greek egypt Essay

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Battle for World Domination: Zeus vs. Osiris The Ancient Egyptians and the Ancient Greeks both lived near the majestic island of Crete. The ancient Greeks lived to the north of the island in Europe, and the Egyptians lived to the south in Africa. Other than location, these ancient powers had other similarities and differences. Some of the similarities and differences can be categorized in 5 categories: food, shelter, religion, government and weapons. While only about 1000 miles apart, these highly complex civilizations each had definite cultural characteristics. Food is part of every civilization from the first humans all the way to the last humans that will meander the earth. The Greeks had religion in mind whenever they ate. Gods, according to the Greeks did not have to eat, but because people did, the gods had to bless the food, specifically the meat if it was not killed in the wild. The Greek god Dionysus, god of wine, supplied the Greeks with wine, and while the people drank, they felt they drank part of Dionysus himself. According the article “Food in Ancient Greece”, the majority of the food the Greeks ate was bread with olive oil served with wine. Cheese was expensive, but when the people could obtain it, they were very happy. (Food) Vegetables were an essential part of their meals (Gaifyllia) and the Greeks lived on the sea, so seafood was an important part of their diets. In contrast to the Greeks, the Egyptians did not have the same views about food. The Egyptians preferred fruits because of their ability to grow in their fertile land around the Nile. Meat eaten in Egypt was not usually from sea; the meat came from cattle for the rich and sheep or goat for the lower class. The drink in Egypt was primarily beer made from barley, and if the family was rich, wine was an option. (Fayed) The Greeks and Egyptians both had plenty of food available because of where they lived. While the Greeks had wine for everyone most of time, the Egyptians only had wine for the rich. This showed social class distinction in the ancient Egyptian culture. Meat in Greece was not as common as in Egypt. According to Fayed, the tough Egyptian bread was damaging for the teeth of the people while the bread in Greece was very popular, so much so that the bread is still prepared similarly in the current times. The differences in varieties of food show a difference in cultural relevance of food. Egyptians viewed food as a way to stay alive and the rich had the pleasure of better flavors in their food. On the other hand, the Greeks believed food was very important and every one had very healthy meals full of food groups. Food cannot be eaten in the rain outside; people need shelter. Shelter is a part of every civilization and is one of the only parts that survives time in most cases. Greek housing was designed to stay cool in the summer and keep heat in in the winter. One house design was built like one of the halves of Upper Dublin High School. There were rooms surrounding a courtyard. Each house was built with two stories, the second story was mostly used for sleeping (Ancient Greece). The building block of choice for the Egyptians was brick. The more wealth someone had, the more layers of bricks their house had. The rich had houses similar to the Greeks with a courtyard in the middle. (Egyptians) The Greeks built houses that were designed for social gatherings—even those who were in the slightly lower class (not the lowest class). The Egyptians on the other hand, had more eccentric homes for the rich and the most pathetic homes for the poor. The Egyptians did not have all the materials to build complex houses as easily as the Greeks could. The process and tools for building shelters allowed some of the most amazing architecture in history: the pyramids in Egypt and the Coliseum in Greece. Within every home there was belief and religion. The Greeks and the Egyptians both were polytheistic, but each had very different gods. The Greeks
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