Compare And Contrast Mesopotamia And Egyptian Civilizations

The Mesopotamian and Hebrew societies lived in two very distinct sphere of influence, as they were Polytheist and monotheist, respectably. This difference ensured that each society would operate using different methods.

Egypt, Mesopotamia, Shang/Zhou dynasties/China, and the Indus Valley are all different ancient river valley civilizations. All have different aspects of civilizations. Some aspects of civilization include technology, writing/language, specialized jobs, government, etc. These decisions were made based on the climate and biome the civilization was located in. These things needed to be taken into account because certain aspects of civilization were not suitable for every civilization. A written language was key to creating a thriving civilization, helping many tasks become easier. Writing was composed of many things, but the most important include a government building, a library, and a written language.

For centuries civilization has evolved and spread across the globe, causing for many cultures, traditions, and especially religions to develop. Even in ancient societies such as Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, religion was one of, if not, the most important aspect of an individual 's life. The religions found in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt would shape how relationships within society functioned, including how communities related themselves to the divine and the role of leaders and priests. Furthermore, these religions would also affect how each of these societies thought about justice and even influenced attitudes toward the afterlife.

With both civilizations being developed around 3500 BC, there are many similarities and differences between the Egyptians and the Mayans. The Egyptians developed their empire in Northeast Africa, which affected the way they farmed and built their cities. The Mayans developed their civilization in MesoAmerica, which influenced their culture differently from the Egyptians. The farming techniques, architecture, and religion were all influenced by the environment they lived in.

Egypt, Mesopotamia, and India are some of the early civilizations, that helped to shape the world as we know it. Each ancient civilization had many contributions to society. Some would include irrigation, grid like house system, and written languages.

Hammurabi was king of Babylon 1792 B.C.E. As a leader, he was possibly one of the first to realize that power not be based on force. He realized the use of military intelligence, diplomacy, and strategic planning could accomplish much more than a small army and he would use his writing as a weapon. The Code of Hammurabi is a set a laws king Hammurabi came together with that act as a form of government in the sense that there was set process in which people could be accused of something and how the matter would be handled. It consisted of 282 laws and his devotion to gods.

Mesopotamia is one of the earliest civilizations in the world; hence it is called the cradle of civilization. Located between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, Mesopotamia is the perfect word for this region since Mesopotamia also means the land between rivers. These two rivers created the Fertile Crescent which was surrounded by barren territories. People in this area gave up hunting and gathering and instead slowly shifted into agricultural means of getting food to help them survive. They started domesticating animals and planted their own crops. They began building houses for themselves which were primarily composed of reeds or mud bricks. Granaries, built by the people in Mesopotamia, were the place where they stored extra grains from their

Hammurabi was king of a small city-state called Babylon. He lived nearly 4,000 years ago, he ruled for 42 years. The estimated population of people that Hammurabi ruled over was about 1,000,000. Hammurabi was not the first Mesopotamia main ruler to put his laws into writing, but his code was the most complete. In Hammurabi’s time his codes were just but in modern time most of the laws that they had back then are unjust now in our time now.

Throughout time civilizations have risen and collapsed. Some were conquered while others simply disappeared. The Egyptian civilization thrived near the Nile River from 3000 B.C. and was later conquered by the Persian Empire around 525 B.C. In the other hand, the Mayan civilization developed in Yucatan Peninsula around 200 B.C., and mysterious disappeared around 900 A.D. However, these two cultures share many factors in common such as developing calendars and building pyramids. Even though civilizations developed in different time periods, they can still have many factors in common such as environment, language, and architecture.

King Hammurabi was the sixth king of the Old Babylonia First Dynasty. Hammurabi goal was to centralize state authority and to create a new legal order. (Tignor et al. 97) King Hammurabi was the first king to record every single law of his empire. He had a black stone enbowed with the 282 laws of Babylonia. On top of the stone is a statue of a God holding the laws to Hammurabi. Because of his structured codes, Hammurabi was labeled as an influential leader. These would be the governing laws of all his people.

Hammurabi codes or laws were written two thousand years before Christ. He was a great and competent leader who conquer and established a vast empire. Hammurabi was among the first kings to establish one of the worlds empires. This vast empire’s capital created by Hammurabi had a thriving commercial center that was rapid in growth creating various problems. These various problems caused formal laws to be instituted to govern their interaction in order to avoid conflict. Even when conflict could not be avoided this form laws gave resolution to the problems, which in turn caused increase interaction and peace. Though Hammurabi’s empire covered vast land and cities within in it he saw the need to have a single unified law that would be the unification of all within his lands. These laws are referred to as Hammurabi Codes.

The Caelans and Egyptians both created civilizations worth living in because of their ability to bring stability to society through an organized religion. For example, in Caela’s main religion, the elite had a special connection to the gods causing Caela to be formed into a hierarchy with the elite being put on top. As a result of the religion’s impact on the type of social system in Caela, Caela was stable as the elite were the constant rulers and there weren’t questions about successors. In addition, the ruling elite brought stability to Caela through no abrupt changes that elections would cause. Consequently, society was organized as the religion created social classes with the elite having the most power next priests, then in order artisans, farmers, and finally slaves. No social mobility in the hierarchical system allowed

As Mesopotamia evolved empires were constructed. The main empires were ruled by the Sumerians, Babylonians, and the Assyrians. Even though these empires all had their own cultures, they were all derived from the original Sumerian culture. This included how they ran their governments. The government could be compared to a modern day monarchy ran by priests and other elite citizens. One of the elites that became king of Babylon was Hammubi. His code of law molded the way the courts should run, how they should handle criminals, and property rights. Kings had many responsibilities including being in charge of warfare. Back then war was mainly for capturing slaves and

Civilization is what comes from society, ways of life and culture in a particular area, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary online. Professor Benson went over culture and other aspects of what a civilization is more thoroughly, in Chapter 1: Early Civilizations Lecture, to mention hierarchy, art, religion, technology, science, economy, urbanization, unification, and records. Through reading both the lecture and the textbook, it’s been learned that civilizations developments can depend on environmental factors which can shape what they trade to other civilizations and the type of work the people of the civilizations did in order to survive or live in comfort.

The true definition of civilization can vary from person to person. Everyone has their own perspective, but some can agree that a civilization can be defined by when a society reaches an advancement in its cultures, governments, and socializations. In the chapters that we read there are multiple different civilizations to chose from that we can compare their similarities and differences. The two civilizations that highly interested me were the ancient Athenians and the people Rome. The similarities and difference between the two are numerous. Ancient civilizations create such a diverse conception in many ways that we can learn.