Ap World History Compare and Contrast Essay Egypt vs. Mesopotamia
Unit 2
Anonymous
Civilization. The word “civilization” comes from the Latin term for “city.” The first civilizations were the river-valley civilizations, so-called because they all developed alongside major rivers to secure an adequate water supply for agricultural production. 2 of the greatest river-valley civilizations were Mesopotamia and Egypt. All though they both supported having a patriarchal leader or king, Egypt had a strong, centralized government, whereas Mesopotamia was decentralized, and built based on small city-states operating independently.
In both societies, the patriarchal leaders were influenced by religion tremendously. For example, in Egypt, all the citizens believed that not only did their pharoah have “powers”, but he was God in human form, allowing them to have more power over people. As a result, religion became more intertwined within politics, and even back then it was hard to tell them apart.This is shown with the many tombs they designed for themselves, called the Great Pyramids. With religion in political structure was an effective tactic because the Mesopotamians feared their gods since their Gods’ punishments included making rivers flood unpredictably Also, like in Mesopotamia, in Egypt below the pharaohs were nobles and priests, and at the very bottom were slaves. By having patriarchal societies, rulers were often influenced by priests, and many decisions were based off of their polytheistic religion. Although both civilizations had rulers, Egypt only had one ruler whereas Mesopotamia had many. In Egypt, there was a very strong centralized government, which resulted in government knowledge and influence in many needed aspects. For example, the Egyptian economy was more fully government-directed than Mesopotamia which had an independent business class. Because of its geographic location, the complexity in irrigating the Nile River resulted in government control. Unlike Mesopotamia, Egypt had more peace and prosperity
Anonymous
Civilization. The word “civilization” comes from the Latin term for “city.” The first civilizations were the river-valley civilizations, so-called because they all developed alongside major rivers to secure an adequate water supply for agricultural production. 2 of the greatest river-valley civilizations were Mesopotamia and Egypt. All though they both supported having a patriarchal leader or king, Egypt had a strong, centralized government, whereas Mesopotamia was decentralized, and built based on small city-states operating independently.
In both societies, the patriarchal leaders were influenced by religion tremendously. For example, in Egypt, all the citizens believed that not only did their pharoah have “powers”, but he was God in human form, allowing them to have more power over people. As a result, religion became more intertwined within politics, and even back then it was hard to tell them apart.This is shown with the many tombs they designed for themselves, called the Great Pyramids. With religion in political structure was an effective tactic because the Mesopotamians feared their gods since their Gods’ punishments included making rivers flood unpredictably Also, like in Mesopotamia, in Egypt below the pharaohs were nobles and priests, and at the very bottom were slaves. By having patriarchal societies, rulers were often influenced by priests, and many decisions were based off of their polytheistic religion. Although both civilizations had rulers, Egypt only had one ruler whereas Mesopotamia had many. In Egypt, there was a very strong centralized government, which resulted in government knowledge and influence in many needed aspects. For example, the Egyptian economy was more fully government-directed than Mesopotamia which had an independent business class. Because of its geographic location, the complexity in irrigating the Nile River resulted in government control. Unlike Mesopotamia, Egypt had more peace and prosperity