Daniel Young
World History AP
August 4,2014
When we look at how far we have come as a people, it is hard not to wonder where we started from. Two major civilizations that play an imperative role in our advancement as a people are Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. Although they are two civilizations that took place during separate times, they actually have many similarities while being unique at the same time.
One reason Mesopotamia was a successful civilization was because they not only knew how to survive, but also how to flourish. They had the basic food, water, shelter, and then some. The word Mesopotamia means, “land between two rivers.” The Tigris and Euphrates river proved to be useful for farming. Farmers were able to develop an irrigation …show more content…
To thrive, they relied on the Nile River, agriculture, and fishing. The Nile was, and still is, the largest river, and was the major reason that the Egyptians survived. Because of its unpredictable flooding, the Egyptians were able to form an irrigation system to help prevent flood waters from going in certain cities and to lead it into others. The Nile was necessary for a wide variety of things-drinking, cooking, fishing, and transportation. In order to do complete these tasks, men were given jobs. The most common ones were farmers, merchants, and for those who were privileged enough, craftsmen. Not everyone was able to have that occupation. It was mainly for the upper class who had enough money to pay for their kids to go to school where they would learn reading and writing. The Egyptians were unlike the Mesopotamians in the crops that they planted. The most common ones were papyrus, which was used for writing and paper, barley, which was used for beer and cereals, and fruits and vegetables which were used for eating and trading. The surplus was sold to neighboring countries for money much like Mesopotamia, only that they received gold, copper, and …show more content…
To start off, the Mesopotamians were strong believers in gender roles. Boys were raised to learn skills to learn whatever trade their family was in while the girls were taught how to cook, clean, and take care of the family. Religion also played a large part in Mesopotamian culture. Mesopotamians were polytheistic which meant that they worshipped multiple gods. In their religion, there were over 2,000 gods and goddesses. The majority of their culture believed that they were put on earth to worship the gods that put them there. To show their love for the gods, they build temples called ziggurats to worship. There they would worship various gods and the priests would perform sacrifices. Mesopotamia was unlike many places because instead of offering up animals or crops to the gods, the Mesopotamians believed in offering up people. Women, servants, and guards were thrown into fiery pits or took poison to thank the gods for protecting them. During hard times, it was the faith in these gods that brought them over their
World History AP
August 4,2014
When we look at how far we have come as a people, it is hard not to wonder where we started from. Two major civilizations that play an imperative role in our advancement as a people are Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. Although they are two civilizations that took place during separate times, they actually have many similarities while being unique at the same time.
One reason Mesopotamia was a successful civilization was because they not only knew how to survive, but also how to flourish. They had the basic food, water, shelter, and then some. The word Mesopotamia means, “land between two rivers.” The Tigris and Euphrates river proved to be useful for farming. Farmers were able to develop an irrigation …show more content…
To thrive, they relied on the Nile River, agriculture, and fishing. The Nile was, and still is, the largest river, and was the major reason that the Egyptians survived. Because of its unpredictable flooding, the Egyptians were able to form an irrigation system to help prevent flood waters from going in certain cities and to lead it into others. The Nile was necessary for a wide variety of things-drinking, cooking, fishing, and transportation. In order to do complete these tasks, men were given jobs. The most common ones were farmers, merchants, and for those who were privileged enough, craftsmen. Not everyone was able to have that occupation. It was mainly for the upper class who had enough money to pay for their kids to go to school where they would learn reading and writing. The Egyptians were unlike the Mesopotamians in the crops that they planted. The most common ones were papyrus, which was used for writing and paper, barley, which was used for beer and cereals, and fruits and vegetables which were used for eating and trading. The surplus was sold to neighboring countries for money much like Mesopotamia, only that they received gold, copper, and …show more content…
To start off, the Mesopotamians were strong believers in gender roles. Boys were raised to learn skills to learn whatever trade their family was in while the girls were taught how to cook, clean, and take care of the family. Religion also played a large part in Mesopotamian culture. Mesopotamians were polytheistic which meant that they worshipped multiple gods. In their religion, there were over 2,000 gods and goddesses. The majority of their culture believed that they were put on earth to worship the gods that put them there. To show their love for the gods, they build temples called ziggurats to worship. There they would worship various gods and the priests would perform sacrifices. Mesopotamia was unlike many places because instead of offering up animals or crops to the gods, the Mesopotamians believed in offering up people. Women, servants, and guards were thrown into fiery pits or took poison to thank the gods for protecting them. During hard times, it was the faith in these gods that brought them over their