Mesopotamia And Egyptian Civilization Essay

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Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations developed under almost identical circumstances, but differences in irrigation, resources and location led them to have dissimilar sociopolitical setups . While Mesopotamia was forced to initiate development due to the unreliability of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Egypt was less complex, due to natural irrigation. These distinct differences caused changes in culture, political organization and the intellectual development of both regions. As a direct result Mesopotamia was centered around social hierarchy, while Egypt was centered around a religious chain of command given rise by the natural irrigation of the Nile River. Egyptian society was also emphasized by a strong central authority, as opposed …show more content…

These advancements in culture, science, industry, government and population, yielded the necessity for law which became a method to regulate sociopolitical norms, as well as a means to control and monitor what a large population of people did. Early Egyptian society did not have an organized set of laws, due to the fact that they did not have a large population as well as the fact that they worshiped the same gods. Subsequently, the creation of a modern written language (cuneiform) allowed for the conception of these laws. Hammurabi's code and the Assyrian Law were the earliest known code of laws, both originating in Mesopotamia. Hammurabi's code argued in favor of retributive justice, and was rooted in a moral code and belief system, and the Assyrian law, was rooted in political hierarchy and a division of power .These code of laws supported the concept of social hierarchy and patriarchal society. It both protected and favored the elite class as opposed to the poor. Both Hammurabi's code and the Assyrian laws marked the beginning of an urbanized, patriarchal Mesopotamian civilization, while Egypt remained the same. This idea begs the question, How did these differences between Egyptian and Mesopotamian societies, constitute the development of Mesopotamia as a

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