Comparison of Civilizations in the Ancient World

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Early civilization consisted of core values that defined the communities that resided within it. These communities were driven by numerous factors in which would decide the overall outcome of the civilization. Geography, social and economic values, and they’re culture all played an important role in the makeup of these civilizations.
Mesopotamia was a successful farming community early on. Utilizing the Tigris and Euphrates rivers this community was able to create a successful way of farming through the use of irrigation and drainage ditches (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010). Once the use of irrigation became large scale and widely used it was possible to support a larger community base and thus encouraged expansion throughout the civilization. Mesopotamians were able to import and export goods by land and by sea to the Mediterranean in the west and India to the east. With the introduction of the wheel Mesopotamians exported goods such as woolen textiles, pottery, and metal work while importing copper, tin, and timber (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010). Communities of Mesopotamia contained a diverse selection of people that consisted of: elites, dependent commoners, free commoners, and slaves. With the belief that gods and goddesses owned the cities making up the civilization, Mesopotamians built a prominent temple that was normally placed on top of what is called a ziggurat (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010). Since the Mesopotamians believed in the gods or goddesses control of the cities their civilization formed a theocracy. It was believed that a favorable relationship with the gods determined the success of Mesopotamia which made the class of priests highly important. The presence of famines resulting from floods, high winds and humidity convinc...

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...stem of writing were other achievements much like the other early civilizations. This included pottery, metalwork, and sculpture (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010). Paired with political order, music played a key role in achieving political order and refining human character.
In conclusion, early civilizations were similar in geographic requirements but strayed away from each in other aspects of writing, religion, and social structure. Certain qualities of the layout and location of the civilization provided different advantages which created various adaptions of each civilizations way of life. The result of these adaptions formed the foundation of each society and persuaded a certain way of life most comfortable with the inhabitants of each civilization.

Works Cited

Duiker, W., & Spielvogel, J. (2010). World history: To 1500. (6th ed.). New York, New York: Wadsworth.

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