How Is Mesopotamia Similar

Egypt and Mesopotamia are two of the earliest civilizations in history. They each had good and bad things about them. They each were special civilizations in their own way. They had many similarities but also had differences. “Like Mesopotamia, Egypt depended on the waters of a great river system” (Adler 33). This is one of the similarities between the two countries. They both relied on water systems to keep the countries afloat. A difference was “Egypt was static and Mesopotamia was dynamic” (Fish notes). Egypt was static because the desert that surrounded them so they did not have very many countries come there and introduce new things to the society. Mesopotamia on the other hand was constantly being flooded with different cultures and
other nations invaded them. “Egypt was obsessed with death and Mesopotamia was obsessed with living life and thought that Egypt was crazy for being obsessed with death” (Fish notes). Egypt built many pyramids that buried pharaohs or anyone that was important. Mesopotamia was more about what can you do and not how they will die. “Women shared more or less equally with men in social prestige and power” (Adler 25). Historians agree that both of these countries did this but women did not have any real rights except for in Mesopotamia they had the Hammurabi’s law code. “A wife could divorce her husband” (Adler 24). It had be for the fault of the husband but it protected her and the land she brought into the marriage. It was right that women did not have in later civilizations. These are just a few of the differences and similarities of these two countries. These are also just the things we have recorded and we probably do not have all the information about everything on these societies. The society I would pick is Mesopotamia because if I had to divorce my husband and he was at fault then I could at least have some rights. It is the only benefit because I am a woman I would not have had any real rights and I would have been there just to bear children and stay at home. It does not really matter where I would pick to live because women were viewed as property who just were controlled by their husband or father. The conclusion is Egypt had many similarities and differences with Mesopotamia. They were great examples of how humans have not really changed and that we are only just advancing in rights for everyone and technology. They were both great examples of how to survive in two different examples.