The word “ancient” can be a hard word to describe. It has no specific time period, but also does at the same time. When something is described as ancient, it is something that is extremely old, or was in the very distant past. Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Greek civilizations co-existed from 1150BC to 146BC. They had different systems, beliefs, and life styles, just like how different countries do today. There were also similarities, such as both having a single person be the ruler, not giving equal power to everyone. For Greeks, this would be a king and for Egyptians, and Pharaoh. Both Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece believed in mythology – a similarity between the two. However, much of their mythology was different. Although both Egypt …show more content…
Furthermore, both the Greeks and Egyptians were convinced of having more power once they were dead. Egyptians theory was that when a pharaoh died he became a god, and the Greeks notion was that the heroes they worshipped that were mythical humans became very powerful after they died. Therefore, with there being so much to Egyptian and Greek mythology, there are actually very few similarities between the two. Although there is some similarity between religion in Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt, they are mostly different. For starters, Greek worshipers believed that the gods would treat them well and meet their needs if they offered them animal sacrifices and fruits of the harvest. To the Greeks, animal sacrifice was similar to prayer. It was the central ritual act in Ancient Greece especially of oxen, goats, and sheep. A sacrifice would mainly take place when someone decided that they owed something to or wanted something from a god, there was also regular times in the year meant for sacrifices. Many sacrifices were family matters, like if someone was sick, perhaps one or two chickens might be sacrificed with the family standing around, and then the family would eat the chickens for dinner. Opposite of how the Greeks, Egyptians
The Organization of Roman Religious Beliefs by Charles King, “The Romans and Greeks lacked similar patterns of development and did not define themselves with a similar type of orthodoxy”. With the Romans, their way of worshipping and beliefs was not systemized and one did not have to take a test to prove whether him or her should be morally accepted while in Greece, “the art of Archaic and Classical Greece illustrates many mythological episodes, including an established iconography of attributes that identify each god. There were twelve principal deities in the Greek pantheon. The Roman religion was not restricted to one god but the was much more convenient for everyone to have any beliefs and practices of their choice.
In Egypt, people believed in many Gods that controlled different aspects of their lives and nature. The Greeks also believed in many Gods, which ruled over different aspects of life, but in Greece, different city states centered their religious beliefs on specific Gods.
What similarities and differences did Egypt and Mesopotamia have and why was Egypt more politically unified than its neighbor, Mesopotamia? I think in order to answer these questions it is important to look at how both societies lived. Egypt and Mesopotamia were two civilizations existing during the time period of 2000-1200 BCE.(text, 97) These civilizations were shaped by their environment, involved with trade, and faced changes in government after the 100 year drought; however, they differed in that Egypt was shaped by the Nile, traded goods for goods and changed their outlook on the pharaoh who was ruler of all; whereas, Mesopotamia was shaped by the Tigris and Euphrates, traded money for goods, and had a ruler over rulers. The governed harmonic life style of Egypt led this society to be more politically unified; whereas, Mesopotamia’s government led to many different ways of structure, thus creating a less unified society.
Ancient Egypt and Ancient China often seem like polar opposites in almost every way. However, in one way, they are more similar than most people think. The beliefs of both of these civilizations were remarkably parallel, yet perplexingly different at the same time. Religion before 600 B.C.E. varied from society to society all around the globe, with just a few major religions taking hold in large areas. In both Egyptian and Chinese religions, they adhered to a polytheistic religion. Boths religions believed there were many gods who individually ruled over the many different parts of life, instead of one god ruling over all. Both Egyptian and Chinese cultures believed in life after death. Each one of these religions believed in some form of
Egyptians worshiped many gods and goddesses. Some of the gods they worshiped were Ra the sun god, Isis the god of nature and magic, Horus the god of war and Osiris the god of the dead. The act of worshiping many gods is called polytheism. The Egyptians had a god for almost everything.
Humanities of ancient Egypt were distinct from that of the Athens in a way that the Egyptians were very religious. Egyptians believed in many gods. This religious form was known as polytheism. While Egypt was more into religion and honoring the dead, Athens were more about building great cities called polis. In these polis Athenian men would gather to practice democracy. The Athenians would choose their leaders and make important decisions by majority vote from the whole polis.
All three societies had some form of belief in higher powers such as gods and other polytheistic beliefs. Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt had more duties involving their beliefs compared to Greece because both of those societies had ways of taking care of their religious sites such as feeding the gods daily or cleaning the temple area daily whereas there was not a huge emphasis on daily chores for Greece. Each society had originated around an ecologically useful area. Greece had a better advantage when compared to Egypt and Mesopotamia because both were prone to flooding. The Nile in Egypt constantly overflowed or ran dry causing harm to those who lived off of the river. The laws of each society were very male centered. Men were dominant over women in each society, but women in Egypt and Greece had more rights than those of Mesopotamia. Egyptian women could sue and file for divorce while Greek women could get jobs and retain property. The men gained more repercussions in Greece seeing as how rape and adultery would initiate a fine in Athens and not joining the army in Sparta would make you lose citizenship and the right to marry. Each society was also governed in some way making them similar, but the way they were governed makes them different. Mesopotamia was ruled by whoever conquered them, Egypt was ruled by a king, and Greece also had a king or an elected official. Each society did have slaves in some way, along with lower class. Egypt and Greece gave the middle lower class the option to become somewhat of a higher class through education and money. Power was determined mainly by wealth, birth, and income in the societies in some shape or form. Military was more of an important focus in Egypt and Greece than in Mesopotamia. The family structure of each civilization is still male centered and the male typically controls the family. Marriage and divorce is common in all
Many people beleive that egyptain gods looked like humans and animals. Each god had a differenr body or head of an animal to represent there job and or there power. most of the time gods and godesses where paired up to sombody the oposite like sun god or a moon god. although some times they get paired with sombody the same. some of there gods where more powerful than others but they did change through out
Mesopotamian and Egyptian religions shared two key similarities: polytheism and priestly authority. The religions in Mesopotamia and Egypt were both polytheistic. Their religions were polytheistic because Mesopotamians and Egyptians could not explain many things in that occurred in their lives. Therefore, they assumed that there are different gods for everything. This means that the religion had many gods for different things. In Egypt and Mesopotamia, priests were part of the upper class and were very important in the daily lives of civilians. Priests were part of the upper class because they were thought to have the ability to communicate with the gods. In Mesopotamia, the priests held the highest authority in the religious structure. Egyptian priests were not as powerful in government as Mesopotamian priests were, but they still had significant power. Egypt’s highest religious and military leader was encapsulated in the position of pharaoh. The pharaoh was at the top of all social classes and was considered to be a god-like figure.
Even though the two myths have many similarities, there are differences. For example, in the Greek story, each new ruler came a new age of man; but, in Egyptian story the new ruler caused or brought about an attitude man had (Buxton). In the Egyptian story, Atum created his children to cease loneliness, and in the Greek story there is no explanation why the titans were created. In the greek mythology, the gods are suspicious of their children at birth, so they eat or hide them. This ultimately becomes their demise (Buxton). In the Egyptian story Osiris demise was brought upon by a jealous
Despite a few minor differences, Greek and Egyptian traditions appear quite similar. The many parallels may be a result of the connections between these two cultures. Though they were separated by the Mediterranean Sea, they often traded with each other, leading to a spread of ideas. Another reason is that Egypt was once governed by Greeks, such as the Ptolemaic Kings, who furthered the spread of Greek ideas and traditions in Egypt. Though their rule in Egypt ended with the suicide Cleopatra VII, their influence had a lasting impact. Greek and Egyptian cultures were connected through trade and rulers and as a result their mythology shares many similarities.
Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece both believed in many gods and goddesses, known as Polytheistic religion.1 In Ancient Egypt early practices of religion began in different villages who worshiped their own gods, adapting animal like symbols such as crocodiles, scarab beetle, and bull. As time progressed Ancient Egypt believed in many gods and goddesses and the most significant ones included Amon-Ra, originally the sky god, and sun god combined. Egypt also worshipped Osiris, the god of the afterlife who judged people after death, and Isis the goddess of royal throne who was the protector of her husband Osiris. Unlike the Egyptians, Greeks worshipped all their gods and goddesses. Greeks worshipped Zues the ruler of all gods and goddess who resided and ruled on Mount Olympus. They worshipped Athena the goddess of wisdom and war, which Athens one of the central polis was named after. Unlike Egyptian deities, Greek gods and goddesses w...
The artworks of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Aegean cultures, and Ancient Greece have similarities that not only reflect objects and images, but also the media, style and representation. These countries were not always wealthy, clever, creative and powerful enough to gain supplies, but they all find a way to create art with what they had. They have all influenced on each other’s cultures and belief through their artistic values and ways, ranging from the materials and tools they use, position and representation of their monuments and their religious intent.
The Egyptian and Roman civilizations had a very similar social hierarchy and government system even though they existed in vastly different eras. During their separate reins of power both Egypt and Rome ruled their geographical areas unprecedented. These two empires grew quickly through technological advances, military might, and strong economies. Their reins would come to an end eventually however they left their mark in history through the written language, government, religion, and the construction of magnificent structures that still exist until this day.
In conclusion, Ancient Egypt has a very complex religion and beliefs that would be considered bizarre in many parts of the world. They believed in many gods, some took part in the creation of the universe. Others brought the flood every year, offered protection and took care of people after they died. The ancient Egyptians thought that it was important to recognize and worship the gods because they represented the peace and harmony across the land.