A Comparison of Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian Societies Essay

Although Egypt and Mesopotamia were both early agricultural societies create upon the water provided by the major rivers which sustained them, they exhibited important differences as a consequence of the diametrical physical environments in which they developed. In this paper I will first focus on what I consider to be the major aspects of these differences in environment and then explore the consequences of these differences in their sacred beliefs, political organization and commercial practices.A major difference in physical environment amid these ancient societies was the seasonal river flows on which they depended for market-gardening. The Nile which back up early Egyptian civilization was characterized by predictable and annual inundate in the early fall. These bombardments occurred after crops were harvested. This pattern was a consequence of the lawful late summer monsoon rains which fell at its headwaters. The Nile also possessed a large spreading delta area that ga ve rise to inhering irrigation canals that would flood the areas between them with fertile nutrients for the next planting year.The Tigris and Euphrates rivers which supported the Mesopotamian nightclub would typically flood in the late spring just when crops would be ripening, often with smutty results on harvests. This pattern was a result of these waters originating from winter blast melt in the Anatolian mountains (now in present day Turkey) where these rivers originated. These floods sometimes caused the rivers to convince their course abruptly cutting off fields from water. Another first physical difference contributing to cultural differences was the relative isolation in which ancient Egypt developed compared to Mesopotamia.According to our text book Egypts natural isolation and material self-sufficiency fostered a unique culture that for great periods of time had relatively little to do with other civilizations. In contrast, Mesopotamia was clean to migration or inv asion and was dependent on imported resources. Also numerous different ethnic tribes contributed to the growth of Mesopotamian society. The religious beliefs of Egypt and Mesopotamia were influenced by many factors. The rivers, every(prenominal) day objects, and the beliefs of the people. In Egypt in contrast to Mesopotamia the Pharaoh was considered to be a deity in addition to being the supreme ruler.He was the main idol of their religion. In Egypt people praised their gods for the annual flooding of the Nile. However in Mesopotamia the people were frightened of their gods because the gods could alter the landscape arbitrarily. In return they gave their gods gifts in hopes of quiet them. In both of the civilizations religion was polytheistic, i. e. , having many gods. The political organization of Egypt was found on the central authority of the Pharaoh. Since he was the embodied form of a god, he was the law. He chose where the capitol would be located, such a Thebes, Memphi s, etc.Although littler cities existed in ancient Egypt the majority of Egyptians appeared to live in small farming villages. In contrast, Mesopotamia was built around a number of independent city states surrounded by farming villages. Many of these cities competed with each other or even warred with each other to become a dominant vegetable marrow of power. No uniform basis for law or justice existed in this decentralized environment until Hammurabi succeeded in becoming the first king of Babylon and completed the Babylonian Empire with control over all of Mesopotamia.He created a law code of which may copies were made. These inscribed tablets were sent to the different clans of Mesopotamia and became a basis for a uniform legal system, including classification of the people financial support under his dominion The commercial activities in Mesopotamia were quite extensive as a result of the requirement to develop trading relationships between the different city states and other regions to obtain needed resources.This resulted in the development of a merchant class in the urban centers unlike the situation in Egypt. Trade was based on bartering rather than money. Goods traded included wood, metals, and stone in exchange for wool, cloth, barley, and vegetable oil. These practices required the development of the skills needed for acquiring, transporting, and protecting blue-chip commodities. According to our textbook, independent merchants and merchant guilds had gained considerable influence in Mesopotamian society by the second 2000 BC.