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. The early settlers did not have many natural resources, so they had to stay in contact with neighboring settlers in order to get what they needed. Mesopotamia was a place where humans first formed civilization, developed and created governments. The Mesopotamian people were creative and used their
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.
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
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.
The land along the Nile and delta was arable and very good for farming, while the rest of the land was dry like a desert. (Document 2-1) So, the land near the Nile became the perfect environment for a civilization to commence. Although the Nile floods provided silt, allowing crops to grow, the floods also destroyed villages and killed many people. Despite this, so much success was found in Egypt
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. Politically, both cultures respected the other as equals and engaged in trade. The Middle Kingdom acknowledged that they were no longer entirely in control of all resources. Socially writing was excellent between the two kingdoms. Under Hammurabi the Babylonians had a set of laws, and the Egyptians excelled at writing.
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.
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.
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.
When it comes to religion, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia have both similarities and differences. In the Egyptian culture religion was included in everything they did. Life revolved around religion to them, because life was seen as
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. Boats traveling to the north could simply follow the current with the help of steering oars. There was a way to
Civilization is the cooperation between individuals within a region. The first civilizations were Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. Both civilizations acquired a different environment. However, their environment promoted religion, specifically polytheism. Although their environments were different, both civilizations were in harmony about the existence of many gods. Religion played an important role in civilization as government laws and divine kingship derived from it. Both civilizations were quite similar, but acquired some differences unique to each civilization. These differences include the environment, divine kingship, and sense of security from either nature or law. The idea and practices of ancient Mesopotamia originated from the Sumerians. Moreover, both Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilization diffused their practices and ideas to other ancient civilizations like the Hebrews and the Greeks. 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.
In Egypt and Mesopotamia, geography is a big part of how civilizations were created. Egypt naturally has boundaries which makes it a good place for a civilization. Egypt’s boundaries include the Nile, Sahara desert, red sea, and mediterranean sea. 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.
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.".
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. None of the accomplishments in Egypt would be the same without the Nile. The Nile is like a seed and begins the blossomed tree or flower to the becoming.The three most important ways the Nile shaped Ancient Egypt were change in seasons, jobs and ruling, and last but not least life itself.