Historical And Textual Data Of The Mesopotamian Religion

Ancient civilizations across history have shown unique and incredible feats of mankind. Arguably, two of the most prominent ancient civilizations in the Middle East and even the world are the Mesopotamians (Beginning 5,000 B.C.) and Egyptians (Beginning 3,150 B.C). Even though these two civilizations peaked about 2,000 years apart, they share numerous similarities contributing to their success, and also show even more differences that distinguish how each had a unique culture and way of life.

Imagine every day you see people heading into the temple to sacrifice gifts to gods or cutting open pigs to avoid disasters. These unusual activities are just normal routines for the Mesopotamians. They see the gods as supreme leaders watching over them. Even in the epic, Gilgamesh, the gods were watching over the people of Uruk and eventually they sent a bull down to earth. Also, in Enuma Elish, Marduk the son of a god said “Oh man! You shall serve all the gods” (Enuma Elish, 85). This quote show that the gods expect that Mesopotamians to worship them as high dignity. Thus, the creation of ziggurats, the significant roles of priest/priestess, and even the dedication of law to honor them. Because of this strong belief in gods, religion

Religion in the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia played a significant role in developing and organizing the society. Based on the common belief of the world’s divine creation, both civilizations had regular rituals and ceremonies to honor the supernatural beings. In rituals and ceremonies, the cult was expressed as the manifestation of components that symbolized the divine such as the cult images, temples, and shrines. Since religion was an important aspect in the people’s daily lives, it also had an impact on the ruling system in the two civilizations. Even though Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia have similar foundational beliefs about the cult, different cultic practices imply the difference in the structure and the scope of

There were many ways that the Ancient Egyptian society and the Mesopotamian society were similar yet at the same time they were very different. Egyptians and Sumerians agreed on religion in a sense that both cultures were polytheistic. However, the relationships between the gods and goddesses were different between the Sumerians and Egyptians. This essay will discuss those differences in culture, religion and the viewpoints on death and afterlife.

Ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians had two different ideas of the afterlife. Ancient Egypt celebrated the afterlife, performing burial rituals such as mummification, and ceremonies to ensure a happy and easy transition into the underworld. Egyption gods did not have as much interference with humans unlike the Mesopotamian Gods. Egyption gods ruled as pharaohs other deities such as Osiris, god of the underworld. Mesopotamian afterlife beliefs were not as joyful as ancient Egyptians. The Mesopotamians afterlife had a gloomier outlook. Most of what we know about Mesopotamian afterlife comes from the epic of Gilgamesh.

Most societies that developed in ancient civilizations were centered around their belief systems. The Egyptians and the Mesopotamians were no different in this sense. Both civilizations were polytheistic and built elaborate temples to praise their gods. Additionally, the leaders in both regions were believed to be related to the gods because of the great power they held and the wealth under their control. However, the Mesopotamians had a pessimistic outlook on life because of the unpredictability of their environment. The Egyptians, on the other hand, had an optimistic outlook because the Nile River inundated their region regularly, which could be predicted by the stars. The similarities and differences in the religions of these two

Mesopotamian and Egyptian religions shared two key similarities: polytheism and priestly authority. The religions in Mesopotamia and

The polytheistic religion of the Sumerian contrasted with the monotheistic religion of the Hebrews. The people of Sumeria worshipped thousands of gods, and each city-state adopted a god as their protector (Hunt, Martin, Rosenwein & Smith, 2013, p.10). Moreover, the Sumerian built ziggurats, a temple tower, to please their gods (Hunt,

Sometimes in our generation, people take for granted the things the originally invented by ancient civilizations. Somewhere around 3500 B.C. in southwest Asia the first of the River Valley Civilizations were born. The ancient River Valley Civilizations of Egypt, China, and Mesopotamia all made key contributions to future societies. (OI) Two contributions from each of the Mesopotamian Civilizations that influenced future civilizations.

He finds Utnapishtim, the one in the Faraway place and the only mortal granted immortality by the gods. He wants to have what Utnapishtim has and he can't: the "prize" granted to Utnapishtim for a task well accomplished in saving the species before the flood. The story of the flood is probably the strongest passage that connects Mesopotamian traditions to the Hebrews' and the main difference lays in the moral value the Hebrews place on the story, versus the lack of it of the Mesopotamians. This lack of moral

Although Egypt and Mesopotamia were both early agricultural societies built upon the water provided by the major rivers which sustained them, they exhibited important differences as a consequence of the different physical environments in which they developed. In this paper I will first focus on what I consider to be the major aspects of these differences in environment and then explore the consequences of these differences in their religious beliefs, political organization and commercial practices.

Mesopotamia is located in the Fertile Crescent, between the Tigris River and the Euphrates River. On the Southeast side of Mesopotamia is Sumer and the Persian Gulf. To the east of Mesopotamia are where the Zagros Mountains are located.To the Northwest side of Mesopotamia are where the Taurus Mountains are

As civilization has progressed through the ages, many religions have arisen and taken hold around the world, two if the most interesting, being the religious beliefs of the ancient Mesopotamian and the Greeks. These two religions were practiced in different areas and at different times and, therefore, show that religion has played a critical role in every society and civilization. No matter how it is organized or what type of god is worshiped, a society would be nothing without some kind of deity to organize it. In comparing the religious beliefs of the Mesopotamian and the Ancient Greeks religious components highlighted including the style of worship, the temples

Religion has also played a major role in Mesopotamian culture throughout history. Early religion in Mesopotamia was polytheistic for the majority. They believed that different gods controlled the various forces of nature. Ancient mesopotamia consisted over 2100 different deities that were associated with different city-states within. Ancient sumerian culture believed that afterlife was a land below our world that everyone went to regardless of social status or the actions performed during life. Around the 1st century CE,

Religions played an important role in both Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations. It allowed people to worship Gods who they believed to ensure good lives. However, both civilizations did not use judge morality. Sumerians believed that Gods give them good living condition rather than judge it. Sumerian religion was created from myths and ritual prayers. Sumerians were “literal servants” and obey to the Gods. They offered prayers, gifts to the gods and Gods blessed people with good condition. Gods of Sumerians were Heaven creating of day and night, The Great Above making up of the space between the sky and the earth, and The Great Below where people go after death. Like Sumerian, Egypt religion was also created from myths along with traditions.