Pyramids, Scribes, and OJ Simpson. Oh My!

After reading chapter two, I couldn't stop thinking about pyramids. Pyramids are always associated with Egypt, of course, but they are also found in Mexican and South American regions. So, I thought, how could all of these regions have the same basic form for buildings? Then it occurred to me: did they build pyramids step by step? I think that after building the base, the workers/slaves must have climbed onto that part and built a new story, indented because they used the first story to stand on. Since all these civilizations are relatively established around the same times, I figured, this must have been an instinctual way of building these elaborate structures.

Along the lines of Egypt, it was interesting to read that they were definitely superior, socially and agriculturally, to Mesopotamia, who formed too many little cities, ruled by different kings, and who also did not have the resources that Egypt did because of the Nile. Because Mesopotamia seemed to be the older of the two, just by a bit, and I have heard so much about it throughout history classes, I thought that they would have been closer to success like Egypt, but after reading, that just wasn't the case. Also, I feel that they focused too much on social status, gender roles, and the rulings of such, to a point where it began to get in the way of just simply surviving; where Egypt focused on that as well, but also focused greatly of education, as seen in the "Be a Scribe."

Lastly, I definitely did not like how the Mesopotamians punished people based on class. As a working class man could hurt another working class man, and only get on lashing; but, if he were to hurt a man in a class above him he would get 60 lashings. I thought, "That is a bit dramatic, and ridiculous!" Buuuuut, then I realized OJ Simpson got away with a double homicide, solely based (for what I believe to be true) on his status as a famous football star and movie actor. Many present day celebrities, who have a much higher social standing than us, seem to get away with things like drug possession, under-age drinking, speeding, and even murder. It's ridiculous, and although it is not a written law, nor is it legal, they seem to have a sympathetic judgement in the eye of the justice system, just as the higher classes in Mesopotamia.