For example Pharaoh Narmer, who ruled Upper Egypt, used his power over the Egyptian military to unite Upper and Lower Egypt. After doing this he wore the crowns of both Upper and Lower Egypt together to show that he was the ruler of both as one united country. A chieftain only had control to use the military if the council also agreed that it was necessary. Plus if the people wanted to get rid of the chieftain then they would simply pick another one they did not have to worry about a military force trying to stop them. A second way that the power of kings and chieftains differ is their power of the law.
Egyptian and Shang civilizations had many similarities. Most notable was their politics. Both had powerful kings, though the Egyptian kings were known as Pharaohs. The leaders of both civilizations were political as well as religious leaders. Pharaohs were viewed as gods of Earth and had a great deal of religious influence over the Egyptian people.
Also, Chinese emperors were viewed as kingly, while the Egyptian kings, or pharaohs were seen and praised as gods. Religions in Ancient China and in Ancient Egypt are different and yet similar. Three different teachings, including Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism greatly inspired the Chinese. Confucius thought people about being loyal, selfish, and courteous. Daoism is a philosophy that defines proper conduct for people and governments.
Introduction Royal statues were used by the Kings of Egypt to express power and authority. They were vehicles that expressed political and religious needs through propaganda but also served as living embodiments of the owners. Both the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom exist in their forms as a reaction to these two needs, balancing traditional cannon with portraiture to create suitable religious mortuary monuments for the ka to inhabit. [1] In order to compare the statuary of the two periods, each period must first be discussed with a contextual focus in order to explain the remarkable representations of the kings, especially regarding the treatment of their heads. Once the Old and Middle Kingdoms have been given separate overviews an in-depth comparative approach can be made between specific and typical statuary heads of Dynasties Four, Five and Six with Dynasty Twelve.
Both of the river valley civilizations had an absolute monarch but the Nile had a Theocracy while the Mesopotamians had a Monarchy. In the Nile river valley, the Pharaoh was an absolute monarch who controlled all the land, collected taxes, made laws, and defended Egypt from foreign invaders. He also maintained Ma’at, which was the law and order of the kingdom. The Egyptians believed that the Pharaoh was a god; this made their government a theocracy because the Pharaoh had total control. A single ruler also ruled Mesopotamia, but they had a Monarchy not a theocracy.
The Etruscan believed that every physical phenomenon was a clear act of divine power and this power could be dissuaded or persuaded to favor human acts. The Etruscan had a god for everything: The sun, Catha and Usil; a civil god, Selvans; Turan, the goddess of love; there was a god for war, a god for the moon, etc. The Etruscan afterlife was negative, gods were hostile and were said to bring misfortune, so their religion was centered on interpreting the will of the gods and satisfying it. The Egyptian's had a large belief in the afterlife, and also believed heavy in divine right. They believed that every human being was composed of physical and spiritual parts or aspects.
They were seen and treated by the people as representatives of the gods of their religion. The Aztecs also had a system of human sacrifice which kept the people in line. The Incan empire, on the other hand, had a working system of centralized bureaucracy where the people were ruled by one supreme leader who was seen as a god. In their bureaucracy, there were priests as officials and educated elites of the higher class. Instead of human sacrifice, the Incans used military force to keep the people in order.
Kings were very important in Ancient Egypt. They were so important that they were considered as a god by all of the people in the land. Ma’at was the chief principle that enforced truth and justice, but especially order and harmony. The kings during this time did not rule alone. Why did Mesopotamia have city-states and not Egypt?
People had their own ideas of how they should be governor as a society and some people had a great deal of respect for their government in how they run their society. Laws or constitution were also set forth so that the people would be able to follow them. These laws were used to protect the people or sometimes inflict punishment upon those that were disobedient. A perception of a good government is the roles Leaders play in how they rule their society. Ptah-hetep, advisor to king Assa of the Egyptian, shares his concept of leadership in how a leader should not let power corrupt them in how they run their society, they should be respectful of the people but not lower themselves to that of a person of lower class (Document 1).
Korea and Japan observed the political systems of China, particularly the T'ang Dynasty and its court, and applied them in different ways to their own cultures. Both countries adopted a similar court and political hierarchy system. Each possessed a ruling dynasty and a bureaucratic system. However, these entities altered several aspects of the Chinese bureaucracy. Korea prevented peoples to hold a bureaucratic office, rejecting the Chinese value that any able, intelligent person with a strong Confucian education can hold office.