The Nile was predictable, rising annually and bringing soil and water to Egypt’s rich agriculture. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers also rose annually, but were unpredictable and were said to “submerge man’s crops. ” Egypt was not only surrounded by the Nile, but by deserts, mountains, and seas. This made it more protected from external attack, while Mesopotamia was more prone to invasion, with a much opened environment. With the increase in population and growing demand for resources, southern Mesopotamia experienced deforestation.
To add to this disastrous situation, there was an increase in salinization of soil. The earth was believed to turn white, by 2000 B. C. E. The center of Mesopotamian civilization was forced to shift to the north, because of this ecological deterioration. Sumer, located in southern Mesopotamia, involved a complex and artificial network of canals and dikes, which led to the salinization of soil. Egypt, however, created a more sustainable agricultural system, which responded in the continuation of this civilization.
Regulating the flow of the Nile, Egypt’s system avoided salty soils, and grew in wheat production. Egypt’s environment was favorable, making it easy to work with without altering nature. Mesopotamia and Egypt differed in political, cultural, and environmental aspects. Mesopotamian civilization was organized in many separate and independent city states. A city state is a state that contains an independent city which is not administered or governed by another government. Each city state was ruled by a King, who controlled the walled city and its surrounding rural area.
The Essay on Egypt and Mesopotamia 3
... Mesopotamia however, was decentralized and that could have ignited negative effects to its own civilization. For instance, one city-state ... self-sufficiency. The culture in both Mesopotamia and Egypt influenced both civilizations. However, Egypt’s culture had a significant and drastic ... annual flooding, agriculture benefitted from this because fertile soil was now available which led to the growth ...
Almost 80% of Sumer’s population lived in city states, making Mesopotamia considered the more urbanized city of the ancient times. There was often warfare among these city states, which caused people to flee to the cities for protection. The conflicts led to the fall of Sumerian cities, and brought an end to its phase of the civilization. Many peoples, like the Akkadians, Babylonians, and the Assyrians, later came to power, creating larger territorial states and bureaucratic empires.
The Egyptian civilization, for 3000 years, maintained unity and independence, with occasional interruptions. Wind patterns, making it easy to sail South of the Nile, and the current flow north of the Nile, created exchange, unity, communication, and stability within the Nile Valley. Most people lived in agricultural based villages along the river as opposed to urban centers, because Egypt’s greater security made it unnecessary for people to gather in towns. Though at this point, Mesopotamia and Egypt seem very different, they still have many similarities.
Egypt and Mesopotamia both created their own form of writing. Egyptian civilization used hieroglyphics, which were sacred carvings. Mesopotamian civilization used cuneiform, which was wedge-shaped symbols on clay tablets that represented objects, abstract ideas, sounds, and syllables. Both civilizations were polytheistic in religion, believing in many gods. They believed that these gods were responsible for certain aspects of nature. Both civilizations made advances in sciences, specifically math and astronomy.
The Egyptians developed the clock, and the calendar, while the Mesopotamians. They also had social classes, with the priests and landowners at the top, and peasants and slaves at the bottom. Mesopotamia and Egypt, though geographically in different areas, had many similarities in their way of living. These first few civilizations are very similar, and are also very different. Clearly, Mesopotamia and Egypt had developed many innovations. Though more advanced, these innovations are still being used today.
The Essay on Civilization In Egypt
Civilization is the way of life that began by those who live in cities. Civilization comes from the word civis, which comes from Latin, and means citizen of a city. Civilization is characterized by everything that makes up the way of life in a city. This includes form of government, arts, customs, and technology. Civilization is similar to a culture except that civilization is more advanced and ...
