Compare/Contrast Ancient Civilizations

1
Compare/Contrast Ancient
Civilizations
2
Climate/Geography

• Egypt
• River--Nile River
• Longest in the World
• Hot
• Desert
• Small amount rain

• Mesopotamia
• Plains/Plateaus
• Rivers
• Tigris Euphrates
• ( Rich Farmland)
• Desert
• Hot
• Small amount rain

3
Culture

• Egypt
• Farming Community
• Extensive Tomb Paintings
• Social Class System
• Pharaohs

• Mesopotamia
• Small City States
• Market Place
• Social Class System

4
Religious Beliefs

• Egypt
• Polytheistic( Many Gods )
• Pharaoh- God and King
• Mummification
• Elaborate Tombs

• Mesopotamia
• Polytheistic (Many Gods)
• Ruled by priest -kings
• Burial under homes

http//members.cox.net/ancient-sites/egypt/ Pyrami
d_and_Sphinx.JPG
5
Writing

• Egypt
• Hieroglyphics
• Picture Writings
• 800 signs
• Cut into rock or stone-on papyrus paper

• Mesopotamia
• Cuneiform
• Wedge-shape marks on clay tablets

6

Economy

• Egypt
• Based on Farming
• Flooding of the Nile
• Expanded Trade

• Mesopotamia
• Based on Farming
• Wheat
• Barley
• Used plow first time

7

Government

• Egypt
• Pharaoh great house
• Theocracy - religious leader and king
• Scribes recorded government business

• Mesopotamia
• Theocracy - religious leader and king
• Absolute power
• Hammurabi's code

8

Achievements

• Egypt
• Great pyramid of Khufu
• Engineering and building skills
• Papyrus paper
• Rosetta stone decoded hieroglyphics
• Cultural borrowing technologies including horse
  drawn chariots
• Embalming

• Mesopotamia
• 12 month calendar based on phases of the moon
• Code of Laws Hammurabis Code
• Babylonians math system based on 60
• Phoenicians Alphabet Hebrew, Greek and Latin
  alphabets of today

9
Fun Facts

• Egypt
• Cairo capital on Nile
• Pyramids
• Sphinx
• Rosetta Stone translated Hieroglyphics

• Mesopotamia
• First discovered civilization
• First to develop a calendar
• Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey