Egypt and Mesopotamia Essay Example for Free

Egypt and Mesopotamia Essay Almost all things have its identified origin. The society that presently exists also has its beginnings that could be rooted from the ancient civilization. These civilizations became the foundation of the modern world that is presently observable. Two of the most notable ancient civilizations are that of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Egyptian civilization progress in one of the largest arid desert areas in the world that is even larger than the whole Europe. This became possible due to the River Nile that crosses a nearly rainless desert from south to north that carries the waters of Lake Victoria as far as 3,000 miles of the Mediterranean Sea. In relation with Egypt’s strategic location, its organization is not simply attributed from the need of a collective effort to survive but rather they have developed into a progressive civilization through the sophisticated utilization of their natural resources. They were able to wisely use their resources in order to establish agricultural living through their invention of the irrigation system. Being the case, they were able to establish a strong livelihood through the trade of agricultural products that becomes the basis for their social development and culture. The Egyptian dominance was further enhanced by their creation of an independent writing system, construction projects as well as a military that defeated foreign invaders. Nevertheless, the decline of this civilization could be attributed to the faults of succeeding pharaohs who have abused their power and exploited their people. On the other hand, ancient Mesopotamia also known as the â€Å"land between two rivers† which is the alluvial plain of Tigris and Euphrates also has its own story on how it developed into a civilization. Similar to ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia also has abundant natural resources, which enable them to develop their agricultural sector. They also invented their own form of irrigation to aid them in planting agricultural products. However, they failed to develop their agricultural sector in order to establish trade with other lands. This is due to the varying climate that affects the steady supply of goods that would sustain trade like that of Egypt. Mesopotamia also has their form of writing and architectural skills. Nevertheless, they are more recognized in terms of their arts especially in the creation of pottery. Likewise, Mesopotamia also has the same form of government like Egypt. Their ruler is a king that has almost similar powers to a pharaoh and they also have their subordinates. Moreover, the greatest weakness of this civilization is that it greatly relied in slaving and exploiting common people in order to develop their civilization. Similar to Egypt, Mesopotamia’s failure to establish a kind of governance that gives importance to common people is its greatest weakness. The above discussions show that these ancient civilizations have their respective strengths and weaknesses. The factors that characterized ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia also became the basis for their comparison, which makes their similarities and differences observable. BIBLIOGRAPHY Kemp, Barry J. Ancient Egypt. New York: Routledge, 2006. Pollock, Susan. Mesopotamia. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1990.