Similarities Between Ancient Africa And Ancient Greece

948 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The nature of African religion

Ancient Africa and ancient Greece hold many similarities and differences. Now of course all of these things can differ between the two civilizations. For example, religion in Africa is fairly different from religion in Greece. However, they both have a god or deity that they believe in. Despite their differences, they both have trade, religion, warfare, and a form government. Trade is one of the main concepts that civilizations are built on. A trade route can connect multiple societies together. For example, ivory was traded all over Africa. In fact, Egypt often traded its ivory to Greece for other materials. Through this, the cultures became connected because of their trading relationship. Trading in Africa differs greatly from trade in Greece …show more content…

It is why many of us push through life. It is there to help us explain what science can’t always do. Religion in Greece is polytheistic. They believe in multiple gods that oversee every aspect of their daily lives from poetry, to war, to fire. This is their way of explaining nature and an attempt to feel some false control over it. While Greece has one religion all around, Africa is much more diverse. Some places like Egypt, for example, are polytheistic. They have multiple gods that reign over their lives like Greece. On the other hand, many other parts of Africa were Islamic. They believed in monotheism, in stark contrast to the Greek pagan beliefs. Yet in both cases, religion controlled their societies. Many African states followed Islamic law and it became almost a universal code for them. Similarly, Greek states wouldn’t dare oppose their gods and abided by rules that pleased the gods. These aspects of these two civilizations were only there because of their religion. They wouldn’t sacrifice their livestock and/or other things otherwise; it wouldn’t be practical. This is why religion is such a significant part of civilization, it wouldn’t be the same …show more content…

Even anarchy can be considered a form of government just as much as democracy is. Greece had many forms of government from democracy, to oligarchy, to tyranny. The form of government could completely differ from one state to another. Africa was much more centralized in this aspect. While some African societies didn’t have a centralized system of power. However, even theses societies had a method of decision making, even though it was based on lineages. The eldest male of the lineage would make the decisions for that specific lineage, regardless of the amounts of other lineages in the tribe. However, these societies were few compared to the Muslim states. The Muslim states were societies were their government was based on Islamic law. While many of these societies had a king and could be considered monarchies, even the king had to abide by Islamic law in some way. This is why it wouldn’t be too farfetched to consider it a form of government. A majority of Africa had this system of government unlike Greece which could have a different type in three neighboring states. This again is because of the geography. Two neighboring states could seem like two different countries, especially if they were separated by water while in Africa they were generally

Show More
Related

  • Athenian definition of democracy

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    By the fourth century B.C.E. there were hundreds of Greek democracies. Greece was not a single political entity it was a collection of about 1500 separate poleis or cities scattered around the Mediterranean and black sea shores. The cities that were not democracies were either oligarchies or monarchies (often times called tyrannies). Of the democracies, the oldest, the most stable, the most long-lived, and the most radical, was Athens.

    Read More

  • Ancient Egypt And Mesopotamia Similarities

    49 Words  | 1 Pages

    Egypt and Mesopotamia; two different civilizations that were similar in some ways, as well as different. They had their difference of their geographical location, as well as their different aspects of life. Even though they had their different life aspects, they had also had several similarities between each other.

    Read More

  • Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    To begin, most Africans have come from societies with traditional African religious backgrounds unrelated to Islam or Christianity. As a whole, African religious traditions combine belief in a Supreme Being with the worship of other gods and ancestors and use ritual and magic to mediate between human beings, nature, and the gods. In many African languages, there is no word for God, because in their tradition every thing and place embodies God. Many African religions have common tenets. They share a belief in a community of deities, the idea that ancestors serve as a way to communicate with these deities. They also share the belief...

    Read More

  • Essay On Voodoo

    1673 Words  | 4 Pages

    Religion was and remains a vital part of the lives of most Africans. For some it encompassed their entire existence. It substantiated and explained their place in the universe, their culture, and their relationship to nature and humankind. It also dictated their roles in the community and society at large. Religion among most African ethnic groups was not simply a faith or worship system, it was a way of life, a system of social control, a provider of medicine, and an organizing mechanism.

    Read More

  • How Did The Sahara Desert Affect Africa

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Africa trade was affected by the geographical confinement from the Sahara Desert. This is influential on Africa's social and technological inhibitions because it regulates both the public interactions with other civilizations and precludes civilizations above the Sahara Desert from accessing technology that can only be given to them through trade. An example of how trade was affected in Africa by the Sahara Desert is that the Axum or (Aksum) civilization only traded past the Sahara Desert through the Nile River. This only permitted them a small pathway of interaction with North Africa giving them little more accessibility than most civilizations under the Sahara Desert. This demonstrates the impact made by the Sahara Desert on trade within Africa. Trade done in Africa is significant because it gave the civilizations in Africa resources for them to live on and the isolation made by the Sahara Desert had limited them. The prevention of trade through isolation had both technologically and socially impacted Af...

    Read More

  • Ancient Mesopotamia And Greece Compare And Contrast Essay

    1603 Words  | 4 Pages

    All three societies had some form of belief in higher powers such as gods and other polytheistic beliefs. Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt had more duties involving their beliefs compared to Greece because both of those societies had ways of taking care of their religious sites such as feeding the gods daily or cleaning the temple area daily whereas there was not a huge emphasis on daily chores for Greece. Each society had originated around an ecologically useful area. Greece had a better advantage when compared to Egypt and Mesopotamia because both were prone to flooding. The Nile in Egypt constantly overflowed or ran dry causing harm to those who lived off of the river. The laws of each society were very male centered. Men were dominant over women in each society, but women in Egypt and Greece had more rights than those of Mesopotamia. Egyptian women could sue and file for divorce while Greek women could get jobs and retain property. The men gained more repercussions in Greece seeing as how rape and adultery would initiate a fine in Athens and not joining the army in Sparta would make you lose citizenship and the right to marry. Each society was also governed in some way making them similar, but the way they were governed makes them different. Mesopotamia was ruled by whoever conquered them, Egypt was ruled by a king, and Greece also had a king or an elected official. Each society did have slaves in some way, along with lower class. Egypt and Greece gave the middle lower class the option to become somewhat of a higher class through education and money. Power was determined mainly by wealth, birth, and income in the societies in some shape or form. Military was more of an important focus in Egypt and Greece than in Mesopotamia. The family structure of each civilization is still male centered and the male typically controls the family. Marriage and divorce is common in all

    Read More

  • Egypt and Mesopotamia: A Societal and Religious Comparison

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Egyptian and Mesopotamian religion and society were similar, but their government/leadership was different. Religion in Egypt and Mesopotamia were very similar because both faiths were polytheistic and had priestly authority. Both cultures had powerful priests, both had a belief of an afterlife, and religion was part of their daily lives. Both societies had similar rigid social classes, relied on slavery; both also had a religion which played an important role in their daily lives. Although, their societies were very common, they still had some differences in government. The Egypt, the government was a theocracy, whereas the government in Mesopotamia was run by a monarchy. Despite their similarities, the differences between these two civilizations were most likely a result of unique geographical and topographical conditions.

    Read More

  • Ancient Greek Government Essay

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    These governments came in different styles such as a monarchy which was led by a king. Another form of government that was seen among the Greeks was aristocracy in which the polis was ruled by a small group of noble, land owning families. One of the more notable polis of ancient Greek was that of Sparta in which they used the oligarchy as there form of government. This type of government is where the people are ruled by a few powerful people. Finally, there was democracy which means “rule of the people” (The Legacy of Ancient Greece and Rome 1-7). This was the government that Athens utilized and helped establish. These varying types of government can be seen throughout governments today, however, it is the government established by the Athenians and their political structure that had a greater impact on the west than that of its Greek polis counterparts.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Ancient Egypt And Ancient Greece

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    The word “ancient” can be a hard word to describe. It has no specific time period, but also does at the same time. When something is described as ancient, it is something that is extremely old, or was in the very distant past. Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Greek civilizations co-existed from 1150BC to 146BC. They had different systems, beliefs, and life styles, just like how different countries do today. There were also similarities, such as both having a single person be the ruler, not giving equal power to everyone. For Greeks, this would be a king and for Egyptians, and Pharaoh. Both Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece believed in mythology – a similarity between the two. However, much of their mythology was different. Although both Egypt

    Read More

  • Similarities between Greek and Egyptian Mythologies

    1857 Words  | 4 Pages

    Despite a few minor differences, Greek and Egyptian traditions appear quite similar. The many parallels may be a result of the connections between these two cultures. Though they were separated by the Mediterranean Sea, they often traded with each other, leading to a spread of ideas. Another reason is that Egypt was once governed by Greeks, such as the Ptolemaic Kings, who furthered the spread of Greek ideas and traditions in Egypt. Though their rule in Egypt ended with the suicide Cleopatra VII, their influence had a lasting impact. Greek and Egyptian cultures were connected through trade and rulers and as a result their mythology shares many similarities.

    Read More

  • Greek Religion Essay

    1940 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Ancient Greece, the lives of the multi-religious yet cognitive people were structured accordingly to their religious practices. Althought there was no dominant set of religious beliefs or dieties, the Greeks believed in what rather seems to be a pantheon of gods all similar in each definitive culture that seem to come together and reign supreme as the polytheistic religion of the Greek people. These beliefs came about from cultural diffusion between different religions and are reflected majorly in Roman polytheistic beliefs which transpired into the beliefs of many other cultures. It is believed that the Ancient Greek religion was comprised of ideologies from philosphers such as Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates, and that it became significant through the poetry of the epic writer Homer. The Greek beliefs influenced the cultures and minds of people in many city states throughout Ancient Greece especially Athens, Sparta, and the Minoan civilization and served as a foundation for the culture of these civilizations.

    Read More

  • Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to history there existed two of many important ancient civilizations that left a significant mark in the history of human development that even today leaves modern society in awe of its greatness. In spite of being distant civilizations, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece share similarities and difference in terms of how they practiced religion,political structure, everyday life style, and how they built the monumental architectures that continued to amaze the modern world of today. These comparison and contrast explain their difference in history and their dynasty's long term success. Through the early developmental age these two ancient civilizations contrasted in many ways perhaps due to the geographical location that helped shape their diverse cultures.

    Read More

  • Mesopotamian and Greek Societies

    966 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Mesopotamian and Greek societies had the same type of government within city-states, they were both theocracies. A theocracy is a government centralized or ruled by divine power. ...

    Read More

  • Islam In Africa Essay

    1289 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ethiopia was able to resist Islamic attempts at conquest and did not convert to Islam. West Africa held on to their core cultural features even as their leaders converted to the Islamic faith. (Andrea). In the Sudan region, kings still portrayed themselves as divinely chosen, which is a West African tradition, and women were still given higher positions in the government. Even Islamic punishments that were considered too brutal to Africans, such as cutting off the hands of thieves, were not used by many African nations (“The Spread of Islam”). In the primary source, al-Masudi continuously referred to the people of the area as “idolaters,” and tribal despite the influence that Islam had on the coast. Looking at this primary source, it is clear that the African people are still holding on to their own culture while taking into them the influence and trade that Islamic regions have provided (Andrea

    Read More

  • Religion In Southeast Asia

    2123 Words  | 5 Pages

    Religion plays a lot of roles in many different cultures. Most things are religion based like in the United States. We are based off Christianity in many different things. In East and Southeast Asia, religion had a big role in shaping the modern history.

    Read More

More about Similarities Between Ancient Africa And Ancient Greece

Open Document