Egyptians, Phoenicians, Babylonians (Compare & Contrast)

Religious Beliefs:

• All these societies were polytheistic, believing in many gods, who were often associated with nature and other natural phenomena that were not explainable at that period of time. People built elaborate temples, where they made offerings to their gods and priests lived and worked.
• In Egypt, it was believed that the pharaoh was at least a demi-god, which is the reason why they were mummified and buried in pyramids with luxurious items that they would need in their afterlife, or life after death.

Writing Systems:

• There was a system of writing in all societies.
• Babylonians and Phoenicians started out with pictographs, each symbolizing an object. But picture writing was ineffective to display abstaract ideas.
• Soon, Phoenicians developed a first real alphabet, based on sounds rather than things.
• Babylonians relied on cuneiform, which was carved into clay tablets, with a wedge-shaped reed.
• Egyptians used hieroglyphs, also a form of writing based half on sounds, half on objects or syllables. Egyptians wrote or carved on stone, but they developed an early form of paper, form papyrus, which was a lot more effective than writing on stone.

Geogrpahy:

• All societies were located near a source of water, which enabled trade and transport through ships, and irrigation for agriculture.
• The Phoenician society was located at the Mediterrannean Coast.
• The Egyptians made use of the Nile River, and were therefore known as "the gift of the Nile".
• The Babylonian culture was located in Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and the Euphrates, in a river valley.
• While Egyptians and Babylonians had vast empires, Phoenicia was made up of several smaller kingdoms, often not unified under one ruler.

Agricultural Advances:

• Of these three societies, Babylonians relied most on agriculture, and farming, as they had a lush valley, ideal for farming.
• Egyptians adopted farming a little later than Babylonians, but also flourished through the rich silt deposits of the Nile River's flooding.
• Phoenicians didn't rely on agriculture, as they were trading people and only their wives and children stayed home. They focused on industry, building and trade.

Social Structure:

• The basic structure of society for all went as follows: king/ruler -> nobles -> priests/scribes/merchants -> manufacturers -> farmers/other peasants -> slaves
• In Phoenicia, the controllers of trade were very important too.
• In Egypt, there was no real noble class, as the pharaoh was an all powerful ruler.
• Women played only a small role in Babylonia and Phoenicia, where they mainly were housewives and mother for children, having little rights and say about their life.
• In Egypt, however, there even was a woman ruler, Queen Hatshepsut, at one time. Woemn had a few more rights in Egypt than in Mesopotamia.

Technical Advancements and Inventions:

• Egyptians were famous for:
• pyramids, mummification, papyrus paper, medicine/surgery, nilometers
• Phoenicians were famous for:
• shipbuilding, textiles/dyes, furniture, decorative items, alphabet
• Babylonians were famous for:
• code of law, Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Trade Routes:

• Babylonians focused on trade throughout the empire, in Mesopotamia, and over lands, like the Anatolian Peninsula.
• Phoenician trade routes were extremely vast; they took control over the whole Mediterrannean Sea and sailed all the way around Africa and up to the British islands and Scandinavia.
• The Egyptians traded with their Nubian neighbors and other African states, but also Mediterrannean nations, such as the Phoenicians.