Egypt And Mesopotamia
Egypt and Mesopotamia
The Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations were remarkable empires that shaped the cultures of future kingdoms through their art, religion, government and other aspects of their society. Even today these great empires are looked on with awe and marvel and it is no wonder that we evolved from these empires and still study these civilizations so that we can grasp an insight into their world. Although Mesopotamia and Egypt became civilized only a few thousand of years from each other they still have many similarities and difference that fashioned each empire, which was mainly due to geography. While these empires were separated by thousands of miles their lives centered around the river which ultimately determined their prosperity and culture.
Mesopotamia was divided into north and south of modern Iraq along the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates. Irrigation was essential in the south because there was not enough rainfall to produce crops in the fall. Then when it was time to harvest in the spring the fields would flood making it difficult to gather crops. For this reason farmers had to build dikes to prevent flooding and find ways to store water when it was scarce in the autumn. In north Mesopotamia more land was cultivated than in the south and therefore the north had a greater harvest. The Egyptian civilization emerged along the Nile River which is separated into upper, consisting of the lower valley of the Nile River and lower Egypt, which is the broad triangular area also known as the delta, these in turn were divided into nomes or districts overseen by a governor and his officials. The Nile River flooded at the right times for harvest leaving a rich layer of fertile silt, and so Egyptian famers simply had to direct the water to the fields giving Egypt an unmatched agricultural prosperity. Because of Mesopotamia’s geography it was often open to invasion and constant warfare over water and land. Egypt on the other...
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