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Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia both became evident as great civilizations between 3000 and 350 BCE. For the first time in history, these societies allowed people to settle down and do farming rather than chasing food sources for their wild animals. However, Mesopotamia and Egypt both shared some differences and similarities in religions, geography, technologies, and social structures that helped them prosper and emerge as two of the most influential civilizations in history. This Mesopotamia and Egypt essay, therefore, will compare and contrast the two civilizations.
One of the significant Mesopotamia and Egypt similarities is their social structure. Both Egyptians and Mesopotamians had a well-structured social class system. The slaves and peasants both played similar roles in both Egyptian and Mesopotamian society. Nevertheless, there was a significant difference between Mesopotamia and Egypt’s ruling classes organization. While Egyptians had one central, powerful ruler, known as pharaoh, there were many urban kings in Mesopotamia. Since the pharaoh was the absolute ruler of Egyptian society, they did not need nobles. Instead, the people of Egypt depended on professional government officials and military forces. It enabled the people of Egypt to have a higher probability of achieving high positions as compared to those living in Mesopotamia. These differences between their social structures allowed them to have their idiosyncratic empires.
Both Egypt and Mesopotamia were small groups of hunter-gatherers, later evolved into small tribes. They started to revolutionize agriculture. They started to expand as soon as they introduced domestication of animals
In the views of the geographical outlook, they vary, but the region is the same in terms of the rainfall downpour of the region in a year. Though Egypt was smaller in size compared to Mesopotamia, they share a lot of striking similarities on the geographical facet. Both lie on the rivers that are imperative to their populated land.
Egypt and Mesopotamia, located in the same region and between the two rivers, share many similarities. Having different religions and beliefs to practice, both share a distinct commonality of being polytheistic, having more than one God or goddess.
The Egyptian gods were holy figures recognized by the inhabitants spiritually, ethically, and morally. On the other hand, the Mesopotamian God has dealt with natural phenomena and the human body. Nevertheless, the core meaning of God in society remains the same in both followers.
Comparing both civilizations from the religious point of view, these communities largely believed in life after death. It is said that people created shrines to protect their dead. Moreover, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, created temples to worship gods at their will in the period when priest-kings ruled.
In addition, the political spectrum and style of governance have specific similarities and differences. The Egyptian political scene was divided into upper and lower Egypt. Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt were joined together in the reign of pharaoh Menes; people were governed by pharaoh; a super being in humans sent on earth to rule and govern the land. These kings and rulers were said to be pharaohs, gods. At the same time, Mesopotamia was a vast empire with small groups, communities, and conquered territories engulfed under one umbrella of Mesopotamia. A king ruled both Egypt and Mesopotamia. The king in Mesopotamia or pharaoh in Egypt had absolute power over the land.
Another noted similarity between the two was its societal norms. Both were male-dominant societies, also called a patriarchal society where males are in the dominance of females and control their households.
The ancient civilizations were the ones who gave many inventions, practices, laws, and systems that are modified systems and laws in today’s world. Likewise, both the civilization introduced many systems which are followed till date. The Egyptian education system and language, as compared to the Mesopotamians, have more similarities than differences. It is said that the Egyptian and Mesopotamia education systems had a planned schooling network to educate their people.
The significant difference was its language and writing system. Mesopotamia developed its writing system called cuneiform writing. At the same time, the Egyptians had pictured symbol language called hieroglyphics. So the civilization used to communicate through pictorial symbols to tell a story. Both civilizations adopted farming and agricultural practices of that time. New techniques in farming and domestication were also introduced in both civilizations. People gradually shifted from hunting to civilized and independent food security both in Egypt and Mesopotamia.
When it comes to appearance, both genders in both societies seem to have worn wigs quite often. The jewelry worn by both sexes was decorated with semiprecious stones. It has been found that people in both societies used to wear brooches, hair ornaments, earrings, and necklaces. As far as their clothing is concerned, both sexes in Mesopotamia used to be clothed in a massive piece of material draped around the body under a tunic. Like a shawl, this piece of cloth was edged with tassels and was most commonly of wool or linen. This garment was arranged in a way that the right arm was free. More detailed draped clothing can be seen in the sculptures of that era. Both pieces of garments, the shawl, and the tunic, were cut from the same fabric. Some people would wear broad belts to hold the shawls. These garments were usually of bright colors using embroidery or printing to make them appealing. The motifs printed on the garments were mainly geometric. They do not seem to tailor their shawls or cloaks to fit for shaping. At the same time, the footwear for both sexes was typically boots or sandals made from leather or fabric. The rich ones wore dresses with better quality fabric and decorated with expensive varieties. Thereby, their clothing and appearance were quite similar to each other.
In conclusion, the two river-valley ancient civilizations shared many common elements and stand opposite each other in several ways. With the pharaoh-led systematic and harmonic style of governance, Egypt formed into a more unified society. On the other hand, the monarchical setup of the king with several territories, small tribal groups, political radicalism, unpredictable Euphrates and Tigris, and the independent powerful ruling elite, division in Mesopotamia society was on the cards. Both were created considered flourishing civilizations of their times and had their distinctive marks on world history. In comparison, the two share many commonalities regarding political, cultural, intellectual, and religious practices and differences in specific details of the same.