Mesopotamia Compare And Contrast

Egypt and mesopotamia are two of the world's oldest civilizations in history. These two civilizations both relied heavily on their geography to help them create and maintain their rule. Egyptian and Mesopotamian societies existed on the banks of major rivers. Egypt is located in northern africa along the nile river. Mesopotamia, meaning in greek, between two rivers, resides on what was once known as the fertile crescent on the Tigris and the euphrates rivers located in the Middle east. These rivers allowed for these civilizations to thrive in their harsh desert climates. For the Egyptians the nile was generally predictable and calm with annual floods. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers are much more unpredictable and faster flowing with occasionally overflooding. These rivers were vital for irrigation, transportation, and …show more content…
These civilizations carried out their role of kingship in very different ways. The Egyptians operated under a centralized government. In egypt the highest religious leader and main authority was the pharaoh. The pharaoh was at the top of all social classes and was recognized to be a god like figure and had an immense power over egyptian society. Egyptian pharaohs were referred to as the sons of Re and the egyptians believed he was a living god on earth. The pharaoh was expected to maintain universal peace and order through his kingship and divine power. The pharaoh ruled through bueaucracy and his highest ranking assistant was a vizier. The pharaoh would lead projects such as pyramids, tombs and statues that covered Egypt.The Mesopotamians had separate, self controlled city state governments. Each city state worked as a separate political and ecommic units so there was less national unity under Mesopotamian governnment. Mesopotamians had a less detinct social hierarchies. Mesopotamia the monarchs are priest kings whom serve the