History Essay, Research Paper

The differences between the societies of the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Hebrew are government, economy, and religion, but there are also some similarities such as, Sumerians (c. 3000BC c. 500BC) were the creators of Mesopotamian civilization. The city-states were the basic units of Sumerian civilization. The Sumerians believed gods ruled the cities, making the state a theocracy. Therefore, priests and priestesses played an important role in ruling. They also believed that kings derived their power from the gods and were the agents of the gods. Sumerian city-states contained three major social group-nobles, commoners, and slaves. Egyptian (c.3100BC c.50BC) society had a simple structure in the old and Middle Kingdoms. It was organized along hierarchical lines with the god-king at the top. The king was surrounded by an upper class of nobles and priests who participated in the elaborate rituals of life that surrounded the pharaoh. This ruling class ran the government and managed its own landed estates. Hebrews (c.1200BC c.612BC) possibly organized along tribal lines, but a new social structure had evolved by the time of the monarchy. Hebrew society group included officials of the king, military officers, civil officials, and governors. The common people remained a body of free people having basic civil rights. They also possessed slaves who were from foreign birth or prisoners of war.The economy of the Sumerian city-states was primarily agricultural, but commerce and industry became important as well. Foreign trade was a royal monopoly, could be extensive. This trade included luxury items, agricultural product, and metal. Agriculture was also an important sector of the Egyptian economy. It contributes substantially to the gross national product, employs a large part of the labor force, and provides the country–through agricultural exports–with an important part of its foreign exchange. Hebrew was extending the trading activities of the Israelites during king Solomon. They trade with Phoenician purple dye, glass, and wine.

To the peoples of Mesopotamia, the gods were living realities that affected all aspects of life. Each city-state was sacred because it was linked to a god or goddess. Sumerians religion was polytheistic that gods owns the city and lived in Ziggurat. The code of Hammurabi is best-known ruler of the 1st dynasty of Babylon (reigning c. 1792-50 BC), noted for his surviving set of laws, once considered the oldest promulgation of laws in human history. Egyptian religion is characterized by numerous deities having both animal and human forms. The king and the gods are among the most characteristic features of Egyptian civilization. The most important deities were the sun god, who had several names and aspects and was associated with many supernatural beings in a solar cycle modeled on the alternation of night and day. For the Hebrews, Yahweh came to be seen as the only God among the Babylonian exile in the sixth century B.C. The Hebrew Bible (1,020 B.C.) focuses the necessity for the Jews to obey their God.Although those three societies have some differences, there are also significant similarities as well.