Compare and Contrast Mesopotamia and Egypt

The Egyptians much like the Mesopotamians are similar in that they obtain monarchies stratified social systems. However Egypt had a unified nation while Mesopotamia utilized city states and socially Kings were viewed different in the societies. Although Egypt and Mesopotamia had similar governing styles and social classes never the less, they differed in political organization and the roles women. Egypt and Mesopotamia were similar in the way that they both were monarchies. The monarchs in Egypt were called pharaohs; they were believed to be an earthly manifestation of the gods.

Mesopotamia had kings that ruled city states which refer to a self-governing urban center and agricultural territories. Egypt and Mesopotamia are also parallel because they both have a stratified class system. In both civilizations the Kings make up the highest status in the system, the secondary levels are made up of the nobles and priests, the next standard is made up of artisans, and lastly the peasants and slaves make up the two lowest positions. Egypt and Mesopotamia also have various differences. The first difference was the role of women in the civilizations.

In Egypt women were able to divorce her husband, was able to inherit from her parents, and we able to own land. In Mesopotamia women were used as instruments for preserving and enhancing family wealth, women had little social standing and freedom. In both civilizations women were important because they were needed for their fertility. Another difference was how the two civilizations is how they were unified as a whole. Egypt was undivided, they were a bureaucracy, Egypt was ruled as a whole nation under the pharaoh. Mesopotamia on the other hand were a city state, Mesopotamia had many kings that ruled a kingdom in the area of Mesopotamia.

Lastly, there was a Law code in Mesopotamia which was a long set of examples that illustrated the principles to be used in a case. Egypt did not have a law code. The Egyptians and Mesopotamian have many similarities and differences. The similarities consist of both have similar political organization and both had stratified class systems. The differences are composed of role of women and unity of the civilization. Although Egypt and Mesopotamia had similar commanding roles, they differed in the governing aspects of the civilizations.