Two early civilizations, Mesopotamia and Egypt, had similar yet contrasting landscapes, governments, and religions. Mesopotamia located in the Fertile Crescent had flat land and irregular flooding, the government divided into city-states, and the people practiced a polytheistic religion. Egypt established next to the Nile had regular flooding, a centralized monarchy, and practiced a polytheistic religion as well. The two early civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt although similar had very different geography, government, and religion during 2000 BC to 100 BC. Mesopotamia located on a flat plain between two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, made significant agricultural advancements. Even though desert took over the majority of Egypt, …show more content…
The flooding in Mesopotamia caused destruction; however, it allowed the Mesopotamians to create irrigation canals and run-off ditches. The Nile flooded regularly this allowed the Egyptians to plan for harvesting; the Tigris and the Euphrates did not flood regularly and caused some destruction to the crops. The flat land of Mesopotamia also allowed for easy invasion, unlike Egypt that was surrounded by deserts and the Mediterranean. The invasions of Mesopotamia probably made it difficult to have a centralized government. Mesopotamia had city-states ruled by a king that had divine authority. The economy was also very independent and had a business class. Egypt’s bureaucracy set regulations and rules and Mesopotamia had a set of rules, Code of Hammurabi. Egypt had more of a centralized government than Mesopotamia because of the complexity of the harvest. While Mesopotamia had many kings Egypt had one, the pharaoh. The pharaoh was not looked upon as a human but a god and the pharaoh controlled everything. The regional governor reported back to the pharaoh and most of the economy was controlled by the governors and pharaoh. Since the pharaoh was looked upon as a god the people treated him/her as one, by building
Politically, although both Egypt and Mesopotamia had one main ruler, Egypt was centralized and whereas Mesopotamia was decentralized. Egypt centralized government led
Mesopotamia and Egypt were very different because of their geography and world view. Mesopotamia was often flooded because of their bad geography, but the land around the Nile river was built well so the Egyptians didn 't have to worry about the river flooding as often. The land in Mesopotamia was often attacked and invaded. Ultimately the geography of Egypt was significantly better than Mesopotamia because of the benefits of the nile river created a positive world view, a strong government and a universal religion.
Both places practice polytheism and use a set person to be viewed as the connection to the Gods. But the variation occurs when Mesopotamia involved kings to rule in addition to the pharaoh. Another cultural difference is the mindset of positive Egyptians vs the negative of the Mesopotamians which may have affected the rights of women in Egypt seeing as they had more privilege than Mesopotamian women. Shared in both places was the socially acceptable mindset of hierarchies. The two main ones gender, men had more worth than women, and social, starting with the rich and ending with
The early cities of Mesopotamia fell from one warlord to another, and were constantly changing, unlike the kingdoms of Ancient Egypt that kept its stability. The Egyptians lived along the Nile River, which probably made it easier to govern the people. The King was the owner and ruler of all Egypt and was considered a god by the people. The economy was a royal monopoly, the peoples duties was to serve the King. In the old Kingdom
Two early civilizations, Mesopotamia and Egypt, developed intricate societies with unique religious, political, and social aspects. A very pronounced difference in the two civilizations is how Egyptians viewed nature and the afterlife as cosmic and orderly, while the Mesopotamians viewed it as sporadic and variable. Another key difference is how the Mesopotamian land was divided into city-states, yet Egypt had a highly centralized government. Both societies, however, valued priests, and were ranked highest in their social hierarchy.
In 3100 B.C and Mesopotamians at 5000 B.C (1). The Nile river was a key place for the start of the Ancient Egyptian empire. Egyptians themselves were located near lower Egypt closeby the Nile Delta. They then slowly moved up around upper egypt. With clear fertile and rich soil, agriculture was most efficient and made the Ancient Egyptians very rich. Mesopotamians also had their own rivers known as the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers which were rich in soil for farming. Mesopotamians were located around Zagros Mountains and located inside the Persian gulf. Mesopotamians were Mediterraneans. Egyptians and the Mesopotamians were very alike. Equal rights between men and women existed in both of the empires societies. (2). This is important because the demographics of females were not small in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia. Also, the religion of both empires were polytheistic (Meaning “many gods”) (2). Because the gods controlled Egypt and Mesopotamia through land and power, people dedicated a large portion of their time to the gods. An example is that temples
At the beginning of the Neolithic period, Mesopotamia and Egypt saw much development of farming and agricultural success after cities developed along rivers for irrigation. Both areas also domesticated animals for livestock and farming. The Nile in Egypt, however, was a little better for agriculture because it flooded at the right time and drainage was unnecessary.
Mei Kei Ho Professor Codella Humanity 300 14th February, 2017 Part I: Compare and Contrast Mesopotamian and Egyptian Cultures The two most significant civilizations in ancient history are Mesopotamia and Egypt, They both developed environmental, political, religious and social patterns as well as architecture and art. Although they had a lot of things in common, they were also different in a lot of ways.
Ancient Egypt was a predominantly agricultural civilization, due to the rich soil and reliable flooding that the Nile river provided, making it ideal for growing crops. Additionally, the Nile river runs North, granting traders, like those
Egypt emphasized strong central authority, while Mesopotamian politics shifted more frequently over a substructure of regional city-states. Next, Mesopotamian art focused on less monumental structures, while embracing a pronounced literary element that Egyptian art did not have. Also, Mesopotamians lacked access to the great stones for building, while Egyptians could import them for their monuments. The Mesopotamians didn’t have that much belief for the afterlife, but the Egyptians made great tombs and pyramids that have made Egypt and some of the pharaohs live on in human memory in motivation to the afterlife. Finally, Mesopotamia was more productive of technological improvements because their environment was more difficult to manage than the Egyptian’s
The Mesopotamian’s were a Monarchy, whereas the Egyptians were an Oligarchy. A Monarchy is a civilization ruled by a king or queen. In this case simply a king. Originally the leader was elected, however, over time the rulers became hereditary. The king had control over the civilization, but with that level power there were a lot of responsibilities.
Mesopotamia had a fertile crescent while Egypt grew its crops t the river level. Socially, they were both patriarchal but Egypt was more flexible towards women. In mesopotamia, married women had to cover their bodies completely to stop tempting men. They couldn't reach high and influential positions between
There are some similarities and differences between the Mesopotamian and the Egyptian cultures. Mesopotamian and Egyptians are similar because they are both geographically near rivers. Also they both had generation change or society changes. Mesopotamian and the Egyptians were different too. They had different religions and their society.
In Mesopotamia, the kings who ruled would claim that they are the representatives of the gods who were appointed on earth. On the other hand, in Egypt, the ruler or the pharaohs would be an incarnation of a god on earth. In Mesopotamia, the rulers would also join the warriors during wars thus being also warriors while on the other hand, pharaohs or the god-kings would just rule and be Horus or the god of the sky when they were alive and when they die they become the gods of the underworld or
First, lets start with Mesopotamia and what its civilization was like. It was in between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that established rich soil to be able to grow and harvest food, and thus survival