Futhermore the Egyptians were under authoritation of a god-like king Khufu, therefore the Egyptians would be forced to partake in religion, allowing it to be an inspiration for all to aid in the construction of the pyramid. (Sears&Wilson) In Von Daniken’s theory, Chariots of the Gods, he discusses that there was neither enough rock nor wood to construct the pyramid, but the Sears and Wilson theory claims differently. Von Daniken states that there was not a sufficient amount of trees available to build wooden rollers. Sears and Wilson prove this statement to be incorrect by explaining that the wood used to manufacture the
The one common thing the two civilizations shared when it came to religion was the fact that they both practiced polytheism. They also both had a place where they worshiped the gods. But the distinction between the two religious views was large. The Egyptians believed in the idea of a death and resurrection for all people, or an afterlife. This was not so true in Mesopotamia.
Once Adam and Eve ate the fruit they understood the difference between right and wrong and understood they had disobeyed God. God sent them out of the Garden of Eden instantly. God’s punishment was not physical but intellectual. The Egyptians and Babylonians believed in multiple gods while the Hebrews believed in one God. Each religion had moral codes, or laws, they had to abide by; the Babylonians followed Hammurabi’s code and the Hebrews followed the Ten Commandments.
One difference is that the Egyptians used mummification in their burial process to preserve the body, while the Shang did not. Egypt built great pyramids as the final resting place for their dead, but Shang did not. In Egyptian culture, women were considered equal to men; however in Shang culture, men were predominant, and women had to listen to their husbands. The religions of these two civilizations were the most distinct. The Shang believed in Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, while the Egyptian religion was centered on the ruler and the eternity of the soul.
The ancient Egyptians believed that it was important to record and communicate information about the religion and government. Therefore, they invented written scripts that could be use to hold and record this information. The most famous Egyptian script was hieroglyphic, however throughout the three thousand years of history, at least three other scripts were used for different objectives. The scripts were tools for scribes, so that they were able to preserve the beliefs, history, and ideas of ancient Egypt on papyrus scrolls. One of the most unique traits of the Egyptians was their architectural innovation for building pyramids.
Without running water, people didn’t bathe or wash their clothes. This was an ideal living nest for rats and fleas. Kris Hirschman author of Plagues quotes author James Cross Giblin “Because the cities had no running water; even the wealthy seldom washed their heavy clothing, or their own bodies. As a result, both rich and poor were prime targets for fleas and the diseases they carried” (Hirschman
The rulers devoted their time to the design and decoration of extensive funerary complexes, as well as the pyramids and subterranean tombs. The Egyptian funerary practices were from Osiris, and his belief in the continuity of life after death. The dead would a “last judgment” that consisted of two tests done by Osiris and supervised by the god, Anubis. The artists of Mesopotamia and Egypt helped create the symbolic visual language. They depended on the natural color of their materials from the earth to get the colors they wanted.
The early Egyptians invented a new way to water crops and plants and it was called irrigation. Without irrigation many states and countries would be starving due to the lack of plants and foods we grow to eat. Without the Egyptian invention of the irrigation system, I don’t think we would have running water because that’s how we have running water. The pipes transport water from one source to our sinks and showers. Imagine not having running water.
The Pharaoh was thought to have direct access to the Gods - and one of his primary duties was to act as the intermediary between them and the people of Egypt. Priests had to worship and make offerings to the Gods to keep the forces of chaos at bay. Much of these offerings came from the taxation of the working class. In the 3rd dynasty, Egypt had experienced 7 years of famine because the annual floods did not come on time and were very low. The people held king Djoser responsible since it was part of his job to appease the Gods in order to bless the land.
There were also old Egyptian structures that had to be carefully moved to avoid destruction from the new path of the river. These relocations sparked controversy and resistance from the Egyptian people due to the old structures being a large part of the tourist attraction in Egypt. Another big problem the Dam caused was with the soil around the river. Normally the soil was very good for farming, even with the annual floods, but the construction of the Dam caused the nutrients in the water to stop flowing to the soil. The result was poor farmland and in turn, the poverty of the farmers wasn’t completely solved.