According to the study of human culture, the human relatives (also known as hominids) date back to 100,000 years ago. What distinguished between the humans and animals were the uniquely human concept that humans can feel and think. One of those thoughts and feelings was about the sacred. Hominids looked up to something big but feared at the same time. Dating all the way back from the Paleolithic Era, religion has always taken a significant role in many societies such as Mesopotamians, Egyptians and the Greeks. The similarity of all three ancient societies was that it was a polytheistic religion but the differences were their centers, physical orientation of gods and the jobs of the divine right.
Centers were extraordinary sacred places, which was one of the functions that made up a civilization. It was a place where all the important things occurred. Centers were made up of expensive materials like stones, bricks, marbles etc. and always had a difficulty approach. The first center was built in Mesopotamia and they were called ziggurats. These religious buildings had a precinct on the outer layer with a center of power (who ever controlled the center, controlled the people). The ziggurat’s difficulty of approach was its extremely immense and tedious staircases. Egyptian’s centers were pyramids. Rulers spent many assets, slave and free labor and time to create this showpiece for funerals and religious ceremonies. These pyramid architectures stand hundreds of feet tall like The Pyramid of Giza, which stand taller than a skyscraper. Moving on to the Greeks, their centers were built on the summit of the acropolis. Marbled temples were built on top and it was a great source of defense.
About 50,000 years ago, Hominids worshipped ani...
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...Punishments varied depending on criminals/victim’s status. Free men were punished lightly versus slaves. Mesopotamian religion established a system of fines. The Pharaoh’s job in Ancient Egypt, was not to make everyone equal but to make everyone respect the gods and to keep control of social order. He composed himself and was collected just like the Nile River. Greek religion established a system of ethics. They had reciprocity where for an example, if a farmer honored the gods then his crops will flourish. It was everyone’s responsibility to maintain justice and if not, the gods will punish everyone for failure to penalize.
All three ancient civilizations were very similar due to its belief in many gods. The factors of the sacred sanctuaries, physical characteristics of the gods and the divinity of the kings are what differentiates and separates the civilizations.
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.
There are many similarities between the four civilizations Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, and Ancient China. One of the similarities is that all of these civilizations were located near rivers. These rivers were essential for surviving. The rivers would provide not only fresh water, but the rivers would flood and bring fresh soil for crops. Egypt used the Nile River. Mesopotamia used the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Indus Valley used the Indus River. Ancient China used the Yellow and the Yangzi Rivers. Another similarity is that all the civilizations believed in multiple gods. Religion played a big role in developing these civilizations. In these civilizations there was a hierarchy in which religious people were in charge. In Egypt, there
During the early civilization of Babylonia arose King Hammurabi, which whom set fourth a moral code of written laws. These laws were strictly enforced by harsh punishments in which the people of Babylonia abided by. The moral codes were created by King Hammurabi to maintain order and stability in Babylonia. The basis for these laws were enforced by the saying "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." This meant that if harm was done to you by someone of the same social status, the equivalent harm would be done to them. This was only one of the codes Hammurabi strictly abided by. These codes are extremely far different from present day laws in our societies today.
All three empires had some form of writing, the use of a calendar and math. They all had elaborate and highly decorated ceremonial architecture, including temple pyramids, palaces and observatories, all built without metal tools. They had no metal tools, no draft animals, and very little use of the wheel. They did understand the use of the wheel, but because of the geography where they lived they could use it very little. All three civilizations were warlike; because they were sedentary and could grow enough food for the people to eat they always had large populations, which gave them manpower for military expeditions.
Overall, the Hammurabi’s Code of Laws showed that crimes in Mesopotamia were followed by severe punishments. Very often these punishments were death penalty. The laws were not equal between social classes, and slaves were subjected to the harsher punishments than free-born.
Buddhism rejects the idea of immortality of life and Gods. The founder of Buddhism Siddhartha Gautama was an Indian aristocrat, also referred to as the Buddha or the Enlightened One. After Siddhartha’s death, his followers made him a God into eternal life. Buddhism is the third largest membership of its faith after Christianity and Islam. This belief was highly democratic and like Christianity no one was excluded. Anyone (male, female, young, old, the rich or the poor) can follow in the Four Truths and the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path was to allow spiritual bliss whereas, Nirvana simply demanded “The Right,” the right way to; ideas, thought, speech, actions, living, efforts, consciousness and meditation. Buddhism’s popularity stems from the “democracy of spirit.” Buddhism split into two major branches: the Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism is the strict version of Buddhism as is the life of a Catholic priest; they live their life in a monastery (Sangha), whereas, a Catholic priests and Nuns live in a Rectory. Both men and women can partake in nirvana; the purest form of Buddha’s teachings. The Mahayana Buddhism is more liberal than its counterpart. Theses followers believe that there are many Buddha’s not just the founder himself. So in fact Buddhism can be either polytheistic or monotheistic depending on who you talk to.
Many civilizations have similar qualities as other civilizations, but they also have their differences. Some of these differences include: Religion, Geography, and Government. These three things were a big part of any civilization. Two civilizations had many different things and many similar things. These civilizations are The Maya and The Romans. The Romans had a very unique and interesting culture, The Maya were also very interesting and different. Even though they were unique in their own way, they also had many similar qualities.
The Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia grew up to be successful civilizations. The surroundings of where they are located assisted them in survival. Although their lifestyles were different, both civilizations became successful in their own ways. Finally, their similar belief was a very helpful guidance when their rulers governed. Without these factors, the two civilizations might not have been
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.
Throughout the history of Rome, from the monarchy to the late empire, religion had played a great role in it's society and was involved in almost every aspect of the life of the Roman citizen. It was common for each house to have it's own patron god/gods and ,on special occasions, the head of the house would make a sacrifice to the personal gods of the family. Also, great festivals were usually held in honor of certain gods and would include spectacles like chariot races and Gladiatorial fights.
Ancient civilizations have a lot of similarities and differences. The two civilizations are the Aryans and the Shang. The Aryans ruled over India from 1500 B.C. to 1000B.C. The Shang ruled over china from 1750 B.C. to 1122 B.C. The Aryans and Shang had similarities and differences in writing, religion, and Technology.
These civilizations present many resemblances that were once part of the foundations of their society. Although both of these civilizations were at one point enemies of one another, they had similar correlations that shaped and formed their cultures and societies. The main difference between these two civilizations is religion. Without its differences, each civilization had governed its people in manners that it could not be differentiated among each other. Overall, these civilizations presented different methods of leading a civilization and still had similarities among one another.
Religion is a controversial topic when it is presented in any social gathering, but one thing that all religions have in agreement is that life has a fulfilling ultimate purpose. Believing in something can be beneficial and satisfying when we have nowhere else to turn. Christian is a label created for those who follow Christ and they believe that those who earn the love of God will be compensated with eternal life. Ancient Mesopotamia has evolved their death ritual practices and beliefs through a series of stories like the Epic of Gilgamesh where we can see what happens to the dead. Ancient Egyptians believed that the dead are guided by Anubis to the Hall of Two Truths to be judged. Therefore, an argument can be made that the three following
Religion is an ever-growing idea that has no set date of origin. Throughout history religion has served as an answer to the questions that man could not resolve. The word religion is derived from the Latin word “religio” meaning restraint in collaboration with the Greek word “relegere” which means to repeat or to read again. Religion is currently defined as an organized system of beliefs and practices revolving around, or leading to, a transcendent spiritual experience. Throughout time, there has yet to be a culture that lacks a religion of some form, whether it is a branch of paganism, a mythological based religion or mono/polytheistic religion. Many religions have been forgotten due to the fact that they were ethnic religions and globalizing religions were fighting to be recognized, annihilating these ancient and ethnic religions. Some of these faiths include: Finnish Paganism, Atenism, Minoan Religion, Mithraism, Manichaeism, Vedism, Zoroastrianism, Asatru, and the Olmec Religion. Religion is an imperative part of our contemporary world but mod...
Religion helps establish mankind’s place in the order of the universe. As civilization began to be established through the domestication of animals, the irrigation and cultivation of agricultural crops, and life became more complex (moving from mainly a hunter/gather existence to one that could settle down and have more time to consider advanced ideas) people began to consider questions such as, where life comes from, is there a creator or creators who helped make the world, and what happens after we die. Religion helped answer some of these questions. It gave people purpose, meaning, and perspective. Religion helped establish nations in the case of religious theocratic governments. In many of the ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians, the Mayans, and even Mesopotamia, the priests and other religious leaders played prominent roles in help shaping the laws and government of these civilizations. As his...