Comparison of Ancient Egypt and India

The geographical features of ancient Egypt and ancient India both had similar roots but at the same time made enough of a difference to shape and create very different societies. For this reason the two are rather similar but equally diverse at the same time. The abundant natural resources made available to these people provided the growth of densely populated and complex societies, with refined cultural traditions.

A benefactor of the geography of these lands was most definitely the natural land barriers. The Egyptians were barricaded by the Mediterranean and Red Seas, as well as the Sahara desert. The Indians were guarded by the Hindu Kush, the Himalaya, the Vindya, and the Ghat mountain ranges. These natural barriers were great defenses against foreign invaders. Another geographic similarity was that the two both started their civilizations on major rivers, Egypt on the Nile and India on the Indus river. These rivers provided a rich deposit of fertile soil which made for very prosperous agriculture, ranging from wheat and barley to gourds and watermelons.

Seeing as Egypt's land barriers were not as extensive as those of India it was easier for Egypt to be influenced by other cultures in the operation of it's society. The social order of Egypt and India was very much different. In India the Caste system had ultimate rule, it consisted of four "varnas" or social classes; the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. These classes were heavily influenced by heredity and allotted almost no room for growth and improvement, much less for foreigners; this was very much unlike the system in Egypt. In Egypt peasants and slaves provided all the labor that made the complex agricultural society possible. While the pharaoh was considered the supreme central ruler, individuals of common birth could attain high positions in society through service in the government.

As much as the natural land barriers protected Egypt and India from foreign invasion, the protection was not foolproof, in the end both were invaded by groups from foreign lands, though the events following their invasions proved to be very much different. In India the Aryans made a slow intermingling into the Dravidian population who had made their settlement in India, the two intermingled and most tensions subsided as people migrated throughout the land and towards the Ganges River valley. The case was not such in Egypt where