Indus Valley And Mesopotamia Research Paper

The Indus Valley and Mesopotamia were two ancient civilizations who thrived off of the banks of prominent rivers. These two civilizations relied on the rivers for social interaction, health, transportation, food, and water. Even though the rivers started these two civilizations, they also may have been the cause to their collapse.

The Indus Valley is located on the north western side of a country now known as India. The Indus Valley consists of five prominent cities that surround the Indus river. around these cities are hundreds of thousands of acres of farm land. Mesopotamia is located on the east side of the Mediterranean sea. Unlike the Indus Valley which surrounds a single river, Mesopotamia is surrounded by two rivers (Tigris and …show more content…
The Indus Valley and Mesopotamia were believed to have practice Polytheism. Polytheism consisted of multiple gods, unlike most gods around the world, Polytheistic gods lived like ordinary people. These gods had families, homes, and needed to eat and drink to stay alive. After death, Polytheists believed that you went to a grim underworld where escape was impossible. To make the Polytheistic gods happy, the Mesopotamians built large temples called ziggurats and the Indus Valley viewed the buffalo and bull as sacred or a form of a god. The idea of not eating bulls and buffalo translated over to Hinduism which was greatly influenced by …show more content…
In both Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, Religion influenced the idea of a caste system or a hierarchy in these civilizations, this system segregated and placed people in certain social groups based on their social status. These social groups governed how someone dressed, ate, and made a living. In Mesopotamia, the order was Pharaoh; Priests & Nobles; Traders, Merchants, and scribes; Farmers and Herders; and unskilled workers. However compared to Mesopotamia, The Indus Valley was more cruel with their caste system. In the Indus Valley, the Priests were at the top of the system, followed by Warriors and Rulers, skilled Traders, Merchants, and Officials, unskilled workers, and Untouchables. People who were considered untouchable were treated like pollution. These people were considered to be so impure that they had to live apart from everyone else and had to sound a clapper on their arrival. Another similarity between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley was how women were viewed. In Mesopotamia believed that women did not stand equally with men, but they still had more rights than in other civilizations such as the Indus Valley. The Indus Valley viewed women as below men, Women were expected to get married (which was arranged) and raise a family. After they were married lower class women were expected to work as laborers in fields and the upper class women were rarely allowed to leave their