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Ms. Richardson
Global History
11/5/09
Egypt was one of the first river valley civilizations, the other river valley
try to debate it, it is obvious that Egypt was in fact the more developed civilization
because of their political stability, more advanced religious practices, and control over
their natural environment. These reasons along with many others are the reason that
Even though both Egypt and Mesopotamia had solid political structures, Egypt
had far superior control over their society. Egypt’s stability is mentioned throughout
many text such as in “The Book of the Dead (21)” text it was stated “Egypt enjoyed long
political stability over long stretches of time.” While this quote clearly shows that Egypt
is thought of as having an advanced political system, there are also quotes that express
between times of unification, when one or another city succeeded in dominating some or
all of the others, and times of fragmentation, when the individual city-states went their
own anarchic ways.” (Nagle 9). How can one even argue that Mesopotamia had a more
advanced political system than Egypt, when it would be so much easier to argue that in
fact Mesopotamia’s political system was inept to the point where you can’t even call it
Another way that Egypt was a more developed civilization than their Middle
Eastern counter part, was their religious practices, Egypt had a thought out and
sophisticated belief in the after life, and rituals to show their commitment to the gods. A
perfect example of this is the Hymn to the Nile while the Hymn as a piece of literature
already show an advanced religious practice, the text can be looked to for the vast amount
of support that they counted on the gods for “That watereth the meadows, he that Re hath
created to nourish all cattle…Beloved of Keb, director of the corn-god; that maketh to
flourish every workshop of Ptah…Khnum hath fashioned him.” (Hymn to the Nile 25) In
this early piece of religious text there is worship of several different gods, all of which
are praised for specific tasks that they fulfill. While this example shows their attachment
to the individual gods, a good example of not just Egypt’s religion being more advanced
is their practice of mummification, and the rituals that were involved. “May I endure
longer than you, for I am fashioned as the possessor of a burial; may you permit me to go
down into the earth forever … and his corpse will not perish.” Here the Egyptians give
religious context for their practice of mummification; the above quotes show the
sophistication of Egypt’s religious beliefs. Mesopotamia on the other hand has few traces
of religion throughout their culture, the best example probably being “Gilgamesh” which
is a tale of a man’s quest for immortality, in this text Mesopotamia beliefs about the
afterlife is shown. While Mesopotamia does have strong beliefs about the afterlife they
control over their environment. Egypt had a relationship with their environment,
specifically the Nile, and it wasn’t just a physical relationship, but a spiritual one. The
Nile became integrated into their culture and religion, looking again at the “Hymn to the
Nile” as the prime example “Praise to thee, O Nile, that issueth from the earth, and
cometh to nourish Egypt.” In this quote the Nile is being treated as a god, the source of
their nourishment, they refer to the Nile in the same manner as Re, Ptah, and any other
god mentioned in the text. Egypt was so connected with the environment that they were
singing songs of praise to it, Mesopotamia never got to that that point though they
counted on the Tigris and Euphrates to survive, it was always technological they never
bonded with the environment the way the Egyptians did. This really proves that Egypt
The points made in the paragraphs come to one conclusion Egypt was the more
advanced civilization, the main components of a civilization politics, and religion were
taken and carefully analyzed and only one conclusion can be drawn. Egypt had a stable
government, and a developed religion, they had made technological advancements in the
form of mummification, and architecture that were years ahead of the Mesopotamians.
Egypt endured throughout the ages while Mesopotamia rose and fell over and over again.