1 / 28

A Comparison:

A Comparison:. Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. Geography of Mesopotamia. Open Farm Land… Invitation to Invasion. Geography of Egypt. Surrounded by uninhabitable desert on both sides : Low Desert: could not be farmed- too dry. Hunting: antelope, hare, lions. Cemeteries here.

peterb
Download Presentation

A Comparison:

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. A Comparison: Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt

  2. Geography of Mesopotamia

  3. Open Farm Land… Invitation to Invasion

  4. Geography of Egypt Surrounded by uninhabitable desert on both sides: • Low Desert: • could not be farmed- too dry. Hunting: antelope, hare, lions. Cemeteries here. • High Desert: • barren area crossed only by trade caravans & organized groups in search of stone and minerals such as calcite, gold, copper, amethyst, carnelian, diorite for black obelisks. • Some oases: • cultivated to grow grapes, dates. • Also housed exiled prisoners.

  5. Ancient Egypt

  6. River to Desert….in a few steps!

  7. Egypt - Stability Isolated from Invasion – Desert surrounds & protects Excellent Alluvial Soil w/ predictable flooding, rare droughts Civilization remained centered on Nile Nile promoted unity of culture Mesopotamia – Unpredictability Open to Frequent Invasions from mountains, arid region Excellent Alluvial Soil w/ UNPREDICTABLE, sometime horrific flooding or drought Civilization spread all over region City State structure did not encourage unity; later progression of empires  shared culture mix Historiography : Comparison

  8. Egypt: Menes/Narmer unified government of Nile under an Egyptian state for 3,000 years Old Kingdom Middle Kingdom New Kingdom – Ramses II 1278-1237 bce Akhenaton -1379-1381 bce Tutenkhamen 1361-1352bce height- 1400 bce Hatsepsut – 1482 bce Mesopotamia: Series of Invaders, Kings & Empires: Sumerians Akkadians - Sargon of Akkad, Babylonians - Hammurabi, 1792-1750 bce Assyrians Neo-Babylonians – Nebuchadnezzar, 605-562 bce Melting pot of peoples  Assimilation of each wave into Mesopotamian culture Comparison: Government

  9. Pharaoh Divine or semi-divine Owned the land Absolute ruler No Merchant Class – trade missions sent by Pharaoh King Not divine Did not own the land, but charged tax Absolute ruler Merchant Class – traveled, traded, spread culture for own profit Political Systems

  10. Monumental ArchitectureWalled cities / city states only in Mesopotamia

  11. Mesopotamian Art

  12. Egyptian Art

  13. Egyptian Art

  14. Priestly class: rituals, celebrations & worship, Mummification & other funerary careers Supported Pharaoh Polytheism: pantheon of gods, w/ godly & human-like qualities – ordered & organized, punished at end of life if heart weighed too heavy Priestly class: in charge of rituals, worship, helped people deal with frequent crises of life House of Clay or House of Song Ziggurats – temples (sometimes priests lived there) Collected Taxes, Rents & Offerings Supported Kings 3,000 gods – Polytheism, Animism- took offense easily, punished often Egyptian & Mesopotamian Religions

  15. Irrigation – peasants, slaves Astronomy, math, geometry, calendar Mummification Irrigation – peasants, slaves Astrology, math, geometry, calendar Wheel, fertilizer, glass, potter’s wheel, sail boats… Technology

  16. Hieroglyphs – word & letter pictures on walls, papyrus Career as scribe – formal schools. Career with government, priests, upon graduation. Cuneiform – stylus in clay tablet Career as scribe – first formal schools. Career with government, priests, merchants upon graduation. Writing

  17. What was the Role of Women in Ancient Societies? What do we know? How do we know it? What difference does it make?

  18. Mesopotamian Women • Women’s role was to keep the home, bear & care for children, serve husband / father. • Few legal rights under the law as far as we know outside the relationship with husbands / fathers. • Contract law: marriage, divorce, inheritance… • Females did not receive formal education as far as we know, except some upper class women learned to read and write.

  19. First female ruler in history: Hatshepsut – ruled 22 yrs. during New Kingdom. Greatly expanded trade More rights than Mesopotamian women Buy & sell property Inherit Choose to whom to will property Right to dissolve marriages Still subservient to men; valued most when bore children Young girls not as educated as boys Egyptian Women

  20. Pharaoh - Divine Priests- funerals, rituals Nobles Skilled artisans, incl. Physicians, Architects Peasants – worked land & generated most of the kingdom’s wealth Give over half of produce to Kingdom, as Pharaoh owned the land Slaves at bottom, but fewer than peasants- POW & descendents Life not much worse than peasants’ Building & irrigation projects; sometimes appointed to trusted positions in government or in palaces King Priests Advised people on ritual Performed rituals, ceremonies Collected taxes, rents, owned most of the land Nobles Merchants Worked for themselves; kept profit Artisans Peasants Farmers mostly – paid percent to government & priests Slaves One could sell oneself or family members into slavery to work off debts POW Criminals Social Structure: Pyramidal, of course!

  21. EGYPT Assyrian & Persian Empires conquered parts. Greeks occupied later Romans absorbed Egypt into their Empire, though Egypt kept its flavor & much of its culture Mesopotamia Series of constant invasions until Persians conquered… Usually, Conquerors adopted & adapted customs & culture of Mesopotamia Decline

  22. OzymandiasPercy Bysshe Shelly, 1818 I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert.

  23. Near them on the sand,Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frownAnd wrinkled lip and sneer of cold commandTell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear:`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away.

  24. Rule of Thumb: Decline of Civilizations • Civilization becomes powerful & prosperous attracts attention & envy of neighbors  Conquest. • Wealthy civilization so big& complex, it can’t adequately protect all its borders, so over time it begins to weaken. • True of Empires that arose in Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, …Greece, Rome…

  25. Continuing the Comparisons…Early Civilization… Let’s talk about the Indus Valley Civilization and China.  Neo Babylonian “Ishtar Gate, “ the eighth gate to the city of Babylon, 575 BCE, now in Pergamon Museum, Berlin

More Related