Mesopotamia Egypt Research Paper

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1. Sumer, the first civilization in Mesopotamia was divided into separate city-states such as Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Umma, and Lagash. They were surrounded by walls for defense. In a city the most prominent building is the temple. This temple was built on a tower called a ziggurat and is dedicated to the city's chief god or goddess. Sumerians believed that the chief god or goddess owned the city. Priests and priestesses have great power and at the early stage of Sumer they played an important helping the gods rule the city, forming a theocracy. Later, kings took over in ruling the city states. Sumerian kings were believed to have gotten their powers from the gods. They led armies and organized workers to build irrigation systems. In ruling they were…show more content…
Mesopotamia was located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. These 2 rivers flood in late spring, depositing fertile silt that made agriculture in this region possible. However this flooding is also very unpredictable. If it comes at the wrong time farming would not have been possible and famine will result. If the flooding is too extreme then it can cause a huge amount of death and destruction. Large scale irrigations were also needed to grow crops. Mesopotamia was also wide open to foreign invasions. The civilizations there lasted a relatively short amount of time. Egypt was more fortunate than Mesopotamia. The Nile River's annual silt depositing flooding was very predictable and it rarely over floods. It is also easier to irrigate fields next to the Nile than in Mesopotamia. This caused Egypt to produced much more crops than Mesopotamia, making Egypt richer and allowing it to build large structures such as the pyramids. The Nile allowed transportation and communication to be a lot easier and faster. Since the river flowed north and the winds blew south boats could travel quickly either way. People and goods could be moved all over the empire and important messages could be received faster. Deserts to the east and west, rapids on the south Nile, and the Mediterranean sea prevents invasions but they still allow trade to occur. All these factors caused great stability in Egypt, and allowing it to last thousands of years. Egypt's geography is better than Mesopotamia. Egypt is one long lasting empire, lasting from 3100 BCE to 1070 BCE divided into 3 periods of stability while Mesopotamia has many shorter lasting civilizations come and go.

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