Comparing Mesopotamia and Egypt

While Mesopotamia and Egypt were among some of the first civilizations, they were not similar in all of their ways. 

One of the major differences that Strayer talks about, in regards to agriculture, is the rivers. The Egyptians thrived off of the Nile river whereas the Mesopotamians had to deal with the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The Nile river was predictable and reliable, allowing for the Egyptians to have a certain sense of security when it came to their water needs. The Tigris and the Euphrates, on the other hand, also rose every year but it was uncertain as to when they would be doing so. For this reason, many of the Mesopotamians crops would be flooded without any warning, making it more difficult for them to effectively take care of their crops. In addition to having difficulty with their natural sources of water, Mesopotamia was more susceptible to invasion due to their surrounding open plains, which provided no real geographical barriers. Egypt was surrounded by vast deserts and waterfalls, all of which made it more difficult for outsiders to make their way in. Egyptians seem to have had the upper hand when it came to geography and agriculture. This may have been a contributing factor as to how the cultures of the two civilizations were shaped. 

Aside from environmental differences, Mesopotamia and Egypt had more political differences as well. Mesopotamia had over twelve independently governed city-states. Because each of the city-states was so independent, there was lots of warfare caused by want of land. Due to the chaos and frequent un-organization of the city-states, the Akkadians, an outside force, took over what was once the Mesopotamian civilization. The Egyptians, once again, had it much easier than the Mesopotamians did. The Egyptians had a united territory that went on for 1,000 miles up and down the coast of the Nile river. The Egyptians were able to maintain their way of living for over 3,000 years! That is very impressive and a statistic that other ancient civilizations were unable to attain. Pharaohs were the men in charge of Egypt and everyone would look up to them, believing that they were a god in a man's body. The pharaohs remained powerful until the Nile river began to flood unpredictably and the Pharaoh was unable to predict the time of the flood. Only then was the image of the Pharaoh discredited and Egypt disbanded for some while. 

Although Egypt and Mesopotamia seemed as if they were two entirely different worlds, they actually did interact with one another as well as with some other of their neighbors. Egypt and Mesopotamia participated in trade with one another, though is was mostly fancy things for the elite of both societies. Both ancient civilizations were influenced by societies outside of their own and implemented ideas such as the chariot. 

There are many contrasting characteristics that do make both Egypt and Mesopotamia seem very different from one another, however each of the civilizations were simply doing the best that they could with the resources that they had. Clearly, Egypt had a much more welcoming environment to live in (and a much more unwelcoming environment that surrounded it and kept invaders out). On Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, physiological needs and safety needs are at the base of living a happy life. Looking at this, it makes sense that the Egyptians were able to have such a successful civilization for so long. Their basic needs were fulfilled, allowing them to worry about stuff other than when their river might flood. 

Chapter 2: Reflection on The Occupations of Old Egypt

The Egyptian text "Be a Scribe" was a school text that students would copy in hopes of improving their own writing. The text stresses the importance of becoming a scribe and highlights many of the disadvantages of following any other line of work.
By reading the Egyptian text, the occupational and social structure of Middle Kingdom Egypt did not seem very diverse. There seemed to be those who have noble positions and then... everyone else. "Be a Scribe" goes through over ten different occupations, each one very different and yet each one describing the toils and hardships that the men and women of those jobs face. The profession of a scribe was one of great importance and luxury seeing that it "it pleases more than bread and beer, more than clothing and ointment." In contrast to the more egalitarian societal structures of the Paleolithic civilization, the social and political hierarchy of the Egyptian society is very evident, as seen in the document. From "Be a Scribe," historians are able to grasp a real sense of the developing social structures that early civilizations were beginning to develop.
Learning how to write would open a boatload of opportunity for young Egyptians! After describing the many tedious and tiresome jobs of the peasant and the ships' crews and so on, the narrator of the document pauses to share some of the pleasantries of becoming a scribe. To succinctly sum up the many advantages of learning how to write: "Put the writings in your heart, and you will be protected from all kinds of toil. You will become a worthy official."Nice clothes, a mansion, and servants are just a few of the things that are mentioned.
While reading the Egyptian text it was kind of funny to truly see the absolutely timeless frustrations of a teacher. Not simply a teacher in a classroom, but the kind of person who has ever tried to give you any valuable advice in your life. The narrator of the document is practically begging the student to educate themselves as they say, "If you have any sense, be a scribe."And for as long as the instructor tries to press this information among the students, they do not seem to listen or to care: "But though I spend the day telling you 'Write,' it seems like a plague to you." The humor that I found in this is the uncanny familiarity of it all. Today, our educators and parents tell us to be educated and work hard and listen... But we are college students and we are invincible. History proves again that it does, indeed, repeat itself.

Chapter 2: First Civilizations

The hierarchies of gender and class are what interested me most about beginning of the earliest civilizations. As discussed before, the Paleolithic societies were some of the most egalitarian societies in the history of the world. It seemed that as civilization grew and things began to grow more complicated and complex, the equal roles of human beings began to dissipate. Inequality is now a very natural thing in our industrialized, technological societies and while it is something that is considered a concern, it is also something that humans have almost come to accept. Similar to today's hierarchy, the upper class was composed of people who did not have to do physical labor. On the other hand of the spectrum was the farmers, whose "surplus production supported the upper classes." Even further down on the hierarchical scale, however, were the slaves. Slaves emerged at the same time that civilization did, says Strayer in his book. Things were very simple back during the Paleolithic era and when new civilizations began to emerge, things became more and more intricate.
In terms of gender, historians believe that the inequalities became more apparent as civilizations grew, similar to the class hierarchy. They mentioned how things such as warfare caused women to slowly lose their equal status that they once shared with the men. Because men are more capable of things such as fighting, if only due to physical advantages, the women would stay home and take care of the kinds and the home. Sound familiar? While it does seem to make practical sense for the time and situation, the inequality of both class and gender was just something that skyrocketed way out of hand. Unfortunately, humans began to take advantage of others and decided that slaves were a good idea, as well as the unequal treatment of women over the years. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see where such disparities came from and what their foundation is rooted in.

Gilgamesh Excerpt

Endiku is a beastly kind of man who lives among the animals. He feeds with them and he drinks from the same watering hole as they do. Endiku does not know anything else for "he knew neither people nor settled living." One day, a hunter comes across Endiku and is fearful of the way that this man is living as such a beast. He sends for a prostitute to tame and civilize Endiku. Apparently, women were seen as forces that could convert such wild things. The hunter's and his father's plan is for the prostitute to basically strip for Endiku and then seduce him and have sex with him. Once that all happens, the hunter's father hypothesizes that Endiku will no longer belong to the wild because " his animals who grew up in his wilderness will be alien to him." The hunter and the prostitute go through with the plan and it works! They have sex for an impressive six days and seven nights and then Endiku is so tired from all of the hard work that he has no energy to run with the animals as before. He comes to this sort of revelation that he is not supposed to be some wild person anyway, and he listens to the prostitute tell him how wonderful and godlike he has the potential to be. If only he were civilized... For the Mesopotamians, to be civilized was to give into hedonistic pleasures. Endiku was only civilized once he had sex, ate food, and drank beer. "Eat the food, Endiku, it is the way one lives," they said, "Drink the beer, as is the custom of the land." Only one Endiku did as the others did and left behind his more primal past did he "turn into a human." That line caught my eye, as it implies that prior to becoming civilized, Endiku was nothing but a wild beast.