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Mesopotamia and Egypt religion comparison
Mesopotamia pre-history history
Mesopotamia pre-history history
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The geography of Egypt and its religion was based on the Nile river and how it molded the culture and practice of their beliefs. The climate in Egypt was hot and humid which was harsh conditions, and there was a blessing and bane of the unpredictable flooding of the Nile river. The blessing being that the flood brought fertile soil and the bane or down side was it was so destructive. When it came to after life, the Egyptians believed different way of religion than the Chinese did. They believed if a person dies, he travels through numerous obstacles to reach the Hall of Maat. The Egyptians would weigh the heart and If your heart appears lighter, eternal life is ensured, but if they found you unworthy, A demon that
The Egyptians used oracles to ask the gods for knowledge or guidance. The Egyptians worshipped all over. They worshipped in there homes, by the river and at the pyramids. They wanted to keep the gods happy so the hapy god did not bring destruction but only fertile soil when it came to flooding time. Mesopotamia were a polytheistic group of civilization. Meaning they believed in more than one god. Some of the gods that they believed in was... An, Sky god, as well as father of the gods, An was the king of all the gods. There was no art depicting him, all information about this god was translated from ancient texts. Then there is enki God of fresh water, known for his wisdom. He was depicted as a bearded man with water flowing around him. There is lnanna, Goddess of love, fertility, and war. She was the most important of the female deities. Also nanna God of the moon and the son of Enlil and Ninlil. He travels across the sky in his small boat of woven twigs, surrounded by the planets and stars. Lastly utu God of the sun and of justice. Between the time when the sun sets in the west and rises in the east he is in the underworld, where he decrees the fate of the
...n - (or ANU in the Babaylonian belief).He was the king of the Gods. Ishtar is Anu's second child, daughter of Anu and Antum. She is the goddess of love, procreation, and war. She is armed with a quiver and bow, and her sacred animal is the lion. Her temples have special prostitutes of both genders. The Eanna in Uruk is dedicated both to her and Anu. Even though Anu was a major god and Ishtar a minor goddess, they both were important were believed in heavily in order to build ziggurats for them.
The locations of both of these civilizations has guided them through survival and existence. Ancient Egypt was located near the Nile River, which produced a fertile area in the middle of a desert. The people relied on this sector for two effects, which were food and water and the environment
The people of Mesopotamia had a belief system that was polytheistic, which is a belief in multiple gods and goddesses. They believed there was a god or goddess for all aspects of the universe. They worshipped gods such as Anu the god of heaven, Enlil the god of water, and Ninhursag the mother goddess. The Babylonians and Assyrians of Mesopotamia also believed in Marduk and Assur the kings of the gods, Shamash was the god of the sun, Sin who was
The climate ancient Egypt is very hot and dry making it very hard for people to get water and grow their crops. So many people went to go live near the Nile River so they can get water and grow their crops The Nile River flows north into the Mediterranean Sea.
The first way that the Nile shaped Ancient Egypt was through population distribution. According to document A, the map of Ancient Egypt, a lot of people lived among the Nile. But a majority lived by the delta. Living among the Nile and by the delta gave people fresh drinking water, good farmland, and ways of trading and transportation. The Red Land was land desert area that protected
In Egypt, people believed in many Gods that controlled different aspects of their lives and nature. The Greeks also believed in many Gods, which ruled over different aspects of life, but in Greece, different city states centered their religious beliefs on specific Gods.
The Nile River is an important part in the decision of choosing where to settle in the future. The Egyptians were multi-taskers and it was important for them to choose the right environment to place their home. For example, in Document A, the map shows many
The Egyptians believed very much in life after death. As Taylor states in Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, “It is often observed that they appear to have devoted greater efforts and resources to preparing for the afterlife than to creating a convenient environment for living” (Taylor, 2001:12). The Egyptians viewed life on earth as one stage and death as the beginning of another. They believed that, “human existence did not end with death and that survival of the body played a part in the new life” (Taylor, 2001:12). One of the key elements in the Egyptian culture and religion was the preservation of the body. The body was the most important aspect because it was like a portal through which an individual could continue to live after death (Taylor, 2001:46). The Egyptians began building tombs for these bodies to keep them from decaying.
Agriculture- farming in Egypt was completely depended on the Nile River. If you were to go a couple miles farther away from the Nile River you would see nothing but bone dry desert so the Nile was very important to the Egyptians. Flooding season lasted from June to September, depositing a layer of silt beside the river. After the flooding season was over growing season lasted from October to February Egypt had very little rain fall so farmers made canals and ditches to the field.
In conclusion, Ancient Egypt has a very complex religion and beliefs that would be considered bizarre in many parts of the world. They believed in many gods, some took part in the creation of the universe. Others brought the flood every year, offered protection and took care of people after they died. The ancient Egyptians thought that it was important to recognize and worship the gods because they represented the peace and harmony across the land.
The Mesopotamian people believed in a higher being, like most civilizations have for centuries. Their belief system consisted of many gods, each representing an aspect of Mesopotamian life. From the Epic of Gilgamesh we learn that they believed that the gods are the creators of everything around them. This is seen in this epic with the creation of Enkindu, by the goddess of creation, Aruru. We also can conclude that the god of the heavens, Anu, ruled the gods. The Mesopotamian people also had gods for death, love, and even cattle. The Mesopotamian people used the gods to explain just about every aspect of their life. Their gods were all-powerful, and could grant people godly features. For example, Gilgamesh embarks on a quest for eternal life from the gods when his fear of death becomes a reality with the death of Enkindu.
“Each village worshipped it’s own god.” - History textbook page 92 paragraph 2. For example Memphis worshipped the god Ptah, the creator of the world. The Egyptians also the text states, “ The Egyptians built temples to the gods all over the kingdom.” - History textbook page 92 paragraph 3. Those quotes show that because of the religion egyptian villages had to build things for their god of the village.
The Nile River is arguably one of the most important water sources in the world and has an extremely rich history dating back thousands of years. Without the Nile, the ancient Egyptian civilization would have never existed. Egypt is basically a whole lot of sand and not much else, except they have the Nile River flowing through it, on it’s way to the Mediterranean sea. The ancient Egyptians lived along the Nile River and it provided them with abundant water, food (fish) and the opportunity to develop agriculture along it’s banks. The Nile River was also used for transportation and trade with other regions because land travel was more difficult than floating on the river. The Ancient Egyptians were at the mercy of the seasonal flooding and droughts but learned to work within the natural system of the River and weather cycles (Carnegie Museum of Natural History). Modern people, however were more interested in conquering nature, rather than living in harmony with it.
Providing extremely fertile soil is one, if not the most important, roles the Nile River played in the life of the ancient Egyptians. By providing fertile soil, the Nile made it easy for cities and civilizations to grow alongside the banks of the river. This fertile soil comes from the annual flooding of the Nile. This replenishes the top soil with silt deposits that hold much needed nutrients for crops to grow. Ancient Egyptians developed highly complex irrigation methods to maximize the effect of the Nile waters. When the Nile overflows in mid summer, Egyptians divert the waters through the use of canals and dams. As the water seeped into the farm land, rich deposits of silt ensured a good harvest for the year. This allows the civilizations of Egyptians to grow enough food to feed the community. Without the annual flooding of the Nile, Egyptians would have a very difficult time growing necessary amount food to sustain life. Most of the land in the Egyptian nation is dry desert. Very little rain falls year round here. The river provides the needed water to grow the crops as well as provide drinking water for the people. Th...
The flooding surges of the land, and leaves behind water for the people, and fertile land, which can be used for agriculture. The impact the Nile has on Egypt during the ancient times and present are consierably apparent. The influence the Nile has is so extensive, that even the speech is transposed. For example, "To go north" in the Egyption language is the same as, "to go down stream"; "to go south" the same as "to go upstream." Also, the term for a "foreign country" in Egypt would be used as "highland" or "desert", because the only mountains or deserts would be far away, and foreign to them. The Nile certainly had an exceptional influence on Egypts, both lifestyle and thinking.The Nile also forced a change on the political system and ruling in Egypt.