The Unification of Mesopotamia Vs. Egypt

Paper Summary:

The paper explores the reasons behind ancient Mesopotamia's history of disparate city-states that often vied for wealth, power and control of natural resources while ancient Egypt remained a unified kingdom for several thousand years. The paper explains how the differences between the two regions can be traced to their history, politics, geography and culture that all played major roles in determining their success of unification.

From the Paper:

"Egypt was more successful than Mesopotamia in developing a single unified state after the Bronze Age began in about 3000 BCE until the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great in the late fourth century BCE. Geography is a major reason for Egypt's greater success with political and cultural unification. Moreover, prior to the Bronze Age the city-states of Mesopotamia were already more well-developed, politically and economically powerful than were the villages of Egypt. By the time King Sargon unified Mesopotamia, the region's city-states already had political and economic institutions in place that undermined the supremacy of the central government. When compared with Mesopotamia, Egypt's Upper and Lower Kingdoms were less politically, economically, and culturally developed at the time of unification by King Menes. With one main river, the Nile, as the economic focal point of Egypt, the state also maintained social order easier than did Mesopotamia with its more complex and varied geographic terrain."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "The Story of Sinuhe." Retrieved Jun 16, 2008 from http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/storysinuhe.html
• "Wenamun in Byblos." Retrieved Jun 16, 2008 from http://phoenicia.org/wenamun.html

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