Mesopotamia and Egypt Comparative Essay

Between 3500-500 BCE, Mesopotamia and Egypt were both seen as major civilization. Although they are both ancient river civilizations and have many similarities, there are multiple differences between their religion, social structure, and political systems. Three similarities between Mesopotamia, and Egypt is that they were both patriarchal societies, both had written languages, and had education. They are both patriarchal societies as evidenced by Egypt having Pharaohs and Mesopotamia having Kings. They both had written languages as evidenced by multiple findings of slabs of clay with symbols, also known as cuneiform writing, in Mesopotamia and hieroglyphic writing on sheets of papyrus in Egypt. They both had an education system as evidenced by the Mesopotamian study of astronomy and mathematics and the Egyptian finding of “The Satire of the Trades.” Patriarchal societies are a similarity between Egypt and Mesopotamia because Egypt was primarily ruled by a pharaoh which was always a male figure. Also, Egypt had built such a strong patriarchal society that they had given men authority over public and private affairs. The women had routinely performed the domestic work in upper elites and in wealthy households. Mesopotamia, much like Egypt, also had a patriarchal society where the men had authority over both public and private affairs. Within their households the men decided the work that family members would perform and made marriage arrangements for their children as well as any others who came under their authority. Men also ruled as kings and made the decisions about policies and public affairs. The men even had power to sell their wives and children into slavery to satisfy their debts. Although women had made their influence felt in Mesopotamian society. Women sometimes advised kings and their governments. A few women wielded great power as high priestesses who managed the enormous estates belonging to their temples. Women also pursued careers as midwives,