Similarities Between Ancient Egypt And Ancient China

While Ancient Egypt and Ancient China were both reliant upon the land they lived in and both had polytheistic views they had very different languages. Ancient Egypt and China both heavily relied upon their lands in many ways. They both had very different resources they had access to. Egypt had access to resources such as wheat, barley, vegetables figs and other. China primarily had access to a surplus of rice and animals such as the oxen and pigs. They also both relied upon their rivers heavily, Egypt used the Nile river for transportation and farming. The Chinese used the Huang He, Yellow River, and the Yangtze River for the same purposes. Because of these resources and rivers both civilizations could farm an excess of food for their people.
The Chinese and Egyptians shared polytheistic views. The Chinese believed that there were several gods that all controlled different elements of nature. The Egyptians believed in various gods that ruled over different realms and parts of the world. The Egyptians also believed that their rulers, the pharaohs, were also gods. Both civilizations prayed to their gods in the hope that they would help them with things such as a good harvest or provide rain. Because of the shared views their people stayed devoted to their leaders and society. The two civilizations shared the idea of writing but in very different ways. The Chinese wrote on “oracle bones” from the middle to late Shang dynasty. The Chinese oracle bones were etched into turtle shells and animal bones then cracked to show meaning. The Egyptians wrote in Hieroglyphics, a system of symbols with various meanings. The Egyptians wrote on papyrus reed and carved into stone on the walls of the tombs. Because of the systems of writing that they both developed we have plenty of record and information on how the two lived. In conclusion, both Ancient China and Egypt prospered greatly thanks to the resources and rivers provided by the land, both were able to control the masses and provide faith to their people through their polytheistic views and the two had very different forms of writing that help us learn how they lived.