civilazation is defined as "a state that binds people together to transcend tides of family, clanio, tribe, and village." (Woolf, H.B., 1974, p.141) By using this definition, one can compare and contrast the many different traits that the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations had. Both The Epic of Gilgamesh and the three Egyptian funerary documents are very good examples of written documents that show these two differences in civilization. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a long …showed first 75 words of 1247 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1247 total…based in. Egyptians, being relatively protected! from attacks, had lives that looked toward the future and planned extensively for death and burial, while Sumerians were constantly under attack and had to live life as if this was their last day on earth. (Bulliet, R.; Crossley, P.; Headrick, D.; Hirsch, S.; Johnson, L.; Northrup, D., 1997, p.32, 45) Their burials were relatively uncomplicated and the passage onto the afterlife depended on the deeds completed during life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**