Throughout the years up until 600 BCE, Mesopotamia and China were two of the many early ruling civilizations of the neolithic times. Mesopotamia and China were similar in spite of their economic structures and religious beliefs. When it came to their intellectual and artistic differences, they could not compare. Despite the intellectual and artistic differences between Mesopotamia and China, their economic structures and religious beliefs were overall similar. Both Mesopotamia and China had overall economic systems that can be compared throughout their trading, farming, job specializations, and herding. The two civilizations both expressed their trade routes by water. Mesopotamia traveled by the Tigris river, and China by the Yellow River. …show more content…
Polytheism is when people religiously believe in more than one god. The two civilizations believed that they had gods for everything, such as gods of sunlight, gods of food, and gods of rain. China believed that their gods were their ancestors, and Mesopotamia believed that their gods were central forces. Adding to their religious beliefs, the two civilizations also believed in an afterlife. China and Mesopotamia both believed that how they lived their current life would affect their future afterlife. For example, China believed if they lived a respectful and good life on Earth, then they would have a good afterlife caused by the gods. On the other hand, Mesopotamia believed that their afterlife would be extremely lonely and boring. They lived believing that the gods didn’t appreciate them enough and that they kept punishing them, thus leading to a terrible afterlife. As well as their afterlife beliefs, the civilizations also believed in spiritual aid from the gods themselves. Mesopotamia lived their lives trying to serve the gods in hope for a better life. On the other hand, China believed that they were being protected by the spirits. For example, if it was storming, the civilizations thought that something they did was wrong. Even though the two civilizations were similar in terms of their economic structures and religious views, they were different throughout their expressions of