Geographical differences between ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia led to diverging paths of developments between the two civilizations, primarily in the areas of religion, economics and trade, and culture. The natures of the Tigris and Euphrates vs the Nile led to different views of the nature of the gods in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Nile river facilitated trade between Egyptian cities, and while Mesopotamian rivers also carried trade, trade was also carried across the desert. The Nile gave Egypt a very stable food source, leaving time to construct huge projects like the pyramids.
The Tigris and Euphrates behaved very differently than the Nile river, leading to different views of the Gods in the eyes of the Mesopotamians and Egyptians. The Nile flooded with regular precision, making farming easy, leading the Egyptians to believe the Gods were relatively kind and caring. The Tigris and Euphrates, on the other hand, flooded violently and unpredictably, leading to the assumption of the Mesopotamians that the Gods were uncaring and cruel. The gifts of the Nile were enough to convince the Egyptians of a very different set of Gods than those held by the Mesopotamians living in a much harsher environment.
…show more content…
Egypt was an agricultural society, and traded up and down the Nile for things such as gold and ebony, while trading with Mediterranean countries for things such as wood. Mesopotamia was also an agricultural society, but it had even less natural resources that Egypt, and traded both on foot and by boat, for things like precious metals, timber, and wine, while trading away agricultural products such as barley. Both Egypt and Mesopotamia were agricultural societies, but with few natural resources had to trade to obtain many things, though the needs of each society