This region around the first cataract, called Nubia, had been conquered and colonized by Egypt in the fourth millenium BC. Although both Egypt and Mesopotamia developed at the same time, environment and natural forces affected differences in political systems, religion, and social stability.Kingdom of Kush was the second African civilization after Egypt built by an Egypt people who lived between the Nile River’s first and third cataracts. All of these similarities, it can be argued, were the characteristics of cultural development, identified as a necessary element of civilization. In both civilizations, a system of schools emerged, training young boys as scribes, an integral part of the ancient social class structure.īoth civilizations actively engaged in trade, building commercially prosperous societies dominated by the wealthy aristocracies and promoting a growing merchant and artisan class. Similarities Tied to Civilization and Cultureīoth Egypt and Mesopotamia developed systems of writing that began as pictograms and were primarily used for record-keeping.
Hebrew prophets expanded on these themes, conveying both the anger and the love of the Hebrew deity.
#Did ancient egyptians live a peaceful life series#
The Hebrew god could be vengeful and destructive, but he also established a series of “covenants” with his chosen people providing redemption and the promise of a coming Messiah who would establish a kingdom built on justice.
Such was the message found in the Gilgamesh Epic.Ī notable exception was the Hebrews, whose concept of early monotheism separated them from their neighbors. Ancient Mesopotamian prayers demonstrate the lack of relationships with gods and goddesses who viewed humans with suspicion and frequently sent calamities to remind everyone of their humanity. In contrast, Mesopotamian religion was bleak and gloomy. The most popular god, Osiris, was also the law giver as well as the custodian of the world of the dead. This would only change late in the New Kingdom as the fortunes of Egypt changed. Because Egypt was the “gift of the Nile” and generally prosperous and harmonious, Egyptian gods tended to reflect a positive religion with an emphasis on a positive afterlife. Religious Differences between Egypt and MesopotamiaĮarliest religious awareness was closely associated with nature and environment. Not until Cyrus the Great established the Persian Empire was long term political unity achieved. With the fall of Akkad, one powerful group after another conquered the region, beginning with the Amorites, and continuing with the Hittites, Kassites, and Assyrians. was the Middle East united for the first time under Sargon the Great as he established the first Semitic dynasty that could be called an empire. Mesopotamia, however, began as a series of antonymous city-states, self governing and competing for power. Powerful dynasties ensured the continuance of prosperity, interrupted only during brief periods of civil strife and the beginning of outside invasions at the end of the Middle Kingdom. For most of its long history, Egyptian government was led by the Pharaoh, a semi-divine king who was assisted by a vizier and an army of bureaucrats.
0 kommentar(er)
