Compare And Contrast Mesopotamian And Egyptian Societies

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

Compare & Contrast Paper: Mesopotamia vs. Egypt In this paper I will be telling you about the similarities and differences between Mesopotamia and Egypt. My first topic will be the similarities and differences of their politics. My second topic that I will be talking about is the similarities and differences between their Religion.

Mesopotamian and Egyptian cities were very different. Mesopotamian city was much more urban than Egypt and they had their own independent ruler. Egypt did not have their own independent ruler. Egypt’s cities had religious homes that lead to the population’s center. Egypt was larger than Mesopotamia and had a larger population. Mesopotamia was protected by a wall and Egypt was not. Mesopotamian and Egyptian cities were very different.

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.

Although Egypt and Mesopotamia were both early agricultural societies built upon the water provided by the major rivers which sustained them, they exhibited important differences as a consequence of the different physical environments in which they developed. In this paper I will first focus on what I consider to be the major aspects of these differences in environment and then explore the consequences of these differences in their religious beliefs, political organization and commercial practices.

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.

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.

As you will journey through a time which two of the greatest civilizations that thrived in both similar and different ways. Although the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia had many similar and handful of differences characteristics due to their individual geographies, both have there own cteristics towards their way of religion and economy, The civilization of Mesopotamia created by people called Sumerians have chosen the land “Between Rivers” Tigris and Euphrates (pg.9) to flourish a civilization. In the blazing hot desert of Egypt you would not think civilization would flourish like the “Fertile Crescent” (pg.10) of Mesopotamia, but the “Gift of the Nile”(pg.14) begins in the heart of Africa and crossing northward flourishing civilization by its sides. Both Mesopotamia and Egypt have agricultural And trades oversea or land. One thing that these two civilizations had in common was the leaders calling themselves being a divine being and that they were the chosen one, as for the Egyptian pharaoh was the almighty “Son of Re” and Mesopotamian kings where the “Son of Anu” god of the sky. Both civilizations were polytheistic, belief in many gods.

Mesopotamia and Egypt were some of the first agricultural civilizations to make a lasting impact on history, and while they were similar in many ways they were drastically different in the way women were perceived. The way Mesopotamia treated their women is a prime example of what most people think when talking about women in the B.C.E era. Women were treated very poorly in Mesopotamia. They were thought of slightly better than property, but still below men. Women were not allowed to marry for love, and before marriage, they were forced to wear veils in public to show modesty (Noonan).

Egypt developed around the Nile River, while Mesopotamia developed between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Egypt and Mesopotamia grew into complex civilizations. Politically, both Egypt and Mesopotamia had a government with one main ruler, but Egypt had a centralized government with a pharaoh, while Mesopotamia had a decentralized government with a king. Socially, both civilizations were patriarchal, but Egypt was more lenient towards women while Mesopotamia was stricter. The political and social structures of Egypt and Mesopotamia both similarities and differences.

The Mesopotamian and Egyptian empires in ancient times are about as similar as they are different in terms of geographic conditions. This means they have just as many similarities as they do differences. Let’s start with geographic conditions that were beneficial to both. Egypt and Mesopotamia both had rivers close enough to help with farming. These rivers were also useful for trade and transport. One geographic condition that made growing and maintaining ancient civilizations difficult for both the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians was flooding. Both groups solved this issue by creating dikes and irrigation systems. Between the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians, differences obviously occurred. For example, the Egyptians did not need to fear being

Egypt and Mesopotamia were the two greatest civilizations in ancient times because of the sophisticated way of living, but most importantly the way the kings rule over the people. These civilizations had aspects of their daily lives that were similar, and others in which they are different. Mesopotamians had an idea of expansion in mind, while Egyptians had an idea of internal ruling and making the people’s daily life peaceful and harmonic. In Ancient Mesopotamia the most readily available material for writing was clay. When writing on clay first arose, Mesopotamians would try to make an artistic representation of what they were referring to. The process was technical and when you are describing a rock next to a deer, you would draw the rock first and then add the deer to the picture. Pictograms were the earliest stage in writing. The Mesopotamian drove an urban social change and that is when cuneiform was found.

Due to the fact that they were built in river valleys, the civilizations were able to use the fertile soil to grow a surplus of

The Ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians brought forth many of the earliest known technologies such as writing, irrigation, and a variety of others. The Mesopotamians created cuneiform, a form of writing created using a stylus that leaves an impression shaped like a wedge on a clay tablet. The Egyptians also created a form of writing called hieroglyphics which were made up of different kinds of symbols. These creations allowed for better communication and record keeping.

Economically, these two civilizations both shared prosperous success in similar manners. One connection between Mesopotamia and Egypt is that they both manipulated their designated rivers to perform critical trade operations by using them as routes. They were able to communicated and send goods with other civilizations in a farther location via the river system. Also, these two civilizations were very productive in the agricultural field due to the strategically created irrigation systems that provided water to their fertile soils to provide lush vegetations in Nile and Sumer. The one difference between Mesopotamia and Egypt in terms of economy is that the Nile government controlled most if not all of the trading monopoly, and they had their citizens pay substantial taxes.