Mesopotamia and Egypt civilization are two of the oldest civilization in the world. Comparing those two civilizations, there are many similarities and differences from each aspect of their culture. Firstly, both of them spread their civilization along the river, Mesopotamian civilizations expanded from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and Egypt spread from the Nile River. Secondly, both of two regions had their own writing script, Mesopotamian developed cuneiform script and Egypt developed hieroglyphic script. Furthermore, the nomadic people in those two regions caused lots of rebellions. First, the civilization and agriculture in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia were mainly spreading from the Nile River and the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, those rivers bred the agriculture and supported human’s everyday lives on both two regions. There are several evidences support this point. “The Mesopotamian civilizations steadily expanded from their roots in the fertile valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers throughout their centuries of existence.” ( Stearns, Adas, Schwartz and Gilbert, World Civilizations:The Global Experience, Combined Volume, 34) This evidence shows that the geographic impact influenced a lot on Mesopotamia’s agriculture and its civilization. Meanwhile, the geographic location of Nile River also had a great impact on Ancient Egypt. “Egyptian civilization from its origins to its decline focused on the Nile River and the deserts immediately around it. The Nile’s
This makes it a good place for civilization because its hard to conquer and has a good water source. Also, the Nile has predictable flooding. In Mesopotamia, there were no boundaries and 2 rivers. The rivers were the Tigris and Euphrates and were very unpredictable for flooding. Paragraph 3: The Phoenicians living on the eastern shore of the mediterranean sea impacted what they were known for.
The civilizations that flourished in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine were located in river valleys or along the Mediterranean coast. These civilizations developed highly complex cultures that shared many common characteristics. Egyptians were a very advanced civilization due to their inventions and technology. The Old Kingdom, which first began in 2650 B.C as stated in the timeline of Document 1, was defined by its many great pyramids and monuments. From there on in the ancient Egyptian timeline, Egyptians surpassed other civilizations through their many remarkable advancements and achievements.
There are many rivers in this wide world and they all have a story to tell but this one is like no other. The Nile shaped Ancient Egypt in such a way. The four “river civilizations” are China, Mesopotamia, India, and Egypt. The Nile is 4,258 miles long. It originates in Burundi, south of the equator, and flows northward through northeastern Africa, eventually flowing through Egypt and finally draining into the Mediterranean sea.
Geography played a huge role in the lives of both the ancient Egyptians and the Mesopotamians. It affected much more than crop cycles or the weather; it affected everything about the way each group lived, including the way each viewed their own separate gods. Egypt and Mesopotamia aren’t very far apart by our standards today, but those 900 miles back then made a lot of difference. The main things both civilizations had in common were things like being dry deserts that lay close to rivers with fertile soil for crops to grow. These similarities are what allowed both groups to flourish and expand into a long-staying civilization of people.
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.
When it comes to advances I would say that the Egyptians have the Mesopotamians beat in the sense that they were able to invent more and have more things that other cultures were able to use in different eras. The Egyptians created the Papyrus, which is their version of paper. They used this when they were writing letters, stories and writing down their history. Mesopotamia used reeds as their writing tools and they wrote things down on clay that was soften and made into tablets. Although, the Mesopotamians wrote down stories that would later be translated into what is known today as the Hebrew writings that make up the Old Testament.
Ancient civilizations began in areas that had arable land and other features such as rivers. Civilizations succeeded in these environments because they could settle down and not live a nomadic lifestyle. Because the land was arable, agriculture prospered and people relied on the geography to grant them the elements needed for survival. In China and Egypt, geography greatly influenced and affected the lives of the people living there because of the prosperous rivers and large natural barriers.
The Nile River shaped Ancient Egypt’s geography and location in several different ways. The river provided plentiful resources such as fish, fresh water, and silt. Thus, Egypt was located around the Nile. The majority of the population lived in the Nile River delta because the land was fertile, you could fish in the river, and transportation was easier by boat. Trade flourished across the delta and all over Egypt because transportation was extremely easy.
The laws from the Mesopotamian civilization were diffused into the Hebrew civilization as the Exodus. Both Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilization also influenced the Greeks with the idea that the gods were in control of the fate of humans and the environment. In addition, the Greek idea of gods evolved, which was not identical to both Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. Mesopotamia was colonized by the Sumerians, but was later
Life in the ancient river valley civilizations was different for each region. A perfect example would be the Egyptians river and the Yellow river both are river valley civilizations but each have different geography, social structures, beliefs, gender roles, literature, weapons and technology. In the Egyptian river valley geography is very important, they relied on the Nile rivers floodings that lasted about 4 months providing them with fresh waste free soil the many seas surrounding this civilization acted as a barrier aiding them in war and fighting off diseases. As for the Yellow river civilization geography affected them negatively its surroundings make it difficult to trade crops and livestock so they have to dedicate themselves greatly to producing their own food.
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.
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a Greek word that means “between the rivers” as it lies between the Tigris and Euphrates which flows through modern Iraq and Syria. Mesopotamia is considered a cradle of civilization. The cradle means “the place or region in with anything is nurtured in its early stages (Khan Academy). The land is made up of hills, plains, and mountains and the early settlers made a living as farmers and harvested timber, metal, and stone from nearby mountains. The lower areas of Mesopotamia were fertile land, with marshy, flat and wide plains, and as the river flowed down, settlers irrigated the land to grow various crops.
In early mesopotamia, their culture had many characteristics that made the early societies really “work.” Their codes and rules were based off certain things that can tell you a lot about their culture and how they governed the place. Mesopotamia was the first place to house civilization in around 1800 BCE. There were two civilizations that had stayed in mesopotamia, the Akkadians from 1800 BCE, and the sumerians from around 2200 BCE. Both civilizations lived at different times but had very similar cultures.
Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt shared many differences and similarities. The documents we read to learn about the two civilizations included excerpts from "Gilgamesh", "The Code of Hammurabi", "Book of the Dead", pyramid texts and lastly "Be a scribe.". From these various documents you can see some very clear differences. In the "Epic of Gilgamesh" gods, mortality, and the afterlife are seen in a very pessimistic way. While in Ancient Egypt, death and the afterlife are perceived as beautiful and tranquil.
The Egyptian Middle Kingdom and Babylonia had many similarities related in geography. Despite this they also had numerous distinct differences. Fundamental similarities manifested as care for the people by the rulers which had recently developed in both societies. As the rulers were no longer concerned with only themselves, but the citizens as well. Both societies had military protection although Babylon organized and conquered the Fertile Crescent and later Egypt.