Have you ever wondered how modern civilization got to be the way it is today? Both the Babylonian and Ancient Egyptian empires contributed much to the development of modern civilization, but they did have different ideas when it came to religion and politics. When we think about the first civilizations that successfully established empires, we tend to think of the Egyptians first. Their achievements and views are very well documented and have been at the front and center of many books, movies, and even games. Babylon, however, doesn’t get nearly as much recognition as Egypt. Although they both were settled around the same time and under similar circumstances they developed very differently. From writing and the sciences to religion and government both of these civilizations thrived, and in this document, I will compare and contrast them.
Ancient Egypt was located in the same part of the world as Egypt is today. Mesopotamia was composed of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians (1, Daily Life). The city of Babylon was, in turn, located in the south of Mesopotamia (5, The Babylonians). They both thrived in a river valley that was otherwise surrounded by desert. “Egypt called the Nile River Delta home” (Ancient Egypt) and Babylon the valley between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers (Mesopotamia). When it comes to writing, “The Mesopotamians, are credited with the invention of writing” circa 3,100 BCE (47, Daily Life). They used pictures and symbols, which were called cuneiform, and this system inspired the Egyptian hieroglyphs (51, Daily Life). Using these pictures, that worked phonetically, the Egyptians recorded history and tax collections around the kingdom (207, Brier and Hobbs, Ancient Egypt).
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Medicine and math were of high importance in both of these civilizations. Although they did vary, Egypt and Babylon used two types of healing, magical and medical. In Babylon, sick people had the option of using an āšipu, who would provide cleanses and prayers. They could also opt for an asȗ, as these practitioners created tinctures and remedies that were rooted in basic medical knowledge (77, Daily Life). Egyptians had a similar way of choosing treatments for their ailments. “If they knew the cause of the affliction, such as a crocodile bite, they would use a medical approach in treating the issue”. If the cause was unknown, they would attempt to cure it with magical treatments (265, Brier and Hobbs, Ancient Egypt). Concerning mathematics, the Babylonians mastered algebraic knowledge, whereas Egyptians used basic Arithmetic (84, Daily Life). Since the most the Egyptians had was addition and subtraction, they used shortcuts and the arithmetic they knew to get the result they wanted (279, Brier and Hobbs, Ancient Egypt). In their day-to-day life, Babylonians used a sexagesimal system, counting by sixties, but it was not used in economics as it was confusing. The Egyptians, however, worked with a base of ten for counting and relied heavily on that for daily activities (280, Brier and Hobbs, Ancient Egypt).
Thus far, both of these civilizations have had much in common, but when it came to religion and governance, they were very different. Firstly, the Babylonians believed the world was created due to the union of the gods Apsu and Tiamat (176, Daily Life). Egyptians, in turn, believed the god Ptah created the world by imagining it into existence (44, Brier and Hobbs, Ancient Egypt). For Egyptians religion was a very important part of their lives, although they were not required to do good, they were expected not to do any evil. In Babylon, “The community needed to follow the appropriate rituals and ceremonies or things like plagues, fires, and earthquakes could befall them” (178, Daily Life). In any case, the afterlife expected by the Babylonians was depicted as torturous and horrific, no matter if they were good or bad in life (178, Daily Life). The Egyptians had a more welcoming afterlife to look forward to since it was depicted as something glorious and beautiful that they would be accepted into (53, Brier and Hobbs, Ancient Egypt). Regarding the government, the Babylonians chose a monarch among the population and public approval was important, as ancestry didn’t always guarantee the throne to a successor (218, Daily Life). The ruler was seen as the god’s representative on earth, but he was still considered mortal (217, Daily Life). He or she was responsible for the prosperity of the kingdom and cared especially for the poor and weak among the people (221, Daily Life). “The Egyptian Pharaoh was instead seen as a god who had the ultimate power and divine authority” (73, Brier and Hobbs, Ancient Egypt). He or she would make sure there was order in the kingdom, but this also meant that the people were expected to stay in their respective social classes (74, Brier and Hobbs, Ancient Egypt).
In conclusion, both of these civilizations had a lot in common when it came to their day-to-day activities. They similarly settled in valleys next to rivers, which helped them thrive in an otherwise dry environment. The Egyptians came up with their writing system by taking inspiration from the Babylonians and their cuneiform. Ill people from both societies could choose to go to magical or medical practitioners for help with what ailed them. Although the Babylonians mastered more complex mathematics, the Egyptians still used what they knew to get them the results they needed. Where they differed greatly was their religious beliefs and their ideas on government. The Egyptians believed that simply not being wicked was enough to get them to the wonderful afterlife they knew awaited them. Babylonian peoples needed to follow rituals and ceremonies, since they would be punished if they did not do so. Their afterlife was not something they looked forward to but accepted it as something inevitable. Kings in Egypt were seen as gods and had to be treated as such. The Babylonians chose kings who had the popular vote, as ancestry didn’t always guarantee the throne. They were seen as representatives of the gods as well as protectors of the least fortunate. Thanks to the records kept by both of these civilizations we know much about their daily lives. They created a foundation for much of what we presently know as a society. It then begs the question, where would we be if these societies had never existed?
Works Cited
- Nemet-Nejat, Karen Rhea. Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. Hendrickson Publishers, 2008.
- Leick, Gwendolyn. The Babylonians: An Introduction. Routledge, 2007.
- Brier, Bob, and Hoyt Hobbs. Ancient Egypt: Everyday Life in the Land of the Nile. Sterling, 2013.
- Oakes, Lorna, and Lucia Gahlin. Ancient Egypt: An Illustrated History. Lorenz Books, an Imprint of Anness Publishing Ltd., 2018.
- History.com Editors. “Mesopotamia.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 30 Nov. 2017, https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-middle-east/mesopotamia.
- History.com Editors. “Ancient Egypt.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 14 Oct. 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-egypt.
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