Mesopotamia and Egypt free essay sample

The Mesopotamian (in modern day Iraq) and Egyptian (in modern day Egypt) civilizations flourished around 3500 BCE. They were River Valley civilizations that thrived on agriculture. During their reign, they were very prosperous and shared similarities and differences. Differences between them were that Mesopotamia’s environment hindered their civilization in warfare and agriculture while Egypt’s environment strengthened it and in their patriarchy society, women were treated more as equals to men in Egypt than in Mesopotamia. They were similar in ways such as, they both incorporated and influenced the culture of neighboring peoples. The environment in Egypt has special features that the Mesopotamia lacked that ensured a prosperous civilization. Women were entitled to rights in Egypt that only men were allowed to have in Mesopotamia. However, they both gained new cultures and tools by traveling peoples and left their marks on other civilizations. The environment of Mesopotamia and Egypt differed greatly. In Mesopotamia, they relied on two river valleys, Tigris and the Euphrates. Both were used for irrigation to produce agriculture. However, the Rivers were very unpredictable and prone to flooding unexpectedly and destroying crops. The River of Egypt was the Nile, hence the name the Nile valley civilization. This river was very predictable. The people of the civilization knew when the river would flood during the year and they used it to their advantage for agriculture. Because of this, they had a smaller irrigation system, which leads to another example. Mesopotamian’s environment requires then to produce an elaborate irrigation, which sped up the salinization of the soil and contributed to the fall of the civilization. The Egyptians had a less elaborate form of irrigation because of the predictability of the river, so the civilization lasted longer. Another example of their different environments is that environmental barriers such as, deserts and mountains that protected them from invasion surrounded Egyptian civilization. On the other hand, Mesopotamia was not covered or protected by barriers, so they were vulnerable to invasion. When it came to protection, Egypt had the greatest advantage. Another difference in the civilization was the rights of women. In Mesopotamia, women were at the discretion of men and were of little worth. Only women of power, such as high priestesses, had rights like maintaining estates. While in Egypt, Women could manage, own, and sell private property, which included slaves, land, portable goods, servants, livestock, and money. In Mesopotamia women were usually midwives, Shopkeepers, brewers, bakers and textiles manufactures. Women of high status had to wear veils of cover their heads to protect their sexuality, but women that were unworthy were forbidden to cover their heads. They were forced to marry men of their families choosing and if the groom-to-be died, she had to marry a male relative. On the other hand, women in Egypt could sign marriage contracts and divorce contracts of their own free will. They kept their independence and were seen as individuals. However, Mesopotamian womans role was strictly defined. She was either the daughter of her father or the wife of her husband. Mesopotamian women were never seen as individuals unless they were royalty or women with husbands with high status. The civilization of Egypt definitely treated women more as equals to men than Mesopotamia. Similarities between Mesopotamia and Egypt included that they incorporated cultures and tools into their society from neighboring peoples. Egypt adopted technology such as, armor, instruments and daggers and Mesopotamia adopted the phonetic alphabet from the Phoenicians, who were trading peoples that controlled trade in the Mediterranean and lived in modern day Lebanon. Another technology that was adopted from the Chinese by both the Egypt and Mesopotamia civilizations were chariots. Chariots increased warfare tremendously in both civilizations. Not only did they adopt technology from neighbors, they also shared their culture with them. Egypt affected a civilization south of them the most called Nubia. They shared with them their military, burial rituals, worship, women and their Hieroglyphic writing style. Mesopotamia showed their influence on neighbors with the famous Hammurabi laws, which influenced old laws in the Torah that used the same â€Å"eye for an eye† principle. It is obvious that they both influenced and were influenced by neighboring peoples. In summary, Egypt and Mesopotamia were two very different civilizations but shared some similarities. Egypt had environmental advantages that Mesopotamia lacked that protected and strengthened their civilization. They had a predictable river and environmental barriers that protected the civilization while Mesopotamia had unpredictable rivers and little to no environmental barrier, which led to many attacks. Egyptians had much more respect for the women and gave them more rights. Women could buy and sale property, which included slaves and they could choose to get divorced. While in Mesopotamia, they were with their husband for life unless the men wanted a divorce and they didn’t own property unless they were women of high status. However, in both civilizations they affected and were affected by neighboring civilizations. Both of these great civilizations took part in shaping the world.