Mesopotamia Compare And Contrast Essay

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.

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.

Mesopotamian societies had multiple gods. Most deities represented cosmic forces of nature such as the sun, moon, water, and storms who were responsible for the creation of the earth (World Societies p. 36). There were also gods of lesser things such as love and scribal arts. Looking at Mesopotamia’s geography, you can see how it might have served as inspiration for deities. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers surrounding Babylon could’ve been inspirations for the many water gods like Apsu, Enki, and Tiamat, as could the Persian Gulf located nearby. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the gods are depicted as harsh and wrathful because they decide to wipe out the human race with a flood just because they make too much noise (Ward p.20). The gods’ destructive nature is likely based off the chaos caused by flooding from the Tigris and Euphrates. Storm gods like Marduk could’ve been connected to the Zagros mountain range nearby where lighting and

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.

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

Ancient Mesopotamia"Land between the rivers" (3500 B.C.E) and Ancient China(as early as 3500 B.C.E) are two of the many civilizations in history. Both civilizations left evidence of their way of life and accomplishment Mesopotamia ranging from the 12- month calendar, plow, cuneiform, ziggurats and number system based of on 60 count. China from ink, pictographs martial arts, great wall of China, and the art of porcelain. Mesopotamia had several civilizations within its own such as Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians etc.

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 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.

Ancient Egypt was the most advance civilization of antiquity. They had fairly advance Medicine, Architecture, Religion, and were also wise in philosophy. Greek culture learned a lot from Egypt, and they constantly referred to them and sought to find their ancestors in Egypt. The Nile was a fundamental element for the flourishing of the civilization of ancient Egypt, most of the population of cities were in the Nile valley and the Delta. The Nile was vital to Egyptian culture from the stone age. Climate change, and desertification, dried the hunting and grazing lands of Egypt to form of Sahara Desert, around 8000 B.C; then the inhabitants emigrated and settled next to the river Nile, where they developed an agricultural economy and a centralized society.

Both cultures beliefs were centred around their gods. For this reason, most of their architecture had some sort of religious background. The Egyptian, as well as the Mayan built pyramids; although their intention of use differed. The purpose behind the Egyptians pyramids were to be used as burial sites for pharaohs and the royal families. In the other hand, the Mayans constructed pyramids for sacrificial purposes, as well as for worshiping gods. In the end, both cultures constructed religious monuments through their empire, such temples and statues to worship their

Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt were two early human civilizations that lived during the bronze age in harsh desert environments located not far from each other. Both civilizations were built around rivers that they depended on for survival. There is evidence that these rivers had great influence on both the societies politics and culture. Egypt was built around the very strong and reliable Nile River. Ancient Mesopotamia was established in the fertile crescent between the less reliable Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. During the bronze age both Ancient Mesopotamians and Ancient Egyptians developed forms of religion that highly reflected their habitat. They had many similarities in their politics even though they had completely different forms of government. Both societies were also known for their discoveries in art and technology. They developed their own forms of writing, different tools and architecture.

The Egyptians had gods for every aspect of their lives and afterlives. Although the Mayans had many gods, they also practiced Animism. Both cultures had places for rituals and ceremonies. The gods they believed in were different from each other and some were worshiped more than others. With very few differences, the religious aspects of both cultures influenced both cultures equally.

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

In Mesopotamia they had new inventions. For example they had the wheel, the sail, and the plow. In Egypt they had came up with the idea of pyramids. The pyramids were built by slaves and other workers. The pyramids were made for the Pharaohs or the Egyptian god-kings. In India they a plumbing and a sewage system. The reason why these inventions go into the economic category is because not every single person had these. Mostly the people who were wealthy could take advantage of these opportunities. In Egypt only the wealthy people and the Pharaohs got pyramids. In Mesopotamia the main thing people did was farm. They were the first people to use the irrigation system. That is why in Mesopotamia they had a surplus of crops. In Egypt they did a lot of mining. They found things like gold and turned it into jewelry. In India they did a lot of engineering. For example they used engineering to build their cities. One economic similarity that these civilizations have is trade. In Mesopotamia they used the Tigris and Euphrates river to trade with neighboring civilizations. In Egypt they used the Nile river to trade with other civilizations. In India they used the Indus and the Ganges river to trade. They traded things that they had a lot of and in return they got things that they didn 't have, Another similarity these civilizations had was that they all had a writing system. In Mesopotamia they had the cuneiform. The cuneiform was a system of writing that was on clay tablets. In Egypt they had hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics were basically simple pictographs. In India the writing system has not been discovered yet. ”In contrast to cuneiform and hieroglyphics, the Harappan language has been impossible to decipher” (Beck 48) The writing would be an economical characteristic since not every single person was able to learn the writing systems. For example the poor people were not able to learn

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.