A Comparison of Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian Societies Essay Example for Free

A Comparison of Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian Societies Essay Although Egypt and Mesopotamia were both early agricultural societies built upon the water provided by the major rivers which sustained them, they exhibited important differences as a consequence of the different physical environments in which they developed. In this paper I will first focus on what I consider to be the major aspects of these differences in environment and then explore the consequences of these differences in their religious beliefs, political organization and commercial practices. A major difference in physical environment between these ancient societies was the seasonal river flows on which they depended for farming. The Nile which supported early Egyptian civilization was characterized by predictable and annual flooding in the early fall. These floods occurred after crops were harvested. This pattern was a consequence of the regular late summer monsoon rains which fell at its headwaters. The Nile also possessed a large spreading delta area that gave rise to natural irrigation canals that would flood the areas between them with fertile nutrients for the next planting year. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers which supported the Mesopotamian society would typically flood in the late spring just when crops would be ripening, often with disastrous results on harvests. This pattern was a result of these waters originating from winter snow melt in the Anatolian mountains (now in present day Turkey) where these rivers originated. These floods sometimes caused the rivers to change their course abruptly cutting off fields from water. Another primary physical difference contributing to cultural differences was the relative isolation in which ancient Egypt developed compared to Mesopotamia. According to our text book ‘Egypt’s natural isolation and material self-sufficiency fostered a unique culture that for long periods of time had relatively little to do with other civilizations’. In contrast, Mesopotamia was open to migration or invasion and was dependent on imported resources. Also many different ethnic peoples contributed to the growth of Mesopotamian society. The religious beliefs of Egypt and Mesopotamia were influenced by many factors. The rivers, every day objects, and the beliefs of the people. In Egypt in contrast to Mesopotamia the Pharaoh was considered to be a god in addition to being the supreme ruler. He was the main god of their religion. In Egypt people praised their gods for the annual flooding of the Nile. However in Mesopotamia the people were frightened of their gods because ‘the gods could alter the landscape’ arbitrarily. In return they gave their gods gifts in hopes of appeasing them. In both of the civilizations religion was polytheistic, i. e. , having many gods. The political organization of Egypt was based on the central authority of the Pharaoh. Since he was the embodied form of a god, he was the law. He chose where the capitol would be located, such a Thebes, Memphis, etc. Although smaller cities existed in ancient Egypt the majority of Egyptians appeared to live in small farming villages. In contrast, Mesopotamia was built around a number of independent city states surrounded by farming villages. Many of these cities competed with each other or even warred with each other to become a dominant center of power. No uniform basis for law or justice existed in this decentralized environment until Hammurabi succeeded in becoming the first king of Babylon and established the Babylonian Empire with control over all of Mesopotamia. He created a law code of which may copies were made. These inscribed tablets were sent to the different clans of Mesopotamia and became a basis for a uniform legal system, including classification of the people living under his dominion The commercial activities in Mesopotamia were quite extensive as a result of the requirement to develop trading relationships between the different city states and other regions to obtain needed resources. This resulted in the development of a merchant class in the urban centers unlike the situation in Egypt. Trade was based on bartering rather than money. Goods traded included wood, metals, and stone in exchange for wool, cloth, barley, and vegetable oil. These practices required the development of the skills needed for acquiring, transporting, and protecting valuable commodities. According to our textbook, independent merchants and merchant guilds had gained considerable influence in Mesopotamian society by the second 2000 BC.

Symbols and Symbolism in A Tale of Two Cities - Symbolic Events Essay

Symbolic Events in A Tale of Two Cities      Ã‚  Ã‚   Many events that take place in A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, foreshadow upcoming obstacles and give insight into the hardships of the townspeople. Symbolic events occur which describe the vengefulness of the peasants towards the aristocrats. The novel contains many events, which have symbolic value. Many of the symbols have to do with the inevitable clash between the aristocrats and peasants. These events foreshadow the war that is soon to become reality.    The first apparent symbolic event is the broken wine cask. A large cask of wine drops and breaks in the street and the people of St. Antoine stop their daily business to drink the wine from the ground. "Those who had been greedy with the staves of the cask, had acquired a tigerish smear around the mouth" (Dickens 33). The people are very poor and live in poor conditions. They will do anything for something to eat or drink and the broken wine cask provides proof. The Marquis de Evremonde kills Gaspard's son and confesses that he would wil...

Is College for Everyone Essay

Going to College is a choice that everyone has. I think that College is for everyone because everyone in this world has a right to a good education. I know that good education will improve my chances of having a good job and a higher wage. But on the other hand, College is not free and mostly it is expensive. We have to pay for every semester, for the books and for some student loans and some students do not want to carry big responsibilities like getting into dept or paying loans so instead of going to College they just seek help from a master craft man. A Master craft man gives you a job and share his knowledge to you straightly to the point and without consuming a lot of time. There is also a chance of being successful like a master craft man even if you don’t go to College especially if you have better learning at a trade. But even though College is not free and it cost a lot, but I think everyone should at least try going to college because everything that you spend for College will get back to you ‘cause College will afford us more opportunity to make money for the reason that most of the highest paying jobs require a college degree. And knowing you earn a degree will undoubtedly give a lifetime of pride to yourself and to the whole world. College will make you an expert at something which you can share with others. Many social service positions like Doctor, Lawyer, Teacher or Scientist require a College degree and being able to help others means you have to educate yourself first through higher education. If you have a College degree, you will be able to support your family with a larger salary. You will be able to help your children with their homework and can give them a better future as a result they will be more likely to attend College. Otherwise, if you think you already have skills and expertise and if you think it is not better to spend half of your life in school then College is not for you. You can just improve your skills and expertise by yourself or by the help of others and you can apply to a job that you are interested in and at the same time to a job that doesn’t require a College degree. Like me, I am good at working with people, I love helping them and socializing with them however, it doesn’t mean that my skills and expertise are enough. I also want to work at the field of medicine so I should go to a University because there, I can get a Doctorate degree and I believe that my skills and expertise are not enough to reach my goals in life. Going to College will more improve our ability, flexibility, skills and expertise and will expand our understanding of the world and what it has to offer. You have more chances and choices at getting a good job by going to college. You will have a better chance to stay employed longer if you have a degree. I believe that College education is extremely necessary in our modern society. Jobs now are becoming increasingly harder to get, and with the increase of the uneducated population, having a College education will allow you to get most any job you apply for. However, people can still earn money even if they won’t go to College through jobs that don’t require a College degree like Web Developer, Medical Secretary, Teacher’s Aide, Hair stylist or House painter. Also, if you join an apprentice program and you are offered full employment when you become a journeyman you will get a good pay or if you already have a secure job and you are contented in the salary, you can survive even if you don’t go to College. But if the reason of not going to College is you can’t afford it, there are solutions; you can get into College through scholarship and student loans, or if the reason is you already have a secure job, then you can go to College at night because they are open about 7 o’clock in the morning to ten o’clock in the evening and also if you lose your job, at lease you still have a choice because you go in College and you got a degree. In reality and in most cases the more education we have, the more careers and jobs we can choose from and the more money we can earn. College is a proven pathway to greater awareness socially and academically. College will expose you to things that you will not find anywhere else. You will meet new people and you get to do amazing and new activities. College will improve your socializing skills because every day you will be able to socialize with different people from different countries with different attitudes and point of views in life. College will help you to be aware in your life and in the surroundings. It will help you realize what kind of society we have in this generation. In our generation, we have a watchful and judgmental society and because of that, College will open up our eyes, it will make us conscious and will make us think what kind of life we want to have in the future with this society, in other words, College is encouraging us to have a good educational background . Yet, Colle e will give us a lot of problems like having many projects, sleeping late because of homework, and dealing with strict professors also, managing schedules but I strongly believe that those problems are helpful to us. Through the problems that we will encounter at College, surely it will make us firm, stronger and will let us stand in our own and at the next time that we will encounter problems, it would be easier for us and more likely we can handle it in a right way. W will also be able to help people to solve their problems with confidence and knowing that through our College experiences, we learned to stand up and don’t easily give up. College will greatly prepare you to create and take the jobs of the future. College prepares you for the career you’re interested at and also it prepares every student in their way of facing life. Your experiences in College education make you stronger and help you grow up maturely and your manner of working is very important because it reflects what kind of educational background you have. Higher Education will increase our knowledge which we can use it if we already got a job. College open doors of opportunity and expands our horizons. I truly believe that education is valuable because education is our passport to the good future and education is the key to success. Everything can be taken away from us but not our knowledge and skills acquire through experience and education and I strongly believe that by going to College we will reach our goals and we will be able to live in a comfortable life.

American Culture The Vietnam War - 2157 Words

Gavin Kwok Wayne Reed ENC 1102 February 22, 2015 The Vietnam War On February 28th 1991 after the speedy 100-hour ground war against Iraqi troops, George W Bush proclaimed proudly: â€Å"By God, we’ve kicked the Vietnam Syndrome once and for all† The fall of Saigon had not marked the end of the Vietnam as Bush accurately conceded to the people, the repercussions of the war can still be seen today in American culture, it has sustained through the Vietnam veterans, as the basis for the support of anti-war precedencies, and morphed the gender stereotypes that are portrayed in society. The Vietnam War had denounced the idea of America’s invincibility and by the end of the war had lost the phenomenal reputation it had gathered after its triumph in World War II. America’s entanglement and debacle in the Vietnam War left an everlasting imprint on the heart of its people typically specified now as the â€Å"Vietnam Syndrome†. The denouncement of America’s invincibility had guided the people to face the Vietnam Syn drome through events such as the Maya Lin Vietnam Memorial and movies such as Full Metal Jacket by Stanley Kubrick and Coming Home by Hal Ashby. These examples addressed the problems of the Vietnam Veteran adjusting back into society. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and witnessing the harsh realities of war portrayed veterans as the outcasts of society in Ashby and Kubrick’s films. The stereotypes of Veterans during the war were druggies or â€Å"fucked up in the head†. ThisShow MoreRelatedVietnam War and American Culture1684 Words   |  7 Pages Vietnam Wars Impact on American Culture Donna Whittle DeVry University Introduction to Humanities I. Introduction and Thesis Statement In the 1960’s America went through many cultural changes. Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights activist, delivered his famous, â€Å"I have a dream† speech. African Americans were fighting for peace, freedom and equality. The United States was involved in the Vietnam War, committed to anti-communism. African Americans were deployedRead MoreImpact of Vietnam War on American Culture1421 Words   |  6 PagesThe Vietnam War began in the year 1954, after the ascension to power of Ho Chi Minh, who was a communist leader in North Vietnam. The leader was spreading communism, and because the United States wanted to stop the spread, it sent military troops to aid South Vietnamese to stop this vice. The war saw about 3million people die with the inclusion of 58,000 American soldiers. About 150,000 people were wounded during the war. In 1975, South Vietnamese government surrendered the war after the communistRead MoreImpact Of Vietnam War On American Culture1812 Words   |à ‚  8 Pages Impact of Vietnam War on American Culture The Vietnam War began in 1954 when Ho Chi Minh and his communist Viet Minh party came into power in North Vietnam. The Vietnam Conflict was one of the most costly and long conflict which was basically between the communist regime of North Vietnam its southern supporter and South Vietnam and its main supporter United States. There were more than 3 million people that were killed in this war, 58, 000 were the American Soldiers and Vietnamese civiliansRead MoreU.s. Vietnam War On American Culture, Politics, And Foreign Policy1060 Words   |  5 Pageshistory, the Vietnam War has left a deep and lasting impact on American culture, politics, and foreign policy. From 1964 to the present day, the Vietnam War redefined the scope of U.S. influence both at home and abroad, and caused a fundamental shift in American society that dramatically changed the way in which Americans viewed their government and the role of the United States as a world power. For an entire generation of Americans, who watched as the horrors of the war in Vietnam unfold beforeRead MoreBook Review of Backfire: a History of How American Culture Led Us Into Vietnam and Made Us Fight the Way We Did764 Words   |  4 PagesBackfire: A History of How American Culture Led Us into Vietnam and Made Us Fight the Way We Did, a book by Loren Baritz, describes the myths America takes into wars, the decisions that made the Vietnam War and the bureaucracy at war. Loren Baritz writes this book about the time period of 1945 to about 1975, which is post World War II to post Vietnam War. Loren Baritz describes how American culture influenced the way the American soldiers fought in Vietnam and how American culture influenced the way politicsRead MoreDiscrimination against Vietnamese Immigrants in America1554 Words   |  7 PagesStates, the Vietnam War sparked the immigration of Vietnamese to America. Vietnamese did not virtually exist in the United States until 1975 when the war forced Vietnamese to evacuate (Pov ell). The war began after Vietminh defeated France and split into North and South Vietnam (O’Connel). In 1956 communist Ho Chi Minh ruled the North Vietnam, and Bao Dai ruled the South, who the United States supported and backed up (O’Connel). The Vietnam War consisted of the North and South Vietnam, fighting againstRead MoreThe Vietnam War : We Can Not Understand War Without Understanding Culture1267 Words   |  6 PagesThe Vietnam War â€Å"We cannot understand war without understanding culture† â€Å"Involvement in two world wars and the Cold War transformed America into a â€Å"crusader state† convinced of the superiority of its institutions and way of life and intent on imposing them on the outside world. † Whether fought at home or abroad every war is to impact all parties involved. Such example of staggering influence on one country’s culture is no more evident then in America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Upon enteringRead MoreApush Vietnam War886 Words   |  4 PagesOne foreign affair was known as Vietnam. The Vietnam War was the longest war in the nation’s history. This war, from both abroad and at home, drastically changed the society of America, socially, economically, and politically. It caused for much anti-war sentiment and fueled the counter culture movement, it caused inflation and contributed to the stagflation, and brought down Johnson’s reputation and caused for several changes in legislation. While the Vietnam War raged on, other movements roseRead More Bao Ninhs Sorrow of War Essay1010 Words   |  5 PagesBao Ninhs Sorrow of War When we think of the Vietnam War, we think of all the hell and torture that American soldiers went through with little regard to the Vietnamese and the hardships they endured. Reading the Sorrow of War gave me a clear understanding of the Vietnamese people and the suffering that the war caused them. The Sorrow of War is unique and powerful in the sense that it is written by a Vietnam army veteran and gives the perspective of the war from a Vietnamese soldier. It is oneRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie Miss Saigon Essay1310 Words   |  6 Pages17 year old war orphaned prostitute, Kim and a US GI Soldier, Chris who are torn apart during the fall of Saigon. Set in the Vietnam War these characters are constantly challenged while the city explodes with conflicting cultures matched with the horrors of war and the ever changing effects of the power of love. Chris meets Kim in the nightclub where she works and from that moment to two fall in love but however regardless of the fact that Chri s helps to get a Kim a visa out of Vietnam when the US