Huge strides for the human race were being made by early civilizations. These peoples would help form the modern world and shape history. Three major powers of the ancient world were the Egyptians, the Mesopotamians, and the Hebrews. They shared many characteristics which may have been a key to their success, but there was also tremendous diversity in their cultures. Agriculture was a necessary part of sustaining a civilization and advancing a culture. The Mesopotamians quickly learned that despite the little rainfall they received, their rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, could be utilized to tend to their fields. The Egyptians were in a similar situation and used the Nile as their major source of water (T&E, Bentley and Ziegler). During…show more content… They shared and exchanged gods with neighboring cultures as they see fit. For example the Egyptians and the Nubians associated their prominent deities with each other and worshiped them in a combined cult of Amon-Re (T&E, Bentley and Ziegler). Mesopotamians worshipped gods as they found them because they needed to please them all to sustain their environment and peoples. These two civilizations believed that people could become Gods, such as Gilgamesh or the Egyptians pharaohs (T&E, Bentley and Ziegler). They built temples and gave sacrifices to try to please their gods. Not unlike the Hebrews, however the Hebrews were strongly monotheistic. They believed there was only one God and that their God was the universal God. Hebrews believed that one entity had control over all aspects of the land and people, instead of many gods ruling over their own portion, like what was happening in Egypt and Mesopotamia. All of these early cultures placed a strong emphasis on their religion and it influenced all aspects of their life, they developed unique cultures that kept their people governed and kept order in their