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Theories about life after death
Religious differences between ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia
Life after death in different cultures essay
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In both Egypt and Mesopotamia, they both have ideas about the afterlife. The two have some similarities and differences about the afterlife in which whether they come back as another person, or they come back as another soul, or they go to another world. In Egypt and Mesopotamia there are different meanings of the afterlife through the similarities, difference, and the different civilizations. In Egypt, praising death and the afterlife is a big part of the culture. The Egyptians make tombs and pyramids so that they can live a successful life in the afterlife. The afterlife means that a person will be dressed in all clean clothes and white shoes and will be standing in front of the God of the underworld (Attar). The Egyptians call this day Judgement Day because the God of the underworld decides the persons fate if the person passes the test that the God gives the person (Attar). If the person does not pass the test then they will a die again as a second death. Most people pass the test because the Book of the Dead, that was written in 1550 BC, gives specific instructions of learning to survive in the afterlife. The afterlife to the Egyptians mean that the spirit of the person leaves the body but only temporarily (Attar). They say that if the spirit returns every night and if it doesn’t it ruins the chances of having a successful …show more content…
The actual body is wrapped up in white linen bandages and placed in a coffin, inside the coffin is the Book of Dead. The spirit goes on a journey and it has to pass through many gates and faces many scary deities and they use the Book of Dead to
In the ancient Egyptian culture, the belief was that there was a life force and spirit inside of the body, known as the ‘Ka’. Therefore, mummification was performed as a ritual to preserve the physical features of the body as well as to protect its inner spirit, mainly to ensure that the ‘Ka’ could recognize the body where it may dwell in the eternal life. Thus, the funerary psychology of ancient Egyptians was that death did not bring an end to living, but instead was only an escape from the physical human life and a gateway to immortal being. Due to the fact that a being’s life span was short in ancient times, people’s main hopes rested in their afterlives, where they would be with the gods (Stockstad 121).
I can infer that the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians were similar in the way that they had a written language, both of them were polytheistic, and they both built pyramid type things. The differences between the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians were their different views on what happens to you in the afterlife and how to bury people after they die.
The grandeur with which Egyptians regarded their funerary customs does not come without explanation. They delighted in tying the occurrences of the natural world with supernatural dogma, and their burial practices exemplified this deluge of religion. A special deity was even attributed to cemeteries and embalmers: Anubis (Fiero, 46). Due to this deep sense of religion, a fixation with the afterlife developed within their culture. The Egyptian afterlife, however, is not synonymous of heave, but, rather, of The Field of Reeds, a continuation of one’s life in Egypt meant “to secure and perpetuate in the afterlife the ‘good life’ enjoyed on earth” (Mark 1; “Life in Ancient Egypt” 1). The pursuit of this sacred rest-place prompted the arousal of intricate Egyptian funeral rituals.
Egypt and Mesopotamia; two different civilizations that were similar in some ways, as well as different. They had their difference of their geographical location, as well as their different aspects of life. Even though they had their different life aspects, they had also had several similarities between each other.
Before the beginning of history, people from across the land gradually developed numerous cultures, each unique in some ways while the same time having features in common. Mesopotamia and Egypt are important to the history of the world because of religious, social, political and economic development. Mesopotamia was the first civilization, which was around 3000 B.C., and all other countries evolved from it. Mesopotamia emerged from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The soil was rich and agriculture was plentiful. The Semitic nomads occupied the land around Akkad. The Sumerians established the city-states. Villages became urban centers. Because of the formation of the city-states everything flourished. However, Mesopotamian agriculture lacked stones; therefore mud brick became their major building block. Their diet consisted of fish from the rivers. The rivers were flooded frequently destroyed the cities. Mesopotamians made their living from crops and pottery.
Ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations would not be as successful as they were without living by the Tigris, Euphrates, and Nile rivers. Rivers shaped the development of civilization in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia by how they utilized the floods, what they traded, their views on religion, and controlling the rivers.
What similarities and differences did Egypt and Mesopotamia have and why was Egypt more politically unified than its neighbor, Mesopotamia? I think in order to answer these questions it is important to look at how both societies lived. Egypt and Mesopotamia were two civilizations existing during the time period of 2000-1200 BCE.(text, 97) These civilizations were shaped by their environment, involved with trade, and faced changes in government after the 100 year drought; however, they differed in that Egypt was shaped by the Nile, traded goods for goods and changed their outlook on the pharaoh who was ruler of all; whereas, Mesopotamia was shaped by the Tigris and Euphrates, traded money for goods, and had a ruler over rulers. The governed harmonic life style of Egypt led this society to be more politically unified; whereas, Mesopotamia’s government led to many different ways of structure, thus creating a less unified society.
Ancient Egypt and Ancient China often seem like polar opposites in almost every way. However, in one way, they are more similar than most people think. The beliefs of both of these civilizations were remarkably parallel, yet perplexingly different at the same time. Religion before 600 B.C.E. varied from society to society all around the globe, with just a few major religions taking hold in large areas. In both Egyptian and Chinese religions, they adhered to a polytheistic religion. Boths religions believed there were many gods who individually ruled over the many different parts of life, instead of one god ruling over all. Both Egyptian and Chinese cultures believed in life after death. Each one of these religions believed in some form of
Sumerians and Egyptians can be different in many ways; they can be different in geography, religion, and kings. In Sumer rivers flooded but they were very unpredictable, different of Egypt where the river was very predictable. Sumerians hated their afterlife, but the Egyptians loved their afterlife. Hammurabi was very different from the Pharaohs in Egypt. They ruled differently. Sumer and Egypt are both ancient civilizations, but they are very different from each
The Egyptian and Mesopotamian religion and society were similar, but their government/leadership was different. Religion in Egypt and Mesopotamia were very similar because both faiths were polytheistic and had priestly authority. Both cultures had powerful priests, both had a belief of an afterlife, and religion was part of their daily lives. Both societies had similar rigid social classes, relied on slavery; both also had a religion which played an important role in their daily lives. Although, their societies were very common, they still had some differences in government. The Egypt, the government was a theocracy, whereas the government in Mesopotamia was run by a monarchy. Despite their similarities, the differences between these two civilizations were most likely a result of unique geographical and topographical conditions.
Indeed, Mesopotamian civilization certainly had much stricter views of life and the afterlife. Their views of the fragility of their mortality seemed to be pessimistically realistic. They seemed to accept that their gods gave them this life and nothing else. In the excerpt from the Epic of Gilgamesh, a quote that summarizes their
Egypt and Mesopotamia were two of the world’s earliest city-based civilizations, creating the basis for Middle Eastern and Western history. Both Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations existed on the banks of major rivers. While Egyptian civilization thrived along the Nile, Mesopotamia settled between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Although they shared this characteristic, it was also the cause of many of their differences in political systems, religions, and social stability.
Although the kings of both lands were closely tied to religious institutions they had very different responsibilities to their people because of the culture of their location. The major point that differentiates Mesopotamia and Egypt is their location. The fact that Egypt was located in the most productive area of ancient times caused Egyptian pharaohs to focus more on their internal concerns, rather than gain new territories. The idea of Ma’at played a big role in the way of the pharaohs ruling over Egypt. Instead of expanding, they were more worried about having harmony and peace within the people, and keeping the balance of ma’at.
A common question many civilizations shared and strived to answer was about death and the afterlife. In Ancient Egypt, the lives of many citizens centered around a prosperous future in death. In fact, Ancient Egyptians believed life continued on in death. For this reason, they yearned to live justly as citizens of Egypt. If not, then the gods would deem them unworthy of entering heaven, or paradise. This was Ancient Egypt, a society seemingly obsessed with the afterlife and enriched with funeral practices. Their worship of pharaohs and gods, detailed inscriptions about mummification, and elaborate tombs influenced their constant strive towards achieving everlasting peace in the afterlife.
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.