Thursday, December 6, 2012

The Mesopotamian's and the Egyptian's



     The  word  Mesopotamia  means "The  Land between  the  Rivers" .  Today  this  area  is mostly in Iraq and  parts of  Turkey .  The  Mesopotamian   Civilization seems to have  developed  earlier than that of the  Egyptians .   About  9,000 B.  C. the inhabitants of the Zagros  foothills  began the domestication of  plants and animals .This took place in  Egypt  about  5000  to 4000 B. C. 

    In  Mesopotamia  the  Sumerians  had developed  Cuneiform a wedge  shaped  form of  writing  by about  3,500 B. C.  In  Egypt  ,  Hieroglyphics  were not  developed  until about  3,100 B.  C. 

    Egypt  was  also  unified  at  this  time, which  is  another  contrast with Mesopotamia  , which was never  a  unified  country. 

     About  2700 -2600 B. C.  was the beginning of the Old  Kingdom in Egypt , which is considered the  Pyramid   Building  Era .  In Mesopotamia a ruler   named  Gil-Gamesh  was the  ruling  monarch and  also the Royal  Cemetery  was  established    .  This  left  a  treasure  trove  for  Archaeologists  later  to discover .

   About 2,500 B. C. Egypt  entered the middle  Kingdom . In Mesopotamia Ur-namu  had just  established the Third  Dynasty of   Ur.  

   About  1800  Hammurabi  , the  great law  giver,  had  taken the  throne and Egypt  was  was  still in the  Middle  Kingdom . 







   About  1600 Mesopotamia  was invaded by the Hittites  ending  Hammurabi's  Dynasty , and  Egypt  entered  the  New  Kingdom .  Hammurabi  is  known  for his  codes of  law  which are  considered  some of the  first  set of  legal  rules for  things  such as  litigation  .

    Both  civilizations  depended  heavily on their  rivers. But  the Nile  was  a much  more   "dependable  river"  than the  Tigris and  Euphrates   in the Iraq  area  today .

  The  Egyptians  Seemed to have  a more  Positive  view of  things  as  shown in their  art. There  also was more  cultural  stability in Egypt  Because of  the  annual  harvest. 

    Irrigation of the rivers was very important in both cultures. 

   Because  of  construction needs  a large work force was needed to be  established  to  work on the  aqueduct's giving rise  to  a  self-sustaining bureaucracy . 

   Also  the  stable  food  supply from this enabled the population to grow.

  Egypt  was very isolated  from the other  cultures and had few  major  outside invasions. 

  Mesopotamia  on the other hand was  constantly  being invaded and so   had more  outside  contact . 

  Egypt  also had  little  elaborate  trade with the  outside  world   ,  where as  Mesopotamia  had  extensive  trade  dealings .  

  Egypt's  trade was  also  controlled by the government  .  Mesopotamia's  trade was  on a more independent  level. 

   Egypt  was  ruled  by  a person thought to  be  a god .  Because of this the  Egyptians  seemed to feel no need  for a set of  written laws . The Pharaoh's  word  was law. 
     
   The  Egyptian view of afterlife is also  different  , being based on the quality of a man's  earthly life and  behavior .

    Also there  was no  ridged  class  structure in Egypt . There seemed to be only the royal  family and  their  advisers.  The  rest of the population  were considered  commoners. 

                   By

                     Kenneth  Lafler 

Bibliography - 

   Early  Man  - Chester  A.  Star - excellent  source of information on the  Mesopotamian and  Egyptian  civilizations  ,and  other  Cultures  and Civilizations 

   They  wrote on  Clay -  Another  excellent  source of information . 

    Everyday Life in  Babylonia -  Describes   the day to day existence of  the  Sumerian's  and  Babylonian's 

  The  Medieval  Mind  - College  level  reading -  In depth  Look at the  way people  thought  during that period of  time  . 





  The  Internet  

   The  History  Channel 

  

  

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