Compare And Contrast Mesopotamia And Ancient China

| The development of the calendar was based on their observations and studies of the stars, moon, and sky. They also established a number system; a year was cut into 12 months, a month into 30 days, a day into 12 hours, an hour into 60 minutes, and a minute into 60 seconds. They also divided a circle into 360 degrees of the 60 arc minutes. Settlement patterns were based on the environment of the area and the need for a stable water supply.

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.

The civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and China all contributed their own intellectual outlooks and advances to history.

Some ancient civilization depend on rivers for their agriculture like Mesopotamian, Egypt, India, and China. Neolithic Mesopotamian and Chinese civilization learned to adjust to climate by using a systematic agriculture of farming and herding, living sedentary and developing a pottery, allowing the preparation and storing food and water. Over time other civilization such Indus Valley from India learned to predict a flooding of the river and use it to their benefit. Unlike the Canaanites society from Egypt in which believed to sacrifice an infant and child in the name of the earth god(Baalim)and goddess(Baalot) to ensure a prosperous harvest.

Arguably, the ancient Chinese and Mesopotamian civilizations were some of the most powerful of their time. The isolationist attitude of China led to them developing a unique culture, one that can be easily contrasted to that of Mesopotamia, which had an outgoing nature. The main points of comparison are in their religious beliefs, their political systems, and their social ideals.

 Due to China’s geographical location of mountains, desserts, and jungles to the south, west and north, China was unable to intermingle with other cultures.  The Silk Road was constructed to aid the Han Dynasty of China with political contact with other kingdoms of Central Asia.

The classical civilizations of the 600 BCE-600 CE period were characterized by large empires rising out of the earlier city states. Rulers/military officials extended their influence through conquered new and nearby lands, expanding of land and increasing availability and variability of resources as they added more people and wealth; China, under the Han dynasty, was no exception to this trend. To illustrate, the Silk Road, a trading route interconnecting Europe, Asia, and North Africa/Middle East was named after China’s main cash crop, silk, which was prized for its soft smoothness and durability, in Rome, the Middle East, and other civilizations. This meant that merchants had a large impact in and outside China. The big silk trade also led

Mesopotamia and Egypt are very important to history in many ways such as religion, social, and economic development. All Countries evolved around Mesopotamia which was the first civilization in around 3000 BC. Egypt on the other hand emerged around 3100 BC. To compare both women from each civilization it is important to know the history between the two civilizations. Ancient Egypt gave power to a pharaoh which commanded wealth, and resources to all people in Egypt. Not only that the pharaoh was a lord to both the lower and upper parts of Egypt. The pharaoh was also a temporal and a spiritual ruler. Mesopotamia was somewhat alike; class structure was divided into two classes. The king was at the top with the free commoners on the bottom.

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.

Many of the early world civilizations had similar experiences when evolving to become the influential societies that affected other societies. They were called the first civilizations because they were able to form the first functional communities, successful systems of organized laws over people, the distinction of social classes, economic income, and development of arts and educations. Two of histories well-known civilizations, Mesopotamia and Ancient China had similar experiences in the beginnings of their histories, they still have a different cultural and political views.

The Latin root of the word, civilization, derives from civ, meaning citizens. The figurative root of civilization is also the development and advancement of the citizens. The three ancient civilizations that were the most advanced were Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India. However, Egypt presented itself as the most civilized society because of their geography, government, and architecture.

Mesopotamia and Egypt were both powerful civilizations that developed from different natural environments that affected the way they grew as rising civilizations. Both Mesopotamia and Egypt ____ in river valleys and depended on their river to help their new and developing agriculture. The Nile was the river that helped sustain Egyptian agriculture. The Nile annually flooded, which helped the farmers grow more food because they had adapted to the river’s predictable nature. The consistent rise of the river allowed Egypt to have a more peaceful and _____ culture, ____ religion develop in a more positive light.

The first civilizations and the rise of empires began with small groups or villages existing with the use of hunting, fishing, and foraging. (William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel, World History, vol. 1, 1) Within a few thousand years, people learned how to cultivate food crops and this led to an increase in population. Increased food production resulted in larger communities. The cities began to expand their cultural and religious developments leading to the beginnings of civilization. (Duiker, World History, 1) The first civilizations emerged in Mesopotamia and Egypt during the fourth and third millennia B.C.E and had various components in common. Each of these civilizations was established in a river valley so they were able to provide and produce the agricultural resources needed to survive and uphold the population. (Duiker, World History, 1) Mesopotamia developed in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates River known as “the land between the rivers.” These rivers provided irregular and catastrophic flooding for the city-state. They created an intensive irrigation system to improve their agriculture. The first people to create Mesopotamian civilization were known as the Sumerians. These people were the first city builders and created the major city’s named Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Umma, and Lagash. These cities were built with surrounding walls and defense towers. A six-mile-long wall enclosed the city of Uruk. Mesopotamia lacked

Jeramie Jones Dr. Hermann History 101 Many ancient civilizations relied on the natural geography around them to thrive. Two specific civilizations, Egypt and Mesopotamia, relied heavily on the rivers they settled on top of. These rivers not only provided water to people and livestock but allowed the nearby land to fertilize. It influenced many aspects of each civilization, which will be discussed later.

River valley in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, and China help boom civilizations. Living near the river has its benefits and disadvantages for the country. The river water carries topsoil’s and disposed them around the deltas. “With this combination of fertile soils, water, plants and animals it attracts human habitations. Which allows humans to produce agricultural surpluses to feed the people who live near the river” .