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Differences and similarities in egyptian religion and mesopotamian religion
Differences and similarities in egyptian religion and mesopotamian religion
Differences and similarities in egyptian religion and mesopotamian religion
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Discussion Week Two Questions 1. Similarities: In both versions of the myth, with the group of gods in the Sumerian version and the one God in the Israeli version, the gods view the world as being corrupt and in need of cleansing. In the Sumerian version of the myth it reads, “The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible. So let the gods exterminate mankind.”
Ancient civilizations began in areas that had arable land and other features such as rivers. Civilizations succeeded in these environments because they could settle down and not live a nomadic lifestyle. Because the land was arable, agriculture prospered and people relied on the geography to grant them the elements needed for survival. In China and Egypt, geography greatly influenced and affected the lives of the people living there because of the prosperous rivers and large natural barriers.
The most significant factor that influenced the development of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia was their geography, because their locations by large rivers led the civilizations to produce an abundance of food, leading to a population increase and for several cities to form which influenced the cultural, economic, and political influence of both civilizations. The flooding within both ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia allowed their agriculture to thrive Mapping sentence for culture. Mapping sentence for economic. Mapping sentence for Political. Transition.
The river valley civilizations consisted of northern China, northwestern India, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. All four civilizations had their own ways of living, and beliefs. While each different civilization had similarities, they also had their differences. Most of their beliefs did differ, they had different forms of governments, religious beliefs, writing, and laws. The sources in The Global Experience portray written Chinese language, as well as religious indian prayers, Hammurabi's law codes, and an Egyptian story about a man returning from exile.
They both had organized and centralized religion. The Ancient Israelites and the Mesopotamians were also different in many ways. One way was that the Israelites practiced monotheism, while the Mesopotamian s practiced polytheism. Also, Mesopotamians laws was based on the Hammurabi's Code.
Throughout these stories, humanity suffers at the hands of the gods. Floods, droughts, and disease occur in these stories as punishment for mankind or solution for the gods’ troubles. For example, later in Genesis, God punishes mankind for their evilness by flooding the Earth (Genesis, 6:5-7:24). In the story of Atrahasis, the humans are disturbing the gods by being too loud, so they attempt to diminish the race with drought, starvation, disease, and a flood (Dalley, p.
Religion played an important role in civilization as government laws and divine kingship derived from it. Both civilizations were quite similar, but acquired some differences unique to each civilization. These differences include the environment, divine kingship, and sense of security from either nature or law. The idea and practices of ancient Mesopotamia originated from the Sumerians. Moreover, both Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilization diffused their practices and ideas to other ancient civilizations like the Hebrews and the Greeks.
The Assyrian empire and the Persian empire were two of the earliest major empires in the world. The Assyrians came in to power first, ruling from 900 BC to about 600 BC and with the help of Cyrus the Great, the Persians rose to power around 550BC. The Assyrian and Persian militaries shared many similarities, but they also differed in some aspects. Some of their similarities include their battle tactics, the organization of their armies, and their success in conquering societies. One of the major differences that stood out the most was that the Assyrians used a more brutal approach when conquering and the Persians used a more enlighten approach and were more tolerant.
The chief characteristics of civilization are evident in ancient Mesopotamia (Sumer city-states), because people from that area during the time practiced the characteristics well and left clear remains to support this. In ancient Mesopotamia the chief characteristics of civilization that were evident were, political and military systems,developed cities, religious structure, economic structure, development of writing, and artistic and intellectual activity. Cities became centers for political, social,economic, and cultural and religious development. An organized government was made to meet the demands of the growing population. Armies were also created to gain land and power and for defense over other cities.
During the same time period as the Roman Empire and Mayan Civilization other empires and civilization around the world were also facing the danger of their empire or civilization to die out. After the fall of these great civilizations, the following ones adapt their cultures to develop and learn from the mistakes of the previous civilizations. The Mayan Civilization and Roman Empire both experienced epidemic diseases which led to its decline by diminishing their population heavily. Unlike the Mayan Civilization, the Roman Empire relied heavily on its trade and commerce which was a downfall to its economy. The invasions on the Roman Empire by barbarian tribes was another factor to dwindling its empire.
Thesis Statement: Mesopotamians and Hebrews are depicted as very different when it comes to religious beliefs, but actually seem to have many similarities in many ways and has led to many of their laws and social stratification correlating. Topic Sentence 1: Since the ancient Hebrews were Monotheistic and the Mesopotamians were Polytheistic, they are naturally assumed to be completely unlike each other; that is simply not the case with these specific civilizations. Topic Sentence 2: The Gods or God in both the Polytheistic and Monotheistic religions have similar traits, but the beliefs of the civilians in both cultures can be viewed as different.
“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception (Carl Sargon)”. According to The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis, unprecedented floods occurred in both stories. The exception fell on the kind men, Utnapishtim and Noah: they survived the powerful event of destruction. However, in the same theme of the stories, there are sources of similarity and differences.
Ancient Mesopotamia"Land between the rivers" (3500 B.C.E) and Ancient China(as early as 3500 B.C.E) are two of the many civilizations in history. Both civilizations left evidence of their way of life and accomplishment Mesopotamia ranging from the 12- month calendar, plow, cuneiform, ziggurats and number system based of on 60 count. China from ink, pictographs martial arts, great wall of China, and the art of porcelain. Mesopotamia had several civilizations within its own such as Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians etc.
Geography not only plays a part in the spread of a religion but also can be inspiration or reflection for the religion itself. Many societies have numerous deities inspired by the landscape in and around their civilization. However, I believe not all religions drew inspiration from the land they lived in. Mesopotamian societies had multiple gods. Most deities represented cosmic forces of nature such as the sun, moon, water, and storms who were responsible for the creation of the earth (World Societies p. 36).
The rivers that these civilizations were built around directly impacted the way they viewed their gods. The Nile was a very strong and reliable river. It flooded annually blessing the Ancient Egyptians with a richer agriculture then Ancient Mesopotamians. (pg 17) Because of this the Egyptians viewed their gods as reliable beings who wanted to help them.