Egypt and Sumer are both ancient civilizations that have flourished in the beginning of time, they have similarities but also many differences. Egypt, settled right on the Nile River, began as two separate regions: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Oddly enough, Upper Egypt is, in fact, below Lower Egypt; but when a king named Narmer took over, he united them together into a single kingdom, which lasted over a period of 3,000 years. On the other hand, the ancient civilization Sumer was settled on two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Sumer, a little like the way Egypt was, is made up of city-states; these cities developed governments of their own, each with its own rulers. What makes these two civilizations similar and different is their …show more content…
Egypt and Sumer were both polytheisic, which means there civilizations believed in more than one god. The way they worshiped their gods in Sumer is they build ziggurats. This ziggurats were temple in the center of the cities and had multiple purposes: they stored things there, was a conducter of trade, sacrifices and a center for worship. Pyramids were similar to these ziggurats as they were both monuents of religious belief. Egyptian pyramids were tombs for pharaohs and the royal family; they were filled with gifts so that pharaohs could get to the afterlife. Another similarity is that their religions are used to keep order in there huge civilizations. Both Sumer and Egypt wanted to please their gods; Sumerians thought the gods hated them and they were just the gods servants so that wanted to make them happy by doing good deeds. Egyptians wanted to get to the afterlife, if they did not want to have their heart eaten they had to live a sinless life. Both believed that if they did anything bad, the gods will punish them and refuse them from the afterlife. They also used the gods as a way to understant nature and how the world works; they need answers to life and believing in gods was their own way to do this. The last similarity is that religion was their government. The priests in Sumer first ruled and the Egyptians saw their rulers, the pharaohs as gods. Egypt …show more content…
They are both polytheistic, had monuments for their religions, used religion to keep order in their civilizations, and also their religion was part of their governement. Yet, they were quite different with their views on the afterlife; Sumer believed in no afterlife, where there is no joy and everything is dim, dismal, and gloomy. Egypt believes in a beautiful and happy afterlife, but your heart has to weigh less than a feather to get there. All of their differences goes back to geography: Sumer’s rivers flood unexpectantly, their gods hate them so they have no afterlife and Egypt’s river is predictable, with death being something to celebrate to go to the wonderful afterlife. Ancient Egypt and Sumer, while having similarities and differences, were both able to thrive and progress impressively in the time before
Egyptian geography was more promising than that of the Sumerians. The land on both sides of the Nile was very fertile, due to annual flooding. The flooding was very predictable which helped the Egyptians see the universe as a well ordered system. This resulted in an early sense of nationalism among the Egyptians, which was very different from that of the Sumerian civilization.
Egypt and Mesopotamia both had their similarities of political and social structures in their societies. One similarity of the social structure of both civilizations is that at the bottom of their social class were slaves and peasants. Both societies had this in their social class. Another similarity is both civilizations had male dominance, which turned to the agriculture revolution, which degraded women because of decreased dependency and their lack of labor skills. This revolution
The Egyptian and Mesopotamian religion and society were similar, but their government system was different. The religions in Egypt and Mesopotamia were similar because both were polytheistic, had beliefs of an afterlife, as well as priests who were part of the upper levels of the social hierarchy. Social similarities between Egypt and Mesopotamia included: rigid social structure, dependence on slavery, and authoritative religious structure. However, the system of government was different because Egyptian society was governed by a theocratic monarchy, while Mesopotamia was ruled by a traditional monarchy.
The first category of culture is religion. There were several similarities between the Mesopotamians and Egyptians. The Mesopotamians and Egyptians had their own religion and beliefs. Both were polytheistic, meaning they believed in numerous gods or goddesses instead of one god or goddess. There were also several differences between the Mesopotamian and Egyptians. While the Mesopotamians and Egyptians worshiped thousands of deities, there were four main essential deities for the Mesopotamians: An, Enlil, Enki, and Ninhursaga. An was the god of heaven. Enlil was the god of wind and became the power of energy, force, and authority on the earth. Enki was the god of
Describe the ancient Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations in terms of political structure, religion, society, and culture. Account for the similarities and differences between them.
The Egyptians were ruled by their pharos, which were their gods. The pharos could identify themselves with gods whom they please to be. There were many gods, like the son god and the sky god. The people honored these gods by building them temples. In other words, the people were very fond of the gods (Humanities, 18). In egypt, church and state were not separated, meaning that all their rules and regulations came from their gods. All their religion and governing was decided based on each other (Messner 8-30-2017). However, this was not something that was seen as negative to the Egyptians. The Egyptians were very thankful to their gods because their gods were kind to them. The promise of immortality and how much better the after life would be, encouraged the Egyptians (Humanities, 18). In contrast, the Sumerians had a more negative outlook to human existence because of the kind of treatment they received from their gods.
A difference between both myths however was the fact that the Sumerians had a different god for each city as well as a god for each part of the Earth, and the Egyptians had one God, who made smaller gods and goddesses. The gods and goddesses of Egypt were as follows: Khepera at dawn, Re at noon and Atum in the evening, the gods of the sun. Shu, the god of wind. Tefnut, the god of rain. Geb, the Earth God. The goddess Nut, who was the sky
The /Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations developed many differences. The geography, culture, and religion are all different and play a huge role in history.
Most societies that developed in ancient civilizations were centered around their belief systems. The Egyptians and the Mesopotamians were no different in this sense. Both civilizations were polytheistic and built elaborate temples to praise their gods. Additionally, the leaders in both regions were believed to be related to the gods because of the great power they held and the wealth under their control. However, the Mesopotamians had a pessimistic outlook on life because of the unpredictability of their environment. The Egyptians, on the other hand, had an optimistic outlook because the Nile River inundated their region regularly, which could be predicted by the stars. The similarities and differences in the religions of these two
Known as one of the earliest civilizations, Mesopotamia and Egypt both share set amounts of similarities along with a share of striking distinctions. Environmentally, these two civilizations were formed in similar surroundings, yet their weather patterns show distinctions. Politically, both governments derived from a monarch, yet their laws and punishments distinguished the two’s court systems. Economically, they both shared prosperous success in similar manners. Socially, although the two lands followed a hierarchy, the value of women contrasted. Culturally, they both believed in a higher order of creation; however, their views of them were polar opposites. Intellectually, these two societies developed skilled abilities and creations that
The last main similarity is that each god had their own group of chosen people. The Egyptian idol’s chosen people were, not surprisingly, the Egyptians. The gods provided for 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.
Religions played an important role in both Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations. It allowed people to worship Gods who they believed to ensure good lives. However, both civilizations did not use judge morality. Sumerians believed that Gods give them good living condition rather than judge it. Sumerian religion was created from myths and ritual prayers. Sumerians were “literal servants” and obey to the Gods. They offered prayers, gifts to the gods and Gods blessed people with good condition. Gods of Sumerians were Heaven creating of day and night, The Great Above making up of the space between the sky and the earth, and The Great Below where people go after death. Like Sumerian, Egypt religion was also created from myths along with traditions.
Egyptian religious beliefs shared some similarities with Mesopotamian beliefs, but differenced in many important ways. Egyptians had numerous explanations for the formation of the
Another governmental similarity would be that they both consisted of a lot of city-states in Mesopotamia. Both civilizations fell apart but made a comeback which led to eventual downfall again. Sumer’s destruction was caused by the extreme drought, which as we know, left salt deposits that destroyed the crops in Sumer, after that, it got conquered by the Akkadians. Time later, Sumerians made a comeback, taking back their Land, expelling the invaders, but that did not last long since Amorites came and invaded the region.