Egypt And Inca Similarities

Egyptian & Inca
Compare & Contrast

The writings and literature of the Egyptians and the Incas differed greatly. Egyptian hieroglyphics used logographic and alphabetic elements. The cursive hieroglyphics was used for religious literature on papyrus and wood. Hieroglyphs emerged from the preliterate artistic traditions of Egypt. For example, symbols on Gerzean pottery from ca. 4000 BCE resemble hieroglyphic writing. For many years the earliest known hieroglyphic inscription was the Narmer Palette, found during excavations at Hierakonpolis (modern Kawm al-Ahmar) in the 1890s, which has been dated to ca. 3200 BCE. The Incas writing were not as artistic as the Egyptians. Quipus or khipus (sometimes called talking knots) were recording…show more content…
They both used stone and mud bricks as the predominant building material. Ancient Egyptian houses were made out of mud collected from the Nile River. It was placed in molds and left to dry in the hot sun to harden for use in construction. There is consensus among historians and Egyptologists that the ancient Egyptians were the first builders ever known to man; they taught humanity how to design and erect buildings; thus laying grounds for human civilization, urbanization and man's settlement in a specific homeland of his own for the first time in history. Cities were built in cultivation land near the Nile River so the natural flooding would water their crops, and bring with it natural minerals needed by the crops. Incan architecture is the most significant pre-Columbian architecture in South America. Inca buildings were made out of fieldstones or semi-worked stone blocks set in mortar; adobe walls were also quite common, usually laid over stone foundations. The material used in Inca buildings depended on the region, for instance, in the coast they used large rectangular adobe blocks while in the Andes they used local stones. The most common shape in Inca architecture was the rectangular building without any internal walls and roofed with wooden beams and thatch. Inca architecture is widely known for its fine masonry, which features precisely cut and shaped stones closely fitted without…show more content…
They both were masters of literature, art, and architecture. Though they were from different times and hemispheres they lived similar lives if not carbon copies of each other.

Works Cited
"Ancient Inca." Welcome To Kidskonnect. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. .
"Art of Ancient Egypt." Kyrene School District - Redirect. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. .
"Inca Architecture." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. .
"Quipu." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 29 Oct. 2011.