An analysis of the two civilizations, Sumer and Egypt, reveals a challenge to human social development: geography and environmental characteristics tend to shape the patterns of civilizations. Although the Sumerian civilization was prosperous and powerful, its geographical features ultimately weakened Sumer, leaving it vulnerable to invasion by neighboring civilizations. Egypt was similar to Mesopotamian civilizations in many ways, but Egypt's distinctive differences led to distinct social systems: government, economy, and religion that contributed to the Egyptians' seemingly endless prosperity. The Sumerians eventually fell to those civilizations that prevailed with more favor. topographical assets. Sumer was located in a region commonly called Mesopotamia. The region sprawled within and alongside the great Tigris and Euphrates rivers, notoriously known for their catastrophic annual summer floods. Mesopotamia is bordered on the north by mountain ranges, whose river flooding was a secondary consequence of melting snow, and on the southwest by the Arabian and Syrian deserts. Sumer was located in the southern area of ​​Babylon, near the delta of the rushing rivers. This created a very challenging, but rewarding situation for Sumerian civilization. The topography of the Sumerian civilization functioned as a double-edged sword. Without catastrophic river flooding, Sumer could not exist because that area did not have enough rainfall to support agriculture. The rivers served as a lifeline for the area's civilizations, providing the necessary continuous re-fertilization of the soil. The vitality of the rivers eventually caused the fall of the Sumerians with its uncontrollable and unpredictable floods.......middle of paper......, as the Sumerians experienced the unpredictable and catastrophic floods of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers . Egypt worshiped Ra, god of the sun, and the Nile provided prosperity, life, and power to civilizations. This shows the geographical difficulties/attributions reflected in the religion of Sumer and Egypt. The non-existent natural barriers for Sumer led the civilization to build a strong military system, unlike Egypt which had natural barriers and did not have a strong army. On a more common platform, both civilizations relied on crops and trade as their basic economic system. Unfortunately, Sumer may have had more difficulty with agriculture than Egypt due to the flood circumstances. Both civilizations are excellent examples of the theory with which I fully agree: geography and environmental characteristics tend to shape the patterns of today's civilizations..