The world began with a simple norm, survival of the fittest. The first people of the human race used whatever resources available to survive. Then we transitioned into a revolution where countless technological advances like irrigation and farming, formed some of the world’s first civilizations. Leading to the development of new cultures everywhere . Some of these civilizations formed in the middle east such as Egypt and Mesopotamia. Overall, Egypt and Mesopotamia are more different than similar because politically, they had different forms of government, culturally they had contrasting perceptions of their gods. However a notable similarity is socially Egypt and Mesopotamia had almost identical social hierarchies. Egypt and Mesopotamia, …show more content…
Socially they were similar because both countries had a social hierarchy. A city-state in Mesopotamia was ruled by KIng Hammurabi and he established a series of laws to maintain order in the civilization. Specifically law 15 recites if a thief takes a slave out of city borders then the thief will be killed and the slave will be spared. This reveals how Mesopotamia relied on workers, so although they were not respected they formed the base of the Mesopotamian hierarchy . This allows conveys the message that crimes are not tolerated however some rules are bias to certain groups of people such as rule 129. If a woman cheats on their husband or vise versa, the man’s life is spared while women regardless of what happened get killed. As you can see no matter where people were in the social hierarchy women are considered to be “beneath” men and are considered “less valuable”. Their hierarchy was divided into how much power and influence you have over all. Likewise, Egypt’s hierarchy followed the same idea. In Egypt their social pyramid was organized by laborers on the bottom and pharaohs on the top in terms of how much power they had. Workers had the toughest jobs doing task such as construction and other forms of work that didn’t require a high form of education. As a result of practically everyone being eligible for this job labors were the most highly population social class and was the foundation of the hierarchy. Directly under pharaoh are scribes. Scribes were highly trusted by kings and were valued because their job required a high form of education which was scarce at that time. They were provided with luxuries such as servants, and title a worthy official increasing their social status. The Egyptian hierarchy organized their citizen base off of their skill set. Even if their job was highly important such as laborer or another type of
Egypt and Mesopotamia both had differences of their political and social structures. Egypt had more of authorial government, where one head person was in charge which in this case was the pharaoh, which was the head on Egypt social class, as well as leader of his society. The Pharaoh was basically a
Both Mesopotamia and Egypt, between 3000 and 600 B.C.E., had similarities and differences. Both regions shared similar economic structure in regards to agriculture, trade, and taxes. However, Mesopotamia and Egypt differ in regards to religion concerning belief in afterlife, influence of gods, and religious influence on government, as well as technology as it regards weaponry, scientific study, and writing.
Mesopotamia and Egypt were the first known civilizations in history. While maintaining separate identities, they still managed to have a vast number of similarities. Differences that go beyond general location were also very prevalent between the two civilizations.
Egypt and Mesopotamia had many different view on life their views on religion, geography, their government, their beliefs on the afterlife, their relationships between the gods and humans, and etc. The differences can be built off where they were built, the amount of land they had access to, the number of resources they had to, and how their environment was in everyday life. They also had similarities in the fact that they were hard working in their everyday life, the belief of what was a man’s responsibility and what was a females responsibility.
Mesopotamian and Egyptian social structures are similar because of the fact that they have a structure which divides their cultures into classes. In both cultures, the bottom of the social ladder was reserved for peasants and slaves who did the dirty work and hard labor that led to agricultural surplus and then the modernization of these cultures. In contrast, people in Egypt that were born commoners had more of an opportunity to attain high positions than those in Mesopotamian society where nobles were born into their rankings. In addition to social classes, both civilizations also formed a patriarchal society. In Egypt and Mesopotamia, men dominated public affairs as well as household decisions, and they always held positions of power. In both societies, women were able to influence men and even some positions of power such as high priestesses in Mesopotamia who managed estates owned by the temples whereas in Egypt women could serve as regents and ultimately hold positions of real power. For example, Hatshepsut was a female ruler who filled the role of pharaoh for her stepson as he was too young. Despite their new found power in Egypt, they still where mainly responsible
Although Mesopotamia and Egypt were nine hundred miles away, they had many similarities. They both were influenced by constant flooding and drought, causing a big effect on their daily life. Mesopotamia’s and Egypt’s geography both impacted society and had different natural resources causing different struggles, yet had some big similarities due to both having a large river, variable climate, and advanced technology.
With the rise of the first civilizations, both Mesopotamia and Egypt were prevailing civilizations. One could say that they had many similarities, but just as many differences. Because of their similarity and differences that's what made them early civilizations.
Mesopotamia and Egypt had quite a few similarities. Both communities were ruled by kings and were developed along rivers. These rivers helped with the agricultural needs that erected the villages and city-states into what they were. People populated these areas because of the resources from the rivers. They were able to grow their own food and irrigate their own water supplies. Both settlements also believed in many gods, or were polytheistic. The kings were the highest in the social structure because they owned land and were dearest to the gods.
Egyptian and Mesopotamian societies are similar because they share the same concept of having a single ruler. The differences are that in Egyptian society the political rule is a theocracy and in Mesopotamian societies it is a monarchy. They are both divided into social classes. We remember from the earlier that the major difference is being that women in Egyptian societies have more rights than those in Mesopotamian societies. Egyptian civilization was a dynasty and passed down the power to the son, whereas Mesopotamia was just a monarchy didn’t necessarily pass down the power to the son.
Mesopotamia was more productive of technological improvements, because their environment was more difficult to manage than the Nile valley. Trade contacts were more extensive, and the Mesopotamians gave attention to a merchant class and commercial law. Social differences were less obvious because it is difficult to obtain information on daily life for early civilizations. It is probable, though, that the status of women was greater in Egypt than in Mesopotamia Egyptians paid great respect to women at least in the upper classes, in part because marriage alliances were essential to the preservation and stability of the monarchy. Also, Egyptian religion included more pronounced deference to goddesses as sources of
For example, both civilizations were political monarchies. These governments gave the basis to the social structure. Egypt and Mesopotamia share other differences since Mesopotamia developed first as a civilization without influence, while Egypt built off of the latter to create their own society. A difference between Mesopotamia and Egypt was Egypt was a united country, well under control of one pharaoh while those of Mesopotamia were limited to certain areas either in the north, middle or south. Both of these civilizations shared similarities as well.
The last of the similarities is probably the harshest that both cultures had to endure, the desert. Outside of the fertile river valleys, the civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia were engulfed in an arid desert. This harsh terrain provided a defense from outside invaders with its relentless temperatures and lack of life need substances (Ancient Egypt, 2017) (Mark,
Long before you and I today were societies in formation. These fascinating societies took place in Mesopotamia and Egypt in ancient times. Many factors contributed to the similarities and the differences that occurred between the two; including geography, religion, and social structures. A glance at the these factors will give us a better understanding of a couple of the first societies or civilizations that occurred before people today.
Ancient civilizations have been a great reference of the origins of life as it is nowadays. Major civilizations that have flourished throughout history have been very different but alike in many ways; as we can clearly see with ancient civilizations Egypt and Mesopotamia. Similarities and differences were multiple among these two civilizations, however the most noticeable aspects to contrast them are through their social organization, Literature and Culture, as well as their economies and interactions with other civilizations. This is not a sign of weakness or superiority among one another, but a sign of great development of two major culture. Mesopotamia and Egypt were both socially structured from patriarchal families and elitist governments, both possessed great architectural forms to show hierarchies and , yet there was a wider range of overcoming social classes in Egyptian society (especially for commoners) and a contrast from a central government to a city-state regulation system. Similarities in literature and culture were really abundant between this two civilizations; coming from writing systems of similar structures (cuneiform and hieroglyphics) and polytheistic religious views, they differed in record keeping ways and practices in religious afterlife processes. Trade was a main aspect for both civilizations and it was a major point of convergence between the two as they
Ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia are both a part of the world’s first civilizations, and these two civilizations have many similarities as well as differences. Ancient Egypt dates from 3100-310 B.C.E, and ancient Mesopotamia dates back to 3500 B.C.E all the way to 330 B.C.E. Mesopotamia was a civilization that had many civilizations within it, while ancient Egypt remained a uniform civilization that shared the same religious, political, cultural life for three thousand years (Fiero, 2015). According to Glenn Perry, “Egyptians’ claim that their country-its capital city in particular- is the ‘mother of the world’ contains much truth if that means it is where history and civilization began” (Perry, 2016, p.56). Glenn Perry also states that there are many arguments on whether Egypt was the first civilization or whether Mesopotamia was the first civilization, but since there is very little documentation of the time period it is hard to know. According to Dr. Andrew Jamieson, “Ancient Mesopotamia, the land between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, is one of the most historically significant and archaeologically rich regions in the world…” (Jamieson, 2015, p.23). One thing both authors agree on is that these two civilizations are important, because they mark the beginning of human history. These two civilizations are known for their advanced architecture, their different methods of art, and their gods and beliefs. These three