Ancient Egypt vs. Mesopotamia - Comparative Essay

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.

Although Mesopotamia and Egypt have some things in common, they are different in many ways. Mesopotamia did not have as many people as Egypt did. Also, Egypt had specialized workers that are called the wealthy landowners. Mesopotamia did not have any specialized workers that were wealthy. Mesopotamia and Egypt had different types of specialized workers.

Civilization. The word “civilization” comes from the Latin term for “city.” The first civilizations were the river-valley civilizations, so-called because they all developed alongside major rivers to secure an adequate water supply for agricultural production. 2 of the greatest river-valley civilizations were Mesopotamia and Egypt. All though they both supported having a patriarchal leader or king, Egypt had a strong, centralized government, whereas Mesopotamia was decentralized, and built based on small city-states operating independently.

According to the document 1, Egyptian civilizations began close to the Nile River because the Nile provided a fetile area in the middle of a dessert located near Africa, these fetile could be use for soil for the plants and crops to grow food and farming. The Nile also beneficials to the people not only for rich soil, but also for the transportation to get from one destination to another and also for trade, which allow Egypt to be open for sharing resources from other area around the world. According the document 2, Mesopotamia are located in Fertile Creasant area, which have lots of river to provide civilization food, transportation, as well as plants. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers located in Fertile Creasant are also essential to the survival of people and the Nile river proves how geographic luck play the big role in both civilizations to be

Around seven thousand years ago there existed two main civilizations: Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, and Ancient Egypt along the Nile. Even though Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt were both advanced civilizations they had many differences such as their government, religion, as well as their trade and society. Mesopotamian culture thought negatively about its gods, and had conflict, cultural diffusion, and a decentralized government while Ancient Egypt thought highly of its gods, had a centralized and united government and civilization, and did not trade with other nations. These distinctions were due in part to Mesopotamia’s unpredictable flooding, lack of borders, and its close proximity to three

The ancient civilizations that inhabited Mesopotamia mark some of the first times where humans formed complex societies. Mesopotamia was located in the Fertile Crescent in modern day Iraq, surrounded on both sides by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which were its source of life. Both rivers flooded irregularly, and the black silt deposited by the flooding made the land extremely suitable for farming. Aside from the two rivers, Mesopotamia did not have any other natural barriers like mountains or deserts to protect itself from invaders. Ancient Egypt, another civilization that flourished about the same time, was centered around the Nile River Valley and Delta. The area next to the river was lush and well-watered due to predictable flooding. Most of the people during this era lived close to the river and centered their life around it. The other parts of Egypt were the Sinai Peninsula, which connected to the Arabian Peninsula; the Western Desert, which was part of the greater Libyan Desert; and the Eastern Desert, which was part of the Arabian Desert. These deserts made the Nile region less accessible to other civilizations than Mesopotamia. The similarities and differences in the geographical nature of Mesopotamia and Egypt influenced the political, economic and religious aspects of the ancient civilizations that flourished there.

As you will journey through a time which two of the greatest civilizations that thrived in both similar and different ways. Although the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia had many similar and handful of differences characteristics due to their individual geographies, both have there own cteristics towards their way of religion and economy, The civilization of Mesopotamia created by people called Sumerians have chosen the land “Between Rivers” Tigris and Euphrates (pg.9) to flourish a civilization. In the blazing hot desert of Egypt you would not think civilization would flourish like the “Fertile Crescent” (pg.10) of Mesopotamia, but the “Gift of the Nile”(pg.14) begins in the heart of Africa and crossing northward flourishing civilization by its sides. Both Mesopotamia and Egypt have agricultural And trades oversea or land. One thing that these two civilizations had in common was the leaders calling themselves being a divine being and that they were the chosen one, as for the Egyptian pharaoh was the almighty “Son of Re” and Mesopotamian kings where the “Son of Anu” god of the sky. Both civilizations were polytheistic, belief in many gods.

Both of the civilizations were based on agriculture and they both relied on a river to support them from day to day. Egypt relied on the Nile and Mesopotamia relied on the Tigris river for irrigation. They both grew the same types of crops in their land and turned barley into beer. The Mesopotamians specialized in a lot of farming and pottery. While the Egyptians specialized in farming as well as military leadership and domestication. The difference in their farming was Egyptians only farmed for themselves. The animals Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt both domesticated were sheep for wool, and cattle for their meat and horns. The animals the Mesopotamians domesticated were sheep which provided wool, cattle for food, and donkeys for heavy carry. In egypt the animals domesticated were horses instead of donkey, goats and

Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt both had substantial roles in many different aspects. These two civilizations have similarities and differences with each other. The civilizations had different ways they approached their societies, for example the works of women. Along the way these two civilizations also shared differences and similarities with their economic and political aspects.

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.

Mesopotamia and Egypt both bordered rivers. Mesopotamia is translated as “the land between two rivers.” This name is suiting, because Mesopotamia was located in the fertile crescent, surrounded by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Egypt was located in the desert, but bordered the Nile River, the land’s only water source. The Nile served as not only a water source, but a God that Egyptians worshipped. In Mesopotamian culture, the Tigris and Euphrates were not considered Gods, but the people prayed for successful harvest seasons. The bodies of water surrounding Egypt and Mesopotamia benefitted and challenged the lands in different ways, as the Nile benefitted Egypt by acting as a means of transportation which lead to the unification of the kingdoms in Egypt, and challenged the Egyptians by sometimes having shallow floodwaters leaving thousands starving. In Mesopotamia, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers benefitted civilization by luring the first settlers (the Sumerians) to the fertile crescent with the land’s rich soil provided by the rivers, but the rivers challenged Mesopotamians by flooding inconsistently leaving farmers guessing when the ideal time to seed was

Throughout history, many civilizations have emerged and blossomed, but the ones that could be perceived as prevalent all have one common trait; a form of religion or religious ceremony in their culture. Two of the most religiously influenced ancient civilizations that we know of, Egypt and Mesopotamia, had very dominant and differing religions in the cultures that they inhabited. That being said, a question is to be asked, what was different about the religions that made them contrast? Which religion was healthier for the civilization in terms of spiritual freedom, or the contentment of the collective peoples? What is certain, however, is that the many varying variables of these ancient civilizations religions are based on the habitat that these ancient peoples lived and are directly correlative to how they saw their gods, in an almost psychosomatic sense. A direct relation between geography and the level of fear and worship would be apt to label the cause of the differences between these civilizations.

Mesopotamia was a great place for a civilization because it was parked between two rivers which is also what Mesopotamia means. Because it was near not one but two rivers, Mesopotamia was able to be home to, and sustain a much larger number of people people than if it was only near one river. This is because there was significantly more water with which to irrigate farms, and as a result, a much larger amount of food could be produced therefore allowing civilizations within Mesopotamia to sustain even more citizens.

Between the Mesopotamians and Egyptians, both of the religions included many gods and goddesses. Egypt, believed in important gods such as the sun god Ra, Amon, and Osiris. The Mesopotamian society had religions that had many gods and goddesses as well. Some differences between the religions is the idea of death and resurrection for all people. In ancient Egypt but not in Mesopotamian religions. In Egyptian only the king, could resurrect from the dead and live forever.

The ancient civilization of Mesopotamia emerged around 5000 B.C. and the ancient Egypt civilization started around 3500-3000 B.C. They were both very successful and revolutionary civilization. The Sumerians initiated the Bronze Age and the Egyptians deciphered seven different languages. They Egyptian civilization was once separated but was eventually united under one ruler. Conversely, the Mesopotamian civilization always remained independent because each city-state had its own government and ruler, but they still shared one same culture. Both Egyptians and Mesopotamians developed a successful civilization thanks to their way of life, beliefs/religions, and their government/leaders.