By 3000 B.C.E., two contrasting agricultural societies had developed in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Mesopotamia was located between the great Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which were a challenge to navigate and needed to be channeled into complicated irrigation systems. The area possessed few natural defenses against invasion. Egypt, in contrast, was largely protected by desert, and the flooding of the Nile was fairly regular and could be managed with relative ease. The pharaohs were able to create a unified kingdom at an early point in Egypt’s history, in part because the current of the Nile made travel up and down the river feasible. In Mesopotamia, various city-states warred against one another for domination. The writings these cultures left are among the earliest records of Western society. The following documents are, for the most part, concerned with two basic questions: how did the gods create and govern the world, and what sort of life should mortals lead to fulfill their duties to the gods and one another? As you read the documents, compare the answers Egyptians and Mesopotamians gave to these questions. What might explain the similarities and differences you note? ■