The ancient societies of Egypt and Mesopotamia had distinct similarities as well as differences relating to topography, the relationship to their bordering river, government, religion, and economics.
In terms of topography, Mesopotamian agriculture was only achieved through the development of irrigation and a good drainage system. This fact had a profound effect on the evolution of early Mesopotamian civilization. The necessity of irrigation led, first the Sumerians, and later the Akkadians, to build along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and their branches. While land nearer to the rivers was fertile and therefore, better for sustained crops, the portions of land farther from the water were arid and largely uninhabitable.
For the Egyptians, Egypt was separated from its neighbors and potential invading armies by the deserts. The main importance is the Egyptians relationship with the Nile River; to them, the Nile was the “giver of life”. The ancient Egyptians lived and farmed along the Nile to use the soil for food production. In essence, without the Nile, ancient Egypt may not have existed. Rainfall is minimal in Egypt so the floods provided the only source of moisture to sustain crops. The Nile provided fishing opportunities and was an easy trade source for the ancient Egyptians.
On the other hand, the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers threatened the Mesopotamian civilization. Both rivers frequently caused destructive floods, overwhelming villages and cities that killed its people and livestock.
In ancient Egypt, the government was incorporated with religion. The pharaoh represented the gods and was the primary leader of the state. Other government officials surrounded the king and the Vizier was the official directly ...
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...ivilization believed that records and communication was important, specifically information about religion and government. Thus, they invented symbols/letter that could record this information. Possibly the most famous of all ancient Egyptian scripts is hieroglyphic. Additional scripts were developed over the three thousand year old history. Using these markings, scribes preserved the beliefs, history and ideas of ancient Egypt in temple and tomb walls as well as on papyrus scrolls.
Mesopotamia’s legacy survives today through the highly developed agricultural system and the refined irrigation and water-control systems that enabled Sumer to grow large cities.
The ancient societies of Egypt and Mesopotamia had concrete parallels as well as variances relating to their topography, the relationship to their bordering river, government, religion, and economics.
The ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt developed into successful civilizations. One civilization the Egyptians developed was in the Nile River valley. Based off the "Mesopotamia and Egypt DBQ" packet, "Ancient Egypt was an advanced civilization in many areas including religion, architecture, transportation, and trade. Ancient Mesopotamia was one of the first civilizations that developed a form of government as well as organized people in political states." Based on the documents, Egypt and Mesopotamia developed into successful and advanced civilizations by effectively using the resources that surrounded them to solve problems and live happily.
Mesopotamia was the first primordial, and influential cradle of civilization. Nestled in the valleys of the vehement Tigris-Euphrates Rivers around the time of the Lower Paleolithic period
I can infer that the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians were similar in the way that they had a written language, both of them were polytheistic, and they both built pyramid type things. The differences between the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians were their different views on what happens to you in the afterlife and how to bury people after they die.
The first civilization to rise was the Mesopotamia, located in present day Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and Egypt, along the Nile River. It’s split in two ecological zones. In the south Babylonia (irrigation is vital) and north Assyria (agriculture is possible with rainfall and wells). By 4000 B.C.E., people had settled in large numbers in the river-watered lowlands of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Archaeologists have shown that large-scale irrigation appeared only long after urban civilization had already developed, meaning major waterworks were a consequence of urbanism (population). Mesopotamia cities were made of people called the Summerians in the land of Sumer located on the south of Babylonia. The Summerian city was one of
During the years of 3500 BC to 2500 BC, the geography of a land often impacted a civilizations development in great measures. Depending on the resources available or the detriments present due to certain topographical characteristics like rivers or deserts, a civilization could flourish or collapse. By studying the geographic features of growing societies like the Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris Rivers as well as the Mediterranean Sea of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the link between developing cultures and geography will be examined through sources, including Egypt: Ancient Culture, Modern Land edited by Jaromir Malek and Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization by Paul Kriwaczek. To determine the extent of its influence, this investigation will attempt to compare and contrast the role of geography in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, focusing on the civilizations’ various periods of development and settlement.
The central government is a critical part of civilization. The government in Egypt was quite similar to the Olmec government, except Egyptian was more complex. In Egypt, the central government was called bureaucracy, an administrative organization which consisted of many governors. Pharaoh, the king in Egypt, had the highest position, controlling the other people in the government bureaucracy. The rulers in Egypt were regarded as the
Sumerians, people who settled in Mesopotamia, built city states such as Uruk, Kish, Lagash, Umma and Ur from their government. These city states benefited them in ways for example, being able to grow and trade their food. By trading their goods, Mesopotamia grew as a civilization. The cities were very independent, like mini countries that share the same culture, but had different rulers and their own government. Mesopotamian cities were highly advanced. The Indus River Valley had better city planning, although it was an important part of both civilizations. The Indus River Valley built cities Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, which were neatly built and made of oven-baked bricks. The Indus River Valley also created the plumbing system which resulted in being able to move forward as a
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.
The Egyptian and Mesopotamian religion and society were similar, but their government/leadership was different. Religion in Egypt and Mesopotamia were very similar because both faiths were polytheistic and had priestly authority. Both cultures had powerful priests, both had a belief of an afterlife, and religion was part of their daily lives. Both societies had similar rigid social classes, relied on slavery; both also had a religion which played an important role in their daily lives. Although, their societies were very common, they still had some differences in government. The Egypt, the government was a theocracy, whereas the government in Mesopotamia was run by a monarchy. Despite their similarities, the differences between these two civilizations were most likely a result of unique geographical and topographical conditions.
Thousands of years ago, there were two ancient civilizations, Egypt and Mesopotamia. Both were quite remarkable in technology and language, but each civilization had different advances. These two ancient cultures were also located close to each other, but their geographies were a bit different resulting in varied farming methods. The last thing that Egypt and Mesopotamia both had was religion, though each of their religious practices was unique.
Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, and Greece were all historical civilizations that made history the way it is today. The three civilizations differed in many different ways, but they were also quite similar in other aspects. The focus of survival, beliefs, daily life, and many other focuses connect the three civilizations.
Abounding similarities exist between the Mesopotamian and Greek societies. As history progresses many cultural advances occur, but societies also adopt some of the same characteristics as preceding societies, you will notice this between the Mesopotamian and Greek civilizations. After learning about the Greek civilizations I immediately began generating connections to Mesopotamian societies. I noticed similarities in all aspects of society, whether it was religion, military, architecture or any other cultural idiosyncrasies.
The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt began to develop circa 3,000 B.C. Located near rivers, the lands offered fertile soil and an excess of crops that drew in many people. As more people arrived, the small settlements flourished into large, thriving civilizations. Many aspects of Mesopotamia and Egypt, such as their cities, their strongly organized government, and their religion, greatly contributed to the success of these two civilizations.
Of the first civilizations, Mesopotamia and Egypt left behind the most widely available documented look at the past (92). Interestingly enough, the basis for societal rank was comparable between these two civilizations. But despite similarities in social stratification, Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilization had very dissimilar views on life and the afterlife.
The Mesopotamian geography affected their society because Mesopotamia was located on an open plain without protection from foreign intrusions. Egypt, on the other hand, was centered on the Nile River ad protected by natural boundaries. This allowed Egypt?s kingdom for prosper and last for thousands of years. Mesopotamia was not considered a nation or country, it was considered a region between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that established a number of highly organized city-states. Since each city-state was independent there was no capital of Mesopotamia.