Egypt And Mesopotamia Comparative Essay

Although the Mesopotamians and Egyptians of 3500 to 1500 B.C.E. were similar due to social hierarchy and power roles, nevertheless, the differences between Mesopotamians and Egyptians are evident with politics. This is because of the way Egyptians saw opposing countries as enemies and how Mesopotamians saw other countries as trading partners. The Mesopotamians viewed their priests as extremely powerful people, believing that priests were connected spiritually to the gods and worked hard to appease the gods. The priests would use this to their advantage. For example, selling amulets to citizens to ‘ward off evil spirits’ was just a business move for the priests to make more money and keep their power. This can be compared to how the Egyptians

along with other peoples, like the Sumerians. The culture of both the Semitic and Sumerians overtook Mesopotamia quickly. In contrast, Egypt was never conquered by any country. Egypt worked well alone, without the help of other countries mostly. All the sources needed were there in Egypt with the annual flooding and agriculture strength, unlike Mesopotamia. To complete the argument about Egypt disliking other countries, in The Earth and Its People on page 27, it says, “Egypt largely stuck to itself during the Old and Middle Kingdoms, all foreigners being technically regarded as enemies.” While Mesopotamia wanted to seize other territories surrounding them, Egypt was the opposite. Egypt wanted to use the most of their resources in their own country. Mesopotamia and Egypt have many similarities socially, but the politics were quite different. The agriculture effected both social and political parts of Mesopotamia and Egypt. This is because of the diverse way flooding effected Mesopotamia and Egypt. Also, the perspective Egypt had on bordering territories was the opposite of Mesopotamia, since Mesopotamia saw other countries as friends. Comparing and contrasting Mesopotamia and Egypt, the social and political features definitely stand