Egypt And Mesopotamia Similarities

Within the many River Valley civilizations, there were many reasons with how they differed and how they were similar. For example, two of the civilizations, Mesopotamia and Egypt, had many similarities and differences about their customs and ideals. A few similarities between the civilizations were their agricultural ways and religions. A difference was their state building, expansion and conflict. First, there was a similarity in the two civilizations’ agricultural ways. In Mesopotamia and Egypt, there were rivers along them, the Nile River in Egypt and the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia. They were both built around these rivers because they mainly used agriculture and water was a major contribution to their lives. They both
resided near fertile land in order to be able to grow the crops they needed, Mesopotamia settled near the Fertile Crescent, and Egypt settled by the fertile land across the Nile. Lastly, they both developed the world’s first large-scale irrigation system. Since neither of the civilizations got much rainfall, they used these systems to obtain more water and ultimately receive more of a surplus. Much of the similar ways of agriculture were due to the similar climates. They had little rain so they needed to have ways of getting water in order to survive. In addition, there were similarities with their religions. Both of the civilizations had many gods or goddesses, which had a human and animal form. Gods had a female counterpart to them. In both civilizations, their ideals were highly centered on their religions. In Egypt, the pharaoh was considered god-like and Mesopotamians had more religious figures rule over them . The reasons for these similarities were that there were similar influences and beliefs that they came across, so they tended to believe the same ideas of their different religions. Lastly, there was a difference when it came to their state building, expansion and conflict. For example, in Mesopotamia, they different areas were divided in to city-states, while Egypt was just one large empire. In addition, the Mesopotamians were ruled by religious figures such as priests, and later on, they had a monarchy with kings such as Hammurabi. A pharaoh, who was a king with divine status, ruled the Egyptians. Lastly, while the Mesopotamians were more focused on independent businesses, Egypt’s government was highly involved in their economy. The reasons for these different political systems were partially contributed by their geography. In Mesopotamia, there were flatlands with no natural boundaries, so they had to be more focused on protection from invasions compared to the Egyptians. Also, they had more contact with other civilizations, so they had more abilities to trade and be influenced by other cultures. In conclusion, many differences and similarities made both of these early civilizations diverse in their own ways. While they did have different political systems, they also created similar types of technology to improve their ways of agriculture and they both had similar religious cultures.