The political systems of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia are constituted by fundamental similarities as well as pertinent differences. In both cases, a form of what in contemporary terms would be called a monarchic order is at stake. In other words, Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia’s political structures are radically hierarchical, with a leading ruler at the top of this chain of command in both societies, such that power in Egypt as well as Mesopotamia could be considered to be extremely centralized.
At the same time, the rulers of both societies were not mere authoritarian figures in a contemporary secularized sense, but also possessed a religious and sacred function. In the case of Egypt, the ruler, commonly known as the Pharaoh, was essentially a form of man-god, who was viewed as a direct incarnation on the profane level of the sacred God Horus. Accordingly, a certain infallibility was granted to the Pharaoh, in so far as to oppose the Pharaoh was essentially to oppose the Egyptian religious order.
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"The Political Systems of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia".
In Mesopotamia, the ruler also had a function as a type of sacred priest and thus a religious leader. However, the king function was not considered on the same level as the Pharaoh, namely, the Mesopotamian ruler was not a god-figure, but a religious, wholly human leader. This had significant effects on the structure of the political system, which differs from Egypt: to the extent that the Mesopotamian figure was not a God, the ruler could be deposed by the people, thus ultimately indicating a more open political system, which was more susceptible to political change and upheaval than the Ancient Egyptian variant.
Hence, although both Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia are monarchic political systems, headed by a key figure with sacred as well as profane symbolism, Mesopotamia did not define its rulership in terms of a divine status like Egypt. In this sense, the former system can be considered less hierarchical than the latter.
