Comparison between the Civilization in Mesopotamia and Egypt
Mesopotamia and Egypt have similarities in their achievements, religion, and political, social, and economic structures (Karlsson). Egyptians developed architecture such as Sphinx and Giza pyramids. Egyptians also invented Hieroglyphics, a system of writing on papyrus. Egypt also had significant advancements in art, medicine, and the creation of the solar calendar. Mesopotamia had similar achievements. People of Mesopotamia developed architecture, such as the ziggurats. Mesopotamia’s people also invented a writing system known as Cuneiform. Additionally, people of Mesopotamia made advancements with the invention of the wheel, bronze tools, and sail.
Both countries developed along river valleys with fertile soils suitable for farming. Egyptians settled along the Nile while Mesopotamia developed between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. The fertile lands along the rivers enabled both countries to practice farming as their main economic activity. Agriculture also led to the development of religions in both countries. Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia practiced polytheism, where people believed in multiple goddesses and gods (Rasool, 25). The people’s beliefs in the gods were based on nature. The civilizations in both countries had gods of the sun, sky, freshwater, and earth. Healthy relationships with the gods increased people’s survival and better harvests in both countries.
The interpretation of the gods differed in both countries. People of Mesopotamia were pessimistic, believing that they had an unpredictable god because of frequent flooding situations. On the other hand, Egyptians were optimistic, considering that their gods gave them justice and wisdom for floods predictions (Rasool, 31). Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia had similar social and political structures with kings as the ruling class. Both communities had slaves as the labor class. Socially, both societies had a patriarchal system. However, Egypt was more lenient to women as compared to Mesopotamia, which was harsher. Women in Egypt were influential and even allowed to be queens e.g., Cleopatra VII Philopator (Rose & Rowan). On the other hand, women in Mesopotamia has less impact on society.
Works Cited
Karlsson, Mattias. “A Bibliography of Studies on Egyptian-Mesopotamian Relations.” (2017).
Rasool, Ahmed Arazoo. “Comparative study of the function of goddesses in Mesopotamian civilizations, Elam, Iran, India, Greece, and Egypt.” Journal of Process Management. New Technologies 7.2 (2019): 24-34.
Rose, Denny, and Rowan Allen. Ancient Civilizations of the World. Scientific e-Resources, 2018.