Difference Between Sumerians and Egyptians
Sumerians vs Egyptians
The Sumerians and the Egyptians were both great civilizations that flourished in antiquity around the same time and were among the first nomadic groups to settle in the one place ‘“ the cradle of civilization. While many lay people have at least a perfunctory knowledge of the ancient Egyptians, the Sumerians, perhaps unfairly, are less known to the general population.
The Sumerians were a people who settled on the flood plains of the mighty Tigris and Euphrates Rivers around 4000 B.C in what is today part of Iraq. Ancient Egyptian society had taken shape on the nutrient rich banks of the Nile River.
While both the Sumerians and the Egyptians chose to settle in fertile river plains and developed sophisticated agriculture, religion and political systems, there are also many differences between the two groups and the key features of their ways of life.
Sumerian religion was based around the worship of four life giving deities ‘“ the god of heaven, the goddess of earth, the god of air and the god of water. In the Egyptian pantheon there were around 2000 recognized gods and goddesses. In Egypt the pharaoh was worshipped as a living god, but Sumerian society was not a theocracy.
Another difference between the Sumerians and the Egyptians is the way they approached death and prepared for the afterlife. The Egyptians were reasonably well protected from attack and thus lived lives that embraced the future and they made grand preparations for their passage into the afterlife. In contrast the Sumerians were vulnerable to attack and lived a much more volatile existence. Their funerary rites were uncomplicated for their passage into the afterlife.
The Sumerians were one of the first peoples to develop a system of writing. Their writing system was called cuneiform and was named after the wedge shaped writing implement used. It was etched onto clay tablets, which were then fired in kilns to make the writing last. The Egyptians developed hieroglyphics, which were a very different style of recording information and they also wrote on papyrus made from reeds. Papyrus was cheaper and easier to produce than clay tablets, which resulted in vast record keeping capabilities with the Egyptians. The differences in geography between the two civilizations led to the development of different writing technology.
When comparing the technological advances of the two great civilizations Mesopotamia’s is more impressive. This is probably due to the fact that the surrounding environment of the Sumerians was harsher and more difficult to predict and manage.
Sumerian and Egyptian governments were quite different. Egyptian government tended to be more authoritarian with absolute power residing with the pharaoh; however in Sumer the city-state politics allowed for more input from nobles acting as councils.
Summary:
1.Both were great ancient civilizations
2.The Egyptians had more complex funerary ceremonies and afterlife mythology than the Sumerians
3.Both peoples developed complex, but different writing systems for the purpose of record keeping.
4.The Sumerians had more technological advancements than the Egyptians.
5. Egyptian government was more authoritarian than Sumerian government.
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I read this and saw, among other things, a statement about Sumer’s technology being more impressive than that of Egypt (Khemet). Here’s the problem, no evidence whatsoever is given to back up that statement. I find it hard to accept this article without any proof of the ideas being shared. Also the ancient Egyptians (Khemw) had a hierarchy to their divinities. They had a belief in one deity (AkenAten-The Amarna Period). Every term I shared you can check for yourself. I suggest that’s what any intelligent reader of this should do.
No one gives a damn, Vincent Williams.
-______________- woow.
interesting history.
u stupid unicorns lesco
Rude punk.
One does…
Sir, might you consider changing your name to Vinnie S. Willies.
nice
u are so rude little boy
Your an idiot, he is absolutely right to state the obvious so people of intellect can further their knowledge.
You’re*
lol
For some evidence; Try the book “History begins at Sumer” for starters.
meow
Egyptians took from Sumerians! There is no history of Egypt’s building up to where they became so prosperous, and there is plenty of evidence that they took a lot from Sumerians who had built many a grand temple waay before Egyptians…because Egyptians were copy-cats and learned from other societies and became very flashy unlike the humble Sumerians, they became known for their memorable buildings and drawings. But without their predecessors who they learned from, there would be no Egypt that just sprung up!…..believe it or not…I’m studying that right now….
Spot on Anastasia. Bravo for your answer.
Interesting Anastasia, thanks for sharing
Evidence for every term in this article you could’ve also searched for yourself, which you clearly didn’t, by your logic
making you an “unintelligent reader”. You ask for evidence and provide none for your own statements.
It saddens me that supposedly fortunate people of education can possibly respond to a sharing of knowledge, should be met with such playground bullying of someone else’s interpretation of this subject matter. It surprises me how some seem to find any excuse to want to destroy another’s efforts…when will we as Homo sapiens make a conscious effort to support one another with our contributions than resort to warring tactics intended to stir people up. It’s no wonder mankind is still killing one another mercilessly. Disappointed.. in a forum where I expected no such discourse.
Well spoken
Thank you so much for writing this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have a quiz on this and really want to get a good grade but either way good information and awesome break downs
This article really helped me when I have to compare and contrast the Egyptian culture and the Sumerian culture.!
hello everyone!!!
hello everyone that text Is nice!!!
Mr. Williams your absolutely correct and Brian is just plane ignorant!
Thank you for thinking out the box and not believing everything that is told to you. Cristal thinking is the key.
Crystal*
Thank you for this information. It is good to have ALL the facts. Bryant Gumble is a racist and probably doesn’t even know it.
Lol there is info about it. How can you just state that there isn’t.
I agree with you Vincent
people these days have no life
you literally took the words out of my mouth, brittanty farts. literally.
The same for me, Hugh G. Rection, the same for me.
love the the name hugh
Comments from someone replying to this article to say people have no life,,,when they are reading this article ,,,kinda funny and ironic
cool
my college corse textbook that i’m reading right now says that sumerians were a theocracy.
wet kings.
Nerds who write this!!!
Egypt is the teacher of the world.Egypt tought the Europeans learners who came from all over Europe how to plant crops and build cities.Egyptian explorations were tought to all the world.Religion’s too.And since Tuhothose ||| he is the first one to invent the surise attacks and wars.He divided the army into middle (heart)and wings (sides).he made an Egyptian great empire and controlled the Mediterranean Sea with his war ships.The Egyptians built the FIRST huge rocky bulging in history which is the Pyramid of Saqarra.Later they defended all the world by destroying and beating the Maguls (came from mangolia) in the war of Ain Galoot.Without Egypt then Manguls would have rushed into north Africa then Spain then all Europe destroying the civilizations.Also without Egypt the rise of Europe would have been late for centuries.Egypiano defended their cointro from Hyksos, Perains ,Romans,Greeks,French
,English and Israel and destroyed them along the long history .They have done the best sacrifices in history.Read Egypt history and you shall learn from it. 🙂 😉
Thanks alot for writing this
Your writing is very subjective. So although there may be some relative information in this post it has to be with a grain of salt. You say the Summerians were more technologically advanced because their conditions were harder… That is very subjective.
And seeing as though they both established themselves at the same time with very different writing styles and viewpoints leads me to believe that neither copied from the other
Useful for doing homework
The article is greatly mis-informed. Sumerians and Egyptians were 1 in the same. There is no evidence of a cuneiform writing .. also using clay/stone to write was and is still standing in Egypt/ Kmt. Also the portion of this article speaking of the religion is incorrect- as Egypt/ Kmt culture specifically identifies the 4 Ntru (nature dieties)- but they also had others to explain life. there are not just 4. Ancestral relam also is not mentioned.
Egyptians did not worship a pharaoh. The pharaoh was the leader or the people to speak to the ancestral realm and to bring forth the best of the people into the culture. In the end.. what we know of the world today- is not the same that existed then. Egyptians and Sumerians were 1 in the same people living in different regions and having diff names to the people who came to know them.
There were no such thing as gods in ancient Egypt until they were conquered by the Romans.
this is misinformed like by alot they had gods before the romans cuz the romans were just the ones who discovered the different gods that they had plus even if they would have known the roman gods not random new ones obviously
When one compares the Ancient
Kemet (‘Egypt’ca 4243 b.c.e) ‘alphabet’ viz-a- viz
Ancient Suma ca4000 b.c.e
Ancient Hebrews ca 800b.c.e
Ancient Greece ca 690 b.c.e
Ancient Rome c.a 129 b.c.e right up to the English alphabet :- once viewed with an unbiased critical analytical mind …. one can easily deduce which culture/ civilisation borrowed, copied, plagiarised, stole, or was influenced by Kemet (‘Egypt’)The same will hold true for Language, Architectures/ buildings/ monuments, literature,
theogony,art, equinox festivities, funeral customs, the names and functionalities of Goddess/Gods etc
Exempli Gratia
Pythagoras ca495b.c.e – Ionian Greek
‘multi-genius’ espoused certain principles pertaining to a Right Angled
Triangle ~ known as The Pythagorean Theorem ~ taught for hundreds of years myriads of schools/universities and other learning establishments
Yet in Ancient Kemet (‘Egypt’) stands Pyramids dating back 3000 b.c.e colossal stone skyscrapers comprised
of a four sided triangles set on a square base – perfectly aligned with the poles – and mathematical computations of it’s height and base/ area will reveal phi (1:618)
Pi. (3:142)
among other constants
These structures and their architects were ancient to the world millenniums before Greece was born
Yet the Pythagorean Theorem prevails and is still taught to this day
Constant repetition will not make that historical anomaly true … but it serves political/ cultural agendas to gaslight and distort reality!
IF A LIE IS TOLD LONG ENOUGH OVER HUNDREDS OF YEARS… It will be accepted as standard TRUTH !