Preview

Egypt And Mesopotamia Similarities

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
766 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Egypt And Mesopotamia Similarities
Mesopotamia and Egypt are similar in a variety of ways, especially considering that Mesopotamia pre-dates Egypt, so it is easy to see the connections between the two. One of the major difference between the two societies was how their systems of class worked, Mesopotamia was more fair towards all people rather than Egypt which was extremely bias and segregated. Furthermore, they varied in the ways they punished convicts, but shared similarities in punishments for capital crimes. Lastly, there were many similarities between the women in both societies, which relates back to Egypt being a later version of Mesopotamia essentially.
Social classes are a major part of any society and it is easily shown in both Mesopotamia and Egypt. How these two societies varied dealt with the equality of their citizens under the law. Mesopotamia tended to be more equal for all common citizens within it realm, however,
…show more content…
Women in both of these civilizations were essentially considered property of their fathers and then of their husbands. Women were involved in arranged marriages, and in particular situations they were allowed to marry the man of their hearts desire (Law 156). Since women were considered property it was left to the male responsible for her to protect her. Women were always under the household of a man, she was capable of leaving her husband household and returning to her fathers in Mesopotamia (Law 149). In addition, in Egypt men could be held responsible for the crimes of women, for example, the criminal Pentewere was convicted for having contact with his mother who had knowledge of the crime about to be committed (pp 54). Lastly, women in both civilization were not allowed to own property, but in Mesopotamia women were granted permission in very rare cases, such as it being assigned to her to hold (Law

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Egypt and Mesopotamia were both similar in the way that government controlled the irrigation systems. These early river valley civilizations formed by the fertile lands so that farmers don’t have to live a nomadic life. There religious ideas were both similar because they were polytheistic. They had a god for each thing such as the sun god, the Nile river god, or the god of death. These two river valley civilizations also were similar in their social class structure. Priests were considered the highest social class because they were closest to god and it ranged to peasants who made up majority of the social class.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A huge division in these Middle Eastern civilization’s cultures were the formation of urbanization, and class systems. In Mesopotamia, a structured 3-part class system was developed, along with Hammurabi’s Law Code. The top class included land owning males and artisans, as well as royals and warriors. The middle class contained dependent people attached to land, and at the bottom was slaves employed for domestic work. Also the freedoms and some rights of women were lost around the second millennium. In Egypt, there too were classes, yet they weren’t as enforced and structured. Woman were held at a higher standard here because they weren’t secluded in the process of urbanization and class structure, like they were in Mesopotamia.…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mesopotamia vs. Egypt

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Despite the fact that both Mesopotamia and Egypt were first developing around the same time, natural forces and the environment caused variations in many cultural developments such as political systems, religious views, and much more. Their biggest differences were dependent on the river-valleys they lived in and how that affected the way they managed agriculture, as well as their view of their gods. One similarity that Mesopotamia and Egypt did have was that both civilizations developed a system of writing and keeping records.…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mesopotamia and Egypt were two of the very first civilizations dating back to 3500 BCE. Their cultures were very similar, but were very different. In what ways were their cultures similar and different? Mesopotamia is similar to Egypt in that both were based around a river system and they both created their own form of writing. These two civilizations are very similar, but they are also different in that their structures are used for different purposes and Mesopotamians invented more important things.…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Egypt and Mesopotamia vary drastically in land and geographic features due to its location. They had more differences than similarities which was a cause for the uniquely different cultures of each.…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Even though the Egyptians and Mesopotamians had many differences they also had some similarities, one being their interaction and trade. They frequently interacted with each other, and with both near and more distant neighbors. They were both embedded in larger networks of commerce, culture, and power. Neither…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the life of Egypt and Mesopotamia there were similarities and differences. There are comparisons in culture, social class, and gender. Also parallelism in their religions existed however, the differences found, clearly define them as individual entities.…

    • 560 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The different civilizations in Mesopotamia were not united by a single language or government; they did however have a common world view and a common belief system of polytheism. Mesopotamia’s gods and goddesses were associated with the forces of nature. The gods and goddesses of Mesopotamia shared characteristics with the climate such as fierce and capricious. With the division of labor came the development of social order. The social order prevailed around 2700 BCE. In the first civilizations each different class had certain responsibilities that contributed to the society. There is a theme of searching for immortality in Mesopotamian literature. This shows how the Mesopotamian people were on a journey to find the physical limits of human beings. The people could be described as insecure of their vulnerability.…

    • 1446 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The First Civilizations for the River Valley differed among class systems, gender roles, and even trading. Class systems determined whether or not you were high in ranking. Mesopotamia and Egypt both had different views on these class systems. Egypt had pharaohs, which were basically wealthy kings and queen who can control mass numbers of people. Gender roles between these civilizations varied between upper class men and woman to slaves. Upper class men and woman had more freedom than the enslaved people. Slaves were used strictly for work, and they received seldom food and shelter in return. Mesopotamia did not have that many natural resources; therefore, they had to trade with other civilizations to get the necessary needs. Egypt, on the…

    • 184 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the Agricultural Revolution, the rise of civilizations scattered around the world, each one having various features that formed from their people and the land. Two civilizations that honed similarities and differences, Mesopotamia and Egypt, grew and adapted alongside river valleys—the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the Nile respectively. Both civilizations turned to control and unify their people through ideas of class hierarchy and kingship. However, Mesopotamian life differed from Egyptian life, consisting of troubles in their crop production, negative viewpoints about death in their religious beliefs, and more restrictions for slaves and women.…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations are similar yet differ in the way in which they were created. Civilizations were created years and years ago with many mythological characters and beliefs. Religion, gender, culture, gods, and society are impact the creation of these civilizations.…

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Egypt and Mesopotamia not only differed in their trade and culture, but also in their politics and form of government. Despite the differences though, one is able to notice several similarities between the two civilizations. First of all, Mesopotamia was ruled by kings and queens and nobles could usually attain power as they attained a higher economic status. In Egypt, it was the pharaohs who the authoritive power. In Mesopotamia, the state also had supreme power in the economy and agricultural affairs. Pharaohs were the supreme judges and law makers, as were kings in Mesopotamia. They did have advisors and religion influenced their policies, for example, religion in Egypt is the bureaucracy and actions as did in Mesopotamian civilizations. An example of how morals had an influence in the Mesopotamian laws and policies is Mesopotamian king Hammurabi’s Codes Laws on family relationships. In these codes relied heavily on the principle of lex talionis, or “the law of retaliation” basically meaning an eye for an eye. Egyptian law was based on truth, order, balance and justice in the universe. This concept allowed that everyone, with the exception of slaves, should be viewed as equals under the law. One can notice, however, that when Egyptians carried out punishment in their people, they would be relatively unfair. Both civilizations had politics centered around cities or populated areas. This is true because areas or centers that were more populated were more likely to support differences in ideologies, so there would tend to be more conflicts requiring a higher authorative power.…

    • 357 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Egyptians much like the Mesopotamians are similar in that they obtain monarchies stratified social systems. However Egypt had a unified nation while Mesopotamia utilized city states and socially Kings were viewed different in the societies. Although Egypt and Mesopotamia had similar governing styles and social classes never the less, they differed in political organization and the roles women.…

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In conclusion there were many similarities and differences between Mesopotamia and Egypt. They both created different things to try to improve societies. They were similar in some aspects and different in…

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many similarities that characterize the two governments of Egypt and Mesopotamia. For example, both civilizations had manuscripts and inscriptions. These were written down to make sure that civilians would understand, follow, and obey their laws. These law writers were called Scribes. Their job would be writing things down. Sometimes, there were the only people in the land who were literate. This way, when people were caught disobeying a law, they could not escape the consequences. Also, both Egypt and Mesopotamia had to pay taxes. There were citizens in charge of collecting them. Moreover, the two had kings that were thought to be descendents from the gods. Both surmised that the kings were related gods in the skies. As to that…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays