The Egyptian And Mesopotamian Civilizations

Commonly called “The Cradle of Civilization”, Mesopotamia was an ancient region located in the Eastern Mediterranean. Mesopotamia gets its name from its location, Mesopotamia literally translating to “between two rivers” in Greek; those two rivers being the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers.

The political aspects of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia had the most influence on the development of these civilizations, their similar political structure yielded a similar economy but their differences led to unique social norms and differing amounts of religious power. Both governments relied on metal weapons to strengthen their army, trade to keep rulers wealthy, and cities for their capitals. The structure of the government led to the development of strict social classes and greatly diminished peasants’ opportunities for a better life, and the law code reinforced the fact that men were dominant over women. The differences between rulers affected which gods were worshipped in separate parts of the empire, kings claimed to be divine kings in order to keep them in power, and rulers promoted the worship of certain deities that symbolized aspects of their subjects’ life that they deemed important.

Religion in the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia played a significant role in developing and organizing the society. Based on the common belief of the world’s divine creation, both civilizations had regular rituals and ceremonies to honor the supernatural beings. In rituals and ceremonies, the cult was expressed as the manifestation of components that symbolized the divine such as the cult images, temples, and shrines. Since religion was an important aspect in the people’s daily lives, it also had an impact on the ruling system in the two civilizations. Even though Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia have similar foundational beliefs about the cult, different cultic practices imply the difference in the structure and the scope of

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.

Mesopotamian and Egyptian religions shared two key similarities: polytheism and priestly authority. The religions in Mesopotamia and

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

Religion has also played a major role in Mesopotamian culture throughout history. Early religion in Mesopotamia was polytheistic for the majority. They believed that different gods controlled the various forces of nature. Ancient mesopotamia consisted over 2100 different deities that were associated with different city-states within. Ancient sumerian culture believed that afterlife was a land below our world that everyone went to regardless of social status or the actions performed during life. Around the 1st century CE,

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

Early Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations had many similarities and differences. Nonetheless, two distinct cultures developed in each area. Neither civilization existed in isolation but were connected to nearby and more distant civilizations through trade, war, and human relationships. Their cultures were influenced by outside civilizations and impacted others as well. In studying these two civilizations, a small picture of a larger, global network of human interactions is depicted (Strayer 103).

To the Mesopotamians, religion was above all else. They believed that everything, including their own success, came from the gods. Religion gave them an understanding of how nature and society worked. Each city had an individual god who they believed was the real owner of the land. A king was appointed by the gods and every decision he (or a priest) made was only after “consulting the gods” (Ancient, 9).

Mesopotamia was once a vast fertile, green landscape with two mighty rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, running from the north to the south flowing into the Persian Sea. Sandy river valleys covered most of the south and mountain ranges dotted the north. This land was also known as the Fertile Crescent. Mesopotamia is one of the first major of civilization along with others that sprung up along major rivers around the world at approximately the same time. Mesopotamia was home to the Sumerians, who became known as one of the most influential innovators of the ancient world. A couple thousand miles southwest of Mesopotamia lies the land of Egypt. Like Mesopotamia, Egypt had the mighty Nile flowing south to north, pouring into the Mediterranean Sea. Egypt was covered in rich fertile soil near the Nile and surrounded by desolate desert outside of the river valley. Egypt was home to the ancient Egyptians who created the well-known monumental engineering feats, the pyramids. Even though, these two civilizations were close in region, their geographical conditions generated vastly different ways of life, belief systems and governmental systems.

Egyptian and Sumerian religions developed differently because their respective geographic environments caused them to hold divergent views of their lives. Since the geography in Sumer and Egypt was different, they held different views about their gods and beliefs. Even though they were two of the first civilizations, they developed different beliefs about their religion.

In ancient Egypt, Rome and Mesopotamia the connections that the people had with their rulers stemmed from their belief that their ruler had a close connection with their God’s. Because of the vast role that religion played in their lives it was important to show their admiration and appreciation for these royal beings. From a psychological standpoint, through their style, significance, and idealization, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Rome’s depictions of royalty within their artworks functioned as the best way to encompass the impression, and supremacy that a ruler held over their people.

The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt are similar, but different in the way that their belief system ties in to their legal system, social order, and artistic tendencies. In Mesopotamia "individual priest-kings ruled Sumerian city-states as agents of god," (Fiero) under Hammurabi's code, but in Egypt the king, or "Pharaoh," whose word is law, was thought to be a representative or equal of the sun god Amon Ra. "While social order and division of labor that prevailed in Mesopotamia are depicted in the Standard of Ur; the ruler and his officials are in the top register, soldiers and servants below, and victims of war and slaves at the bottom." (Fiero) Mesopotamians built ziggurats as temples, or shrines linking heaven and earth

Sculpture: Very few of their sculptures are around today, but the most famous is the Woman of Willendorf, which is thought to have a connection to fertility.