Mesopotamia vs Egypt (Comparison of Political Characteristics)

Destiny Taylor In looking at the similarities and differences of the political characteristics of Mesopotamia and Egypt between 8000 BCE and 1500 BCE, include structure (similarities and differences in how they were politically organized), foreign policy (differences in impact foreign control had on their culture, government and religion), social structure (similarities and differences in the rights and roles of the different social classes), and women (similarities and differences in jobs available, political influence and overall rights). Mesopotamia was a land of villages and cities, unlike Egypt that was one big state. Most of the cities in Mesopotamia were villages that had become successful and merged with other smaller villages to form one city-state. The different city-states in Mesopotamia were governed or ruled by the lugal, which is like a king. The city-states and their surrounding villages had a mutual relationship. The villages would provide surplus crops to the city-states and in return the city-states provided the villages with military protection and access to the manufactured goods that were produced by the urban specialists. Earlier in history Egypt was unified by Menes, a ruler from south Egypt. The Egyptian state was ruled by the pharaoh and because there were no written set of rules and laws the pharaoh had absolute power and in a way, was the law. Anything that the pharaoh said or commanded was law. Later on the increase in population forced Egypt to be broken into different states governed by other authorities, something like the city-states of Mesopotamia. The original people living in Mesopotamia were called the Sumerians. Along with the Sumerians, there were other people living in Mesopotamia and they were called the Semites. Overtime the Semites would have a huge impact on the Sumerians’ culture, government and religious practices, but in the beginning they lived peacefully along with the Sumerians and adopted their culture.