Mesopotamian and Egyptian Settlement Patterns

On the basis of available evidence, there existed in ancient state-level societies a variety of urban types. These have been classified under a number of different headings, ranging from city-states to territorial- or village-states. Mesopotamia and Egypt, for example, traditionally represent the two opposing extremes along a spectrum of possible settlement distributions and types.

Mesopotamian city-state systems were made up of densely populated urban areas that shared a common language, status symbols, and economic systems, but their elites tended to compete with each other, often militarily, to control territory, trade routes, and other resources. Each city-state controlled a relatively small territory, often only a few hundred square kilometers, and had its own capital city, which in many cases was enclosed by a wall. In addition to its capital, a city-state might govern a number of smaller centers, as well as numerous farming villages and hamlets. Ancient Sumer is a classic example of such a system.

In ancient Mesopotamia, urban centers tended to be relatively large, with populations ranging from less than 1,000 to more than 100,000 inhabitants, depending on the ability of a particular city-state to control and collect payments from its neighbors. Often, a considerable number of farmers lived in these centers to secure greater protection for themselves and their possessions. It is estimated that in southern Mesopotamia (circa 2900-2350 B.C.E) more than 80 percent of the total population lived in cities.

These cities also supported craft production, which sought to satisfy the demands of the urban elite and society as a whole. The development of craft specialization and commercial exchanges between town and countryside as well as between neighboring urban centers encouraged the growth of public markets. Although the evidence for actual marketplaces is less than clear for southern Mesopotamia, the remnants of shop-lined streets indicate vigorous commercial activity involving large numbers of people. This activity in turn promoted competition among city-states to obtain supplies of exotic raw materials. As a result of widespread access to goods produced by full-time specialists and the development of more intensive agriculture close to urban centers, Mesopotamian city-states were able to support numerous nonfood producers, possibly as high a proportion as 20 percent of the total population.

In contrast to Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt's population has traditionally been perceived as more evenly dispersed across the landscape, a characteristic of village-states. Topography and the formation of the early state were the major factors contributing to this dispersal. Unlike Mesopotamia, Egypt had relatively secure and defined borders, allowing a single state to dominate the area. Additionally, the villages and towns of Egypt, all of which were situated near the Nile on the river's narrow flood plain, had approximately equal access to the river and did not have to compete among themselves for water as their contemporaries in Mesopotamia were forced to do. As the main highway through Egypt, the Nile offered innumerable harbors for shipping and trading, so there was no strong locational advantage to be gained in one area as opposed to another; hence the Egyptian population generally remained dispersed throughout the valley and delta in low densities. Trade specialists apparently were evenly spread throughout Egypt, supported by both independent workshops in small towns and royal patronage in the territorial capitals. In contrast to the defensive walls of Mesopotamian city-states, the walls of Egyptian towns primarily defined and delineated sections of the town (for example, a temple precinct from a residential area).

Egypt, however, was not without urban centers. At points where goods entered the Nile valley via maritime routes or overland routes from the Red Sea via wadis (stream beds that remain dry except during the rainy season), the right circumstances existed for the growth of larger cities. Egyptian cities and towns shared certain characteristics with other contemporary societies but also displayed unique traits influenced by the culture and environment of the Nile valley. Thus, the geopolitical system that evolved in ancient Egypt was different from that of Mesopotamia; Egypt developed a village- or territorial-state characterized by dispersed settlements of varying size, a form of urbanism that gave Egypt its distinctive identity.