Egyptian vs Mesopotamian Art

The Middle East is known to be the cradle of civilization. The very first societies, which produced some of the earliest known cities and began the tradition of written history, were located there. The Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Hebrew cultures all began in this region, and their religions and cultures had a tremendous effect on how history unfolded. They were all influential in their own respective ways, but there were a vast number of similarities as well as differences between all three groups.
The most ancient of recorded history and documented civilization began in the area called Mesopotamia, currently known as Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Whereas Mesopotamia was set between two rivers, Egypt had the Nile, which unlike the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was far more predictable in its flooding pattern, allowing the Egyptians to not only prepare for the flood, but even use the silt deposits from the flood to benefit their agriculture. This, along with other geographical differences, is a key difference between the two cultures. The unpredictable nature of the Tigris and Euphrates weighed heavy on the Mesopotamian religious system and the overall philosophy portrayed by the people. Not only was the river a cause of uncertainty, but the Mesopotamia was not surrounded by geographic barriers as Egypt was, which in turn made them more susceptible to invasion and conquest. The constant fear and uncertainty of invasion and flooding show in the Mesopotamian creation myth, the Enuma Elish, particularly during a description of the gods in the belly of their mother, Tiamat. “Discord broke out among the gods although they were brothers, warring and jarring in the belly of Tiamat” (6).
In Mesopotamia, life was a bitter struggle, and unlike Egypt, they did not have an afterlife to look forward to. The gods of Mesopotamia created man as more of a servant than a free willed individual, as is shown when Marduk, speaking of creating man said “All his...