Download Homework 5 Score 8 - Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences

Svetlana Duvidovich September 11, 2008
E-Band
Homework #5
Mesopotamia and Egypt
Egypt and Mesopotamia are two of the world’s oldest and most well-known civilizations. They are
considered “river-valleys” due to their existence near beneficial water sources. Both depended on
these bodies of water for fertility, food and survival. These civilizations date back to 3500 B.C.E. and
are examples for the rest of the world. Both advanced in mathematics giving us the number system
and calendar we use today. Besides that, they were very progressed in the arts with beautiful cave
paintings and sculptures. Though the two can be compared, both had their own unique aspects to their
lives with different skills, people, and religions.
A significant part of a civilization is a great water source. Mesopotamia and Egypt had just that. Both
resided near rivers along the east that were major reasons for their prosperous lives. Mesopotamia,
earlier known as Sumer was one of the world’s earliest civilizations located in the Middle East, in the
present-day land of Iraq. Its landforms can be described as plains. It later became known as
Mesopotamia, “the land between two rivers,” because of its location between the Tigris-Euphrates
Rivers. Egypt is located in the northeast corner of Africa. Its landforms however can be described as a
desert with not much natural barriers. It originated along the Nile River which is the world’s longest
river. It is very fertile and was the heartland of the civilization in Egypt. Both civilizations used the rivers
as their main source of survival. Both led a very uncertain life because they did not know exactly when
the rivers would overflow. They developed calendars to help track down the day yet they did not know
how much they would overflow. If the rivers overflowed too much, everything would be destroyed and if
too little, there wouldn’t be enough crops to supply the community. When the Nile River would
overflow, it provided the Egyptian’s with fertile soil that enriched their crops. Mesopotamia used its two
rivers for agricultural activities as well. Both also used these bodies of water for transportation and later
traded with the rest of the world. They weren’t isolated civilizations and were able to communicate with
other societies. Mesopotamia and Egypt were also very progressed in the arts. Each had their own
distinctive way of producing sculptures or paintings and each were beautiful in their own way. The
Egyptians, as did the Sumerians, developed statues to worship their gods or pharaohs. They
decorated temples and even homes with colorful and cheerful paintings. Both were advanced in
architecture using all of their natural resources to produce homes and temples. The Egyptians built
structures known as tombs for their rulers and decorated them with pictures and beautiful furnishings
due to the belief in an afterlife. Sumerians, also built temples known as ziggurats, yet these were used
to worship their gods. They also were highly intelligent in the mathematics. Both studied the movement
of the sun and stars and passed these ideas on to us. Sumerians founded the science of astronomy
and employed a system of numbers based on units of 10, 60, and 360. Egyptians emphasized the idea
that the day is broken up in to 24 hours. Another important comparison between these two civilizations
is the way they viewed time. It is said today, that time can be known as cyclic or as linear. Cyclic time
means that all events can repeat themselves. Linear time stresses the fact that time flows from past to
present. Mesopotamia and Egypt were Mythopoeic, meaning they based a lot of their ideas around
myths. Societies like these viewed time as cyclical. This idea is demonstrated in their calendars where
every month or so, they believed the Tigris-Euphrates or Nile River would overflow. Both societies
were also opened to attack and were invaded by areas like Kush and the Babylonians. Though
Mesopotamia attracted more invaders, Egypt had certain enemies as well.
Even though, Mesopotamia and Egypt are so alike, there are also many key differences between
them. Each was unique in its own way with different people and political views. Egyptian civilization
benefited from the trade and technological influence of Mesopotamia, yet later produced different
views and traditions. The way they ran their societies and their organization levels were especially
different. Mesopotamia was tightly organized in to city-states. Each city-state was ruled by a king who
had divine authority. The government’s role was to help emphasize the role religion played in the
community. It also established a court system. Mesopotamia had a trained army and during war time,
Kings played the roles of military leaders. There was a distinction between classes with Kings and
nobles at the top and slaves at the bottom. This can be compared to Egyptian society as well. War was
of great importance to Mesopotamia because it supplied a vast number of slaves. Some slaves
however were able to buy their way in to freedom. Sumerians learned about silver and invented the
wheel for transportation. This tempted outsiders and they eventually fell to the Akkadians. When the
Sumerians fell in to Babylonian rule, the code of Hammurabi came in to effect. This is also known as
“an eye for an eye.” It was a very strict rule under the prince Hammurabi and established rules of
property rights as well as family rights. If someone was to break the laws or regulations, harsh
punishments and consequences would follow. While Mesopotamia had city-states, Egypt was more of
a centralized state. The Egyptian civilization was less open to invasion and didn’t tempt outsiders as
much. They were a unified society. Like Mesopotamia, Egypt had a king yet they called him a pharaoh.
He was the one who claimed a lot of power in the society. It was very difficult to track the Nile River
and know specifically when it would overflow, so the Egyptians had to set up a strong government. Its
economy was more focused on government than that of Mesopotamia. Because of the Nile, Egypt was
able to influence societies like present-day Sudan and Nubia. Due to the fact that Egypt emerged close
by to Nubia, they shared many of the same rituals and beliefs. Even though, both Egypt and
Mesopotamia were both Polytheistic, meaning they believed in more than one god, they viewed these
gods differently. Both places believed that the forces of nature reflected the decisions and actions of
their deities. In Mesopotamia, however they were afraid of their deities and felt that they were not
loving beings. They believed this way because of the many natural hardships they had to face. This is
why they developed ziggurats in which they tried to find favor with their gods. They viewed the deities
as very unpredictable and provided them with prayers and offerings. In contrast, the Egyptians viewed
their gods as very loving beings. They felt that they were the ones who protected them from hardships
and tried to help them with their struggles.
These two civilizations emerged and set a high standard for the rest of the world. The fact that we still
use many of their ideas today, says a lot about how advanced they truly were. From their calendars
that were based on the stars, to their advanced skills in the mathematics and arts, these two
civilizations are good examples of how with much determination and unity, a lot can be done. Though
these two societies can be compared, their differences can be pinpointed as well. They each brought
something new to the world. Each had a distinctive belief system and government with different
people, cultures, and traditions.