Charlemgne

Ancient civilizations have succeeded greatly with the nearby lands of the Mediterranean Sea. Each of these civilizations had their own vision when it came to social, political and religious characteristic. During this essay, I will discuss the similarities and differences of the charming cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt geography. From a period of about three thousand years ago, a series of civilizations occurred, prospered, and disappeared in a region known as Mesopotamia, this region incorporates today’s Iraq and adjacent areasвЂ"including Syria, Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, Israel, and Armenia (Outman,2007). Mesopotamia is a Greek term meaning between the rivers; this refers to the broad, flat plain, in between the Tigris and Euphrates River (Outman, 2007). From these two rivers, a series of empires grew from small city-states to today which is now called the Middle East (Outman, 2007). Mesopotamia is known for its collection of agriculturally based communities, which has helped significantly in the area of farming (Roaf, 1990).

Besides civilization in Mesopotamia another civilization came about in Africa (northern) along the Nile River. No one knows for sure when the first people settled in Egypt, but its first civilizations is one of the oldest in human history. The first settlement occurred on the banks of the Nile River, approximately 7,000 years ago. Over time and until its defeat Egypt became one of the greatest of the ancient cultures. (Challen, 2005)

Geography has been a great asset to the Egypt and Mesopotamia civilizations. One of the great effects of geography; was what the Egyptians considered to be the divided lands. Ancient Egyptians called these lands the �black land’ and �red land’. The �black land’ was used for growing crops; for this was where the land was fertile on the banks of the Nile River. The land was great for farming because of its layers of rich, black slit which was deposited after the flooding of the Nile River. The �red land’ was a great advantage because it helped protect Egypt from invasion and separated them from neighboring countries. It also provided them with a great source of stones and metals. (Challen, 2005)

According to Outman (1990,) Mesopotamia was made up of different regions, with each of their own effects on geography. The effect that geography had on these areas had a great impact on the way people lived. He described these places as the Southern and Northern regions. In the Southern region it was made up of marshy areas and flat wide plains. For crops to grow, early settlers had to water (irrigate) the land along the banks of the rivers. Neighboring lands was very important at this time since many natural resources weren’t available. In the Northern Mesopotamia it was made up of mostly plains and hills. The land in this region was fertile due to the seasonal rains, streams, and rivers. Early settlers farmed the land, and used timber, metals and stones, from mountains nearby.

The social structure was very different in the civilization of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Mesopotamia was a civilization with no gender fairness (Outman, 2007). Kishlansky, Geary, and O’Brien (2008) stated that opposed to Mesopotamia, Egyptian women were more independent and involved in public life. Egyptian women, were allowed to own their own property, conduct their own business, enter legal contracts, and brought lawsuits (Kishlansky et al., 2008). In Mesopotamia, different class of slaves took place but they were still isolated and treated as property (Kishlansky et al., 2008). In both societies there were very little privileged groups that had enormous wealth, while there were others who tried to make it each day (Roaf, 1990).

Egypt and Mesopotamia were similar when it came to centering their lives on religion (Roaf, 1990). But, while Egypt believed in many gods; the pharaohs were believed to