Prehistoric Mesopotamian And Egyptian Civilization Summary

Double pieces that have lasted over thousands of ages to offer scholars with references to human existence during the Paleolithic period are the Woman of Willendorf figure and the Lion Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel. Each figure is condensed with amazing features, even though they are not thorough to the level of realism. The Woman of Willendorf is one of the best instances of the small ‘Venuses’ that have been uncovered meaning that her persistence was a part of a ethnic set of views about women and fertility. The Lion Man, is a more exclusive artifact that recounts to the complex figures that are recognized from other cultures within which the related mythologies that have been revealed. The Lion Man has no known mythology that is obtainable in known written history to this day. The two pieces propose the unknown about the Paleolithic era, recognizing a sagacity of religion and rituals that were part of the lives of those who lived during that era and enlightening recent scholars on some aspects of the people during that time.

When you look back in history to the development and the contributions of both the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations, you see that there was a lot accomplished, as well as a lot created. The earliest forms of writing developed in Mesopotamia, while Egypt was referred to the “Gift of the Nile” by traveler Herodotus (McKay,42). Development of cities was another major marker, especially in the “old world”, of how people eventually determined civilizations and what they represented. According to McKay, civilizations were determined by people who considered themselves more “civilized”, urban people mostly. Made up of cities, written rules of law, and social justice codes, Mesopotamia and Egypt would develop into two of the largest civilizations in history.

Culture is the characteristics of a group of people defined by language, cuisine, religion social habits music and art. There are many different types of culture including western culture, eastern culture, African culture and many more. Culture is influenced by the groups of people that make up the country (Zimmermann, 2012). The term culture was first used by an English Anthropologist named Edward B. Tyler. It was first mentioned in 1871 in his book named ‘Primitive Culture’. He stated that culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. Since then culture is the main focus of anthropology.

Ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes referred to as the “Cradle of Civilization”, was located in the Fertile Crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, bringing the Greek origin of its name, of “land between rivers”. There were two very different regions in ancient Mesopotamia:

People today can look at the cave art or even the sculptures and see how they lived and interpreted things. And they can appreciate the creations that were left. As well as the evidence left helps scholars interpret what they were and then explain to today’s world about what happened and how people lived a million years ago. I relate to the account by Nisa because I am a female and some of the beliefs she had in the San society are the same beliefs we have in today’s world.

Although Egypt and Mesopotamia were both early agricultural societies built upon the water provided by the major rivers which sustained them, they exhibited important differences as a consequence of the different physical environments in which they developed. In this paper I will first focus on what I consider to be the major aspects of these differences in environment and then explore the consequences of these differences in their religious beliefs, political organization and commercial practices.

1) Paleolithic Age is a period in history where humans were nomadic hunters and gatherers. An example of this period is when humans had created stone and other tools during the Paleolithic Age.

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.

The first is the foraging era, the second in the agrarian era, and the third is the modern era. According to David Christian,"The past is seamless, fluid, and continuous.There are few natural breaks, so any attempt to divide the past into neat chronological chunks must be artificial. Periodization always does violence to the complexity of the past, and even the most conscientious attempts at dividing up the past involve some distortion." (p.__). Even though Christians scheme of periodization isn't perfect, it is the most efficient way of periodization, as "It will sacrifice important details to sketch out the larger patterns." (p.__). One of the things that Christian did to keep the story fluid and continuous was describing the transition period between areas. The foraging era was the longest of the three eras. It started with the first appearance of humans in 250,000 years ago in East Africa . They hunted for food and gathered all of their supplies. Their lifestyle left little room for innovation. As human populations increased, foragers were forced to either finder more efficient ways of getting food out of a certain area or they had to migrate. "Overpopulation would have posed a clear choice: migrate or intensify."(p.29). This was the birth of the agrarian era. Agrarian societies were able to support more people, so villages began to form. As the societies got bigger and more powerful, they

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

Ancient Mesopotamia is considered the cradle of civilization,because the citizens of this culture developed the government,agriculture,language,religion,

According to the History of Art, no one knew of the existence of prehistoric cave paintings until one day in 1879, when a young girl, exploring with her father in Altamira in Northern Spain, crawled through a small opening in the ground and found herself in chamber whose ceiling was covered with painted animals. Her father, a lawyer and amateur archeologist, searched the rest of the cave, and told authorities about the remarkable discovery, and published his findings the following. There is no specific meaning of why people painted such dramatic imaginary on the walls of caves, but many believe that people create art for the “sheer love of beauty”. However, scientist now believes that the effort that was put in to creating those beautiful paintings were more than just a “simple visual pleasure”.

Culture is a way of life. It can be defined as a group of people linked by geographical location, ethnicity, gender or age. Culture can be reflected through language, clothing, food, behavior, spirituality and traditions. The behavioral patterns developed through culture are difficult to change.

Culture can be defined as “the sum total of the beliefs, rules, techniques, institutions, and artifacts that characterize human populations” or “the collective programming of the mind.

The divide between the Paleolithic period and the Neolithic period could not be greater. However, both time periods rely on each-others advancements for the ultimate development of art, and architecture. The Paleolithic time period is divided into three sections, lower, middle and upper. This time period is essentially the beginning of human control over the environment. Humans were now beginning to leave their mark, so-to-speak. During this time period, humans relied on hunting, fishing, and farming for their survival, they began drawing in caves at this time. Cave art was the ancient version of murals. The art depicted what the ancient culture valued most, life. During this time period, creation was important and essential. Artists depicted everyday life and animals because that is what they depended on for their livelihood.