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Similarities Between Mesopotamia And China

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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

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