Similarities And Differences Between Ancient Egypt And China

With governmental machinery that brought political and social order to their territories, effective political and military power enabled them to build regional empires and expand their authority to neighboring people. Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia were two great civilizations among the earliest to emerge in the Middle east and North Africa. Both made significant contributions in areas such as mathematics, medicine, agriculture, astronomy, technology, architecture, art and writing. They had differences as well, including their political structures. Most importantly is that Egyptians were under a centralized government, and the Mesopotamians had self-controlled city state governments.

Mesopotamia, “the Land between Rivers,” was one of the greatest and the oldest ancient civilizations of the world. This civilization flourished around 3000 B.C. on the piece of fertile land, now known as Iraq, between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. Before 1792 B.C., the city-states of ancient Mesopotamia were not united and constantly clashed in turmoil and warfare. In 1792 B.C., King Hammurabi conquered and merged the neighboring city states of ancient Mesopotamia, creating a Babylonian empire and becoming the sixth king of its capitol city, Babylon. During his reign, Hammurabi established law and order and funded irrigation, defense, and religious projects. He personally took care of and governed the administration. In

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.

Hammurabi was the sixth king in the First Dynasty of Babylon in the 18th century BCE. He became a first king of the empire of Babylonia when he conquest Sumerian and Akkadians. He was the creator of the Code of Hammurabi that known as one of the earliest surviving codes of law in recorded history.

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.

The ancient Egyptian and ancient Greek civilizations are two of the oldest known civilizations in our history. The Egyptian civilization, based in the eastern part of North Africa, is believed to have started around 3150 BC and continued till the end of the Pharaoh rule in 31 BC. The ancient Greek civilization is believed to have been in effect from 1100 BC till about 146 BC. Many similarities and differences existed between these two civilizations, as even though they co-existed during a certain timeframe (1150 BC to 146 BC), they were located in different geographical areas. Because of these differences in geography, both these civilizations were subjected to different kinds of exposure, which included contact with other civilization and cultural inheritance. In the political sphere, we find that the Egyptian civilization had stronger emphasis on central authority, while the Greeks had a more decentralized structure, where powers were distributed over the cities and the states as well. As far as art is concerned, we find that the Egyptians were more involved in creating great monumental and gaudy structures, while the Greeks were more involved in creating smaller, more literary pieces of art.

Politically, China and Egypt were similar and different. China and Egypt were similar in their type of government because both civilizations had dynasties. Dynasties were a type of government where a civilization only had one leader who when they died would pass on the title of leader to a family member, usually a son. A great example of this in the Egyptian civilization is the Egyptian ruler, the Pharaoh. In the ancient Egyptian government, Pharaohs were their leaders, and was also a title passed down through the family as the previous one died, in fact, ancient Egypt had 31 different dynasties from 3000 BCE to 332 BCE. Just like Egypt, China was ran by a dynastic government, which was made up of a family that rose to power by claiming that they had a “Mandate From Heaven” which was a belief that the leader or family had their gods approval to rule. China and Egypt were different in how they governed their lands because in Egypt, the Pharaoh was the supreme leader and ruled with a cabinet of advisors and helpers who worked together

Ancient Egypt and Early China, though continents and ideologies apart, both depended upon a king leader to rule over those in their territories. Despite fundamental differences, each society developed a clear social hierarchy with the foundation of advanced civilization being the lesser educated workers or slaves, and being lead by

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

In historic times, multiple Societies of people living and collaborating together in a community is what led to the formation of many Empires. Empires were comprised of similar groups of people that were most often geographically located within close proximities. It is interesting to compare and contrast three societies which became Empires: the Egyptian, Zhou Chinese, and Persian. Each Empire is responsible for contributing to a foundational advancement that has been used in future generations. I will compare the similarities and contrasts of each and explain why I believe the Persian Empire was the most successful Empire.

Babylonia, the earliest advanced civilization in Mesoamerica was brought out of disappear, destruction, and diversity by King Hammurabi. Babylonia remained a productive and profitable empire until the fall shortly after Hammurabi died in 1708 B.C.E. Babylon first appeared in 2305 B.C.E with divided cities, constant wars and conflicts, each controlled by a different set of rulers, governmental regulations, and economic standards. This beautiful, ancient city at the top of the Persian Gulf brought great advancements to future civilizations. These advancements were the result of King Hammurabi and the developments made during his reign. Hammurabi created a set of laws to ensure the success of the empire, which created a stabilized society. Although some say the Hammurabi code was cruel, unfair, created injustice, Hammurabi’s legal code allowed for a tremendous change in the way civilizations structured daily life.

Hammurabi became the ruler of Babylon, which is located in central Mesopotamia, in 1792 B.C. He created a set of laws with punishments known as the Code of Hammurabi. The basis of these laws came from the god Marduk whom Hammurabi said empowered him. The main purpose of the code of Hammurabi was to govern the population and to have a system where people knew their place in society.

When Hammurabi first began ruling Babylonia, it was a much smaller area. Violence and victories led to him having control over most of Mesopotamia. After conquering these new territories, Hammurabi made these laws on a stone stele,

Hammurabi is a notable Amorite king from Babylonia during the time period of 1792-1750 BC. Hammurabi was able to gain control of the lower region of Euphrates Valley during 2050 BC. He gained control of Mesapotamia by being victorious in battles. Hammurabi was so successful, he had control of Babylon, Kish, Sippar and Borsippa under Babylonian control. He made sure he cared for the citizens of the cities and protected them from destructive events. Unfortunately, Hammurabi passed and what he built up, declined. Although the kingdom completely diminished, what Hammurabi did during his existence, lasted.

Throughout the history of Earth, there have been many fascinating developments, the most prominent being the first civilizations, Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. They had many similarities, such as characteristics of early civilizations and social structures, but they also had their differences. The most embossed differences included the divergent geography, prior belief, trade, relations with other civilizations, and politics.