Comparing and Contrasting Egypt and Mesopotamia Essay

Egypt and Mesopotamia have both similarities and differences, throughout both of these civilizations from back to 3,500 B.C. The political and social structures in these civilizations were different and the same in their own way. The political differences between Egypt and Mesopotamia included hierarchy power, land control, and centralized government. The similarities between both civilizations are social class, male patriarchy, and kings.

While both the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations share similar political, social and economic qualities, the details of these broad spectrums branch off in opposite directions. For example, both Mesopotamia and Egypt were ruled by kings, but in Egypt, their kings were called pharaohs and they had significantly more power than the Mesopotamian kings of the city-states. Both civilizations also had social classes in which a person fit into, but in Mesopotamia, many more rules and restrictions were forced onto women, especially young girls, than Mesopotamian boys or Egyptian boys or girls. Both Mesopotamia and Egypt traded with each other,

The civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt both have many things in common, including having adjacent rivers. However both Rivers are very different in regards to when the rivers flood. The Nile river of Egypt floods varies periodically and accurately making it very easy to tell when the river will flood for the crops of the Egyptian people. In Mesopotamia the Euphrates and Tigris flood unpredictably, making it almost impossible to raise a civilization there. Nevertheless the Mesopotamian people found a way around this by using technology such irrigation. This supplies water to land or crops to help growth, typically done by channels. Although both are great civilizations they have very fundamental differences from cultural to religious.

The Ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamia, and Greeks were some of the oldest complex societies, although similar in many aspects. Mesopotamia is located in the Fertile Crescent, land in and between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers usually known as modern day Iraq and Eastern Syria.(24) In Egypt, the Nile River creates a fertile valley which is rich in nutrients and essential to their survival. The Nile flows from Burundi, slightly south of the equator eventually traveling through Egypt and into the Mediterranean. Ancient Greece is situated very closely to Egypt so trading was easy between them. How are these three civilizations comparable and different?

They brought writing, the wheel, the calendar, and astronomy. Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt allowed human beings, for the first time in history, to settle down in one place and farm instead of chasing their often dangerous wild animal food sources. Both civilizations shared similarities and differences in their climate, politics, intellect, religion, arts and architecture, technology, economics, and social structures, that allowed them to flourish and become two of the most well-known ancient civilizations.

Egypt and Mesopotamia had many different view on life their views on religion, geography, their government, their beliefs on the afterlife, their relationships between the gods and humans, and etc. The differences can be built off where they were built, the amount of land they had access to, the number of resources they had to, and how their environment was in everyday life. They also had similarities in the fact that they were hard working in their everyday life, the belief of what was a man’s responsibility and what was a females responsibility.

Mesopotamia and Egypt were both part of the creation of the worlds first civilizations. These countries shared many similarities and differences within their society, political structure, and their religions. Mesopotamian and Egypt both flourished near rivers in which enabled them to become an agricultural enriched society. While both civilizations had the advantage of the rivers, Egypt did not have the fertile hinterland that allowed Mesopotamia to excel in agriculture. Through a political standpoint one can see the similarities of the Mesopotamians and Egyptians political structure, but they practiced different laws according to their society. In religion both Mesopotamia and Egypt worship the same way, but the nature of there gods are

Mesopotamia was composed of a dozen or more seperate and independent city states. Each one of these was ruled over by a king, which caused a lot of opposition often leading to war inside the civilization. Eygpt was a much more peacefully society, living in small agricultural villages near rivers while being led by the gods they created. Eygpt still made it's importance through politcal capitals, market centers, and major burial sites. Over time, however, Eygpt adopted the ways of a ruling apex. (Strayer, R., 2011, p. 106-108). In this way they are similar politically, but only after a change caused by time. If it wasn't for that, then they would differ

The most significant part in the evolution of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia was geography, permitting the civilizations to thrive along the Tigris, Euphrates, and Nile rivers. The construction of ancient civilizations along the river valleys enabled them to grow through trade along the river. Growth in population generated a significant need for agriculture and the inhabitants of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia looked to the gods to obtain these necessities. Access to neighboring civilizations through river trade served to cultural advancements in each society. Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia each had similarities in how their civilizations grew by the geography of their

Egypt and Mesopotamia were both two of the earliest known civilizations. Egypt was built on both sides of the Nile River, while Mesopotamia was built in between Tigris River, and Euphrates River. Their positions permitted water resources that granted fertile land for agriculture. Although both civilizations had their similarities and differences, agriculture was their primary living resource, as well as polytheistic being their primary religion. There were many gods and goddesses worshipped by both civilizations. Therefore, Osiris, Anubis, and Ereshkigal shared similar roles and positions throughout their era.

In Egypt, the government was more authoritative and strict like our government today is on its people where as the Mesopotamians had more of a stress on the place as a city or state would. Differences are also evident in building structures because Mesopotamian art was more simplistic than Egyptian. Egypt excelled in art because it was extremely intricate. Mesopotamia also and contained a stronger literature than the Egyptian culture did. Each culture achieved great art, literature, architecture, and religious customs though their methods and style differ.

First off, Egypt and Mesopotamia had quite a few similar beliefs. The religious systems in these areas had a government system which combined political with religious elements, or a theocracy. In a theocracy, gods are the leaders as opposed to appointed leaders. Their will is carried out by priests or a king. The way this was implemented in Egypt and Mesopotamia differed slightly.

Both of the civilizations were based on agriculture and they both relied on a river to support them from day to day. Egypt relied on the Nile and Mesopotamia relied on the Tigris river for irrigation. They both grew the same types of crops in their land and turned barley into beer. The Mesopotamians specialized in a lot of farming and pottery. While the Egyptians specialized in farming as well as military leadership and domestication. The difference in their farming was Egyptians only farmed for themselves. The animals Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt both domesticated were sheep for wool, and cattle for their meat and horns. The animals the Mesopotamians domesticated were sheep which provided wool, cattle for food, and donkeys for heavy carry. In egypt the animals domesticated were horses instead of donkey, goats and

Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt both had substantial roles in many different aspects. These two civilizations have similarities and differences with each other. The civilizations had different ways they approached their societies, for example the works of women. Along the way these two civilizations also shared differences and similarities with their economic and political aspects.

The differences, and even more so, the similarities between the geography in Mesopotamia, and Ancient Egypt can be found to be very intriguing. Both were near rivers and experienced floods. Both civilizations took advantage of the floods. Both made advances in agriculture due to the rich silt left from the floods.