Comparison/contrast essay on Egypt & Mesopotamia

[swimmermom3]

My son is currently working on a comparison and contrast paper on ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. He has been working on the body, while using only a working thesis. The basic idea is that while the two areas had some geographical similarities like being in an arid land with their civilizations established along river banks, their geographic differences created contrasting outlooks on life and the afterlife. Or something to that effect. Basically, the Nile was predictable and the Tigris and the Euphrates weren't so you have optimism and pessimism, etc.

 

I think his ideas are good, but I am unsure of how to lead him to the next phase of refining the thesis. I have usually given my students the option of crafting their final thesis at the very beginning or after the body is done as long was they have a working thesis. That may not have worked in his favor this time.

 

 

Egypt and Mesopotamia Comparison and Contrast Essay

 

The geography surrounding Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia greatly shapes the differences and similarities of these civilization’s views of life and the afterlife.

 

The geography of Egypt and Mesopotamia were very similar but differed in key aspects such as rivers, land barriers, and resources. First off, both civilizations grew

 

alongside great fertile rivers that carried rich sediment for growing crops; Egypt had the Nile river and Mesopotamia had the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The Nile river flooded

 

regularly and predictably, bringing fertile soil to the land of the Egyptians just in time for harvest, and kept relatively the same course. The Tigris and Euphrates, however, flood

 

randomly and violently, usually before a harvest, and would wipe out villages as well as shift course a few miles. Egyptian civilization was situated in the rich Nile river valley and

 

was well protected by natural land barriers. To the north of Egypt was the Mediterranean, to the west was the great Libyan Desert, to the east sat yet another desert, and finally

 

to the south were the great Nile cataracts and the Saharan Desert. Meanwhile, Mesopotamia had no land borders. It sat in a vast alluvial plain covered in infertile dried clay,

 

except along the rivers. Because of this, Mesopotamia was constantly getting taken over by foreigners and war was common. Egypt was also rich in gems and gold and did not

 

need to develop trade with the outside world until later; the Mesopotamians had extremely limited resources and had to develop mass trading networks to receive goods

.

 

Because of the Egyptian’s fortunate geographical area, the people embraced and loved life and viewed the gods as their loving protectors. Since the Nile flooded

 

regularly, the Egyptians noticed cycles in their natural world and valued order. If the Nile didn’t flood roughly on time, order collapsed and people would question the authority of

 

their king. The Mesopotamians, however, had a pessimism towards life and believed their sole purpose in this world was to serve the vengeful and powerful gods. But, much like

 

Egypt, the power base on the kings was somewhat dependent upon the floods of the rivers, but mostly on the king’s ability to defend his people and serve the gods.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I would have him work on fleshing things out with examples. How was the Egyptians optimism exemplified? Are there legends that show this? Are there certain gods that personify this? How are the Mesopotamians pessimism exemplified? Again - legends that s how this? Do the gods personify this?

 

I've been working on ds going backward - finding proof, quotes etc. first and then crafting his thesis from that. It makes this step so much easier since the proof is already all there.

[swimmermom3]

I would have him work on fleshing things out with examples. How was the Egyptians optimism exemplified? Are there legends that show this? Are there certain gods that personify this? How are the Mesopotamians pessimism exemplified? Again - legends that s how this? Do the gods personify this?

 

I've been working on ds going backward - finding proof, quotes etc. first and then crafting his thesis from that. It makes this step so much easier since the proof is already all there.

 

Thanks, Jean. I had hoped I wasn't on the wrong path in working backwards. The topic stemmed from a question he had when we were listening to some Teaching Company lectures. He wanted to know why the difference in outlooks and the answer basically came down to the way in which the rivers flooded: predictable and capable of being controlled and unpredictable and looming destruction right at harvest time. I do think you are right that if he can give more examples and proof, he should be able to get there.

[hsbeth]

Agreeing that the inclusion of some concrete examples would be helpful.