1 / 8

Mesopotamian Culture

Mesopotamian Culture. I. Religion A. Gods living realities that affected all aspects of life B. City-sates- viewed as earthly copies of divine model & order. C. Temple- center of city & life D. Environment / Religion- rivers shaped view of universe (floods).

alanat
Download Presentation

Mesopotamian Culture

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Mesopotamian Culture • I. Religion • A. Gods living realities that affected all aspects of life • B. City-sates- viewed as earthly copies of divine model & order

  2. C. Temple- center of city & life • D. Environment / Religion- rivers shaped view of universe (floods)

  3. E. Polytheistic / 4 Main Deities • 1. An (god of sky) • a.most important force in universe • b. source of all authority

  4. 2. Enil (god of wind) – expression of legitimate use of force • 3. Enki (god of Earth) • a. Also god of rivers • b. Represented water’s creativity, as such was responsible for invention & crafts

  5. 4. Ninhursaga- (associated soil, mountains,& vegetation) • a. Eventually worshiped as mother goddess • b. Mother of all children / manifested power by giving birth to kings & conferring royal insignia on them

  6. 4 gods ranked supreme but there were numerous other gods.

  7. F. Human Relations to Gods • 1. Subservient • 2. Insecure • 3. Divination- variety of forms developed out of desire to figure out gods a. Animal sacrifice b. Interpretation of dreams c. Astrological/ horoscope

  8. G. Writing- 3000BCE • 1. Cuneiform- wedge shaped sytem of writing • 2. Originally pictograph • 3. Phonetics – allowed abstract ideas • 4. Primarily used for record keeping • 5. Literature“The Epic of Gilgamesh”

More Related