Essay Example on Egyptian civilization and Mesopotamia which is often known as the Fertile Crescent

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The Egyptian civilization and Mesopotamia which is often known as the Fertile Crescent are the most significant civilizations recognized in the world They are both located in the same region of north and middle Africa and therefore they are closely interlink Coleman Callaham Crossley 54 Consequently the two civilizations played a role in influencing each other The two civilizations maintained their individual identities but they shared several similarities as well as differences in terms of their social structure religion and geography Both the two civilizations had similar social structures These are the ways that were used to organize the society There was a labor class for the both civilization which included slavery Slavery in the both was not based on race but rather on the prisoners of war who were captured There was also sometimes whereby children would be sold as slaves in order for the parents to pay off debts The lower class in the both was comprised of the merchants the bakers the brewers and the farmers The middle class was comprised of the scribes These were people who could write the architects and the wealthier merchants The upper class was of the nobles and the clergy and then there was the ruling class The difference between the two occurred in the fact that in the ruling class Mesopotamia was ruled by a king while Egypt had a pharaoh In Mesopotamia the kings who ruled would claim that they are the representatives of the gods who were appointed on earth 



On the other hand in Egypt the ruler or the pharaohs would be considered to be incarnation of a god on earth In Mesopotamia the rulers would also join the warriors during wars thus being considered to be also warriors while on the other hand pharaohs or the god kings would just rule and be considered to be Horus or the god of the sky when they were alive and when they die they become the gods of the underworld or Osiris The two civilizations had a religion that could be considered to be polytheistic This means that they believed in several gods and goddesses All these gods were based on nature IN the fact that there was a god of the sky the freshwater of the sun of the earth and also gods of the human emotions as well as the underworld Everyone knew that it was important to keep a good relationship with the gods so as to make sure that they have good harvests and have a chance to survive all the time However the two differed in the manner that they interpreted the gods The people of the Mesopotamia tended to be more pessimistic as a result of the flooding which gave them a very hard time They thought that their gods were very unpredictable and that after death there was just a land of no return On the other hand the Egyptians thought that there gods were all they needed and thus they were very positive about them because they had an easy time Although the gods of the Egyptians might have been harsh at some point he granted some humanity gifts such as justice and wisdom Death in Egypt was supposed to be a better continuation of the life that they were living on earth It is as a result of this belief that people would spend a lot of their time trying to make sure that their lives were good The two had different contributions to civilization In Egypt the art of writing was a major contribution This was to express their thinking Although they were not so familiar with alphabets they were able to communicate and express their ideas using different pictures 



Their writing was popularly known as sacred writing or Hieroglyph due to the fact that it was written only by the priest Coleman Callaham Crossley 57 Another contribution was in literature whereby the people had created a literature that was immortal The literature that was composed was concerning metallurgy and astrology among many others Another contribution was in Geometry and mathematics They were very good in division multiplications additions and subtractions Lastly they made the calendars as a result of their ability to predict floods in river Nile lunar and solar eclipse and the time of sowing seeds The art of wring was the most important one since it enables them to write down their thoughts On the other hand Mesopotamia had some major contributions as well The first one was the growth of cities whereby cities such as Kish Nippur Nigirsu Nuzi Eridu Ur and Uruk were born Coleman Callaham Crossley 56 The wheel was also a major contribution whereby archeologist Sir Leonard Wooley made a discovery of the remains of two wagons which used four wheels in Ur Agriculture and livestock was also a contribution of the civilization This was contributed because of the land they lives in which was fertile enough Conclusion In conclusion equal rights were also a major contribution to civilization whereby there were equal rights for both men and women This was the most important contribution among all of them as women could own businesses own land become traders and divorce whenever they needed to The contribution made by both of the civilizations was important and played a big role in changing the lives of the people


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