A Peak in the Past: Ancient Civilizations of Sumer and China
It's safe to say that when it comes to the ancient civilizations of old, opposites don't attract. You have China and the Indus, sitting in virtual fortresses of solitude caused by the Himalayan mountains. China was walled off — and still would be, if it weren't for technological advances driving everyone closer together — and you can be certain that China liked it that way. Sumerians and Egyptians probably would have enjoyed a little privacy, or at least a break from the constant threat of invasions or someone taking from your crops. "But these civilizations were so close!" you say, "How could they possibly end up so drastically different?" Let's take a look.
Ancient Sumer
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You can be sure that these civilizations in question never mixed with China. Where Sumerians could be invaded left and right, Egyptians experienced turmoil with its leaders, and the Indus had wild monsoons, China was safe inside its natural walls. China had the fertile loess, a large section of yellow soil on either side of the the Huang He river. The loess brought rich vegetation and food, and the ancient Chinese had a diet of primarily flora. The meat they enjoyed typically came from pigs, an animal that the Chinese could sustain with just about anything. Another river, the Yangtze, flowed through valleys and brought about fertile soil for the Chinese to use for growing rice. Where the Huang He was muddy and dangerous, the Yangtze would calmly bring about its life-giving elements wherever it went. The mountainous region of the Himalayas stood to provide life for the Chinese and Indus civilizations as well as a barrier between them, allowing them to develop independently. The only way rogues could actually get into China to destroy villages and steal crops was through the Gobi Desert, a massive desert in the north of China. Still, the Chinese managed to not just survive, but thrive, and build a truly great civilization. They produced a language that everyone in the civilization could understand, creating understanding and cooperation. They highly revered their …show more content…
Egyptians are well-known for their innovations in all walks of technology, including math, science, medicine, and language. They are possibly more well-known for their class system and how much they respected their kings and queens. Ancient Egyptians made monuments for their rulers, who they believed had a connection with their gods. And their gods, my goodness! Never before had we seen such in depth depictions of the ones they revered, such intense worship of their deities. Sacrifices and donations were made to appease their many gods. However, their religious beliefs never seemed to hold them back from making amazing discoveries and advancements. For example, Egyptian women had many of the same rights that the men did, including being able to divorce, own property, and they were even able to inherit and distribute wealth! The women were able to participate in everyday life duties just as the men did, like fishing and baking for the society and even swimming casually along side the men. The class system usually decided what each person could do more than their gender. Never before had such amazing breakthroughs in equality come to be. The Egyptians were a long-lasting society, due to their tolerance of trading and huge following of their rulers. The Egyptians weren't one to let go too easily! It seems that the Indus, however, were a tad
The cultures of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia developed into successful civilizations because they had rivers for mandatory needs like food and transportation, they had their own ruler, laws of civilization for the people, jobs for people, and temples for jobs and shelter for some.
In the first civilization, both Mesopotamia and Egypt relied on a hunter-gatherer economic system, during that time, every country in the world strived on it. Mesopotamia had rich soil for agriculture, but experiences floods. For the Mesopotamians, these floods would destroy major cities, but for the Egyptians it would keep the soil rich all year long without the damage that the Mesopotamians had experienced. With the rich soil foods were plentiful around the farm lands, which gave both countries the chance to establish largely dense areas, like what we now know as a city-state. The Nile River also served as a defense for the Egyptians they enjoyed centuries of tranquility and peace in which they used to develop peaceful development of their civilization. For the Mesopotamians, this wasn’t the case.
Both civilizations relied heavily on farmers being the life of the civilization and providers of food and other useful materials. Though farmers were essential for each of the civilizations, in both, they were at the bottom of the social ladder. However, in Egyptian society farmers can have their children learn a different skill, such as to become merchants and craftsman, and eventually, with a slight slim chance, get into the ruling class. This was not the case in the Aryan civilization as each person was born into a caste and could not move up or change their level in the caste system – the order being Brahmins (the priests and king), Kshatriyas (the warriors and aristocrats, the ruling class), Vaishyas (the cultivators, artisans, and merchants, and the Shudras (the peasants and surfs). Another major differentiation is that women did not have many rights in the Indian civilization, only men could own land and receive an education. Women were solely responsible for bearing children and maintaining the household. On the other hand, Egyptian women enjoyed a much higher status and greater independence then women elsewhere in the ancient world. As Ramses II declared “The foot of an Egyptian woman may walk where it pleases her and no one may deny her.” In comparison to the women of the Indus River Valley, Egyptian women lived the high life, as Egyptian law allowed for women to inherit property, enter
One reason why I think Egypt was more unified, was the gift of the Nile. In my personal opinion people are products of their environment. The Nile, was one element that made living for a large population possible. The laid back atmosphere led the people to come together to create simple, but efficient ways of fertilizing the ground; furthermore, the fertile rich area allowed prosperity in crops and gave everyone piece of mind that they were not going to starve. (text, 73) On the other hand, Mesopotamia’s two rivers the Tigris and Euphrates, required people to create ways of irrigation to make the land more fertile for crops. (text, 59) The overall view of Mesopotamia’s greed arose from the possibility of loosing crops due to the floods. (text, 59) In other words, the land did not provide a great guara...
Geography has provided natural resources and boundaries for cultures continuously over many generations. The topography led civilization to have protection from other cultures and plentiful natural resources that they used for human survival or for an economic profit. With a good amount of resources available, cultures like India and China thrived in the creation and expansion of their civilizations. Geography helped India and China civilization develop their culture, spread their religion, and determine the rate at which each civilization’s ideas were transferred. The physical features that India and China lived on helped their cultures form and thrive into their current form.
The ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt developed into successful civilizations. One civilization the Egyptians developed was in the Nile River valley. Based off the "Mesopotamia and Egypt DBQ" packet, "Ancient Egypt was an advanced civilization in many areas including religion, architecture, transportation, and trade. Ancient Mesopotamia was one of the first civilizations that developed a form of government as well as organized people in political states." Based on the documents, Egypt and Mesopotamia developed into successful and advanced civilizations by effectively using the resources that surrounded them to solve problems and live happily.
Egypt was one of the first River Valley Civilizations. In Egypt there were big advances in art, math and science and also pottery. We still use the same number system and they even had fractions back in that time. During the Old Kingdom times the pyramids were built. The pyramids were tombs for the pharaohs of Egypt. These pyramids are one of the most popular historical sites in the world.
Daily life was influenced in both Ancient India and China because of religion and philosophies. Their well being, their beliefs, and their caste system were affected by religion and philosophies.
The Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia grew up to be successful civilizations. The surroundings of where they are located assisted them in survival. Although their lifestyles were different, both civilizations became successful in their own ways. Finally, their similar belief was a very helpful guidance when their rulers governed. Without these factors, the two civilizations might not have been
Ancient Egypt is considered to be one of the most significant eras in history, due to its lengthy existence and its overwhelming contributions to the development of western civilization. You could say that Egypt provided the building blocks for Greek and Roman culture, and through them, influenced all of Western tradition. Today Egyptian imagery, concepts, and perspectives are found everywhere; you will find them in architectural forms, on money, and in our day to day lives. We are able to distinguish various elements of its culture that played a key role in its development, such as agriculture, architecture, religion, and government to name a few. Egypt 's impact on later cultures was and still is immense.
Approximately 5500 years ago four of the worlds' most prestigious ancient river civilizations had emerged. Our world has been left in astonishment and awe wondering how these civilizations were developed. Egypt and Mesopotamia were the first ancient river civilizations to create cities and their own ways of living. Society, geography, and religion played an enormous role in the development of the ancient cities. Although there is evidence of early Sumerian contact with the Egyptians, Egypt's civilization was largely self-generated and its history and cultural patterns differed from Mesopotamia.
Ancient Egypt was a very important time in our time period. They had their own way of life. Egyptians had their own writing, burials, government, religion, cooking, and games. They were educated people with many talents. They were good with their hands and brains. Ancient Egyptians were a magnificent race of people.
The Nile River is arguably one of the most important water sources in the world and has an extremely rich history dating back thousands of years. Without the Nile, the ancient Egyptian civilization would have never existed. Egypt is basically a whole lot of sand and not much else, except they have the Nile River flowing through it, on it’s way to the Mediterranean sea. The ancient Egyptians lived along the Nile River and it provided them with abundant water, food (fish) and the opportunity to develop agriculture along it’s banks. The Nile River was also used for transportation and trade with other regions because land travel was more difficult than floating on the river. The Ancient Egyptians were at the mercy of the seasonal flooding and droughts but learned to work within the natural system of the River and weather cycles (Carnegie Museum of Natural History). Modern people, however were more interested in conquering nature, rather than living in harmony with it.
This essay gives an overview of early civilization in China and the different periods within this era. Also, it includes political and cultural pursuits of the people within this time period and the struggles of the Asian peoples and their religious beliefs and community uniqueness and differences.
The ancient Egyptians were people of many firsts. They were the first people of ancient times to believe in life after death. They were the first to build in stone and to fashion the arch in stone and brick. Even before the unification of the Two Lands, the Egyptians had developed a plow and a system of writing. They were accomplished sailors and shipbuilders. They learned to chart the cosmos in order to predict the Nile flood. Their physicians prescribed healing remedies and performed surgical operations. They sculpted in stone and decorated the walls of their tombs with naturalistic murals in vibrant colors. The legacy of ancient Egypt is written in stone across the face of the country from the pyramids of Upper Egypt to the rock tombs in the Valley of the Kings to the Old Kingdom temples of Luxor and Karnak to the Ptolemaic temples of Edfu and Dendera and to the Roma...