Early in history, both Egypt and Mesopotamia were home to major ancient civilizations. Despite both beginning to form at around the same time, 3000 B.C. (Duiker and Spielvogel 26), their cultures developed in unique ways due to many external factors. Although the geography, religion, and government of both ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia have similarities, they also differ substantially. Ancient civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia were greatly influenced by multiple significant geographical features. Possibly the most noticeable of these is that the civilizations there tended to develop the most and the quickest around major rivers: Egypt near the Nile River, and Mesopotamia around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, both of which supplied
