How Did Mesopotamia Affect Economy

In Egypt specialized labor was a feature to societies in the southern part of the Nile River valley, Egyptian and Nubian lands build patriarchal societies that placed authority in the hands of adult males. The Egyptian economy was really productive because of it’s location and prosperity of the location, Egypt was a center of trade, linking lands in southwest Asia, the eastern Mediterranean, and sub Saharan Africa. The Nile allowed Egyptians to travel back and forth due to the winds, all you needed to do is change your sail. Mesopotamia is known as the fertile crescent. There was much farming in ancient Mesopotamia. Farmers would dig trenches from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to keep their soil moist. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers were very important in Ancient Mesopotamia,

The geography is the biggest influence of culture and religion. The geography of Egypt and Mesopotamia are different in several ways. The geography of Egypt is naturally good for agriculture. The Nile river floods in a pattern that is useful for farmers and predictable unlike the Tigris or Euphrates rivers which flood randomly due to the mountains in the north. The Nile river also flows in the opposite direction of the wind towards the Mediterranean. Travelling the river is easy because of this and benefited the trade and economy of Egypt. The Egyptian empire stretched not far from the Nile due to the desert surrounding

There were four main ancient River Valley civilizations: the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia, the Nile River of Egypt, the Indus River of India, and the Yellow River of China. These civilizations showed specific similarities and contrasting differences. Many of these differences and similarities showed up in the three categories of the technological advances, the types of government, and the geography of the civilization. Two civilizations that are very interesting to delve deeper into and study the contrasting societies are China and Egypt. Since China and Egypt were both isolated from the outside, they developed with a strong focus on technology and learning with strong governments to hold the nations together.

The ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt develop into successful civilizations by having floods from the nile river that provided water, food and fertile area in the middle of the desert as document 1 states. In document 2 it says that they also had rivers that provided many resources such as transportation, trade as well as plants, the rivers were surrounded by deserts.

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.

Even though both prospered after a devastating drought, they both had different approaches in which they traded goods. I think that the approach, Egypt took, made it more unified than Mesopotamia. One reason is that, according to them, they wanted nice things to put into their tombs to use in the afterlife. The nice things were like furniture, and coffins that were constructed from wood that was imported in from Phoenicia. (text, 107) A second reason is that when ever the Egyptians colonized a new area they would build stationed forts to broaden trade routes. (text, 107) Plus, in Egypt, they traded goods for goods. (text, 107) In contrast, I believe that most of Mesopotamia’s businessmen were concerned with just getting the money and nothing else, because money was so much easier to transport than heavy loads that were being traded. (lecture, Dr. Kaz , Feb 9th 2009) When Mesopotamia recovered from the

I chose the Mesopotamia and the Nile River Valley. These two civilizations are two of the most favorable ancient civilizations. Although these civilizations are similar in many ways, the small, but impacting differences it what makes these two civilizations stand out the most. The Nile River Valley was located in northern Africa in a country called Egypt. Mesopotamia was located in modern day Iraq, Iran, Syria, Kuwait, and parts of Turkey. The origin of Mesopotamia comes from the meaning “between two rivers.” The land is between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Defining moments for human civilization began within these two.

The first topic of comparison is the prospect of culture and environment in each society. Due to cultural diffusion amongst the civilizations, except geographically isolated China, among other factors, it can be deduced that the civilizations had many similar practices. However, each society boasted distinctive qualities. Early Mesopotamia, known by the moniker of “the land between the rivers,” was a fertile plain settled near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers located in the Fertile Crescent. All of the river valley civilizations settled near a river. Egypt settled near the Nile; the Indus Valley

One of the cultures of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia developed into successful civilizations is by their water sources. In document 1, the river Nile in Egypt flooded every year, which gave the land around it soft fertile ground, great for planting crops. Most people lived near the river. In document 2, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which was also called the Fertile Crescent, provided food, transportation, and plants. They were especially populated since the area had deserts and mountains. Another reason is their rulers. As stated in document 3, the ancient Egyptian looked at their ruler, the pharaoh, as one of their gods in a human form, serving them well and deciding what’s best for the country. Quoting document 4, the people of Mesopotamia

Since the Egyptians were surrounded by natural barriers, it was hard to trade to nearby civilizations, because there was none nearby. Also, it was hard to travel by foot because of the barriers, so the Nile provided great

In the first civilization, both Mesopotamia and Egypt relied on a hunter-gatherer economic system, during that time, every country in the world strived on it. Mesopotamia had rich soil for agriculture, but experiences floods. For the Mesopotamians, these floods would destroy major cities, but for the Egyptians it would keep the soil rich all year long without the damage that the Mesopotamians had experienced.

The economic changes of the Golden Age was the Trading Network. The Trading Network helped spread mainly religion, culture, and technology. The Trading Network made the Islam wealthy. Which was why the Trading Post was apart of the Golden Age.

The Nile River had the natural irrigation. The society was hierarchical, but less centralized, less urbanized. Egypt in compared to Mesopotamian they were very stable, optimistic and conservative, far less emphasis on slavery.

The first economic system was heavily influenced by beer. Both Mesopotamians and Egyptians used beer as a form of payment. For example, the Sumerians paid women and children, in the form of beer, for working at the temple. In addition, beer was issued as a bonus for government worker. Egyptians used bread similarly, paying workers who build pyramids, in the form of beer (37). This shows, beer was significant because it established one of the first currencies within the ancient civilization. Eventually, beer became ostracized and no longer was considered an acceptable form of payment rather a drink for the common fold. In contrast, Wine was not a drink that was often used for direct payment in the Greek and Roman culture, but it was associated

Trade is more important than conquest because when an area is thriving in trade people will want to control that land and try to conquer it. Mesopotamia is successful in trade because of the location. The land is fertile and flat. This means the land is easy to access, which is great for trading. The Sumerians traveled and traded bringing new ideas back and improving on older ideas. They also learned from experience. The land was prone to unpredictable flooding and they adapted and made irrigation and drainage systems. People who want power want the best location they can get with the most potential for trading. In Mesopotamia, Sargon ruled for a while and then the Hittites, the Assyrians, and eventually the Persians ruled the Mesopotamia area.