There are historical processes that are evident throughout the lives and experiences of individual human beings. Studies of the world’s societies show that all societies are characterized by different elements which are unique and distinct from one society to another. Bentley and Ziegler examine the world as a whole and focus on the development and formation of the world’s major societies, ‘traditions’, and also interactions and connections that have always been established among societies, ‘encounters’. “Traditions and Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past” shows that There have been various networks of interactions from the earliest periods to the present world and the web still continues to grow among nations and communities. Bentley and Ziegler highlight on the issue of ‘traditions’ and ‘encounters’ to bring out the varied models of historical changes within individual societies and the outcome of the interactions among various societies. Societies interacted with each other in a number of ways, for instance through trade, warfare, and intercultural activities (Bentley and Ziegler 55).
A historical record of cross-cultural interactions and exchanges has brought the world of contemporary globalization, with trade revolutionized over time from small scale or subsistence production to the expansion of the global capitalist economy. The interactions of the world’s major societies influence history throughout the world. In development and interactions, each society is characterized by various elements which define its history. These elements include economics, political structure and theory, religious beliefs and practices, social organization, military and empire building, cultural traditions, innovative practices, interactions with other societies. There have been implications of gender, ethnicity, religion, disability and sexualities in the human societies over time since historical moments and this has influenced the interactions of people. Here is an historical interpretations and analysis of the Americas, Egypt and Mesopotamian societies:
The Americans comprised the South and North continents with the Native Americans as the local community of the ancient America. The pre-Columbian civilizations established forms and characteristics that included city settlements, public and memorial structural designs, intricate societal structures and farming. The pre-Columbian era spans between the time when first settlement in the upper Paleolithic region to the time before the emergence of significant European authority over the Americas. The Native Americans lived in subsistence societies with great different value system from that of the European colonizers, this led to great misunderstanding and long enduring cultural struggles.
Paleoamericans spread throughout Americas developing into several nations and tribes with distinct cultures. In North America there was stable and fair climatic condition which led to widespread migration, agriculture and a drastic increase in population over the Americas. Most of the Native American communities engaged in slave trade even before the beginning of African slavery into North America. Although in the pre-colonial period, the Americas did not engage in slave trade of captured individuals, they did exchange captives with other communities or exchange their own tribal members as a way of fostering cohesion with the other tribes. In most instances the captured slaves were recruited into the community’s armies to replace warriors who die in warfares. In the early Americas trade, they used slaves to off-set debts or as a means of exchange for other commodities. The administration also imposed slavery to people who committed offences against the will of the community.
The major development of the Americas was witnessed by the European civilization of the Americas which started in 1492, when the voyages of Christopher Columbus began plying the Americas. The coming of the European colonizers to America was faced with a lot of revolt by the Americans which saw an enduring war between them and regulation between the old and modern societies. The arrival of the Europeans also saw a general crash of the Native Americans population in the sixteenth century due the widespread of diseases which were brought by the Europeans and Africans. The Americas did not have common cultures and religion since the cultural practices were based on tribal lines and was mostly shared according to geographical areas which other people could not adopt similar values and social organizations, for example the in Mesoamerica, where a long coexistence and shared development among the people led to fairly homogenous culture with complex social and agricultural patterns (Bentley and Ziegler 103).
The geographical location of the Mesopotamian Empire was the most important element in the development of Mesopotamia and the evolution of the Mesopotamian civilization. Mesopotamian Empires emerged in the tenth century BCE during the Hellenistic era as a territory that was borderless and had command over a vast geographical area. Mesopotamia is recognized as the pioneer of development and was made up of three empires, that is, the Akkadian, Assyrian and the Sumer empires. Mesopotamia is believed to have quartered some of the world’s ancient states such as Ukur, Nippur, Nineveh and Babylon, with highly developed social complexity. There is a cultural continuity and spatial homogeneity for the whole historical geography.
The geography of Mesopotamia greatly influenced the political orientation of the region. Mesopotamia had a centralized system of political authority which was headed by king. The first cities were built by the Sumerian people along the rivers and streams, which were separated by vast lands and swamps thus communication among the cities was difficult and dangerous due to the surrounding nomadic tribes. Thus each city became a city-state, autonomous of the other, although there was a centripetal bond among the city states which gave the central authority power over the whole area. The city states were ephemeral and had localized power into tribal or fragmented regional units. Warfare was incorporated in the Mesopotamian political system, where a neutral state could arbitrate between the fighting cities.
The inhabitants of Mesopotamia were basically farmers. Its geography allowed agriculture to thrive under irrigation and good drainage. With the need to irrigate the land, the Sumerians and Akkayids constructed city states along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The rivers also provided fishing grounds especially the marshlands to the south of the country; reeds and clay which were used as building materials. They also relied heavily on long distance trade of agricultural products to other societies as economic activity.
Mesopotamia suffered periodic breakdowns in their cultural. Especially during the high demands of labor led to population increases that pushed the limits of the ecological carrying capacity and also due to the unpredictable Mesopotamian weather was often hard on farmers; crops were destroyed so back up sources of livelihood was considered such cattle keeping and there were frequent floods that ravaged the cities. With the rapid growth of cities states, their spheres of interests overlapped leading to conflicts among city-states over land and canals.
The Mesopotamian empires had a strong culture which acted a means of interaction between the city-states and unifying the people. They engaged in gaming activities like boxing, wrestling, hunting, senet, backgammon, and majore. There was the Mesopotamian religion which was polytheistic and believed that the world was a flat disc that was surrounded by the heavens. They also believed that the world was created from the enormous sea. The Mesopotamians had rituals and ceremonies that were done each month which were performed through songs, music and instruments during their ceremonies. Mesopotamians believed in life after death and the dead were buried in family graves under their houses along with their belongings (food, furniture, and clothing), which they were going to sustain them in their life after death (Kishlansky 98).
The ancient Egyptian kingdom was founded in 3150 BC by King Menes.
The Egyptians had a distinctive kind of art, religion, customs and language. The Nile Valley has the oldest cultures in the world, spanning over three centuries of continuous history. The Egyptians had a centralized form of government that governed the whole society under the authority of the pharaoh. The pharaoh who was an influential leader both politically and religiously by the Egyptian people, he was named as the ‘High priest of every temple’. The pharaoh owned all the land, enacted laws, defended Egypt against foreigners and levied taxes on the people who owed allegiance to him.
The pharaoh represented the gods to the people and preside ritual ceremonies and built temples for the gods to live in since the Egyptians believed that the temples were the dwelling places for the gods and goddesses and each one of them was built a temple from where he or she was worshipped by the pharaoh and the temple priests. The pharaoh administration collected taxes and levied charges to the people so as to sustain the government. The Egyptians had a strong stand-by army that was to defend the community against foreigners and also for imperialistic expansion of their territory.
Egypt maintained a rather intricate and steady society that influenced other cultures in Africa, Middle East, and Europe. In ancient Egypt there was social stratification between the noble class and ruled who led a very different lifestyle.
The ancient Egyptians believed that it was significant to bury their dead decently. The ancient Egyptians embalmed the dead and buried them in places with hot temperatures to preserve the bodies from decaying. This created mummy like bodies which could stay for many years without changing form. In the Egyptian old kingdom, the people constructed pyramids which served as tombs for the kings and the queens when they died. They were mummified and buried together with their possessions in the tombs.
Ancient Egyptians had a strong religion and believed in many gods and goddesses. Each god and goddesses had a role to play in maintaining peace and unity across the society. The ancient Egyptians highly recognized these gods and goddesses for the continuity of life. They performed religious rituals and ceremonies to honor their gods and goddesses and made sacrifices. The Egyptians relied heavily on agriculture for their livelihood and trade. Although Egypt was an arid area they farmed along the Nile valley and irrigated the lands (Kishlansky 145).
The Egyptians, Americas and the Mesopotamian empires had various similarities and differences. Unlike the Mesopotamian Empires and Egyptians who had centralised form of political authorities, the Americas did not have a unified society or a central government to govern the whole American land although they have small divided tribal groups which had local authorities. Just like the Mesopotamian Empire, the Egyptian kingdom was ruled by kings and queens who had powers over the state and controlled the state. Unlike in Mesopotamia and the Americas, in Egypt the king, pharaoh, was in charge of the whole territory and there was no autonomous state leaders. Religion and politics of the country were under the control of the pharaoh unlike in the other societies where religion and politics were separated from the state and played different roles to the society (Bentley and Ziegler 203).
The Mesopotamians and Egyptians had a common religion and practiced polytheism. They highly regarded their gods and goddesses as the guardians of the community. The Mesopotamians and the Egyptians had a different perspective to about their, whereas the Mesopotamians believed that their kings and queens were heavenly sent from the city of Gods, the Egyptians believed that their kings were their actual gods and were supposed to bow down and worship them. In the case Americas, their society was a divided and observed different religion according to their tribe’s beliefs. Religion was based on geographical boundaries. Another comparison is that the Mesopotamian and Egyptian people were buried in family graves together with their belongings. Unlike in the Egypt kingdom and the Americas were people engaged in slavery activities, in the Mesopotamian empires the inhabitants did not depend on slaves to do farm work for them because of the skills involved in farming and they also considered slavery a risky practice (that is, the mutiny or escape of slaves).
In conclusion, all societies have been dynamic; several elements have changed over time with the rapid interaction of different societies. Political, economic and social structures have evolved with time as societies interact in more harmonious activities and this has improved unity and harmony among people. Societies borrow so much from each other through interactions and mobility of people. From the old world to the modern world, mobility of people, improved technology and trade have been major elements of development among societies; they have led to improved social relations among societies (Kishlansky 234).
Works cited
Bentley, Herbert and Ziegler, Jerry. Traditions & encounters: a global perspective on the past. Sabine, TX: McGraw-Hill Publishers, 2006. Print.
Kishlansky, Mark. Meridians: Sources in World History. Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Pub Publishers, 2006. Print.