Mesopotamia Vs Egypt

Chapter 2 1. How can the term CIVILIZATION be culturally biased? 2. How did Egyptʼs geography and climate influence religion and the outlook of the people? How did climatic events taking place from the fifth to the third millennium BCE affect the growth of Egypt? 3. Compare and contrast the development of commerce in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Why did their styles differ? 4. Account for the differing status of women in Mesopotamian and Egyptian society. The definition of civilization is a “certain kind of development of a human society. A civilized society is often characterized by advanced agriculture, long-distance trade, occupational specialization, and urbanism. Aside from these core elements, civilization is often marked by any combination of
2. Egyptʼs geography and climate influenced the development of its religion, politics, and outlook. Egyptian civilization was focused on the Nile River and the surrounding deserts. The Nile River flooded at appropriate times to allow grain to grow. The Egyptians had a positive outlook because the river was dependable. This dependability also made the Egyptians view the universe as an orderly beneficial world, andviewed the afterlife as orderly and optimistic as well. The Egyptian religion was focused on guaranteeing continuous flow from the Nile and prosperity derived from the river and its ability to irrigate the land. The pharoh, the Egyptian ruler, was believed to be a descendant from the gods. The Egyptian king was Horus, and the son of Re, the sun-god. It was believed that the king intervened with the gods on behalf of the Egyptian people. Since the king was connected to the sun-god and assured prosperity from the Nile, the kingʼs leadership was divine. It also helped that the land was fertile for many years, giving the Egyptian leader more credibility and power. Around the fifth millennium B.C.E. Farming developed along the Nile River.
Mesopotamian society was set up as city-states, where farming villages were connected to an urban are, ruled by a leader living in a palace in the city. This decentralized government is in sharp contrast with the centralized and divine leadership of the Egyptian ruler. The villages in Mesopotamia provided produce, and the urban area provided military protection and specialized goods. There were many city-states in Mesopotamia. The city-states often fought for control of resourses, but they also came together when large man power was needed as in building new irrigation systems. The geography of both Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilization helped to develop the religion, the political and economic environment of two great early civilizations. Mesopotamian civilization was comprised of city-states. Their society was divided into landowners, farmers/artisans/and slaves. With the importance of farming, the role of women diminished, since the men did the hard labor of plowing. Women were still allowed to own land at the time. The writing system in Mesopotamia, cuneiform, was controlled by male scribes. This dominance probably led to a further decline in the role of women in Mesopotamian society. Women were allowed to engage in trade, work outside their homes, and make baskets and clean their homes. Politics was off limits.