Though Mesopotamia and China have several common points such as patriarchal climate among society caused by agrarian revolution, powerful monarchy system depended on religious belief, and irrigation technology based on organized society, Mesopotamia had less centralized and unified political system than China. In other words, they had some similarities in social aspects and in technology, but not in politics. As the properties of common agricultural societies, Mesopotamia and China had ideas of the patriarchy, of the hierarchy and of after death. According to Hammurabi codes, man who has the discretion to either pardon or condemn his wife to being thrown into the Euphrates River if she was found guilty of adultery. Also, whether in extended families or not—nuclear families—Shang society was male-dominated and emphasized the obedience of women as wives and daughters-in law. In Mesopotamia and China, the hierarchy existed in not only slavery, but stable and powerful class of priests existed in both regions as can see in Ziggurat …show more content…
Both civilizations were in the Bronze Age, Akkadian craftsmen made the bronze head of Sargon I, and Shang dynasty made a bronze axe head which elaborately decorated bronze vessel required a high level of metalworking ability. Like many other civilizations, irrigation is the essential factor in Mesopotamia and China. Irrigation expanded agrarian base of society and productivity so that they could establish civilized life. Plus, the epic of Gilgamesh, and Chinese oracle bones show us that those civilizations have their own letters to represent their language. The writing system of Mesopotamia was cuneiform formed by phonetic letters, and of China was pictograph formed by ideographs which is slightly different with cuneiform. Also, they used writing systems as the tool of
Both civilizations excelled at feeding and supporting large populations of people. This was done largely because both had techniques that allowed them to excel in farming and agriculture. Mesopotamia had fertile valleys
The /Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations developed many differences. The geography, culture, and religion are all different and play a huge role in history.
| The development of the calendar was based on their observations and studies of the stars, moon, and sky. They also established a number system; a year was cut into 12 months, a month into 30 days, a day into 12 hours, an hour into 60 minutes, and a minute into 60 seconds. They also divided a circle into 360 degrees of the 60 arc minutes. Settlement patterns were based on the environment of the area and the need for a stable water supply.
Over the years the Egyptians had more experience than the Mesopotamians, because the Egyptians had more ideas for making new things. In Ancient Egypt the Egyptians had built pyramid structures and in the Ancient Middle East the Mesopotamians had built ziggurat structures. The Egyptians and the Mesopotamians had most things in common, but they mostly have a lot of differences. The Mesopotamians were the first to develop tools during that time, but over the years the Egyptians had also developed tools but it was real science technology. Another thing is that when it came to women’s rights in Ancient Middle East all the women were owned by their husbands, and in Ancient Egypt the people worshiped women and there was even a woman ruler. Even though Ancient Middle East and Ancient Egypt share written language and both heavily relied on the Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates, rivers the difference between Ancient Middle East and Ancient Egypt is that they both had an opposite view of the afterlife.
Ancient civilizations surrounding Egypt and Mesopotamia during this time period had similar political and social structures to either of the civilizations. Most societies with a centralized government did not see their rulers as divine as pharaohs. Some civilizations, like the Chinese rulers and their Mandate of Heaven, ruled with a power similar to the Egyptian pharaohs. However, the Chinese empire could also be overthrown if they were a bad ruler. The Greek city-states also constantly fought each to gain power over all of Greece. Socially, ancient civilizations were not as lenient towards their women. Since social inequalities developed starting around the development of agriculture, women of ancient times were
Economically, these two civilizations both shared prosperous success in similar manners. One connection between Mesopotamia and Egypt is that they both manipulated their designated rivers to perform critical trade operations by using them as routes. They were able to communicated and send goods with other civilizations in a farther location via the river system. Also, these two civilizations were very productive in the agricultural field due to the strategically created irrigation systems that provided water to their fertile soils to provide lush vegetations in Nile and Sumer. The one difference between Mesopotamia and Egypt in terms of economy is that the Nile government controlled most if not all of the trading monopoly, and they had their citizens pay substantial taxes.
Sumer was the first urban civilization of southern Mesopotamia, while the Shang dynasty was the earliest dynasty of Chinese history. Both of these ancient civilizations were made up of city-states ruled by priest-kings, though the way they were governed differed greatly. Their social hierarchies resembled each other, with some slight differences and variations of the classes. The Sumerians laid a foundation for technology with inventions such as agriculture and time, while the Chinese followed up, facilitating life and improving warfare.
The civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and China were all different but were also developed similar ways of doing things. The political, economic and intellectual outlooks of these ancient peoples say a lot about their ways of life. The religious views of Egypt and Mesopotamia were rather different.
The first topic of comparison is the prospect of culture and environment in each society. Due to cultural diffusion amongst the civilizations, except geographically isolated China, among other factors, it can be deduced that the civilizations had many similar practices. However, each society boasted distinctive qualities. Early Mesopotamia, known by the moniker of “the land between the rivers,” was a fertile plain settled near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers located in the Fertile Crescent. All of the river valley civilizations settled near a river. Egypt settled near the Nile; the Indus Valley
Some ancient civilization depend on rivers for their agriculture like Mesopotamian, Egypt, India, and China. Neolithic Mesopotamian and Chinese civilization learned to adjust to climate by using a systematic agriculture of farming and herding, living sedentary and developing a pottery, allowing the preparation and storing food and water. Over time other civilization such Indus Valley from India learned to predict a flooding of the river and use it to their benefit. Unlike the Canaanites society from Egypt in which believed to sacrifice an infant and child in the name of the earth god(Baalim)and goddess(Baalot) to ensure a prosperous harvest.
Arguably, the ancient Chinese and Mesopotamian civilizations were some of the most powerful of their time. The isolationist attitude of China led to them developing a unique culture, one that can be easily contrasted to that of Mesopotamia, which had an outgoing nature. The main points of comparison are in their religious beliefs, their political systems, and their social ideals.
The setting is around 3000 BCE, surrounded on all sides by vast, arid deserts, steep cliffs, and extensive bodies of water. And, in these massive deserts civilization exists; there are grand, shining empires, pillars of humanity. Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia, both known as cradles of civilization, were hosts to some of the greatest ancient kingdoms of mankind. These empires shared a number of common practices due to similar geographical settings, but likewise they were different in their structure, customs, and views. The ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia shared many similarities; however Egypt was more prosperous economically, established a superior, unwavering political structure, and possessed more unified and content religious views.
(DI1) Mesopotamia, India, and China governments have strict laws and harsh punishments to keep social order. (DD1) In Mesopotamia, The Code of Hammurabi has strict laws with equal punishments so people treat everyone with respect. Law 196 states, “If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out” (Document A). If a man harms another man, he shall be harmed the same.
These early civilizations experienced similar environmental situations that contributed to the shaping of their societies because both societies were built around two river valleys. Mesopotamia was located between the Tigris and Euphrates river, but their river valley societies were surrounded by a desert that was easy terrain. While the first Chinese civilization developed along the Huang he (Yellow) and Yang Zi rivers, but this society was isolated from the rest of the world. Ancient China was surrounded by various environmental barriers; deserts from the north and west, the surrounding oceans from the east, and mountainous valleys from the south limited this societies interaction. Even though these civilizations had different environmental surroundings, they both had to adapt to their situations. These societies were located in fertilely rich lands that were great for agricultural lifestyles,
They brought writing, the wheel, the calendar, and astronomy. Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt allowed human beings, for the first time in history, to settle down in one place and farm instead of chasing their often dangerous wild animal food sources. Both civilizations shared similarities and differences in their climate, politics, intellect, religion, arts and architecture, technology, economics, and social structures, that allowed them to flourish and become two of the most well-known ancient civilizations.