Ap World History Compare And Contrast Mesopotamia And Egypt

Before paper trails and written work was developed and comprehended there was an era called prehistory. This era, that lacked written communication, excelled in the growth and development of agriculture. With an expansion of agriculture, civilizations were formed alongside rivers. Among the new civilizations were Mesopotamia, in the middle of the Tigris and Euphrates River, and Egypt, beside the Nile River. These civilizations varied because one was formed between two rivers and the other was constructed along the sides of a river. As Mesopotamia and Egypt developed many aspects such as the geography, natural resources, and the proximity to water, impacted the culture of both civilizations. The factors affected in both regions were, religion, social structure, politics and economics. Mesopotamia, currently referred to as Iraq, was one of the first civilizations to be established. The geography of this city was an important aspect when the Mesopotamians decided where to initiate a civilization. By looking at a topographical map one could see that Mesopotamia was surrounded by copious amounts of elevation, mountains or bluffs, but within the river valley region it was more flat than bumpy.

Egypt, positioned thirty miles on the east and west side of the Nile River, was rich in natural resources. Surrounding Egypt were miles of desert and low elevated land. The Nile had cataracts which made it very challenging for people to cross and enter into Egypt. In addition to the cataracts, the deserts surrounding Egypt separated it from neighboring civilization. Both of these factors protected the Egyptians from invasions. The civilizations were directly affected by the geography of their land. Overall, Egypt was more politically stable and had a better chance of survival then Mesopotamia because of the natural barriers which made it hard for others to enter in and begin