Comparing Ancient Egypt And Sumer

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.

Beginning with Mesopotamia, according to McKay Mesopotamia was part of the Fertile Crescent, which was where the first agriculture developed (McKay, 35). Moving from Mesopotamia to the city-state Sumer, many farmers brought with them their farming tools and trade abilities so that they could successfully farm in warmer, more arid climates (McKay, 35). Irrigation was a major part of the process and was needed for them to succeed. As the civilization grew, people built temples in Mesopotamia, where farmers would use them to store food items and animals. To the Mesopotamian people, the belief of Polytheism, which is that of many Gods controlling the earth and world, brought a distinct outlook on life (McKay, 36). Sumerian

The two rivers had a delta which was called the Fertile Crescent. This was because of its crescent-like shape and because of how fertile it was due to the two rivers depositing rich silk into it, giving it the ability to support agriculture. The two rivers were incredibly important to the ancient Sumerians because it supplied them with water for their irrigation systems. They were able to also dump their sewage as well. The water gave them mud to use as clay for building. The river led them to the concept of regional government, which was used to manage their irrigation systems, consequently resulting in them creating a city-state. Unlike the Chinese and Harappan people, the Sumerians left behind records that we today are able to decipher. Their writing system was called ‘cuneiform’, which they wrote on clay tablets. This tell us that the Sumerians were civilized and organized. Unlike the Chinese, they utilized their time to learn how to read and write instead of fighting

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

Egyptian geography was more promising than that of the Sumerians. The land on both sides of the Nile was very fertile, due to annual flooding. The flooding was very predictable which helped the Egyptians see the universe as a well ordered system. This resulted in an early sense of nationalism among the Egyptians, which was very different from that of the Sumerian civilization.

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.

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.

Mesopotamia is a rich flat plain created by deposits from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. At the southern end of this plain developed the first recognizable civilization, in the area known as Sumer. In 3000 B.C. Sumer contained a dozen or more city-states, each ruled by its own king and worshiped its own patron deity. The citizens of these city-states were classified into three classes: nobles and priests, commoners, and slaves. In the center of a

When comparing cultures it would be difficult to find two that are more diverse than the Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultures. The Mesopotamian culture was filled with tension and instability while the Egyptian people maintained a stable and somewhat more content way of life. In examining these two cultures one can surmise that these differences are mainly due to the political, economic, social, religious, and geographic differences between Egypt and Mesopotamia. These factors added to the overall mentality of the people. These mentalities affected the stability of each culture, whether for the better or worse.

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

Sumer is one of the first ancient civilization that had many cities until the drought and being conquered. The Sumerians built ziggurat temples for the living (which was similar to the pyramids in Egypt). They had farms on the outer part of the center city because their society was based on trading and farming. The important people lived in the center. In their society, most people were educated and men took control of the women. They believed in many gods, they were polytheism. The Sumerians created a written language that is

With the installation of King Hammurabi, the first law code was created, which also drastically changed society back then and remained as ancestor of modern law systems. However, Hammurabi’s laws were quite strict since he was installing a legal system in which the punishment for whichever action needed to be penalized, was the exact same thing happening to the one who had committed the “crime”; also, known as the “eye for an eye”

The nature of their life giving rivers affected both Sumer and Egypt. Whether it was the consistent flooding of the Nile or the erratic nature of the Tigris-Euphrates delta each river had an impact on the way of life in these civilizations. Sumer blossomed in the Tigers-Euphrates valley in an area referred to as Mesopotamia which The Earth and its Peoples defines as “land between rivers” For the Sumerians the Tigris and Euphrates flooding was unpredictable and would destroy farms and crops. The flooding in Mesopotamia would occur in the summer from the melting snow in the mountains, too late for the ideal planting season. However, the twin rivers provided vital trade routes as well as rich silt that

Sumer, the world’s first civilization and historical region in Mesopotamia, developed during the Bronze Age after a significant change from a nomadic to a sedentary lifestyle. During the fifth millennium BC, people known as the ‘Ubaidans’ established settlements in the region known as Sumer and discovered the usage of tools and agriculture, triggering the early Bronze Age and the agricultural revolution—a period of transition from a nomadic lifestyle found in the Mesolithic era, into an agricultural period exhibited in the Neolithic era. The Sumerians shifted from a nomadic lifestyle to a formal civilization through the agricultural revolution which led to technological advances that changed food production.

Sumer and Egypt were two of the first civilizations established in ancient history, the Sumerians being the pioneers of civilization. Each of the civilizations settled on fertile lands and established political, religious, and economic standards of their own. The Sumerians created a system of writing called cuneiform, developed a theocratic government, established an agricultural-based economic system, and created a polytheistic religion. Because the land was flat and marshy with few hills or mountains, Sumer had little protection from a military standpoint. The environment of Egypt was the polar opposite of Sumer. The Egyptians were surrounded by desert to prevent invasion, yet gifted with plenty of fertile land along the Nile. This