How is Egypt different from Mesopotamia?

Answer 1

Both civilizations were centered on religion. Egypt believed in many gods. Even the pharaohs were believed to be gods. The gods Mesopotamia believed in tended to be absolute rulers to whom the people owed total devotion. In both civilizations religious leaders were given very high status and held in high regard.

can someone please largely expand this please?

Answer 2

These are just two differences between Egypt and Mesopotamia. One aspect that was very different between Egypt and Mesopotamia was the government. In Egypt, most of the time they had just one leader--the pharaoh. Egypt would have needed this strong central government for projects such as organizing and overseeing of the pyramid buildings. The early Mesopotamians used a city-state type government. Each area was controlled by its own political and economical center. Each area was a separate political unit. The social structure of Mesopotamia and Egypt were different. In Mesopotamia there was no gender equality. However, in ancient Egypt females had more opportunities to rise in life. In Mesopotamia, although they had different classes of slaves, they were still treated like property. In both societies the very few elite held enormous wealth, while the common people normally just got by day-by-day.

Answer 3

their writting looked different and was written on different types of things like egyptians who wrote on paper

the egyptian made triangular pyramids and had different purpose for these structure .their purpose was to protect their dead kings bodies ..the egyptian pyramids were made of lime stone and mesopotamians ziggurat were made of dry mud brick .that's why the egyptian pyramids still stand

Answer 4

Judaism are monotheists believing only in one god who controlled the entire universe, while the Egyptians were Polytheists who believed in many different gods that controlled different aspects of life.

Answer 5

Mesopotamia had a different geographical climat because they were before the egyptains. They were pretty close to the same area but the Mesopotamians were hunters and gatherers; around 8000 years ago

Answer 6

While there were numerous differences, the primary difference was that the Jews were monotheistic, meaning they only worshipped ONE God. The other religions were polytheistic, meaning the worshipped (or at least recognized) multiple gods. Most of Mesopotamian laws were directly from Hammurabi's code while the Jewish laws came from God through Moses and the Levitical priesthood. Again, there were many differences but those differences, by and large, were a direct result of their monotheism and the source of their laws.

Answer 7

At the time of Abraham the Hebrew, the area where he lived was full of pagan cults; they were polytheistic, worshiping multiple deities. Abraham was the first to advance the idea of ethical monotheism: the worship of One God, and the appropriate ethical code of conduct.
The Israelites differed from other ancient peoples in the following ways:
1) It was the only religion in which God spoke to the entire assembled nation (Exodus ch.19) of over two million people.

2) It made a complete break from the surrounding idolatry. Their monotheism (belief in One God) set the Jews apart because other ancient nations did not share it. We've heard (for example) of Greek mythology and Roman mythology. What not everyone is aware of is that idolatry tended to go hand in hand with cruel, licentious and excessive behavior, since the caprices which were narrated concerning the pagan gods were adopted as an excuse to imitate those types of behavior.

Compare that to God, who reveals His attributes in the Torah as wise, kind, holy, and pure. God is One, so the command to imitate His attributes (Deuteronomy 8:6) was (and is) a straightforward matter once one is even minimally familiar with the Torah.

(See: What do Jews believe God is like?)

Accordingly, Judaism was:

3) The only ancient religion in which a large percentage of its adherents were literate and scholars.

4) It was the only religion in which the people were ruled by God, with no need for a king, for several centuries (see Judges 8:23 and 1 Samuel 8:4-7).

5) The concept of morality was also the work of the Hebrews' religion, including the dignity and value of a person. It is the responsibility of the community to support the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger passing through.

6) Under the law of Judaism, everyone had recourse to the courts. A child, widow, wife, poor person, etc., could initiate legal action against any citizen to redress perpetrated harm. Compare this to those societies in which only mature, land-owning males had rights.

7) Government is accountable to a higher authority. In other ancient societies, the monarch was all-powerful. Among the Israelites, however, the king was under the constant scrutiny of the Divinely-informed prophets, who didn't hesitate to castigate him publicly for any misstep in the sight of God.

And, other than for the crime of rebellion, the king couldn't punish any citizen by his own decision. He was obligated by the Torah-procedures like everyone else (Talmud, Sanhedrin 19a).

8) A robber repays double to his victim, or works it off. Unlike in many other ancient societies, in Judaism debtors are not imprisoned or harmed. They are made to sell property and/or work to repay what they owe. Compare this to the Roman practice by which anyone could accuse a man of owing them money and the debtor could be killed (Roman Twelve Tables of Law, 3:10).

It is important to note that every one of the above existed in Judaism thousands of years earlier than in other nations. Here's just one example: Infanticide was practiced in classical European nations until Judaism and its daughter-religions put a stop to it.

See also:

Were the Israelites monotheistic?

Israelite culture

Answer 8

One difference would be their written language. Ancient Egypt's line of communication was Hieroglyphics. Mesopotamia's was Cuneiform.

Answer 9

In the ancient world, almost all religions outside of covenant Judaism worshipped images and idols.