Paper
Karan Patel
Ms. Schubert
October 16, 2013
Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia have many similarities and differences related to geography, government, culture, religion and resources. Both of these civilizations are the most common and most known about out of all other ancient civilizations. Without these civilizations we might not have things like wheels, the calendar, and irrigation systems. Both of these civilizations are also well known by many historians and we learn new things about them each day. Due to the advancements and technologies of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia our modern world is what it is today. Both Egypt and Mesopotamia had many similarities. One of the many similarities is that both civilizations …show more content…
were located near a river. Mesopotamia was located near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and Egypt was located along the longest river in the world the Nile. The rivers were a major part of the Success of each civilization, because the rivers provided fertile soil for farming, water, and transportation. Both of the civilizations grew crops such as barely, wheat, and other cereal grains. Another similarity between these two civilizations is that they both kept records with writing that consisted of pictures. The Egyptians used hieroglyphics and Mesopotamia used cuneiform, and they both consisted of mainly pictures. Another similarity is that both of the religions in the two civilizations were alike mainly, because the gods in each religion would be a human animal hybrid. For example, the gods could have a head of an animal such as a bird and have a body of a normal human being. A big similarity between the two civilizations and most other ancient civilizations is that a majority of the people in society were farmers. One of the biggest and most important similarity and advancements of the civilizations is that both of the civilizations had a calendar of around 360 days. Mesopotamia had a calendar of 12 months and 354 days with 29 or 30 days in each year. The ancient Egyptian calendar has been changed many times but the average number of days in each year is about 360 days. The main purpose of the calendar is to help the people that were living there to farm. The calendar would separate seasons so people would know when it is best to farm, and when it is time to harvest. Not only did Egypt and Mesopotamia have many Similarities but they also had many differences.
A big difference was they way each civilization was ruled. In Egypt their was a pharaoh and his family which were on the top of the social pyramid, and ruled. When a pharaoh died one of his sons would take place and be in charge, this is very similar to the government of England, but the only people with power were the pharaoh and family, and certain high nobles. in Mesopotamia their was no one person in charge. They had self governing towns and cities that their own rules and regulations. Not all cities and towns were the same in one city their might be one person in charge and in another city their might be a democracy were they each decide what should be done. Another difference is the way the deceased were buried. In ancient Egypt when people died they would be preserved and buried in a tomb with some of their favorite thing. Depending on your social class people would be buried in different places. The pharaoh and their family would be buried in the great Egyptian pyramids with gold, diamonds, ruby, and other valuables. In Mesopotamia the people would be buried with nothing unless they were high class people. Also, the people would not be preserved they would just be buried, but their would be a ritual held in their honor unless they were a slave. An other important difference is how the people would view gods. in Egypt people viewed gods with hope and positive energy, and the people thought that the gods were responsible for their well being. In Mesopotamia the people did not have a great connections with god and the people would not blame good fortunes on god only the bad fortunes. Whenever something bad happened they would believe that it was the gods that did
it. After learning about Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia it is safe to say that they were one of the smartest and most advanced civilization. I still would like to learn how exactly these civilizations collapsed and gotten over thrown.
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