Differences between Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations The statement “geography is destiny” holds true in regards to Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. The Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations began when society was able to settle down and organize its self within its own community. Social classes arose and religion flourished during this time as well. However the success of Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations depended on their geography. The Mesopotamian and Egyptian civlization both settled near river valleys. Yet the Egyptian civilization was able have more stability in their civilization because of the predictability of their water source. Mesopotamian and Egyptian key similarities and differences are their settlement near river …show more content…
The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers were unpredictable, which resulted in major floods and destruction of crops. The Mesopotamians built complex and artificial networks of canals and dikes in efforts to solve this problem. However this only causes an increase in the amount of salinity in the soil. These natural conditions devastated the Mesopotamians and gave them a pessimistic outlook on life. This is outlook is evident in the story the Epic of Gilgamesh. The Egyptian civlization that settle near the Nile River had flooding as well, but their flooding was predictable and didn’t cause much destruction as the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers did. The Egyptians built simple systems that regulated the natural flow of the Nile. The natural condition of the Nile made the Egyptian civilization able to maintain stability. The positive effects of the river gave Egyptians an optimistic outlook on life and the afterlife. They believed that the rebirth of the sun every day and of the river every year meant that life will prevail over death. This created the mindset that a pharaoh was god in human form and made the Nile “that green gash of teeming