Egypt And Mesopotamia Similarities

Throughout history, civilizations have ascended into power in areas thriving with natural resources due to the many advantages these areas provide. Two primary examples of this are the first civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt can attribute their rise and prosperity to successful agriculture, proximity to river deltas, and protective physical barriers.

The introduction of 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.

Historians are confident that Mesopotamia and Egypt are the earliest documented civilizations based on archaeological evidence. They are known for their innovations in technology, agriculture, and law, which society uses today. The evidence from various researches by credible historians and archeologist shows that indeed both civilizations had a legal system whether written or not. The Mesopotamian people were tame by rules put forth by Hammurabi – the sixth king of Ancient Babylon – referred to as Hammurabi’s Code by historians. The Mesopotamian government went to great lengths to spell out their laws, and consequences for breaking them, in depth detail; on the other hand, Egypt failed to do the same. While less visible proof of Egyptian law exists today, there is evidence that proves they had a structured and progressive legal society. Even though both societies were advanced, their legal system in many ways contrasted each other.

The most apparent difference was these civilizations’ distinct type of rule. Egypt had pharaohs as their kings or rulers. Pharaohs were seen as holy figures and treated as gods, which allowed ancient Egypt to have a single, unified governing body, combining church and state. Mesopotamia was divided into city-states with a ruler governing each area independently. This led to a more fragmented political structure with recurring clashes and wars. The story of the Mesopotamian era is one of war, feud, and collapse; whereas ancient Egypt was mostly unified, sustaining a stable and well-structured

Thousands of years ago, in separate river valleys, two large settlements met the requirements needed to become two of the four first civilizations, and Egypt and Mesopotamia were formed. They were similar, as they both met the criteria to become a civilization, but they were also different, because geographic factors affected their lives differently. Three reasons why the society, government, and culture of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia were similar and different are: first, while both civilizations were located in a river valley, geographic conditions made sustaining society in Mesopotamia more difficult than in Ancient Egypt. Second, Mesopotamia and Egypt had effective bureaucracies, but the many sustained invasions throughout Ancient Mesopotamian history made the state less stable than Egypt. Lastly, although both religions were polytheistic, unpredictable war and flooding made Mesopotamian culture pessimistic, while Egyptian culture reflected Egypt’s stability.

While describing the cultural among the people of Mesopotamia and Egypt, I learned the differences and similarities in culture. The birth of Mesopotamian Civilization began in c. 3000 B.C.E., in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers of Southwest Asia. Mesopotamia is a Greek word and it means ‘between the rivers.’ In contrast, the birth of Egyptian Civilization began in c. 3100 B.C.E., in a valley of the Nile River in Northeastern Africa. Egypt is a Greek word and it means ‘House of the Spirit of Ptah.’ Since there are several categories in the cultures of the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians, I decided to narrows it to three categories: Religion, Writing, and Geography. The three categories will present the basis to compare cultural differences and similarities.

Both Mesopotamia and Egypt between 3000 and 600 B.C.E had similarities and differences. Both regions differ in regards to social structure concerning gender roles, social classes, and slavery. However Mesopotamia and Egypt shared similar technological developments in regards to mathematics, astronomy, and writing as well as political structure as it regards to taxes, kingship, and the power of religion.

Religion was a big part of both civilizations. The Egyptians had more than 2000 gods and goddesses, as well as the Mesopotamians they also believed in many gods. Both these civilizations had strong beliefs in the gods and goddesses above. Both civilizations believed that the oceans were the beginning of our Earth, these theories were just ancient legends told throughout history within the civilizations, there were many other theories on how the universe became. In Egypt once a person died they would cut the body open and take out all their

Mesopotamia and Egypt had many similarities and differences. Two similarities are their patriarchal societies and their use of metallurgy to produce tools and weapons. Two differences were the different styles of written language and the rule of kings in Mesopotamia verses the rule of pharaohs in Egypt. Mesopotamia and Egypt both used a patriarchal society that vested public and private authority in adult men. For instance, men not only held high positions in government, but also controlled household affairs.

Mesopotamia and Egypt. Great rivers play a very crucial role in the development of these civilizations. Egypt was developed in the long narrow strip of river of Nile. These rivers provide two advantages to an emerging civilization. First, they are the source and the main provider of water for field irrigation, and second, the river is the easiest transportation method with the absence of paved road.

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.

Humans during their history have passed through different civilizations. These civilizations are developed based on their different ideologies or religions. Two of the eldest civilizations in our human history are Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations. Despite that they have lived and developed at the same period of time as well as geographically are located very close to each other; we can still say that they were different in their ideologies about religion. Therefore, in this essay I will discuss the differences in their religion by elaborating their view about the life after death, kings (Pharaohs) as gods, as well as similarities that they have between their gods, but still with some differences about how their gods created this world.

In contrast to the Mesopotamians, they felt their gods were loving guardians over the people. In addition, the Egyptians experienced abundant harvest from their fertile lands next to the Nile River, which could have been seen as blessings from the gods. The Mesopotamians also lived near water that made the land fertile but in contrast to the Egyptians, the Mesopotamians experienced catastrophic flooding which led to hunger and suffering and could have been seen as a curse from the gods.

As both civilizations existed within a close time period of one another, and are commonly studied together, it is fairly easy to observe the similarities between Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultures. On the contrary, it is also quite simple to see the differences between these two ancient civilizations, despite the fact that the nearly co-existed. One example that showcases the similarities between these civilizations is seen when looking focusedly at each from an environmental standpoint. It is clear they hold twin like qualities in that both were located near desert expanses.

Roots of Western civilization are found in the Middle East, which is Turkey, Palestine, and Mesopotamia. In Greek Mesopotamia means the land between two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates in today’s Iraq. Mesopotamia was a collection of assorted cultures who were bonded by their script, their gods, and their attitude towards women. Mesopotamia is known as the “cradle of civilization” because of the rise of the city as we recognize that entity today and the invention of writing. Egypt is often referred to as the “gift of the Nile” because it is located in the largest and driest desert in the world, the Sahara. Egypt had a peaceful and continuous development compared to other ancient civilizations. Isolation kept foreign influences and ideas from distorting their cultural balance and they were free from foreign invasion for most of their history. Egypt was a unified country with one people, one language, and one religion. The Mesopotamian and the Egyptian civilization are very similar yet different in their own ways.