The ancient civilizations of Egypt and China Essay Example for Free

The ancient civilizations of Egypt and China Essay The ancient civilizations of Egypt and China were very similar in many different aspects. Their governments and their geography were extremely alike and the religions of the two civilizations had only tiny differences. The early Egyptians also had the same concept of writing as the Chinese people who lived across the continent from them. Suprisingly, these two ancient civilizations that existed very far away from each other show a enormous amount of similarities in almost every area. The government of Ancient Egypt was headed by a king (in the New kingdom, the king assumed the name pharaoh) with absolute power. Different dynasties, or a line of rulers from the same family, would rule Egypt. Each ruler was considered to be a god whose orders were undisputable. However, the government was not only a monarchy; it was a theocracy. The king would perform religious rituals to help the harvest because this would ensure prosperity in Egypt. Likewise, the Chinese government also consisted of an emperor that would belong to a dynasty. Like in Egypt, a dynasty could rule until it would be eventually overthrown. The Chinese kings would also perform religious duties; they prayed, sacrificed, gave offerings and used oracle bones to call upon their ancestors. Both the Chinese and the Egyptian governments had similar structure and duties. If one took a look at China and Egypts geography, one would notice that they are quite similar. The natural barriers of the two civilizations are akin to each other. China has the Pacific Ocean and the Bay of Bengal to protect it from an attack on land. Equally, Egypt has the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea as an effective natural barrier against non-naval attacks. Also, deserts protect the two civilizations. While Egypt has the Libyan and Nubian Deserts, China is equipped with the Gobi Desert. Both China and Egypt have huge rivers located in them. While Egypts pride, the Nile River, is a huge producer of food and life, China has three major rivers, the Huang He, the Chang Jiang, and the Xi Jiang. The ancient Chinese and the ancient Egyptians were both polytheistic, which caused them to be very similar. The Egyptians believed that the gods were usually part human and part animal each gods each played a different role.  There were a few main gods that everybody worshipped and there were also local gods for different regions of Egypt. Egyptians also believed in a happy afterlife for everybody, in which you could only take along things you were buried with to your afterlife. The early Chinese peoples also believed in many deities and they thought that if they made sacrifices and offerings to their gods, then they would be rewarded. There were gods for everything, like in the Egyptian religion; each god would represent something. The ancient civilizations of Egypt and China were very similar. The government in both places was similarly set up and the geography of China was very much alike to the geography of Egypt. Religion was also a common trait of these two civilizations. Strangely, considering these two cultures developed isolated from each other, they share a lot of common traits.