Compare And Contrast Mesopotamian Empires

The ancient civilizations of the Ancient Egypt, as well as the great Mesopotamia, are the world’s greatest civilization as recorded by history. The civilization was highly facilitated by rivers which cut across their land. The Euphrates, Nile, as well as Tigris, constantly moving along the river banks which in turn resulted in the adjoining land is extremely fertile (Backman). This led to flourishment and development of Ur and Eriku cities in Mesopotamia as well as the city of Thebes in Egypt (Backman). The Nile was very significant in Ancient Egypt as it made invasion by enemies impossible due to its marshy deltas (Backman). On the other hand, Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia differed fundamentally in many aspects more specifically in how their societies were structured, cultural orientation, religion, technological experiences, literature, and art among other things (Backman). This paper will center on examining these differences as well as similarities between these two regions as well as what they communicate concerning the circumstances that people from these two regions faced.

The Assyrian and Babylonian Empire are two of the oldest, and arguably the most influential empires in history. The neighboring Mesopotamian countries culture and practices has been adopted by many nations around the world, such as war tactics, religion, and culture to name a few. Although the neighboring countries had many similarities like religion practices, culture, political systems, and social hierarchy, they differ in the way they grew their economies and military.

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, “the Land between Rivers,” was one of the greatest and the oldest ancient civilizations of the world. This civilization flourished around 3000 B.C. on the piece of fertile land, now known as Iraq, between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. Before 1792 B.C., the city-states of ancient Mesopotamia were not united and constantly clashed in turmoil and warfare. In 1792 B.C., King Hammurabi conquered and merged the neighboring city states of ancient Mesopotamia, creating a Babylonian empire and becoming the sixth king of its capitol city, Babylon. During his reign, Hammurabi established law and order and funded irrigation, defense, and religious projects. He personally took care of and governed the administration. In

In the same time period in Mesopotamia, Hammurabi, the ruler of the Old Babylon Kingdom, expanded its territory and formed large territorial states by uniting different cities in Mesopotamia. He also issued Hammurabi’s code to rule the state and rationalized his power came from the gods.

Civilization. The word “civilization” comes from the Latin term for “city.” The first civilizations were the river-valley civilizations, so-called because they all developed alongside major rivers to secure an adequate water supply for agricultural production. 2 of the greatest river-valley civilizations were Mesopotamia and Egypt. All though they both supported having a patriarchal leader or king, Egypt had a strong, centralized government, whereas Mesopotamia was decentralized, and built based on small city-states operating independently.

Hammurabi believed in an open and transparent contract of law for citizens and residents of Babylon along with what today leaders call and ‘open door policy’ by making himself available to his people. Leaders were held to the highest moral and ethical standards, it was one of the first known openly use of equality in law so much so that justice was blind to your position in society, race or sex. Under Hammurabi’s leadership organization and strategy were key factors in unifying Mesopotamia. Hammurabi understood in order to effectively maintain control of newly conquered city-states he had to rebuild and improve the city-state. This took considerable organization in order

In the distance across the land was four civilizations. These civilizations were known as the Akkadians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians and finally the Neo-Babylonians. All of the civilizations that lived in mesopotamia rose and fell like the sun.

There were many great rulers in Mesopotamia like king Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar. There were rulers from 330 B.C. all the way up to 2700 B.C. These rulers ruled in hard times, fought many wars and took over vast lands. Their people loved them and bowed down to them in awe of their greatness and power.

From approximately 2334-539 BCE several empires had rule over the civilization. The three major empires being the Sumerians, Babylonians, and the Assyrians. The Sumerians began making weapons and tools that were more durable. They were able to do this by using metals, such as bronze, thus beginning the Bronze Age. They are credited for the development of several major inventions as well. Some of these being the wheel, irrigation system and the earliest known writing system, cuneiform. After the fall of the Sumerians, the Babylonian’s gained control and unified the independent city-state under the rule of King Hammurabi. He established a form of democracy and centralized government. His laws fell under the code of Hammurabi, which is known to be the earliest set of written laws in history(). The Assyrians were the next to gain control. They made huge developments in astronomy and literature, but they were best known for the first military defense. The gained control and expanded the empire farther than any previous ruler. Unfortunately, just like the previous domains the Assyrians rule ended. These great empires made huge advances in science, literature, and government. They helped morph our society into what it has become

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.

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 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

Sargon was a very strong general. He also built a large army and taught them how to fight. He taught them one strategy named turtle formation. The soldiers in the front had shields. Behind these people were soldiers carrying spears. These people extended their weapon between the shields with the archers in the back. With this strategy they conquered all of mesopotamia. This was their first accomplishment.