Naghma Ahmed

AP World History Period 4

September 8, 2010
Comparison Essay: Indus River Valley and Nile River Valley

The Indus River Valley and Nile River Valley Civilizations are similar in numerous
ways but there are many differences too. Archaeologists have roamed the Eastern
Hemisphere in search of the advanced civilizations located there and these are two of
the four civilizations found there. The people of these civilizations are alike in many
ways in there need to survive. I will compare these two civilizations and provide you
with a better understanding of there time periods. With these civilizations I will compare
the peoples agricultural ways, social classes and the religion.
The Indus River Valley and Nile River Valley have one thing in common among
other things and that is there rivers. They both use there rivers for agricultural success
and along with the rivers comes frequent flooding which these civilizations have to
control. Herodotus named Egypt the gift of the Nile because with out the Nile, Egypt
wouldnt exist and the same has been said about Harappa, one of the major cities in
the Indus River Valley. The people of Egypt can predict when the Nile floods and use
this to plan their harvests while the Indus floods unpredictably. Both civilizations relied
heavily on agriculture and its agriculture surpluses fed many. The Indus River Valley
sowed their seeds in September and harvested in late spring when the floods receded
while the Nile River Valley relied on the annual floods and harvested according to that.
The ruling classes of these civilizations differ very much from each other. The
Indus River Valley had social classes called the Varna or caste system while the Nile
River Valley has pharaohs as divine royal beings and the families of these people nobles
Naghma Ahmed
AP World History Period 4
September 8, 2010
Comparison Essay: Indus River Valley and Nile River Valley
and the rest are slaves and other lower classes of people. In the Indus River Valley the
social classes are hereditary and whatever your parents are born to you are the same.
In the caste system you may not marry out of your caste because it is believed that you
are put into it for either punishment or a reward for what you did in your previous lives.
The Nile River Valley has pharaohs as there rulers and they are known as divine beings.
The other classes include slaves, commoners, and domestic peoples and the pharaohs
family. The ruling classes are different but they are also the same in the way they are
treated with slaves being treated like untouchables from the caste system and
commoners are treated in the way any other normal person is treated.
In these two civilizations religion is an important part of their every day lives.
Most of the people around the Indus are Hindus while the Niles people worship several
different gods and at the same time they worship the Pharaohs. Egyptians believed that
there was an after life and so the practice of mummification was used to ensure that
they had a safe journey as they pass through this life. The Hinduism is a polytheistic
religion and so the people of the Indus River worship several different gods according
to what they want. Both peoples are believers of polytheistic religion and they
incorporate their religion in many things they do.
Both religions have a large amount of similarities but the differences define the
people in the civilizations. The four civilizations have made many accomplishments that
showed us different ways that we have done stuff in the past. The people used the
surrounding areas to their advantage and because of this they are advanced peoples.
Naghma Ahmed
AP World History Period 4
September 8, 2010
Comparison Essay: Indus River Valley and Nile River Valley
Comparing the two shows that they are the same in their want to survive and to do this
they have used the natures different forces to make their lives easier. Their ways
enabled them to have a large population and allowed them to grow into larger
civilizations.