Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia had many political and cultural similarities such as both societies had a hierarchy and were theocracies, they both relied heavily on trade and agriculture, and both believed that their ruling had a connection to the gods. However, they also had many differences some being Mesopotamia used cuneiform and Egypt used hieroglyphics, Hammurabi's code was followed by the Mesopotamian's and the Egyptians were governed by the Pharaoh, Mesopotamia is made up of city-states while Egypt is two separate kingdoms, and Mesopotamian's believe that they would have a dark afterlife while Egyptians believed that Osiris (the god of death) would determine if their afterlife was good or bad. Both Mesopotamia and Egypt had a social hierarchy meaning that the king or pharaoh was on top of the scale, given the most respect and the slaves were on the bottom, thought of as untouchables. Both societies were also theocracies; their government was ruled by a priest in the name of god or gods. The societies both relied heavily on trade and farming to receive the food and supplies that they needed for everyday life using a barter system, neither society having a true currency. Lastly both believed that their rulers had a connection to the gods and that they were used to deliver the gods messages. One of the differences between the two societies is their form of writing. The Mesopotamian's used cuneiform- writing impressed on clay tablets and the