The one downside of these people, however, was that social classes, including rich and poor, were starting to appear, but it the people thought it was the normal process of life in order to make their Gods happy. Also, Hammurabi's Code of Laws was established in order to manage the society. Its laws were very strict, and it made it very clear that the social classes in Mesopotamia, as laws had different penalties for the different social classes.
During and shortly afterward, around 2500-1000 BC, the Egyptians began to populate the area of where modern day Egypt exists. These people, unlike the Mesopotamians before them, believed that their life after death was like heaven, and they were much more optimistic people. The Egyptians borrowed the idea of having a King as its absolute ruler. They also began as a people who worshipped many Gods, including Re, the Sun God. The King himself was basically considered a living God, and the people wanted to behave throughout their lives in order to enjoy the glorious life after death, so most of Egyptian culture was well-behaved and not rebellious. The interplay of their religious beliefs tied directly in to how the people were governed. The huge pyramids that were built for the religious afterlife of the Kings and high members of society required tons of work from the public to build them. Eventually, Egypt expanded, and new technology and new ideas about religion and society began to come in to culture. Around 1360 BC, Egypt began to experiment with the idea of monotheism. Akhenaten came in to power, and he decided that Egypt would only worship one God, Aten. Many people believe that due to conquering many outside lands, Akhenaten was influenced to change Egyptian culture to the first known Western monotheism. This impacted Egyptian politics because the very powerful priests in Egypt would become almost powerless. Eventually, Egyptian religion reverted to its original polytheism and worshipped many Gods once again.
