Mesopotamia and Egypt Essay

The early civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt were truly(prenominal) sympathetic, but they were alike different in some instructions. Both Mesopotamia and Egypt real their civilizations center on rivers, but these rivers were polar pivotals. Mesopotamia was among two rivers called the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Egypts civilization real around the Nile River. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers differed from the Nile River. The Nile River was calm, and the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers were wild and very un certain. Since these rivers had opposite behaviors, Mesopotamias specialty was in irrigation, firearm Egypt was a more agricultural society. Mesopotamia and Egypt were very similar in their roots, but they as well as had distinctive forms of kind validation and apparitional observance that developed because of the rivers that surrounded them. Mesopotamias kind organization was a trend to differentiate between rulers and those who were commoners. each(prenominal) urban center-state in Mesopotamia had elders and young men that made decisions for the community. Rulers saved their access to some(prenominal)(prenominal) policy-making and scotch resources by creating systems of bureaucracies, non-Christian priesthoods, and laws.Priests and bureaucrats served their leaders well, defending and advocating rules and norms that authorise the political leadership. Lists of professions were passed around so distributively person could know his or her post in the brotherly order. The king and priest were at the top of the social twist followed by bureaucrats who were scribers, supervisors, and craft workers. The craft workers were jewelers, gardeners, potters, metallic element smiths, and grapplers this was the largest group of the social bodily structure. The craft workers were non slaves but they depended on their employers households. community rarely moved from one social level to an opposite. Not only was in that respect organization between society in general, but in that location was in any case unique(predicate) organization between families. In families, the aged(a) male became the patriarch. A family was made up of a husband and a wife who was bound by a subscribe that stated that the wife would provide children, preferably male, and the husband would provide support and protection. If there was no male child, a punt wife or slave could agree children to serve as the couples offspring. In families, sons would inherit the familys care and the daughters would receive dowries.Priests were at the top of the social organization with the king because they lived in temples, which delineatethe cities mogul. Bureaucrats were at the top of the social structure underneath the main multitude of power because they were scribes. Mesopotamia was the worlds first city to keep records and read, create a piece system. Writing became essential to the development of cities and enabled the great unwashed to sha re information across great distances and over longer periods of time. Scribes played a significant role in developing a writing system that tribe anywhere and in the future could decipherer. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers served as major communication and transportation routes for Mesopotamia. The take away for a system of record keeping developed because farmers and officials needed a way to keep spoil of the distribution of fulls and services. It was flagitious to keep course of goods and services because long-distance trade was very important to Mesopotamia since it lacked some raw materials that were crucial to developing the city. On the other hand, in Egypt, the social organization was similar to Mesopotamia, but differed just slightly.At the top was a Pharaoh or also called a king was the center of Egyptian life followed by priests, scribes, craftsmen, and lastly farmers and slaves. The Pharaoh was at the center of life and had the function to consider that floo ding of the Nile River continued without interruption and had the responsibility to develop a vibrant economy. Egyptians believed that the Pharaoh was a descendant from the gods. Egypt had one advantage that Mesopotamia did not throw away, the Nile River. The Nile River was navigable and provided annual floods. These annual floods allowed for stock moisture. Even though the Nile River did not inseminate the fields as wells as the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia, the yearly floods meant that the topsoil was re-create every year, making the soil on the loose(p) to plant in. Egypt also had the sun that allowed a bountiful agriculture. Egypt, similarly to Mesopotamia, was a scribe nation. Since little people were literate in both Mesopotamia and Egypt, a scribes social view was increased automatically. However, even though both Mesopotamia and Egypt were scribal cultures, Egypt appeared to be more literate. This could be because Egypt developed later than Mesopotamia, a nd they may clear utilize it more since Egypt had the Nile River. The Nile provided for good harvest allowing Egypts economy to flourish.Since Egypt had good harvest, they may have needed to keep go bad track of goods and services because they had more goods to keep track of since they had better harvest thanMesopotamia. Social structure in Egypt and Mesopotamia was not the only matter that was affected by the rivers. Another scenery of early civilization that was affected by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia was religion. Mesopotamians had beliefs in gods that molded their political organizations and controlled everything. They believed the gods controlled brave out, fertility, harvests, and the underworld. They had to respect their gods, but they also feared them because they were all-powerful. A major way for Mesopotamians to worship their gods was by dint of the temples. Temples were gods homes and were the cities identity. To demonstrate cities power, rule rs would elaborately decorate temples. The priests and other officials lived in the temples and worked to serve gods, the most powerful immortal beings to the Mesopotamians. Temples ran productive and commercial activities and those that were conclusion to the river would hire workers to hunt, fish, and collect.The temples were a way for people to worship their gods and show their faithfulness to them. Therefore, since the Mesopotamians believed that the gods controlled everything including weather and harvest, two important aspects in Mesopotamia civilization, it was important that they stay faithful to their gods since they did not have the best rivers. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers would flood if there was heavy rainfall during the height of the agricultural season. Thus, if they worshiped their gods frequently, the Mesopotamians may believe that the gods will bestow good weather eliminating floods more often, creating a better year of harvest. Like Mesopotamia, each division in Egypt had its own god. In addition, Egypt also had temples to worship their gods. In Egypt, gods were inactive and the kings, or pharaohs, were active. The pharaoh had responsibility to go along cults while the priests were to uphold regular rituals. The pharaoh acted as a intercessor between the gods and the people of the city. He back up the gods through rituals held in temples, which the Egyptians contributed many resources to.Since trade from the Nile River allowed the city of Egypt to prosper stintingally, they had more resources to mannequin more elaborate temples and later on pyramids. Pyramids were unique to Egyptian culture. The pyramids became a side for state rituals and were very important to Egyptian culture. Since Egypt prospered because of its location next to the Nile, they had an abundance of resources that was requirement to build the intricate temples. Both Mesopotamia and Egypt wereriverine cultures. Each city had its own unique social organization and religious beliefs, but they had similar roots. Both civilizations were scribal cultures, but since Egypt had the Nile River, the two civilizations differed. Since both civilizations were scribal, scribes attained great social side under the king and priests. Egypt prospered greatly from the resources that the predictable Nile River offered.Mesopotamia had the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that were unpredictable, but still provided for irrigation and allowed the city to arouse in irrigation technology and opened the city up to the surrounding cities. Mesopotamia and Egypt both had polytheism and worshiped their gods in temples. Instead of referring to the king like in Mesopotamia, Egypt refers to the pharaoh. Egypt believed that the pharaoh communicated with the gods. The rivers in both Mesopotamia and Egypt opened these areas up to the rest of the world and allowed for great economic growth.