Free Essays on Mesopotamia to Get Inspired & Learn by Example

The earliest written records of mankind was believed to have started around 3,000 BC, and are found in three places: in the Nile Valley, in Mesopotamia, and in the Indus Valley. Of these three forms of writing, only the first two can be read. Before 3,000 BC, archeologists can trace man’s story only by digging up the objects he has left behind: his tools and weapons, fragmentary remains of the houses he lived in, the vessel in which he stored his food, the bones of animals he hunted or domesticated, his ornaments and those of his Continue reading...

Introduction

Just like any other civilization, Egypt has been influenced by cultures of its neighbors and at the same time, influenced the culture of its neighbors as well. For the same reason, it could not be avoided that its art forms would have a trace of similarity from the culture that influenced it. This paper would like to investigate how Egyptian art was influenced by the near east and to what extent was it influenced. In order to understand how the near east may have influenced Egyptian culture and subsequently its art, it should be noted that Egypt is effectively Continue reading...

ABSTRACT

This study compares and contrasts the Mesopotamian and Egyptian attitudes towards death and the afterlife. In addition, it describes how religion has come to affect the idea of death and afterlife in ancient civilizations. Moreover, this report will describe both Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations in detail on its fundamentals such as its peoples and geography, respectively. Furthermore, it describes each civilization’s funeral practices, preservation of the dead and burial methods and etc. in great detail and provides additional information that the authors has obtained through multiple, credible websites and books, etc. as referenced at the end of the Continue reading...

Civilization can be used to mean an advanced state of human life in terms of development. In the ancient times, the development of technology and infrastructure did not exist as it is the case today. But through civilization there has been improvement in human welfare over the centuries. Mesopotamia and Egypt are said to be the first nations to be civilized. The civilization was achieved in many ways, for example, Mesopotamia developed in the business filed due to the invention of writing. The other fact that made Mesopotamia and Egypt be the first countries to be civilized is their Continue reading...

Both Egypt and Mesopotamia had an advanced human, social, and political organizations compared to previous communities making them civilizations. Both of them had similarities and differences in their political, religious, social, and technological aspects. Some of these similarities and differences are analyzed in this paper albeit shortly.
Politically, in Mesopotamia, the Temple Priests ruled. The rulers used the Hammurabi law code. Religiously, they believed in polytheism and usually described gods as having human characteristics. They held that the spirits of the dead went to the land of no return. Enlil was the god of the air and the cloud. Continue reading...

The Code of Hammurabi is regarded as the Babylonian law off Ancient Mesopotamia. Being of significant length, it is one of the oldest discovered writings in the world. The codes explained the laws and punishments issued in Babylonian society. Dominique Charpin notes the code was Hammurabi’s attempt to rule over all judicial activities. He was, in a way, trying to become judge and jury for all people. However, Charpin also notes that Hammurabi bid fairness with his codes in many situations wherein individuals were wrongly accused. The codes were written out of necessity, and used in various ways Continue reading...

Odyssey

The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Odyssey are two epic literatures whose setting can be traced to ancient times. The Epic of Gilgamesh can be traced to the beginning of civilization in Mesopotamia, which occurred around 3000 BC. The Odyssey was composed around 700 BC. The two stories share some significant similarities, which imply that one of the stories must have influenced the other. Gilgamesh is the older story, and odyssey must have drawn some significant inspiration and influence from it. The similarities between the two stories do not imply that they are similar or one influenced the other Continue reading...

Sometime in the early history of Western civilization, there was likely a great flood throughout the Mesopotamian region. The reason for this is that there are a number of “flood myths” that document a large flood throughout the entire known world. There are several accounts of this, and the most popular ones are found in the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible. Both of these documents reflect some aspects of culture and life from their time, but also exhibit certain similarities showing that these accounts may have been based off of each other.
The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of Continue reading...

Mesopotamia had a hospitable climate and fertile soil. The fertile climate was contributed to the fact that the northern area of Mesopotamia is made up of plains and hills. There are also rivers and streams that flow from the mountains and frequent seasonal rains that keep the soil wet for farming (Butler, 2012). This factor attracted humans who moved from being hunters and gathers to become farmers more quickly. Within a short time, they were able to raise animals and to grow crops thus settling in one place. The emergence farming in that area increased its population density, which Continue reading...

The Paleolithic Era, also called Old Stone Age, has begun in different parts of the world around two million years ago and ended approximately around 12,000-8,000 years ago, transforming into Neolithic. The Paleolithic Period is divided into Lower (2.6 million-300,000 years ago), Middle (300,000-30,000 years ago) and Upper (50,000-12,000 years ago) based on the quality and type of tools and artifacts invented by the humankind.
The Paleolithic Period is characterized by the appearance of primitive communal system and the transformation of the first human beings into modern physical type of humans. The Continue reading...