Early Civilization Religion

The early civilizations shared many religious beliefs and religious concepts. Religions have different meanings and different perspectives on things but the morals and ethics for all religions is the same. For the early civilizations, religion was very important and it was a way for everyone to come together.

Egypt had many religious beliefs and rituals. The Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was a human form of god. Pharaohs were the rulers of ancient Egypt. There were also shepherds of the people who were specific people that guided others when they needed help. They also took care of the people and protected them from harm’s way. The pyramids were a statement of the power/authority that the pharaohs had, when the pharaohs were buried, they were buried with servants and treasure. The Egyptians believed in a very literal afterlife. During the burial process everything would be taken out of the body except the heart since it was the most important, everything else was put in jars and buried with the dead body. For the Egyptians, after-life was only attainable by the elites and the pharaohs.

Just like Egypt, China also had many beliefs and rituals.

The Chinese believed in the idea called the Mandate of Heaven, it was an idea that each ruler of ancient china was chosen by god. The people of China thought that if a person was king, they were fit for the job since they were chosen by God. A ritual the people believed in was the oracle bones. Oracle bones were a way for the king to find out if he was doing a good job or if an idea he had was a good one. These symbolized the desire for control, this helps the kings control their lives and the kingdom’s. Another ritual the Chinese believed in was the veneration of ancestors. They venerated their ancestor to honor and remember them and because they can help you succeed in life. The Chinese people thought that living on forever was a good thing and were positive about life in

general.
Mesopotamians made ziggurats for the gods. Ziggurats were large, stepped pyramids tat were located in the center of the city and provides a base for the temple in which the patron god of that city lived. The tallest building in the city were for the gods, they believed that God should be above all and have a higher platform than the rest of the buildings. Unlike the Egyptians and the Chinese who had a fairly positive relationship with their gods, the Mesopotamians were scared of the gods. The Mesopotamians were positive but always wary; they always had that negative thought in the back of their mind. Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China have some similarities dealing with rituals and religious beliefs. All three civilizations are polytheism, they all worship more than one god and emphasize on nature and fertility. For all three civilizations the performance of rituals and doing them the right way was more important that faith.
The uniqueness of each civilization is what makes it different from the other civilizations while the similarities are what connect them together. Religion is a huge concept that is still very important even in these modern times. Religion is a factor of what makes a person different and unique. Religion was an extremely important part of the ancient civilizations.