1. Mesopotamia and Egypt Mesopotamia Egypt Agriculture
+“Land between the rivers” (Tigris and Euphrates forms Fertile Crescent
+Artificial irrigation
+”Gift of the Nile”
Specialization
+Pottery, textiles, woodworking, leather, brick making, stonecutting, masonry
+Pottery, textiles, woodworking, leather production, stonecutting, masonry
Cities
-Numerous, densely populated city-states (Ur and Babylon)
-Fewer cities with high centralization (Memphis and Thebes)
Social Hierarchy
-Noble class
-Patriarchal
+Slaves
-Absolute authority of the pharaoh made a noble class unnecessary (had bureaucrats instead)
-Patriarchal, but the presence of Queen Hatsheput may indicate greater opportunities for women

2. Mesopotamia and Egypt Mesopotamia Egypt Religion and Education
-Polytheism
-No afterlife
-Polytheism, but brief period of monotheism under Akhentan
-Afterlife and judgment (mummification)
New Technologies
-Superior in metallurgy
-Papyrus, shipbuilding, pyramids
Economic exchange
-Trade by land and water
-Trade principally by water along the Nile
-Trade more important because Egypt lacked natural resources beside the Nile
Art and Writing
-Cuneiform
-Hieroglyphs (more pictorial than cuneiform)