Egyptian Poetry Vs Mesopotamian Poetry

There seems to be a lot of assumptions made regarding the way societies functioned in the past, and Egypt and Mesopotamia are no different in this case. Overtime, historians analyzed certain documents and papers and claim that the Egyptian culture was generally very optimistic, as opposed to the Mesopotamian culture’s pessimism. One way of evaluating the lives of ancient societies is through art produced by people who witnessed those times, and a prominent form of that would be poems. I argue that by looking at this document, Egyptians are much more optimistic in comparison with Mesopotamians, as the language used in their poems is generally associated with very positive connotations, and their Gods aren’t considered as sources of fear, unlike …show more content…
The writing style utilized in the different cultures was very different, as they paint very contrasting ideas in the reader’s mind about the way each society felt. In the poem “Hymn to the Nile”, the language used is of very high spirits, as the author discusses and references happiness multiple times throughout, which is presented by saying that, “If He shines, the Earth is joyous, every stomach is full of rejoicing, every spine is happy, every jaw-bone crushes (its food).” By saying that, the poem is clearly showing the amount of gratitude and joyfulness that society is feeling due to their optimistic outlook. On top of that, the author then goes on to say that the Nile “is the creator of all good things, as master of energy, full of sweetness in his choice.” This shows how happy and fulfilled the Egyptian society was, and by using terms such as “good things” and “sweetness”, the reader is presented with a positive image of the life that they led. The Mesopotamian culture, on the other hand, uses very unhappy, pessimistic language in their poems. In the poem “Descriptions of “The Seven””, the author makes reference to two evil Gods, Namtar and Ereshkigal, and simply starts off the poem by saying, “Destructive storms and evil winds are they, A storm of evil, presaging the baneful storm.” This instantly creates a much more negative image in the reader’s mind, as the …show more content…
In “Hymn to the Nile”, the author is very complimentary of the Nile and is extremely grateful for all the things that the river has done to maintain life in the country. This is shown when he says, “Mysterious is thy issuing forth from the darkness, on this day whereon it is celebrated! Watering the orchards created by Re [sun god and creator of the earth], to cause all the cattle to live, you give the earth to drink, inexhaustible one!...” In other words, the poem is clearly considering the river to possess very immense powers, as it is able to maintain and nourish what has been created by the Gods. The gratitude is very consistent throughout this poem as the Nile is given a very prominent role in giving the country life in many different forms, which lifts the spirits of the country as a whole. For Mesopotamians though, In “Penitential prayer to every God”, frustration and anger is showcased throughout as the poem states that, “I sought for help, but no one taketh my hand. I wept but no one came to my side.” Put differently, the author is extremely frustrated by the Gods as they do not appear to be very responsive to the people’s concerns, which adds to the negativity of society. Generally, the Egyptians were very grateful for the Nile as it made their lives much simpler, and provided them with many perks, while Mesopotamians struggled to lead a fulfilling life, as