How Geography Effected Ancient Cultures

Mesopotamia and Egypt in the ancient world were in modern day Iraq, and Egypt is still there today. Culture in theses societies, was loosely based on their natural surroundings. While geography in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt differed in stability and protection, they were similar in farming opportunities, with comparable sources of water giving them both the chance to excel in agriculture. The river flooding in Mesopotamia and Egypt differed in predictability; while rivers in Mesopotamia were sporadic in flood patterns, the Nile in Egypt was very predictable in its flooding. This caused the two civilizations to have opposing ideas of the power of their gods. In ancient Mesopotamia, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were incredibly unpredictable, and when they flooded they caused frenzies in surrounding areas. This unpredictability was reflected in their religion, as they felt the flooding of the rivers was a punishment for something they did. In thinking they could never please the gods, the people of Mesopotamia believed one only had the underworld to look forward to after death. They viewed nature as something out to get them. This belief led to more selfishness in people, and as a result, people were generally less trusting. However, in Egypt, the Nile River and its yearly predictable flooding led to the creation of calendars to plan agriculture around flooding; therefore, the flooding would help, not hurt them. The predictability of the Nile caused a more positive view of the gods, because they respected nature more than they feared it. This is shown in the old kingdom poem, In Praise of Nut, it says, “The Whole earth lies under thee; thou encompasses the earth and all things in thine arms.” This outlook on religion gave them more positive ideas about afterlife; they believed that if you are a respectable person in your physical life, and lived by the principle of Ma’at, you will be rewarded with peace and eternity. This led to people doing things for others and having more trust and honesty, unlike the selfish, untrusting people in Mesopotamia. Because the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were highly unreliable when it came to flood patterns, there was a negative effect on Mesopotamian views when it came to pleasing the gods, the afterlife, and their general pessimistic attitude towards their peers. The opposite was true for the Nile River societies in Egypt; the always reliable flood patterns had a positive effect on their views relating to pleasing the gods, and the afterlife, giving them a generally optimistic attitude towards their peers and life as a whole. These societies demonstrated that the more stability a civilization has in its environment, the more positive outlook its people will have on life. The civilizations in Mesopotamia and the Nile also differed in protection; the Nile was surrounded by vast deserts and raging waters keeping out enemies, while Mesopotamia was open for attack. This led to differing depths of cultural advancements. The civilizations surrounding the Nile had the luxury of being secured by deserts, and raging rapids. Because of these natural protectors, the civilizations of the Nile were invasion free for about 500 years. Because one did not have to stress over attacks, there was more time for culture to mature. In Egypt, there was no reason to form an army, so more man power could be used in the creation of the pyramids and tombs. There was more time for ritual and traditions to form as well. In the story of Osiris, Isis, and Set, it talks about how Osiris is now the judge of the dead, this, along with art of ancient Egypt such as the Ramesseum and paintings of Ma’ta, were for the purpose of depicting their love and worship of the gods and pharos. In Mesopotamian civilizations there was no protection; city-states had, at best, large walls as their form of defense. Emperors and kings were constantly on the lookout for invasions from neighboring city-states. There was never any extended amount of time were people could live without fear of attack. Constant violence led to the formation of armies, leaving little time for cultural advancement. When culture did arise it was always for a somewhat business purpose. For example, the ziggurats of ancient Mesopotamia were used for public meetings and government use. Hammurabi’s Code was a part of Mesopotamian culture as well, but it, and many sculptures were used to depict war scenarios, or to promote law and order. Because of the abundance of protection surrounding the Nile, art and culture reflected their religion and traditions, rather than conflict. In Mesopotamia the lack of protection had an opposite effect, leading to the creation of war and art. Egyptian art focused more on monumental culture and praising the gods, while Mesopotamian culture focused more on survival, violence, and order. While civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia differed in protection and stability, they were similar in farming opportunities, with comparable sources of water giving them both the chance to excel in agriculture. This led to specialized labor, creating individual culture. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers that surrounded Mesopotamian civilizations flooded often, giving them fertile soil. The Nile River in Egypt had a similar effect; its flooding was more predictable, but had the same outcome in soil fertility. Both of these great ancient civilizations had water irrigation systems from their rivers; this allowed them to spread out their agriculture and expand their territory. Agriculture in both civilizations led to a surplus of food, giving more opportunity for more specialized labor. This helped both become respected societies. Specialized labor also helped them become extremely knowledgeable on trading. Even though the similarity of agriculture led to both societies having specialized labor, the type of specialized labor was very different. For example, in Egypt, a lot of specialized labor dealt with making fine jewelry and other artifacts for pharos tombs to carry them to the afterlife. But in Mesopotamian societies, specialized labor was more for the purpose of war, making war chariots and weapons. The discovery of agriculture kick-started both civilizations into becoming highly advanced societies both of which later became extremely different places as an outcome of specialized labor. The river flooding in Mesopotamia and Egypt differed in predictability; while rivers in Mesopotamia were sporadic in flood patterns, the Nile in Egypt was very predictable in its flooding. This caused the two civilizations to have opposing ideas of the power of their gods. The civilizations in Mesopotamia and the Nile also differed in protection; The Nile was surrounded by vast deserts and raging waters which kept enemies out, while Mesopotamia was open for attack. This led to differing depths of culture advancement. However, while civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia differed in protection and stability, they were similar in farming opportunities, with comparable sources of water giving them both the chance to excel in agriculture. This led to specialized labor, creating individual culture