The ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia were very different in some ways and in other ways very much alike. Some of the facts that help contrast these places would include the different varieties in social structure, economics, politics, religion, and even the geography of each area. Even though both of these civilizations were in and around the Middle East each had a very varied view on factors such as which God’s to worship and how to run their kingdom.
Egypt and Mesopotamia were the same but very different.Mesopotamia was the first great civilization and was built along the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers and is now located in present day Iraq. This is the area that is called the Fertile Crescent because its geography and layout caused farming and urban areas. The people in this region were either considered Sumerians or Semitics which led to religion in which the people worshipped gods of nature and also imagined gods as anthropomorphic.
The social structure of Mesopotamia was organized in social divisions which gave certain economic and political advantages to some and condemned others.Social structure was very much controlled by The Law Code of Hammurabi which gave the society three classes; the free landowning class, the class of dependant farmers, and the class of slaves. The economy of Mesopotamia was based on slaves and trade. The trading was kept track with a system of tokens which gave ownership of different items and also property.
Much of the trade there was done by boat and includes the trading of bronze, clay, and cattle. This is very much how Mesopotamia lasted so long and is known as the first great civilization.Egypt was the second and one of the greatest civilizations. It was centrally located in Northeast Africa and is still known by the same name.
The geographical feature that most affected Egypt was the Nile River but was also affected by the huge amount of land available. The land of Egypt was separated between north and south and had a ruler known as a Pharaoh for each kingdom. Religion also greatly affected the people of both north and south Egypt such as the building of the Great Pyramids and also the Book of the Dead which had to do with the afterlife.The social structure of Egypt was in a “pyramid-like” structure in which the royalty was on top, the wealthy, religious figures, and government officials were below, and then was the middle class, who included merchants and artisans, lastly was the lower class which consisted of peasant farmers and laborers. Also in the society of Egypt women had rights which even today are not completely true in most Middle Eastern countries. The economy was based on trading along the Nile River and the trading items consisted of papyrus, grain, gold, and barley.
In this civilization the upper class and rulers had the most economic status and the most work was done on farms to support families. As you can see, Egypt and Mesopotamia had many similarities and also some differences in the way they acted, the items they traded, and many other factors. One similarity was that both civilizations were rooted on a river with Mesopotamia being on the Euphrates, Tigris; while Egypt was on the Nile River. The reason for this similarity was that these rivers supplied the peoples with water, fishing, and also trade routes.Secondly these civilizations were the same was that they both had social classes. The reasoning for this was that it divided the rulers from the common man and made those in certain occupations better than others and in some way provided motivation to be in a higher class.
One difference in these societies is how the political leader was chosen. The reasoning for this difference is that in ancient Mesopotamia the ruler was chosen by a traditional village council while the ruler in Egypt was either born into it or was religiously placed into the position.These societies began and were extremely powerful on a world scale but then after years of traveling and trading in different areas of Earth, people were divided and great civilizations in Europe and other areas emerged. In ancient times those civilizations that were rooted in Egypt or the “Fertile Crescent” evolved into some of the greatest empires in history.
Some of the same factors helped these economic and some completely different factors helped those civilizations evolve into something greater.
