Compare And Contrast Egypt And Mesoamerica

Around 3500 B.C.E to 3000 B.C.E., civilizations emerged in many places. Egypt and Mesoamerica are distinctive two of them. Considering the different aspects of civilization, historians can find some same characteristics and differences which are valuable for historians to understand civilization in-depth. The central government is a critical part of civilization. The government in Egypt was quite similar to the Olmec government, except Egyptian was more complex. In Egypt, the central government was called bureaucracy, an administrative organization which consisted of many governors. Pharaoh, the king in Egypt, had the highest position, controlling the other people in the government bureaucracy. The rulers in Egypt were regarded as the …show more content…

Both Egyptian and Olmec had remarkable advances. They even had some same creations which had same functions, but had a little differences in detail. For example, they both had accurate calendar. However, Egypt just had an 365 days calendar which bases on the movement of the moon and the bright of star Sirius, but Olmec used combined two- calendars system--one is 260-day sacred calendar, the other one is 365 solar calendar. Also they was amazingly advanced in mathematics. Egyptian were capable to calculate area and volume and use geometry to survey flooded land; they also use mathematics to help build monuments. Olmec had a written numerical system, the bar and dot system, and also used zero which was considered as an advanced concept. Not just had a lot of achievement on science, they also created massive artworks. Both of them made colossal statues, like the Great Sphinx in Egypt which had a body of a lion and a head of human, the huge heads in Olmec which were used to glorify the rulers. They also had strong painting skills which were showed in many places, especially on ceremonial …show more content…

Egyptian hieroglyphs were carved in stone, and later hieratic script was written on papyrus. However, Olmec glyphs was discovered on cylinders. Hence, Egyptians and Olmec had different types of writing, and different places to write.
Religion, an inseparable part of civilization, influenced people a lot. Both Egyptians and Olmecs were polytheistic, so in general they were quite similar. They had various gods and respected to them. The pharaohs and shamans were regarded as incarnation of gads, or they can intervene with supernatural world. Also people will had ceremonies for different purposes.
There were also many differences in detail. Egyptians believed the sun god and the land god, including Atum which was in human form, Re which had human body and falconhead, Osiris which represented resurrection, Isis... In Olmec, people considered Jaguar as the most powerful predator; they believed were-Jaguar, bred by a human woman and a Jaguar, was their ancestor. They had semblable system of religion, but believed different