Entertainment

• Mesopotamia– very little

entertainment

– harsh life

– religious festivals

– taverns/drinking

• Egypt– sports, fishing,

boating, rich hunt for sport

– plays & poems

– lots of toys & games

Education

• Mesopotamia– cuneiform

– scribes only

– a few upper class

– educated to keep track of trade, etc.

• Egypt– scribes & upper

class

– educated to better yourself

Magic/Medicine• Mesopotamia

– related to religion/priests herbal remedies

– magic for prophesy

– prophets as advisors

– angry gods, so use magic to soothe

• Egypt– related to religion/priests

– herbal remedies & aroma therapy

– dentistry– magic for prophesy– nice gods, so give

magic as a gift to them

Technology• Mesopotamia

– cuneiform, umbrella, wagon, wheel, arches, metal working

– irrigation systems

– walls around cities

– ziggurats

• Egypt– few innovations

– heiroglyphics

– papyrus

– pyramids

Fashion

• Mesopotamia– woolen skirts

– breast plates

– jewelry for upper class

– utilitarian clothes

• Egypt– linen tunics: simple for poor,

good weave & dyed for wealthy

– upper class: cosmetics, wigs, gold jewelry

– priests & pharoahs: animal skins

– beards symbolize royal power (others shaved daily)

Religion

• Mesopotamia– Anu, Ishtar, Marduk

– harsh, jealous gods

– center of life

– god king as high priest

– sisters of god & fertility

• Egypt– animal-headed gods– generally kind & fair gods– important, but not center

of life– pharaoh is god– mummies reflect belief in

a good afterlife

Ruling Style

• Mesopotamia– constant changes

due to invasion

– see notes: Gilgamesh, Sargon, Nebuchadnezzar, etc.

• Egypt– easy lifestyle = little

change in ruling– Narmer united upper

& lower Egypt– Warrior kings (ex.

Ramses)

Family• Mesopotamia

– women with traditional roles

– women & children sold for debt

– harsh life = less family bonding

– whole family works– divorce allowed

• Egypt– women in traditional roles

– children = blessing

– children don’t work young

– marry young; polygamy allowed

– divorce allowed

Military

• Mesopotamia– constant warfare

between city-states– need innovations:

chariot, wagon wheel, metal working

– all of history = military conquest

• Egypt– little warfare = small

army, little innovation

– not until after Hyksos invasion does Egypt build up army (Ramses)

Literature & Art• Mesopotamia

– very limited (harsh lifestyle)

– Poems of Enheduannha

– Gilgamesh = first epic story

– only religious art & architecture

• Egypt– lots of lit, poetry,

stories, mythology

– writing on everything

– sculptures (in & out of religious context)

– Rosetta stone

Trade

• Mesopotamia

–crossroads of East & West

–land route

–traded metal, innovations, crops

• Egypt– within Nile delta

– traded b/n Nubia, Ethiopia, & Egypt

– boundaries make trade difficult

– traded tools, animal skins, linen, gold

Social Classes• Mesopotamia

–King as head priest

–priestly class

–scribes

–free men (farmers, etc.)

–slaves

• Egypt– Pharaoh as god

– viviers = nobles/priests

– Scribes

– ArtisanmMerchant class

– Farmers

– Slaves & foreigners

Death & Afterlife• Mesopotamia

–burials with objects of wealth

–no great monuments

–afterlife is dreary & sad

• Egypt– extensive burials with

food, furniture, pets

– decoration & preservation of body

– nice afterlife with everything you bury

Diplomacy• Mesopotamia

– Persians allowed local officials to stay in power

– used neighboring tribes as slaves

– cooperated to have consistent weights & measures

• Egypt– Early: contact only within

Egypt– Later: Ramses negotiated

with Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, etc.

– too far away from others– intermarriage with

Hittites

Architecture

• Mesopotamia– city walls– Sargon’s great city– ziggurats (religious

uses: education, prophesy center, connects to palace)

• Egypt– Old Kingdom: great

monuments (sphinx, pyramids)

– New Kingdom: grand obelisk, great cities, Ramses = greatest monument builder)