Religion In Ancient Mesopotamia

Dedicated scholars have been looking into ancient Mesopotamian since the early 20th century. Due to lack of record keeping many historians have been forced to slowly fill in the gaps as new evidence comes to light. They find that it is safe to say that there isn’t a uniform religion in Mesopotamia, but instead it is a mixing of several ancient cultures. Throughout all of the cultures that made up Mesopotamia, one thing that held true is a devout following for their polytheistic beliefs. Due to more recent discoveries, it is now safe to say that Mesopotamians felt that after life, given the proper circumstances, they would be immortalized in the Netherworld.

Mesopotamia was originally inhabited by two groups, the East Semitic Akkadians and the

While for the most part the Sumerian culture was the one to fade, Akkadians did adopted several things, one of them being the Sumerian view on religion. Akkadians took the Sumerian view and integrated it into their own culture. Sumerian Gods did not replace the Akkadian gods, but where instead added alongside them, making the Mesopotamian Pantheon a great mixture of the two cultures’ deities. With both cultures assimilation came the birth of what is known as Mesopotamian

For instance, The God Anu was often viewed as the greatest of the gods, he was the god of heaven and sky, he was the lord of constellations, and the father of all other gods. Mesopotamians believed gods to be human like in form; gods had to eat and drink and t they would even get drunk occasionally. Yet they were still believed to be more perfect than any human being. The gods were thought to be all-seeing, all knowing, and overall unfathomable. If a person was to see a god they expected to see a terrifying bright light, referred to as melammu, surrounding the god, causing an immediate reaction of awe and reverence. Historian J. Bottero believed that the gods were not viewed as mystical beings, but instead were seen as perfect higher up masters that should be obeyed and feared, rather than loved and adored. Many people were so devoted to the Gods that it was common for people to name their children after a God or goddess. This was a practice that began with Sumerian culture, but was later adopted by the