Civilization comparison between Egypt and Mesopotamia
Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia relied on their geographical positioning to develop a civilization that is unique to each other. In this discussion, we will focus on the Sumerian kingdom from Mesopotamia and the neo kingdom of Assyria.
The social order was in a pyramid form. The kings were at the top, followed by religious leaders such as the priests. In the middle, were business people, craftsmen, and scribes. The slaves and peasants in society occupied the lowest ranks.
A council of elders governed the cities in Sumer. A war leader, Lugal, was in charge of the army in wars. The Lugals eventually assumed power as kings and developed their dynasties. In ancient Egypt, the King was the lead administrator in the government and had the support from provincial governors (Frahm, 2017). Both governments had a practice of consulting with the gods before significant decision making.
The Sumerians were strategically weak when it came to war. Their defenses only existed to the west and the south. They were, however, susceptible to attacks when a more potent enemy appeared from the north. Its military had chariots as well as spears and javelin weapons (Civil & Feliu 2017). The Assyrian army benefited from reforms that saw them get iron used to improve their swords and armors. Unlike the Sumerians, they had well-planned strategies and regularly scouted their surrounding regions to eliminate any threats.
Both Sumerian and Assyrian believed in polytheism. Patron deity was in charge of each city. Religion was strong in every town, and so was the temple and the patron god. The Sumerians dedicated parts of their land to the temple for its servants to farm and benefited from the harvest. The Assyrians borrowed heavily on the Sumerian religion (Wasilewska 2000). They, too, believed in polytheism, and significant decisions of the state drawn after consulting with the priests.
It is therefore evident that the proximity of these kingdoms to each other brought influence to their civilization. However, the separate geographical boundaries set them aside from each other.