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Mesopotamian, Ancient Egyptian, Hellenistic Greek, and Roman were great civilizations that enormously influenced the following development of the world. Each civilization contributed a large amount of its achievements to the overall progress of the world. However, I think that Hellenistic Greek was the most important out of the chosen civilizations to impact the world. Hellenistic Greek was the culmination of the advancement of the ancient world. By using the following comparison of these civilizations I will try to prove my point of view of Hellenistic Greek being the greatest.
Mesopotamian is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It is very interesting that Mesopotamians had a started some sort of democracy. They solved all the rising questions and problems by public assemblies and voting. They used debates to have pros and cons presented and then decided about the following actions or solutions. However, their class structure was sharply divided. At the top were kings and noble classes. There were also slaves who could engage in business, own property, and even testify in court.
The daily life of Mesopotamians was very boring. They only worked and worshiped their gods. The main industry that people were engaged in was agriculture. The tools used to work in the field were made out of stone. This shows not much of the progress in innovations that would make the very day life much easier. The main reminding of Mesopotamian art are the frescoes that were found as decorations of sanctuary rooms. Bull and bear heads were also used as decorations. Scholars also found drawings that probably were the musical notes for Mesopotamians. Mesopotamian did not achieve much in architecture. Their houses were plain without any decorations which is probably the result of people being busy working and not having time to decorate their houses.
Mesopotamian philosophy is revealed in their myths that were the combination of Babylonian, Assyrian, Akkadian and Sumerian myths. Each of these regions had their own myths but due to the closeness all of them were related and had a lot of similarities. Myths were mostly about the religious events and importance of worshiping their ancestors. Most of the writing, though, that survived from Mesopotamian times consist of laws, accounting records, list of kings and enemies. Ancient Egypt had a different concept of political structure comparing to Mesopotamia. In Egypt it was all up to the pharaoh and there were no debates and public discussions. The social structure was similar to the Mesopotamian. On the very top was the pharaoh, then vizier, then high priests and nobles, then priests, engineers and doctors, then scribes and craftsmen. On the very bottom of the social pyramid were soldiers, farmers and tomb builders.
Agriculture was the main occupation for Egyptians just like for Mesopotamians. The Egyptians were one of the first groups on earth to begin farming, probably around 10,000 BC. They were also great at building. The Egyptian pyramids were built throughout ages and still remain one of the wonders of the world. Most of what we know about Egyptian art comes from the paintings the Egyptians created in the tombs of rich people when they died. It is very similar to Mesopotamians. These pictures were supposed to help the dead person when he or she reached the next world, where the Egyptians thought a person lived after the death in this world. So the paintings showed all sorts of things that people did in their regular lives.
