Mesopotamia Dbq

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Two great civilizations; Mesopotamia and Egypt. One question is, how did the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt sculpt them into successful civilizations? A few examples include both Mesopotamian and Egyptian way of life, their beliefs and their leadership. Both of these civilizations have been able to evolve into a big success through many ups and downs. This essay will explain how the cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt have helped them to build a stronger empire and maintain a stable population.

To start, the Mesopotamian and Egyptian way of life made a great contribution to their success. One contribution would be their way of communication. Mesopotamia had cuneiform, which was a wedge-shaped style of writing. While the Egyptians …show more content…
Documents number one and two illustrated how the Nile River in Egypt provided the Egyptians with fertile soil, water, and great agriculture while being in a dry area. The same goes for Mesopotamia. The civilization is situated between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. Document number two states that to Mesopotamia, the two rivers were a vital or essential part in the development of the civilization. With the rivers, people were able to get food, grow plants and was a way of transportation. The main water sources that Mesopotamia and Egypt had been able to let their people survive in the desert land.

To continue, the beliefs of both Mesopotamia and Egypt added to their success. Both civilizations were polytheistic meaning that they believed in many gods. The religions in the civilizations were organized and their religious system mixed their politics with religious or spiritual elements which then, led to a type of government that is called a theocracy. A theocracy is a form of government where a deity is recognized as the supreme civil ruler, the deity's laws are interpreted by the priestly authorities. In a more simple form, a rule that is led by divine guidance. For Mesopotamia, theirs took the …show more content…
For one, Mesopotamia was ruled by a monarchy in which, a king was the one who took charge of the whole empire. While Egypt was ruled by pharaohs. Likewise, there were social classes. In Mesopotamia, at the top of the social pyramid was the king, then the priests, following the scribes, merchants and artisans next, the commoners or farmers in the lower class and slaves at the very bottom. In Egypt, the pharaoh was at the very top, right below the pharaoh were the priests and nobles, the middle class consisted of traders, artisans, shopkeepers, and scribes. The lower classes were the farmers and herders and at the very bottom were the unskilled workers. By having these social classes, the people were knowledgeable to know what they could and could not do, what restrictions they had and what they were able to do. By having a king or pharaoh in charge helped the civilization to have someone in charge of the empire that will lead the people to success and bring change. On top of that, Mesopotamia and Egypt created laws to guide the people. The Code of Hammurabi found in Document 4, was created in Mesopotamia. The Code of Hammurabi included laws concerning daily life, business medicine, property, and family. The punishments for breaking its laws were very harsh. Hammurabi’s goal for his set of laws was to bring good to the people, spread justice to the land and
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