Geography and Impacts

1
Geography and Impacts

• Mesopotamia, Tigris and Euphrates

• Egypt, The Valley of the Nile

• Tigris violent flooding pessimism, fear of
  disaster
• Numerous tributariesscattered city
  statesdisunity and warfare
• Areas of swamp and marshirrigation used for
  drainage
• Lack of stonereed and clay-brick structures
• Need for protectionmostly urban environment
• Deforestation and ecological deterioration

• Gentle predictable floodspositive and creative
  outlook
• Arid climateefficient food storage
• Easily navigable riverpolitical/cultural unity
• Deserts, cataractsdegree of isolation
• Abundance of stonepermanent architecture
• Secure locationP,E,R market centers Mostly
  agricultural villages
• Sustainable agriculturecontinuity of
  civilization

2
Social/Economic

• M

• E

• Nobilitykings family, high priests, royal
  officials
• Clientsfree citizens working for nobility
• Commonersfree land-owning citizens
• Slaves
• Gender rolespatriarchal
• Women divided into 2
• Respectable under protection and sexual control
  by one man, veiled
• Nonrespectable prostitutes, slavesforbidden to
  be veiled
• Codified law enforced patriarchyunquestionable
  authority of men, regulation of female sexuality

• Pharaoh and royal family, high priests, palace
  officials
• Relatively open society, skill ambitionsocial
  mobility
• Peasantsserfs, little land ownership subject to
  draft for military and labor gangs
• Gender roles patriarchal but afforded women
  greater opportunities than Meso.
• Legal equals, own property, sell land, own wills,
  sign own marriage contracts, initiate own divorce
• Royal womensignificant power
• Not veiled, more equal partners

3
M Political Patterns E

• City-states with elected war chiefs evolving to
  kings
• Frequent warring among themselves
• Weakened by environmental degradation led to
  conquest by outsiders
• Series of empires some formed by indigenous
  groups, some by invaders
• Growth of legal codedHammurabis Codecodified
  law

• God-king or Pharaoh absolute rulerdivine
  rightno need for codified written law
• Unified early under one power
• Hereditary centralized Monarch
• Long series of family dynasties

4
M Religious Patterns E

• Hierarchy of greater and lesser deities according
  to function
• Powerful and immortal deities but humanlike
  (anthropomorphic) in emotions and habits
• Basis of later beliefs and tales-creation
  stories, humans as images of gods, Garden of
  Eden, flood
• Influential priesthood
• Feared gods/afterlife due to chaotic/disorderly
  worldview and unpredictable river flooding

• Pharaoh as deity in human form, proving gods
  cared for people
• Belief in afterlife, reflecting cyclical nature
  of seasons and floods hopeful outlook, constant
  rebirth of sun and predictable river flooding 2x
  annuallyassured life prevail over death
• Great pyramids as symbol of eternal afterlife and
  Pharaohs spiritual and temporal power
• Concept of monotheism in (brief) cult of Sun god
  (Amon-Ra)

5
Interactions/Technology

• Egyptian agriculture relied on wheat and barley
  adopted from Mesopotamia, as well as gourds,
  water-melon, domesticated donkeys, and cattle
  from Sudan
• Some scholars argue that Egypts step pyramids
  and writing were inspired by Mesopotamian models
• Practice of divine kingship most likely derived
  from traditions in central or eastern Sudan
• Indo-European influenced both civilizations as
  they migrated into region
• Domesticated horse, chariot technologybetter and
  well prepared armies
• Invasion of the Hyksos into Egyptadoption of new
  armor, bows, daggers, swords improved methods of
  spinning and weaving new musical instruments,
  and olive and pomegranate trees

6
Think about

• In what ways did Mesopotamia and Egyptian
  civilizations differ from each other?
• In which civilization would you rather have
  lived? Why?