Compare And Contrast Egypt And Mesopotamia

Egypt and Mesopotamia were two of the world’s earliest city-based civilizations, creating the basis for Middle Eastern and Western history. Both Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations existed on the banks of major rivers. While Egyptian civilization thrived along the Nile, Mesopotamia settled between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Although they shared this characteristic, it was also the cause of many of their differences in political systems, religions, and social stability. In Egypt, the Nile River overflowed its banks annually, creating fertile, mineral-rich soil. The yearly rise of the Nile in Egypt was gentle and predictable. The Egyptian’s found security in the Nile’s 365-day cycle of inundation and Egypt’s perimeter of sea and desert

They felt that their gods were resentful, envious, and spiteful. This view developed from the many natural difficulties the Mesopotamians were troubled with. Their two water sources, the Tigris and the Euphrates, would flood violently and unpredictably, often destroying whole villages and cities. At times the rivers would produce fatal floods and on other occasions there would be droughts that would greatly reduce their water supply. The riverbanks would often be too steep and the rivers too wild to allow for transportation or trade. While Egypt enjoyed a natural perimeter that evaded invasion, Mesopotamia’s exposed plains gave way to repeated attacks. These extreme conditions resulted in the suffering and hunger of the

Ancient Egypt was a single tightly organized state for much of its history (Centanni, n.d.). In all its phases, the Egyptian government was led by the pharaoh. The pharaoh was held to be descended from gods, with the power to assure success and control the rituals that assured the flow of the Nile and the fertility derived from irrigation. Wanting gods to favor Egypt, the entire population of people did not hesitate to carry out laws that the pharaoh placed upon them. Egypt’s pharaohs claimed additional power and authority as actual incarnations of the gods