Compare/Contrast Ancient Civilizations

Climate/Geography Egypt River--Nile River Longest in the World Hot Desert Small amount rain Mesopotamia Plains/Plateaus Rivers Tigris & Euphrates * ( Rich Farmland) Desert Hot Small amount rain

Culture Egypt Farming Community Extensive Tomb Paintings Social Class System Pharaohs Mesopotamia Small City States Market Place Social Class System

Religious Beliefs Egypt ( Many Gods ) Polytheistic ( Many Gods ) Pharaoh- God and King Mummification Elaborate Tombs Mesopotamia Polytheistic (Many Gods) Ruled by priest -kings Burial under homes Pyramid_and_Sphinx.JPG

Writing Egypt Hieroglyphics Picture Writings 800 signs Cut into rock or stone-on papyrus paper Mesopotamia Cuneiform Wedge-shape marks on clay tablets

Egypt Based on Farming Flooding of the Nile Expanded Trade Mesopotamia Based on Farming Wheat Barley Used plow first time Economy

Egypt Pharaoh – great house Theocracy - religious leader and king Scribes – recorded government business Mesopotamia Theocracy - religious leader and king Absolute power Hammurabi's code Government

Egypt Great pyramid of Khufu Engineering and building skills Papyrus paper Rosetta stone – decoded hieroglyphics Cultural borrowing – technologies including horse drawn chariots Embalming Mesopotamia 12 month calendar based on phases of the moon Code of Laws – Hammurabi’s Code Babylonians – math system based on 60 Phoenicians – Alphabet – Hebrew, Greek and Latin alphabets of today Achievements

Fun Facts Egypt Cairo capital on Nile Pyramids Sphinx Rosetta Stone – translated Hieroglyphics Mesopotamia First discovered civilization First to develop a calendar Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey