In modern times, it seems that most countries share commonalities in everything from government to life styles to religion. When one country sees a good idea that another country has, they adapt it to their needs and use it. This has been the case for thousands of years, since the dawn of civilizations. The ancient Egyptians were one of the earliest civilizations. This civilization rose around 3100 B. C. (p. 15), along the northern part of the Nile river. The Nile was an obvious place for the early Egyptians to settle.
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All along its banks runs a strip of land that is only a few miles wide, which has perfect soil for growing food. This was thanks to the yearly rain that caused the Nile to flood its banks and deposit nutrient rich soil on the farmlands. This annual flooding leads these early people to start believing in their river god Hapi. Like Hapi, most of their gods were based on phenomenon in nature they could not easily explain. During the time of The Old Kingdom, 2700-2200 B. C. (p. 16) the pharaoh was not only a king but also revered as a god.
The Egyptians were very well protected from any sort of attack. With hundreds of miles of desert on either side of the Nile, a land attack would be almost impossible. As for an attack by sea, an entire navy would have to cross the Mediterranean and travel up the Nile inorder to attack any part of Egypt. The Hittite empire came about shortly after the Egyptians. In the early 18th century the Hittites settled an area between the Halys River and the Mediterranean Sea. Like the Egyptians the natural place for people to settle is near water.
To the north and east they had rivers for farming, fishing and trading. To the south of their empire they had the Mediterranean Sea, which allowed them to trade with many civilizations in northern Africa. The Hittite kingdom was ruled by one king; however the king was treated not as a god but as an equal to the citizens. Starting in 1400 B. C. the Hittites had one of the stronger militaries in their region. This was for good reason, as since the majority of their civilization was landlocked they could be attacked from most any direction.
Ancient Egypt and The Hittites certainly had a lot in common, but they also had vast differences in their civilizations. For instance each culture based their religion heavily on unexplainable natural events. The Egyptians had a god for the Nile and the Sun; whereas the Hittites had a god for Storms and War. This makes sence since the Hittites were much more war oriented than the Egyptians. The location of the Egyptians played a huge role in how long they were able to last as a civilization, since their locations make it nearly impossible for an invasion.
Location also played a factor in the demise of the Hittites. Without the same natural defenses as the Egyptians, the Hittites were conquered in 1166 B. C. as they were not able to defend themselves. The interesting thing is that the reason the Egyptians fell was because they expanded too much. They were not able to defend themselves very effectively, even with all of their natural defenses such as the Sahara Desert and the Nile River at their disposal. As you can see, most commonalities between cultures developed out of necessity.
Things like their geographical location were chosen out of necessity to survive. A civilization cannot survive without water. This fact shows why the Egyptians and the Hittites settled where they did. Geography also can give a culture a disadvantage. The Hittites did not have the natural defenses that the Egyptians did, leading to their short existence as an independent civilization. Also, the obvious difference between the two cultures comes from their religions. Both may have started the same way but evolved much differently due to the necessity and evolution of the culture.
