Mesopotamia And Egypt Similarities

Both civilizations excelled at feeding and supporting large populations of people. This was done largely because both had techniques that allowed them to excel in farming and agriculture. Mesopotamia had fertile valleys

Each Mesopotamian city states worshiped local gods and spirits. If they were part of a large kingdom or Empire, then they might be forced to worship the religion of the state but usually kept local beliefs intact. This is primarily because of how fragmented ancient Mesopotamia used to be. Egyptian Polytheism differs a lot from Mesopotamian Animism and Polytheism in several ways. The Egyptian’s worshiped the state religion alone and did not have separate local religions as often. The rough geography most likely helped with this along with the unity of Egypt. The ziggurats of Mesopotamia and the various monuments of Egypt have similarities and seemingly different functions. The Mesopotamians built ziggurats as temples, but the monuments of Egypt have various roles including for burial which reflects another major religious difference, the Egyptians believed in an afterlife which resulted in many artifacts preserved helping historians know more about their culture, not what was intended, but useful later

Egypt and Mesopotamia both had differences of their political and social structures. Egypt had more of authorial government, where one head person was in charge which in this case was the pharaoh, which was the head on Egypt social class, as well as leader of his society. The Pharaoh was basically a

Egypt had pharaohs that ran Egypt while on the other hand, Mesopotamia’s early government had temple priests that controlled everything. While Egypt was divided into separately functioning upper Egypt and lower Egypt that was ruled by separate kings , Mesopotamia was divided into city states that functioned as its own independent country with the help of the priests as the mesopotamian reading states. The people in ancient Egypt viewed the pharaoh as an equivalent to the god, on the other hand Mesopotamia viewed their Priests as equal to the king and someone that was admired by the Gods. The Egyptians believed the Pharaohs were the ones that caused crops to grow and the sun to rise everyday. This was different from Mesopotamia as They believed everything that was happened was influenced by God including their ruler who represented God in Mesopotamia. A similarity both countries had according to the text was their control over the people as both the Mesopotamian and Egyptian rulers had massive control over their fellow people as they were viewed in a holy

Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, both had a similar climate. Located in river valleys or areas of flat land that has a river running through it. Yearly it would flood and once the water receded, it would leave behind fertile soil that was great for planting.The rivers provided food, soil, water, and even transportation.

The Egyptians believed that their pharaohs were the reincarnation of the sun god Re, the chief god who held the most power of all of the gods. This was believed because the pharaohs had immense power, governed huge areas of lands, and controlled vast resources such as gold and slaves. The pharaohs also elevated their status by building huge structures to the gods that seemed to transcend their earthly life, such as the pyramids and temples. The pharaohs used ordinary Egyptians to build the pyramids, not slaves, because the Egyptians wanted to please the god king so they would be guaranteed a place in the afterlife. The pharaohs also conquered thousands of square miles of land through military victories which seemed almost impossible for mere mortals. Similarly, the Mesopotamian kings were believed to be the sons of gods. The god the kings were related to depended on the city state’s main god, which was usually Anu. The king was also the chief priest which continued the relationship, keeping them close to the gods. The kings took on massive public works projects as well as military conquests which further cemented this belief. Because of the importance of the gods to these societies, their leaders were raised to a “godly” status as a reflection of their significance and as a result of their many accomplishments, which also gave the people a more tangible connection to the gods.

In the beginning Egypt was divided into two parts governed by different rulers. The Unification of the lower and upper kingdoms of Egypt marked the beginning of the Archaic period. The unification of Egypt was significant in the longevity of this civilization to ensure the free flow of traffic on the Nile. The Kingdom of Egypt was ruled by one ruler called the Pharaoh that ruled the land as the chief priest. In this civilization there was no separation of religion and politics in their lives. Both Mesopotamia and Egypt were at one time ruled by kings that derived their power from the gods and were viewed as divine.

Both regions taxed the people and punished those who could not pay. Mesopotamia forced citizens unable to pay taxes into slavery to pay their debts. Those greatly burdened from taxes in Egypt sometimes fled into the desert. Both civilizations had kings residing over them. The Egyptian king was called a pharaoh and they were believed to be a link to the gods. Mesopotamia had kings the lugal and kept order in the civilization. Hammurabi is a memorable king or lugal, because of his relentless military efforts and severe punishments. Religion maintained great amounts of power in influence in both Mesopotamia and Egypt. The priests in Mesopotamia were in the same social class as the king and temples called ziggurats were built devoted to the gods. In Egypt, the pharaoh was reveled for his connection to the gods and elaborate burials for constructed to help him in the afterlife. The government required the people to do service, which is how the great pyramids were constructed. Temples were also created for the gods, like in Mesopotamia. The regions shared many similarities in the political structure of the

Religion was an important factor in the everyday lives of Mesopotamians and ancient Egyptians. Both civilizations were polytheistic which meant they worshiped multiple gods. Many elaborate temples were built to praise them. The leaders in both regions were believed to be related to the gods because of the great power they held and wealth under their control. Mesopotamians and ancient Egyptians believed in the afterlife. When people died, they were buried with items to take along.

Both Egyptians and Mesopotamians believed that worshiping their gods was the primary purpose of life. They would pray for at least 3 hours a day, and donate up to half of their life savings, to the gods. Egypt and Mesopotamia both had a belief in afterlife (though Egypt’s belief in afterlife was stronger than Mesopotamia), and were controlled by the principle of ma’at. The main similarity between the two civilizations is they both believed in many Gods, and that there god’s took form in powers of

Religion between Mesopotamia and Egypt were fairly similar. They both were polytheistic, which means they worship more than one god. Mesopotamian religion saw humans as the servants of the gods, who had to be appeased for protection. Egyptians believed that the gods created all humans but were also controlled by the principle of order. Unlike followers of Mesopotamian religion, the Egyptians had a strong belief in the afterlife, which they expressed by building elaborate tombs such as the pyramids that were used to place pharaohs in after they had passed away.

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.

The Egyptians and Mesopotamian people shared many similarities and differences. These early civilizations revealed the dependency on geography, religion, and their leaders. Accordingly, geography defined each societies physical, social, and religious organizations. In the egyptians civilization they could expect when the river would rise and fall unlike Mesopotamia, they did not know when a flood would happen.

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

The two civilizations were centered around rivers with Mesopotamia being founded between the Tigris and the Euphrates and Egypt being centered around the Nile. Both civilizations utilized a sort of irrigation system to expand their community outwards from the rivers as well. The construction of canals was a major benefactor in monitoring flooding in each civilization and a system of dikes and dams defined the land in a checkered layout of basins, which allowed agriculture to flourish. Yet, the economy in reference to trade in each civilization was more prominent in Mesopotamia than in Egypt. Due to the openness of the land in Mesopotamia in comparison to Egypt, the Mesopotamians were better able to expand their civilization and market.