Egypt Vs Mesopotamia Essay

591 Words3 Pages
With the rise of the agricultural societies, peoples no longer had to dedicate all of their efforts to food. The surplus of food from farming enabled some to instead become specialists; such specialists include the rulers and government officials of the civilization. The evolution of more advanced bureaucracies from beginnings in an agricultural society is a pattern that has manifested itself repeatedly throughout history. For instance, both ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia developed advanced political systems after having become agricultural societies. Further, although the two ancient civilizations both shared a common origin rooted in agriculture and although their later development consequently seemed to correspond to each other, they were…show more content…
For example, the Mesopotamians perceived their gods as violent and angry. In order to prevent punishment from the gods, they strived to please the gods through sacrifices, festivals, and prayers. They also relied upon high priests to interpret the will of the gods. As a result of the high importance of religion and satisfying the gods, priests and kings, often having a military background and claiming divine authority, claimed power over Mesopotamian city-states. In contrast, the Egyptian pharaohs, most of whom held a hereditary right to the throne, were considered to have a god like status, instead of simply acting as an interpreter. The Egyptian rulers also differed from the rulers of Mesopotamia in that they held greater power over their kingdom because Egypt was better united and was not in a location in which war was a constant threat; their rulers were more lasting than those of Mesopotamia who faced continuous military threat. In continuation, the Egyptian pharaohs would establish their power through the management of their state and the labor provided by their peoples. Under Egyptian rule, the Great Pyramids were built, for instance. Basically, both Mesopotamian and Egyptian rulers’ power were rooted in religion; still, the political rulers of the two differed in the power amounted to them consequent the unity of their kingdom and their mortal
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    evolvement in it. In Mesopotamia and Egypt, there is one specific detail that they both have in common. Both soon to be built civilizations were formed around major rivers. Mesopotamia formed around the Tigris and the Euphrates and Egypt (Northern Africa) formed around the Nile. In Mesopotamia and Egypt there were a couple of groups of civilians that help make it to what it is today, but the two main ones were definitely the Sumerians for Mesopotamia and the Phoenicians for Egypt. “In Mesopotamian and

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