Ancient Middle East

1. Ancient Middle East
Mesopotamia: Sumer, Assyria, Babylon
Ancient Egypt

2. My Argument
Ancient Egypt is known for its elaborate religious rituals and
practices. The act of mummification, and the way they prepare
their dead for the afterlife with the riches of this world is unlike any
other civilization.
The technology contained in the Mesopotamian city-states allowed
the people to more efficiently grow and store crops, leading to less
time spent in the fields and more time developing advanced
concepts, like cuneiform.
The first written language of the world, as well as a complex belief
system, did not appear out of nowhere. They, like every single
aspect of ancient Middle Eastern civilizations, from technology to
gender relations, were dependent on the environment in which
the people inhabited.

3. Environment
Ancient Egypt: Fertile Nile river valley, regular flooding of Nile, little
rainfall
Mesopotamia: Fertile Tigris and Euphrates river valley, irregular,
volatile flooding of Tigris & Euphrates rivers, little rainfall

4. Agriculture & Animal Domestication
Ancient Egypt: barley, wheat, lentils, figs; goats,
pigs, cattle, chickens
Mesopotamia: barley, figs, dates, grapes; cattle,
goats, sheep, pigs

5. Religion
Religion (like EVERYTHING) was affected by the environment
Ancient civilizations were at the mercy of their environment, chiefly rivers, and
they viewed this as at the mercy of their GODS. They were dependent on food
crops and animals, therefore many of their gods were based of of nature,
animistic gods. In times of where the fields yielded a bad crop, they would pray
to these gods.
In Ancient Egypt, the calm, regular-flooding Nile was translated to kinder,
predictable gods and goddesses. They revered these beings, and celebrated
death as a “coming home” to the afterlife where the gods were. Gods'
temperaments were stable and consistent. The universe was viewed as an
orderly place.There were also many gods of the river, sun, etc. ANIMISTIC
entities.
In Mesopotamia, the volatile, sporadic-flooding Euphrates and Tigris rivers
frequently caused destruction in Sumerian, Assyrian, and Babylonian
societies. They believed this was due to their unpredictable, angry gods.
Because of this, they feared the gods and did not anticipate the afterlife to be
the joyous thing other religions did. Gods' temperaments were passionate,
either very angry or very happy. Rarely the latter. There were also many gods
of the river, sun, etc. ANIMISTIC entities.

6. Political Structure
Most political structures of the Ancient Middle East were directly tied
into their religions. Since religion was created in the Ancient Middle
East as a response to the environment, government was an indirect
product of their environment
In Hammurabi's Code, the king Hammurabi of Babylon stated that the
god Marduk had given him instruction to rule and direct the people. The
pharaohs of Egypt were believed to be gods on the journey back to the
afterlife. This divinity establishes authority over the people that is
absolute, and makes rulings the rulings of the gods, encouraging the
ancient Middle Easterners to adhere them. Since rulers were as gods
in Mesopotamia, they acted like them. In Sumer, Babylon, and Assyria
the gods were unpredictable, and very harsh, so their kings followed
suit. The calmer gods of Egypt yielded predicable, wise, and just
Pharoahs.

7. Technology
The technology created in the Ancient Middle East wasn't
made without influence of environment. Complex irrigation
systems were used in Mesopotamia due to the volatile
rivers. Crops needed to be planted further away in order to
prevent the irregular floodings from destroying a society's
food source. In Ancient Egypt, the rivers were much calmer,
and flooded regularly. Because of this, they were able to
plant closer to the rivers, allowing them to use the rich soil
provided. Some basin irrigation was needed, but it was
much simpler than that of Mesopotamia. Civilizations across
the board in the Ancient Middle East used early forms of
plows to more efficiently use the land for agriculture.

8. Expansion: Trade & Conquest
The natural resources of a civilization influenced its relations with other
peoples. In Mesopotamia, there were no significant stone, wood, or
metal resources, which lead to fighting between city-states. The
Akkadian State conquered surrounding city-states for control of these
vital resources, but long-distance trade was also imperative to get gold,
metal, and copper from Egyptian and Nubian civilizations.
Ancient Egypt was less about expanding territory.It focused on gaining
valuable resources such as cedar from Lebanon and gold from Nubia,
which its land did not provide. When it did expand its territory however,
it had a huge social effect. Nubia, a civilization to the south, was at
times largely controlled by Egyptian rule. This shaped their culture to
emulate Ancient Egypt's almost exactly. This spread religious beliefs, a
key component in maintaining control of society. In the end, however, it
lead to Nubian control of Egypt during the 8th century B.C.E.
Trade was aided by the Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates rivers.

9. Culture: Traditions, Gender
Relations, and the Arts
With the Agricultural revolution, the egalitarian society of hunter gatherers was
done away with. There was now an emphasis on material possessions, and to
contribute to society, a person had to work in the fields, growing crops. Since
women are physically inferior in muscle mass to their male counterparts, they
began contributing less and less to growing crops. This lead to a decline in the
public social status, and created more concrete gender roles. Men were to
deal with the state and economy, that which affected the public, while women
ran the private home lives.
The traditions of Ancient Egypt were also affected by the environment. It was
no mistake that we find mummies buried on the outskirts of the desert. The
people knew that it was important to preserve as much usable land as
possible, so they buried their dead away from rivers and rich soil.
Mesopotamians' art was greatly influenced by the animals they hunted. Wild
goats, deer, and birds, as well as more exotic animals, likely imported, such as
lions were depicted.

10. Conclusion
In conclusion, the civilizations of Ancient Middle East,
as every early civilization, was entirely dependent on
their environment. The Assyrians didn't have the calm
gods based off the Nile. Ancient Egyptians used gold in
almost every important artifact they made, and viewed it
as divine and indestructible due to its numerous
deposits of the metal.
The resources provided by the environment, and those
not provided, shaped the way a civilization developed in
every aspect, because what they had is what they had,
and being one of the first civilizations, they had to make
do the best they could, without examples of the past to
influence them.