Discussion: Module 02: Influence of Geography
Discussion Board Question: Compare and contrast: How did the geography of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia impact their culture and civilization? Hint: Your answer should outline the physical geography of the land, and its characteristics, and consider how this might have influenced people’s views of the world, those around them, and events, etc.
Points to Consider: The importance of geography and the environment was much more intense 5000 years ago than today, and people’s lives depended on it. How did the different environments in Egypt and Mesopotamia impact the different perspectives, outlooks, and ideas of the people?
two replies
one for this comment :
The geography of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia impacted their culture and civilization by creating circumstances that altered and influenced the way the people thought. With Mesopotamia being located between rivers, which is its meaning land between the rivers, it allowed the people to produce crops and travel down the river with boats, which was the fastest form of transportation during that time. But depending on the rivers Tigris and Euphrates were stressful because the rivers were unpredictable causing the people to become pessimistic and have anxiety. On the other hand, Egyptians had one river but it was dependable and predictable. The Nile river was so reliable the people of Egypt had consistent resources and safe travels on the river making them more optimistic.
The negative aspects of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers like the flooding during the winter and drying out during the summer caused the people to become rash and aggressive which led to the eye for an eye law in most situations wasn’t fair. A person of higher status could get out of the situation by sacrificing a slave. Unlike Mesopotamia Ancient Egypt didn’t go through much hardship at all because the Nile kept the crops plenty and Egyptians with an easy life which made the leaders feel like gods from all the blessings the Nile brought.
Anther one for this comment:
The civilizations of ancient Egypt depended on the Nile River for food and the dessert for protection. Ancient Egypt was a dependable place to grow a city because of the river structures, flooding, fertile soil, water for the animals and people, they didn’t have to hunt and they could farm. The culture thrived in happiness and they were able to dabble in religions, jewelry, makeup, temples and hobbies because of the great geography around them, they never had to stress about getting their basic needs met.
The civilization of Mesopotamia was one of the first places that created structure and they were located between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, which was called the Fertile Crescent. Their culture depended on the beliefs of gods and goddesses. The supernatural controlled their world and was to blame for their feelings of hopelessness about the negative weather such as flooding that would ruin crops and buildings. They had to get creative with how to handle the flooding and special tools to make their lives easier. They focused on a strict government such as harsh top of the line punishments and Laws. They created strong structures with mud bricks and created one of the first largest cities called Uruk.
** Remember if you read / use material online, you must cite all the sources you use. Any discussions found to match word-for-word with an online source will result in a grade of zero.
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Discussion Board Question: Compare first appeared on My Blog.
