia involved kings to rule in addition to the pharaoh. Another cultural difference is the mindset of positive Egyptians vs the negative of the Mesopotamians which may have affected the rights of women in Egypt seeing as they had more privilege than Mesopotamian women. Shared in both places was the socially acceptable mindset of hierarchies. The two main ones gender, men had more worth than women, and social, starting with the rich and ending with
Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia present a valuable area of historical research. They are of great importance mostly because of their ethnic kinship (Watson, 2017). In such case, comparison and contrast essay is very promising as causal relationships can be formed based on a mutual starting point. This comparison-contrast essay focuses on differences and similarities in these societies’ economic, political and cultural life in order to make further implications regarding the circumstances the peoples of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia faced.
The first category of culture is religion. There were several similarities between the Mesopotamians and Egyptians. The Mesopotamians and Egyptians had their own religion and beliefs. Both were polytheistic, meaning they believed in numerous gods or goddesses instead of one god or goddess. There were also several differences between the Mesopotamian and Egyptians. While the Mesopotamians and Egyptians worshiped thousands of deities, there were four main essential deities for the Mesopotamians: An, Enlil, Enki, and Ninhursaga. An was the god of heaven. Enlil was the god of wind and became the power of energy, force, and authority on the earth. Enki was the god of
These differences played a huge role in their social lives. Like Egypt was ruled by a pharaoh who was considered a God. While Mesopotamia was ruled by a king who was not one of the many Gods they believed in. Except in Mesopotamia These Gods weren’t called Gods at all, they were called dingir. Their gods were believed to have supernatural powers.
Early Mesopotamia and Egypt had many similarities like their religion beliefs, but they also had some differences like politics Egypt and Mesopotamia had very similar religion beliefs. For example, they were both polytheism. Polytheism is a religion where you believe in more than one god. Egypt believed in 114 gods. Mesopotamia worshiped 42 gods.
Egyptians viewed the afterlife in a very positive way - they believed if they lived by the standards of “Ma’at”, they would end up in the “Happy Field of Food” or “Field of Offerings” in the afterlife. “Ma’at”, simply put, composed of acting in ways that are truthful, harmonious, moral, balanced, and orderly. In simple terms, Egyptians believed that if they acted with morality, they would have a happy afterlife with no hunger or pain. Mesopotamians had a much darker view of life after death: they believed they would spend eternity in the “House of Dust” with other tortured souls. Mesopotamian gods were not moral or truthful - they cheated, lied, stole, etc., and Mesopotamians believed that humans were created simply because the gods grew tired of working. Mesopotamians worshipped their gods because they believed if they worshipped enough, they may receive blessings or justice, but this was not guaranteed.
Religion was practiced throughout Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. Both the Mesopotamians and Egyptians shared polytheistic beliefs. Each god was responsible for an action, but they did not consider the gods to be equal in Mesopotamian society, in order to please the gods, a sacrifice must be made to please them in order to avoid the god’s wrath. The separation of church and state did not exist in both ancient civilizations, pharaohs of Egyptian society was known to be a god on Earth, the incarnation of Horus, the falcon god. The Mesopotamian rulers were known as a representative to the gods. Although they worship to several different gods, they do have differences between the two. The idea of an afterlife, In Mesopotamia didn’t exist but for the Egyptians the idea of an afterlife was of significant importance to them, rituals were held to ensure that the body and soul would be ready for an eternal life after death. The writing systems of both the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians have many similarities. Pictographic writing, which was developed by the