Why Do Ziggurats
Recommended: Sumerians and babylonian beliefs and values
They had huge cities and pyramids designed to worship
In the time period, the world was full of polytheistic religions, like the Ancient Egyptian religion, and therefore the transition from henotheism to monotheism was extremely significant in history. The start of this transition can be seen in the story of Noah’s ark, especially in comparison to the flood from the Epic of Gilgamesh. These two stories are undeniably linked and share many similarities. An important difference between the two is that the Mesopotamian story contains many gods and the Biblical story only contains one God. Creation myths are essential to a religion because they give an explanation for the origins of the world, and usually revolve around certain deities.
The Sumerians practiced polytheism, the belief in more than one god. Sumerians believed these gods controlled every aspect of life, including rain, wind, and other elements of nature. 12 In larger Sumerian cities, temples were pyramid-shaped brick towers known as ziggurats. They rose upward in steps, with each level smaller than the one below.
Ziggurats were important in ancient Mesopotamia. The tradition of building a ziggurat was started by the Sumerians. Ziggurats went up to be nearly 300 feet tall and 300 feet by 300 feet square at its base. Ziggurats showed that the city was dedicated to a god. At the very top of the ziggurat was a shrine to the god.
This story tells us that Sumerian art was quite complicated. The sumerians most frequently used material was clay where writing was engraved. Craftsmanship was shown, but along with that, strong belief of God is projected as well. Gilgamesh associates with various gods and also, there were conversations of Gilgamesh being formed by one. The public further believed that the gods were from a reptilian nature.
The Epic of Gilgamesh gives a lot of insight to what was happening and what was expected in ancient Mesopotamia. The epic poem which revolves around a king, includes many details in to the civilization, beliefs, and values of the Mesopotamians. The king thrives to be remembered and many of his actions reflect that. The Epic of Gilgamesh show how an ideal heroic king should be in ancient Mesopotamia. The first thing it shows us is that hero kings should be strong.
The most important way to think about myths is that they are symbolic stories that attempt to answer difficult human questions about the universe. For instance, where did we and the world come from? And what is the meaning of life?. “We all want to know where we came from, but because our earliest beginnings are lost in the mists of prehistory, we have created myths about our forefathers that are not historical but help to explain current attitudes about our environment, neighbors and customs” (6). Myth functions as a guidance that explains everything that we come into contact with in the universe.
The Resemblance and Distinctness in Hades and Hel Myths and legends served as bases for cultures of old and largely reflect the civilization they derive from. An undeniably extensive part of a culture is the gods that they prayed to and feared. Nations used gods and aspects of gods to demonstrate their way of life, terrors, ambitions, and to explain the strange occurrences in life. A great example of this reflection comes from the lore of the Nordic and Greek people. The Nordic goddess Hel and the Greek god Hades serve as prime examples of what these cultures had in resemblance and in polarity.
Mythology is the collection of myths that denotes commonly cultural and religious beliefs of ancient human beings. The elements of it were usually the involvement of god, goddess and heroes. In addition, it was based on a man’s desire, beliefs and ideas. It also told the natural occurrence and its main purpose was to teach people moral lessons. One of the example of Greek mythology is the divine hero of ancient Greece his name was Heracles, but people knew him as Hercules.
Ancient Greek culture is majorly influential in Western culture. Major works of literature, art, and political structure from ancient Greece remain relevant to modern Western society. However one can contrast these two societies by observing and valuing the art of ancient Greece. One can differentiate ancient Greek culture and modern Western culture by analyzing the treatment of religious figures, attitude towards emotion, and reaction towards nudity in each society. Ancient Greece was a polytheistic society.
Greek mythology can be viewed as a mirror to the ancient Greek civilization. Ancient Greek myths and legends often reflected how the Greeks saw themselves. Myths were used by Greeks to make justifications of every existing aspect of earth as well as their own society. In myths, Greek gods & heroes often represented key aspects of the human civilization. From Greek mythology, we can learn about the favorable characteristics of humans, such as their behavior and valuable skills that were approved of by the ancient Greek society.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is the first epic poem to be written in ancient West Asia. It was written around the third millennium BCE in Mesopotamia by Sumerian people (Spodek, 127). The epic is based on actual an historical figure, a Sumerian king who reigned the city-state of Uruk around third millennium BCE. Ashurbanipal, the last Neo-Assyrian king who was literate, built a great library in his capital and preserved 20,000 tablets including the earliest complete version of The Epic of Gilgamesh (Spodek, 128). Sumerian attitudes towards gods, friendship, and the story of the great flood are revealed throughout the epic.
Geography not only plays a part in the spread of a religion but also can be inspiration or reflection for the religion itself. Many societies have numerous deities inspired by the landscape in and around their civilization. However, I believe not all religions drew inspiration from the land they lived in. Mesopotamian societies had multiple gods. Most deities represented cosmic forces of nature such as the sun, moon, water, and storms who were responsible for the creation of the earth (World Societies p. 36).
The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest story known to mankind, being written on Sumerian clay almost five thousand years ago (Garone). Since the story was originally known orally, the culture and themes from The Epic of Gilgamesh must have existed long before it was finally inscribed (Mark 4). Having known this, the cultures and themes can be compared to today’s society, discovering about how they have shifted and evolved, and also observe how they are similar. The ancient days of Gilgamesh has brought culture that has greatly influenced today’s society. Because Gilgamesh was set around the time of late Babylonian or early Sumerian society, the Babylonian and Sumerian cultures also play a role in shaping the world into what is is today (Mark).
Early Mesopotamian people are bilingual, and since there was no unified form of writing, the text is written in Akkadian and Sumerian. It is considered an epic due to the nature of the poem revolving a hero, his deeds, conquests, and history. The epic of Gilgamesh revolves around Gilgamesh or the Sumerians calls him, Bilgamesh. Gilgamesh was said to be the fifth king of Uruk, who was one-third man and two-third god.
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