World Civilizations: Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece

From 1567 to 330 B.C. humanity experienced many subsequent development as well as decline in its civilizations. Among these events emerged three colossal empires that had shaken the world and forever changed the course of human history. The Egyptian, Assyrian, and Persian Empires have been instrumental in influencing technology, religion, and ideas throughout the world. Various factors have contributed to the success and downfall of these giants. Each of the “World Powers” have similarities as well as distinctions in its government form and organization, religion, and economy that contributed to their triumph.

The Ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamia, and Greeks were some of the oldest complex societies, although similar in many aspects. Mesopotamia is located in the Fertile Crescent, land in and between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers usually known as modern day Iraq and Eastern Syria.(24) In Egypt, the Nile River creates a fertile valley which is rich in nutrients and essential to their survival. The Nile flows from Burundi, slightly south of the equator eventually traveling through Egypt and into the Mediterranean. Ancient Greece is situated very closely to Egypt so trading was easy between them. How are these three civilizations comparable and different?

The Hebrew Flood story of Noah and his obligation to preserve man kind after God had punished all living creatures for their inequities parallels The Epic of Gilgamesh in several ways. Even though these two compilations are passed on orally at different times in history the similarities and differences invoke deliberation when these stories are compared. Numerous underlining themes are illustrated throughout each story. Humans are guilty of transgressions and must be punished, God or Gods send a flood as punishment to destroy this evil race, a person is selected by the gods to build a craft that will withstand the flood and allow this person to create a new race. An

Two cultures, Mesopotamians and Hebrew, despite being separated through time and geography, are very similar. Among these similarities were their flood stories. Both cultures felt they had displeased their God or gods, though either sin or clamor, and in anger these deities decided to flood and kill all of humankind. In both cases, the God or gods took pity on a single family, allowing them to live and prosper. Both Noah and Utnapishtim were instructed to take all animals on the boat. In the case of the Hebrews, there was a specific number of each animal that should be taken on the boat. This number was seven. The Mesopotamians emphasized this same number, but in relation to how long it rained. Obviously the dove is a sacred bird in both cultures

Then Ea randomly selects one man (Utanapishtim) and his wife to survive the flood and repopulate the Earth. This part of the epic is countered by the biblical story of the flood. God is hurt, pained in His heart, about how His creation, man, has turned their back on their creator. Enlil was not even the god who had created man. He just wanted to destroy mankind because he felt like it “For [Enlil], irrationally, brought on the flood” (11. 174). God made a promise to never destroy the earth by flood again. He even made a sign so that we know His promise still stands today. “And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.’” (Genesis

Some ancient civilization depend on rivers for their agriculture like Mesopotamian, Egypt, India, and China. Neolithic Mesopotamian and Chinese civilization learned to adjust to climate by using a systematic agriculture of farming and herding, living sedentary and developing a pottery, allowing the preparation and storing food and water. Over time other civilization such Indus Valley from India learned to predict a flooding of the river and use it to their benefit. Unlike the Canaanites society from Egypt in which believed to sacrifice an infant and child in the name of the earth god(Baalim)and goddess(Baalot) to ensure a prosperous harvest.

Most people believe that all ancient civilizations were the same: they all lived with a steadfast loyalty to their one and only king that ruled all of the lands, civilizations only achievements were monumental buildings, and they vacuously attacked neighboring societies to gain more land for millennia. While some of this knowledge is true to an extent, civilizations accomplished an abundance more than some realize. Some fail to register that early civilizations are unique from each other. Egypt and Mesopotamia were two distinct civilizations. Despite similarities such as both being river civilizations, Egypt and Mesopotamia contrasted with each other in the areas of, type of ruling, religion, and

The intrigue of The Mayans has always existed through the telling of their ritualistic practices or their calendar, but the fall of such an advanced civilization is perhaps the most intriguing story of all.To understand what causes great civilizations, it is vital to note the process of collapse in other civilizations, such as the great Roman Empire. Differences in time period, geographical landscapes, and other circumstances mean no direct correlations are possible, but the outstanding point of similarity is that no single factor accounts for a large civilization 's collapse. One similarity between these two civilizations is the process which brought the downfall of other empires. This can be the result of the general disregard of rulers for the resources at their disposal and the long-term welfare of the people they ruled. The period prior to the Maya collapse is often described through extravagant building projects, unproductive wars, and the overexploitation of natural resources, especially land, forests, and water. In the past, historians have concluded that the fall of the Maya civilization was caused by warfare, drought, and disease. Writers of other disciplines. have used the Mayans to write about disasters, civil strife, and even science fiction. With some of these causes holding true, there is still a very fundamental factor missing in the landscape of the ancient Maya which they could not ultimately overcome. The Maya civilization’s downfall ultimately can be

These emerging civilizations were much larger than the earlier ones of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley and Shang China – displaying more complex political, economic, cultural, and military organization. All civilizations traded with others and many conquered new territories. Classical civilizations include those such as Zhou and Han China, the Gupta Empire in India, and the Mediterranean civilizations of Greece and Rome.

Humanity has begun to decline. The gods find mankind to be overpopulated, noisy, and chaotic. Enlil listens to the noise of the humans and concludes that they are too clamorous. Thus, he causes a massive drought. (Atrahasis II; IV, 22) 600 more years pass and Enlil calls the Annuna[ki] (celestial gods) to order and enlists the help Enki to create a flood. Enki struggles to commit to the task of bringing about an apocalyptic flood and in turn, instructs Atrahasis to construct an arc as a means of escaping the flood (sparing him only, despite Enlil's rage). This draws a parallel to the state of chaos in the Book of Enoch, as well as the actual flood in

Before the beginning of history, people from across the land gradually developed numerous cultures, each unique in some ways while the same time having features in common. Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Israel are all important to the history of the world because of religious, social, political and economic development.

All three civilizations had distinct differences and similarities. For example Mesopotamia Egypt and Indus Valley all developed along river systems. The river systems assured an adequate water supply for agriculture They all developed political structures for organization of labor to provide irrigation systems. . Indus valley had better access to metal than egyptians and mesopotamians. All three civilizations developed architectural techniques for building large structures. Egyptian women appear to have enjoyed more equality in society than did Mesopotamian women

Can you identify key cultural themes expressed through the myths and poems of Mesopotamia and Egypt? How do the mythopoeic system of thought and their respective environments establish those themes?

Like the Aegean civilizations, early Greek sculpture was inspired by Egyptian and Near Eastern art. Greek artists created a new way of depicting the human form, focusing on proportions and idealized perfection of features. The figures of stone and bronze produced in this time period have become the most recognizable pieces of art ever created.

The Greek and Roman Civilizations were quite similar in their Art, their Women’s Rights, and