Mesopotamia, Sumeria, and Egypt
Time period: 4000-500 B.C.E.
Political: Mesopotamia: Tightly organized city states ruled by king. Helped regulate religion and provided court system. King was military leader during times of war.
Egypt: retained a unified state with a pharaoh with lots of power.
Sumeria: Sargon's soldiers defeated all the city state of Sumer. They also conquered northern Mesopotamia finally bringing the entire region under his rule. With conquest,Sargon established the worlds first empire.
Social: Mesopotamia: Slaves were controlled by kings and normal people, and normal people were ruled by kings.
Egypt: Slaves and farmers>Craftsmen>Scribes>Priests, engineers, doctors>high priests, nobles>vizier>Pharoah
Sumeria: Different classes
Economic: Mesopotamia: relied on agriculture and trade
Egypt: traded, educated, and farmed. Currency was measured in deben (.5 oz of copper). Government directed.
Sumeria: relied on agriculture and trade
Artistic: Mesopotamia: Statues of gods, architecture, pottery
Egypt: lively, cheerful, and colorful. Decorated palaces, tombs, and furnishings. Influential architecture.
Sumeria: showed relationship between gods, plants, and people; lots of clay statues
Religion: Mesopotamia: each city had a patron god and made shrines for the god. Priests operated ziggurats and conducted rituals within. Believed in many powerful gods. Influenced Muslim, Christian, and Jewish religions.
Egypt: Believed in divine kingship—pharaoh was a king and a god. When he died, he would become an osiris and help Egyptians in the afterlife. Believed in 700 different gods and goddesses. Believed body had to be preserved to allow a place for their spirit to dwell in the afterlife.
Sumerians: polytheistic; believe world was created out of an ancient sea where the gods and everything was created. Each city state had its own god & the people who lived in that state had to pay homage to their god.
Intellectual: Mesopotamia: Developed first known case of human writing. Founded the science of astronomy. System of numbers based on units of 10, 60, and 360.
Egypt: Math more advanced than Mesopotamia.
Sumeria: One of the earliest known systems of writing
Military: Mesopotamia: First effective missile troops armed with javelins. Created shield wall tactic. Invented horse-drawn chariot with lighter wheels.
Egypt: Consisted of army and navy. 20,000 people divided into 4 divisions of 5000 called Seth, Amun, Ptah, and Re.
Sumeria: used chariots and spears and copper helmets; consisted of mostly infantry
Technology: Mesopotamia: Invented the wheel for transportation
Egypt: Used Mesopotamian inventions as well as the ramp and the lever.
Sumeria: Used saws, leather, chisels, hammers, braces, bits, nails, pins, rings, hoes, axes, knives, lancepoints, arrowheads, swords, glue, daggers, waterskins, bags, harnesses, boats, armor, quivers, scabbards, boots, sandals, and harpoons
Geography: Mesopotamia: Between two rivers, flat, modern day Iraq
Egypt: “Red land” barren, “black land” fertile. Built on Nile River.
Sumeria: Tigris and Euphrates rivers protected most cities from invasions.
Demography: Mesopotamia:
Egypt: One to two million people
Women’s Status: Mesopotamia: At first, women could do everything men could. As time went on, there was a huge gap between high and low status women and women got less and less rights.
Egypt: Paintings suggest women and men worked together. Treated the same way as men.
Sumeria: Male dominated; women could sometimes achieve a slightly higher status.
Societal Comparison Analysis By: Gianna H
Political: Mesopotamia: Tightly organized city states ruled by king. Helped regulate religion and provided court system. King was military leader during times of war.
Egypt: retained a unified state with a pharaoh with lots of power.
Sumeria: Sargon's soldiers defeated all the city state of Sumer. They also conquered northern Mesopotamia finally bringing the entire region under his rule. With conquest,Sargon established the worlds first empire.
Social: Mesopotamia: Slaves were controlled by kings and normal people, and normal people were ruled by kings.
Egypt: Slaves and farmers>Craftsmen>Scribes>Priests, engineers, doctors>high priests, nobles>vizier>Pharoah
Sumeria: Different classes
Economic: Mesopotamia: relied on agriculture and trade
Egypt: traded, educated, and farmed. Currency was measured in deben (.5 oz of copper). Government directed.
Sumeria: relied on agriculture and trade
Artistic: Mesopotamia: Statues of gods, architecture, pottery
Egypt: lively, cheerful, and colorful. Decorated palaces, tombs, and furnishings. Influential architecture.
Sumeria: showed relationship between gods, plants, and people; lots of clay statues
Religion: Mesopotamia: each city had a patron god and made shrines for the god. Priests operated ziggurats and conducted rituals within. Believed in many powerful gods. Influenced Muslim, Christian, and Jewish religions.
Egypt: Believed in divine kingship—pharaoh was a king and a god. When he died, he would become an osiris and help Egyptians in the afterlife. Believed in 700 different gods and goddesses. Believed body had to be preserved to allow a place for their spirit to dwell in the afterlife.
Sumerians: polytheistic; believe world was created out of an ancient sea where the gods and everything was created. Each city state had its own god & the people who lived in that state had to pay homage to their god.
Intellectual: Mesopotamia: Developed first known case of human writing. Founded the science of astronomy. System of numbers based on units of 10, 60, and 360.
Egypt: Math more advanced than Mesopotamia.
Sumeria: One of the earliest known systems of writing
Military: Mesopotamia: First effective missile troops armed with javelins. Created shield wall tactic. Invented horse-drawn chariot with lighter wheels.
Egypt: Consisted of army and navy. 20,000 people divided into 4 divisions of 5000 called Seth, Amun, Ptah, and Re.
Sumeria: used chariots and spears and copper helmets; consisted of mostly infantry
Technology: Mesopotamia: Invented the wheel for transportation
Egypt: Used Mesopotamian inventions as well as the ramp and the lever.
Sumeria: Used saws, leather, chisels, hammers, braces, bits, nails, pins, rings, hoes, axes, knives, lancepoints, arrowheads, swords, glue, daggers, waterskins, bags, harnesses, boats, armor, quivers, scabbards, boots, sandals, and harpoons
Geography: Mesopotamia: Between two rivers, flat, modern day Iraq
Egypt: “Red land” barren, “black land” fertile. Built on Nile River.
Sumeria: Tigris and Euphrates rivers protected most cities from invasions.
Demography: Mesopotamia:
Egypt: One to two million people
Women’s Status: Mesopotamia: At first, women could do everything men could. As time went on, there was a huge gap between high and low status women and women got less and less rights.
Egypt: Paintings suggest women and men worked together. Treated the same way as men.
Sumeria: Male dominated; women could sometimes achieve a slightly higher status.
Societal Comparison Analysis By: Gianna H
