153-429: Mesopotamian religion refers to the religious beliefs (concerning the gods, creation and the cosmos , the origin of man, and so forth) and practices of the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia , particularly Sumer , Akkad , Assyria and Babylonia between circa 6000 BC and 400 AD. The religious development of Mesopotamia and Mesopotamian culture in general, especially in the south, were not particularly influenced by
306-495: A lacuna , indicating his uncertainty about its meaning. The claim that Sargon was the original founder of Akkad has been called into question with the discovery of an inscription mentioning the place and dated to the first year of Enshakushanna , who almost certainly preceded him. The Weidner Chronicle ( ABC 19:51) states that it was Sargon who "built Babylon in front of Akkad". The Chronicle of Early Kings (ABC 20:18–19) likewise states that late in his reign, Sargon "dug up
459-583: A sar being 3,600 years, this would indicate that at least some of the Mesopotamians believed that the Earth would only last 518,400 years. Berossus does not report what was thought to follow this event, however. As with most dead religions, many aspects of the common practices and intricacies of the doctrine have been lost and forgotten over time. However, much of the information and knowledge has survived, and great work has been done by historians and scientists, with
612-482: A Church, all those who adhere to them". Sacred things are not, however, limited to gods or spirits. On the contrary, a sacred thing can be "a rock, a tree, a spring, a pebble, a piece of wood, a house, in a word, anything can be sacred". Religious beliefs, myths, dogmas and legends are the representations that express the nature of these sacred things, and the virtues and powers which are attributed to them. Echoes of James' and Durkheim's definitions are to be found in
765-636: A certain deity; this practice appeared to have begun in the third millennium BC among the Sumerians, but also was later adopted by the Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians as well. Initially, the pantheon was not ordered, but later Mesopotamian theologians came up with the concept of ranking the deities in order of importance. A Sumerian list of around 560 deities that did this was uncovered at Farm and Tell Abû Ṣalābīkh and dated to circa 2600 BC, ranking five primary deities as being of particular importance. One of
918-484: A concrete deity or not" to which the individual feels impelled to respond with solemnity and gravity. Sociologist Émile Durkheim , in his seminal book The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life , defined religion as a "unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things". By sacred things he meant things "set apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called
1071-464: A court or standing army of 5,400 men who "ate bread daily before him". A group of four Babylonian texts, summarized as "Sargon Epos" or Res Gestae Sargonis , shows Sargon as a military commander asking the advice of many subordinates before going on campaigns. The narrative of Sargon, the Conquering Hero, is set at Sargon's court, in a situation of crisis. Sargon addresses his warriors, praising
1224-489: A definition of religion. There are, however, two general definition systems: the sociological/functional and the phenomenological/philosophical. The concept of religion originated in the modern era in the West . Parallel concepts are not found in many current and past cultures; there is no equivalent term for religion in many languages. Scholars have found it difficult to develop a consistent definition, with some giving up on
1377-416: A divine act of creation, and the gods were believed to be the source of life, and held power over sickness and health, as well as the destinies of men. Personal names show that each child was considered a gift from divinity. Man was believed to have been created to serve the gods, or perhaps wait on them: the god is lord ( belu ) and man is servant or slave ( ardu ), and was to fear ( puluhtu ) the gods and have
1530-456: A giant altar. Other theories treat the tower as an image of the cosmic mountain where a dying and rising god "lay buried." Some temples, such as the temple of Enki in Eridu contained a holy tree ( kiskanu ) in a holy grove, which was the central point of various rites performed by the king, who functioned as a "master gardener." Mesopotamian temples were originally built to serve as dwelling places for
1683-425: A great extent, an oligarchy rather than a monarchy. Authority was considered to lie with "the city", and the polity had three main centres of power—an assembly of elders, a hereditary ruler, and an eponym . The ruler presided over the assembly and carried out its decisions. He was not referred to with the usual Akkadian term for "king", šarrum ; that was instead reserved for the city's patron deity Ashur , of whom
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#17328760075241836-489: A message on a clay tablet asking him to slay Sargon. The legend breaks off at this point; presumably, the missing sections described how Sargon becomes king. The part of the interpretation of the king's dream has parallels to the biblical story of Joseph , the part about the letter with the carrier's death sentence has similarities to the Greek story of Bellerophon and the biblical story of Uriah . A Neo-Assyrian text from
1989-468: A series of campaigns to subjugate the entire Fertile Crescent . According to the Chronicle of Early Kings , a later Babylonian historiographical text: [Sargon] had neither rival nor equal. His splendor, over the lands it diffused. He crossed the sea in the east. In the eleventh year he conquered the western land to its farthest point. He brought it under one authority. He set up his statues there and ferried
2142-689: A similar claim. His rule also heralds the history of Semitic empires in the Ancient Near East, which, following the Neo-Sumerian interruption (21st/20th centuries BC), lasted for close to fifteen centuries until the Achaemenid conquest following the 539 BC Battle of Opis . Sargon was regarded as a model by Mesopotamian kings for some two millennia after his death. The Assyrian and Babylonian kings who based their empires in Mesopotamia saw themselves as
2295-443: A similar union between imperial law and universal or Buddha law, but these later became independent sources of power. Though traditions, sacred texts, and practices have existed throughout time, most cultures did not align with Western conceptions of religion since they did not separate everyday life from the sacred. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the terms Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, and world religions first entered
2448-408: A stable for the god's chariot and draft animals. Generally, the god's well-being was maintained through service, or work ( dullu ). The image was dressed and served banquets twice a day. It is not known how the god was thought to consume the food, but a curtain was drawn before the table while he or she "ate", just as the king himself was not allowed to be seen by the masses while he ate. Occasionally,
2601-655: A subject of interest to philosophers and theologians. The word myth has several meanings: Ancient polytheistic religions, such as those of Greece, Rome , and Scandinavia , are usually categorized under the heading of mythology . Religions of pre-industrial peoples, or cultures in development, are similarly called myths in the anthropology of religion . The term myth can be used pejoratively by both religious and non-religious people. By defining another person's religious stories and beliefs as mythology, one implies that they are less real or true than one's own religious stories and beliefs. Joseph Campbell remarked, "Mythology
2754-600: A transcendent deity and all else, between the creator and his creation, between God and man. The anthropologist Clifford Geertz defined religion as a: ... system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic. Alluding perhaps to Tylor's "deeper motive", Geertz remarked that: ... we have very little idea of how, in empirical terms, this particular miracle
2907-450: A wide variety of academic disciplines, including theology , philosophy of religion , comparative religion , and social scientific studies. Theories of religion offer various explanations for its origins and workings, including the ontological foundations of religious being and belief. The term religion comes from both Old French and Anglo-Norman (1200s CE ) and means respect for sense of right, moral obligation, sanctity, what
3060-559: A word or even a concept of religion in the original languages and neither did the people or the cultures in which these sacred texts were written. For example, there is no precise equivalent of religion in Hebrew, and Judaism does not distinguish clearly between religious, national, racial, or ethnic identities. One of its central concepts is halakha , meaning the walk or path sometimes translated as law, which guides religious practice and belief and many aspects of daily life. Even though
3213-415: Is "the king has established (stability)" or "he [the god] has established the king". Such a name would however be unusual; other names in -ukīn always include both a subject and an object, as in Šamaš-šuma-ukīn " Shamash has established an heir". There is some debate over whether the name was an adopted regnal name or a birth name. The reading Šarru-kēn has been interpreted adjectivally, as "the king
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#17328760075243366-455: Is a Middle Hittite (15th century BC) record of a Hurro-Hittite song, which calls upon Sargon and his immediate successors as "deified kings" ( šarrena ). Sargon shared his name with two later Mesopotamian kings. Sargon I was a king of the Old Assyrian period presumably named after Sargon of Akkad. Sargon II was a Neo-Assyrian king named after Sargon of Akkad; it is this king whose name
3519-453: Is a range of social - cultural systems , including designated behaviors and practices, morals , beliefs , worldviews , texts , sanctified places , prophecies , ethics , or organizations , that generally relate humanity to supernatural , transcendental , and spiritual elements —although there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. Different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from
3672-400: Is accomplished. We just know that it is done, annually, weekly, daily, for some people almost hourly; and we have an enormous ethnographic literature to demonstrate it. The theologian Antoine Vergote took the term supernatural simply to mean whatever transcends the powers of nature or human agency. He also emphasized the cultural reality of religion, which he defined as: ... the entirety of
3825-461: Is also the product of the dominant Western religious mode, what is called the Judeo-Christian climate or, more accurately, the theistic inheritance from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The theistic form of belief in this tradition, even when downgraded culturally, is formative of the dichotomous Western view of religion. That is, the basic structure of theism is essentially a distinction between
3978-577: Is depicted as a system which, according to the author, continued to hold sway in the first century AD, eventually to be utterly annihilated (17:5; 18:9). According to some interpretations, this is believed to refer to the Roman Empire , but according to other interpretations, this system remains extant in the world until the Second Coming . Religion Antiquity Medieval Early modern Modern Iran India East-Asia Religion
4131-508: Is derived from religare : re (meaning "again") + ligare ("bind" or "connect"), which was made prominent by St. Augustine following the interpretation given by Lactantius in Divinae institutiones , IV, 28. The medieval usage alternates with order in designating bonded communities like those of monastic orders : "we hear of the 'religion' of the Golden Fleece , of a knight 'of
4284-606: Is established; legitimate", expanded as a phrase šarrum ki(e)num . The terms "Pre-Sargonic" and "Post-Sargonic" were used in Assyriology based on the chronologies of Nabonidus before the historical existence of Sargon of Akkad was confirmed. The form Šarru-ukīn was known from the Assyrian Sargon Legend discovered in 1867 in Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. A contemporary reference to Sargon thought to have been found on
4437-427: Is far-reaching; his word is sublime and holy. His decisions are unalterable; he decides fate forever! His eyes scrutinize the entire world!" A prayer to the god Enlil. Each Mesopotamian city was home to a deity, and each of the prominent deities was the patron of a city, and all known temples were located in cities, though there may have been shrines in the suburbs. The temple itself was constructed of mud brick in
4590-546: Is found in texts from the 17th century due to events such as the splitting of Christendom during the Protestant Reformation and globalization in the Age of Exploration , which involved contact with numerous foreign cultures with non-European languages. Some argue that regardless of its definition, it is not appropriate to apply the term religion to non-Western cultures, while some followers of various faiths rebuke using
4743-574: Is often thought of as other people's religions, and religion can be defined as misinterpreted mythology." Sargon of Akkad Sargon of Akkad ( / ˈ s ɑːr ɡ ɒ n / ; Akkadian : 𒊬𒊒𒄀 , romanized: Šarrugi ), also known as Sargon the Great , was the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire , known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BC. He
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4896-526: Is possible to understand why scientific findings and philosophical criticisms (e.g., those made by Richard Dawkins ) do not necessarily disturb its adherents. The origin of religious belief is an open question, with possible explanations including awareness of individual death, a sense of community, and dreams. Traditionally, faith , in addition to reason , has been considered a source of religious beliefs. The interplay between faith and reason, and their use as perceived support for religious beliefs, have been
5049-467: Is sacred, reverence for the gods. It is ultimately derived from the Latin word religiō . According to Roman philosopher Cicero , religiō comes from relegere : re (meaning "again") + lego (meaning "read"), where lego is in the sense of "go over", "choose", or "consider carefully". Contrarily, some modern scholars such as Tom Harpur and Joseph Campbell have argued that religiō
5202-644: Is some uncertainty whether his name should be rendered Šarru-ukīn or as Šarru-kēn(u) . Primary sources pertaining to Sargon are sparse; the main near-contemporary reference is that in the various versions of the Sumerian King List . Here, Sargon is mentioned as the son of a gardener, former cup-bearer of Ur-Zababa of Kish . He usurped the kingship from Lugal-zage-si of Uruk and took it to his own city of Akkad . The later (early 2nd millennium BC) Weidner chronicle has Sargon ruling directly after Ur-Zababa and does not mention Lugal-zage-si. Various copies of
5355-469: Is sometimes identified as the first person in recorded history to rule over an empire . He was the founder of the "Sargonic" or "Old Akkadian" dynasty, which ruled for about a century after his death until the Gutian conquest of Sumer . The Sumerian King List makes him the cup-bearer to King Ur-Zababa of Kish . His empire, which he ruled from his archaeologically as yet unidentified capital, Akkad ,
5508-515: Is thought to have included most of Mesopotamia and parts of the Levant , Hurrian and Elamite territory. Sargon appears as a legendary figure in Neo-Assyrian literature of the 8th to 7th centuries BC. Tablets with fragments of a Sargon Birth Legend were found in the Library of Ashurbanipal . The Akkadian name is normalized as either Šarru-ukīn or Šarru-kēn . The name's cuneiform spelling
5661-455: Is variously LUGAL - ú-kin , šar-ru-gen 6 , šar-ru-ki-in , šar-ru-um-ki-in . In Old Babylonian tablets relating the legends of Sargon, his name is transcribed as 𒊬𒊒𒌝𒄀𒅔 ( Šar-ru-um-ki-in ). In Late Assyrian references, the name is mostly spelled as LUGAL-GI.NA or LUGAL-GIN, i.e. identical to the name of the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II . The spelling Sargon is derived from
5814-502: The 12th century BC ). The Sumerian-language Sargon legend contains a legendary account of Sargon's rise to power. It is an older version of the previously known Assyrian legend, discovered in 1974 in Nippur and first edited in 1983. Subsequent scholoarship questioned if the two fragments were actually a join, or were even from two different texts. The initial translation has also been questioned. The extant versions are incomplete, but
5967-481: The Abrahamic religions Christianity, Islam, and Judaism , while others are arguably less so, in particular folk religions , indigenous religions , and some Eastern religions . A portion of the world's population are members of new religious movements . Scholars have indicated that global religiosity may be increasing due to religious countries having generally higher birth rates. The study of religion comprises
6120-620: The creation myth , the Garden of Eden , the flood myth , the Tower of Babel , figures such as Nimrod and Lilith and the Book of Esther . It has also inspired various contemporary neo-pagan groups. In the New Testament Book of Revelation , Babylonian religion is associated with religious apostasy of the lowest order, the archetype of a political/religious system heavily tied to global commerce, and it
6273-405: The divine , sacredness , faith , and a supernatural being or beings. The origin of religious belief is an open question, with possible explanations including awareness of individual death, a sense of community, and dreams. Religions have sacred histories , narratives , and mythologies , preserved in oral traditions, sacred texts , symbols , and holy places , that may attempt to explain
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6426-553: The medieval period . In the Quran, the Arabic word din is often translated as religion in modern translations, but up to the mid-1600s translators expressed din as "law". The Sanskrit word dharma , sometimes translated as religion, also means law. Throughout classical South Asia , the study of law consisted of concepts such as penance through piety and ceremonial as well as practical traditions . Medieval Japan at first had
6579-574: The origin of life , the universe , and other phenomena. Religious practices may include rituals , sermons , commemoration or veneration (of deities or saints ), sacrifices , festivals , feasts , trances , initiations , matrimonial and funerary services, meditation , prayer , music , art , dance , or public service . There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide, though nearly all of them have regionally based, relatively small followings. Four religions— Christianity , Islam , Hinduism , and Buddhism —account for over 77% of
6732-527: The religion of Avys '". In classic antiquity, religiō broadly meant conscientiousness , sense of right , moral obligation , or duty to anything. In the ancient and medieval world, the etymological Latin root religiō was understood as an individual virtue of worship in mundane contexts; never as doctrine , practice, or actual source of knowledge . In general, religiō referred to broad social obligations towards anything including family, neighbors, rulers, and even towards God . Religiō
6885-408: The "Sargonic Dynasty" and their rule as the "Sargonic Period" of Mesopotamian history. Foster (1982) argued that the reading of 55 years as the duration of Sargon's reign was, in fact, a corruption of an original interpretation of 37 years. An older version of the king list gives Sargon's reign as lasting for 40 years. Thorkild Jacobsen marked the clause about Sargon's father being a gardener as
7038-424: The "conscious everyday world into the trance world of spiritual ecstasy." Mesopotamians believed in an afterlife that took place in a region below the surface of the earth inhabited by living humans. This was the ancient Mesopotamian underworld , known by many names including Arallû , Ganzer or Irkallu ("Great Below"). It was believed everyone went to this region after death, irrespective of social status or
7191-488: The 1500s to distinguish the domain of the church and the domain of civil authorities ; the Peace of Augsburg marks such instance, which has been described by Christian Reus-Smit as "the first step on the road toward a European system of sovereign states ." Roman general Julius Caesar used religiō to mean "obligation of an oath" when discussing captured soldiers making an oath to their captors. Roman naturalist Pliny
7344-438: The 7th century BC purporting to be Sargon's autobiography asserts that the great king was the illegitimate son of a priestess. Only the beginning of the text (the first two columns) is known, from the fragments of three manuscripts. The first fragments were discovered as early as 1850. Sargon's birth and his early childhood are described thus: My mother was a high priestess, my father I knew not. The brothers of my father loved
7497-763: The Achaemenids in 522 and 482 BC. During this period the Syriac language and Syriac alphabet evolved in Assyria among the Assyrian people, and were centuries later to be the vehicle for the spread of Syriac Christianity throughout the near east. Then, two centuries later in 330 BC, the Macedonian emperor Alexander the Great overthrew the Persians and took control of Mesopotamia itself. After Alexander's death, increased Hellenistic influence
7650-488: The Adapa myth resignedly relate that, due to a blunder, all men must die and that true everlasting life is the sole property of the gods. There are no known Mesopotamian tales about the end of the world , although it has been speculated that they believed that this would eventually occur. This is largely because Berossus wrote that the Mesopotamians believed the world to last "twelve times twelve sars " in his Babyloniaca ; with
7803-510: The Anatolian city of Purushanda in order to protect his merchants. Versions of this narrative in both Hittite and Akkadian have been found. The Hittite version is extant in six fragments, the Akkadian version is known from several manuscripts found at Amarna, Assur, and Nineveh. The narrative is anachronistic, portraying Sargon in a 19th-century milieu. The same text mentions that Sargon crossed
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#17328760075247956-598: The Assyrians are still present today. During the Parthian Empire there was a major revival in Assyria between the second century BC and fourth century AD, with temples once more being dedicated to gods such as Assur , Sin , Shamash , Hadad and Ishtar in various Parthian vassal states in Mesopotamia. In the third century AD, Manichaeism , which incorporated elements of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism , Zoroastrianism , and local Mesopotamian religion, developed. With
8109-611: The Babylonians and the Neo-Assyrian birth legend. Yigal Levin (2002) suggested that Nimrod was a recollection of Sargon and his grandson Naram-Sin, with the name "Nimrod" derived from the latter. The name of Sargon's main wife, Queen Tashlultum , and those of a number of his children are known to us. His daughter Enheduanna was a high priestess of the moon God in Ur who composed ritual hymns. Many of her works, including her Exaltation of Inanna , were in use for centuries thereafter. Sargon
8262-472: The Elder used the term religiō to describe the apparent respect given by elephants to the night sky . Cicero used religiō as being related to cultum deorum (worship of the gods). In Ancient Greece , the Greek term threskeia ( θρησκεία ) was loosely translated into Latin as religiō in late antiquity . Threskeia was sparsely used in classical Greece but became more frequently used in
8415-558: The English language. Native Americans were also thought of as not having religions and also had no word for religion in their languages either. No one self-identified as a Hindu or Buddhist or other similar terms before the 1800s. "Hindu" has historically been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people indigenous to the Indian subcontinent . Throughout its long history, Japan had no concept of religion since there
8568-608: The Mesopotamian world. A number of scholars once argued that defining a single Mesopotamian religion was not possible, and as such, a systematic exposition of Mesopotamian religion should not be produced. Other have rebutted that this is a mistaken approach, insofar as it would fracture the study of religion among social divisions (such as private religion, religion of the educated), individual cities and provinces ( Ebla , Mari , Assyria ), and time periods ( Seleucid , Achaemenid , etc), and that this fracture would be counterproductive as
8721-593: The Sea of the West ( Mediterranean Sea ) and ended up in Kuppara, which some authors have interpreted as the Akkadian word for Keftiu , an ancient locale usually associated with Crete or Cyprus . Famine and war threatened Sargon's empire during the latter years of his reign. The Chronicle of Early Kings reports that revolts broke out throughout the area under the last years of his overlordship: Afterward in his [Sargon's] old age all
8874-658: The Sumerian moon god Nanna became the Akkadian Sîn while the Sumerian sun god Utu became the Akkadian Shamash . One of the most notable goddesses was the Sumerian sex and war deity Inanna . With the later rise to power of the Babylonians in the 18th century BC, the king, Hammurabi , declared Marduk, a deity who before then had not been of significant importance, to a position of supremacy alongside Anu and Enlil in southern Mesopotamia. Although Marduk may have been modelled after
9027-642: The Sumerian storm-god Ninurta ; whose exploits share great similarity. Perhaps the most significant legend to survive from Mesopotamian religion is the Epic of Gilgamesh , which tells the story of the heroic king Gilgamesh and his wild friend Enkidu , and the former's search for immortality which is entwined with all the gods and their approval. It also contains the earliest reference to The Great Flood . Akkadian religion sometimes took inspiration from influential Sumerian religious leaders and beliefs, and deified Sumerian kings at some points. " Enlil ! his authority
9180-810: The Upper Land: Mari, Iarmuti, and Ebla , as far as the Cedar Forest and the Silver Mountains Sargon also claims in his inscriptions that he is "Sargon, king of the world, conqueror of Elam and Parahshum ", the two major polities to the east of Sumer. He also names various rulers of the east whom he vanquished, such as " Luh-uh-ish-an , son of Hishibrasini, king of Elam, king of Elam" or "Sidga'u, general of Parahshum", who later also appears in an inscription by Rimush . Sargon triumphed over 34 cities in total. Ships from Meluhha , Magan and Dilmun , rode at anchor in his capital of Akkad. He entertained
9333-491: The West (or even in the West until after the Peace of Westphalia ). The MacMillan Encyclopedia of Religions states: The very attempt to define religion, to find some distinctive or possibly unique essence or set of qualities that distinguish the religious from the remainder of human life, is primarily a Western concern. The attempt is a natural consequence of the Western speculative, intellectualistic, and scientific disposition. It
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#17328760075249486-641: The [Low]er (Sea). Submitting himself to the (Levantine god) Dagan , Sargon conquered territories of Upper Mesopotamia and the Levant , including Mari , Yarmuti ( Jarmuth ?) and Ibla "up to the Cedar Forest (the Amanus ) and up to the Silver Mountain ( Aladagh ?)", ruling from the "upper sea" (Mediterranean) to the "lower sea" (Persian Gulf). Sargon the King bowed down to Dagan in Tuttul . He (Dagan) gave to him (Sargon)
9639-491: The actions performed during their lifetime. Unlike Christian hell , the Mesopotamians considered the underworld neither a punishment nor a reward. Nevertheless, the condition of the dead was hardly considered the same as the life previously enjoyed on earth: they were considered merely weak and powerless ghosts. The myth of Ishtar's descent into the underworld relates that "dust is their food and clay their nourishment, they see no light, where they dwell in darkness." Stories such as
9792-432: The appropriate attitude towards them. Duties seem to have been primarily of a cultic and ritual nature, although some prayers express a positive psychological relationship, or a sort of conversion experience in regard to a god. Generally the reward to mankind is described as success and long life. Every man also had duties to his fellow man which had some religious character, particularly the king's duties to his subjects. It
9945-577: The behavior of birds ( augury ) and observing celestial and meteorological phenomena ( astrology ), as well as through interpretation of dreams. Often interpretation of these phenomena required the need for two classes of priests: askers (sa'ilu) and observer ( baru ), and also sometimes a lower class of ecstatic seer (mahhu) that was also associated with witchcraft . "Do not return evil to the man who disputes with you, requite with kindness your evil-doer, maintain justice to your enemy... Let not your heart be induced to do evil... Give food to eat, beer to drink,
10098-422: The belief in spiritual beings exists in all known societies. In his book The Varieties of Religious Experience , the psychologist William James defined religion as "the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine". By the term divine James meant "any object that is god like , whether it be
10251-430: The beliefs and traditions of Judaism are found in the ancient world, ancient Jews saw Jewish identity as being about an ethnic or national identity and did not entail a compulsory belief system or regulated rituals. In the 1st century CE, Josephus had used the Greek term ioudaismos (Judaism) as an ethnic term and was not linked to modern abstract concepts of religion or a set of beliefs. The very concept of "Judaism"
10404-483: The city, which included the power to detain people and confiscate property. The institution of the eponym as well as the formula iššiak Assur lingered on as ceremonial vestiges of this early system throughout the history of the Assyrian monarchy. The religion of the Neo-Assyrian Empire centered around the Assyrian king as the king of their lands as well. However, kingship at the time was linked very closely with
10557-498: The claim that the Mesopotamian's "entire existence was infused by their religiosity, just about everything they have passed on to us can be used as a source of knowledge about their religion." The modern study of Mesopotamia ( Assyriology ) is still a fairly young science, beginning only in the middle of the Nineteenth century, and the study of Mesopotamian religion can be a complex and difficult subject because, by nature, their religion
10710-601: The communication of supernatural beliefs, defining religion as: ... the communicated acceptance by individuals of another individual’s “supernatural” claim, a claim whose accuracy is not verifiable by the senses. Friedrich Schleiermacher in the late 18th century defined religion as das schlechthinnige Abhängigkeitsgefühl , commonly translated as "the feeling of absolute dependence". His contemporary Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel disagreed thoroughly, defining religion as "the Divine Spirit becoming conscious of Himself through
10863-516: The cylinder seal of Ibni-sharru, a high-ranking official serving under Sargon. Joachim Menant published a description of this seal in 1877, reading the king's name as Shegani-shar-lukh , and did not yet identify it with "Sargon the Elder" (who was identified with the Old Assyrian king Sargon I ). In 1883, the British Museum acquired the "mace-head of Shar-Gani-sharri", a votive gift deposited at
11016-401: The deity approved, it would accept the image and agree to "inhabit" it. These images were also entertained, and sometime escorted on hunting expeditions. In order to service the gods, the temple was equipped with a household with kitchens and kitchenware, sleeping rooms with beds and side rooms for the deity's family, as well as a courtyard with a basin and water for cleansing visitors, as well as
11169-564: The exception of the Enuma Elish , there are no surviving records that systematically explain Mesopotamian cosmology. Nonetheless, modern scholars have reconstructed a roughly accurate depiction from the surviving evidence, including Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform and the Hebrew Bible . In the Enuma Elish (ca. 12th century BC), the god Marduk kills Tiamat , the mother of the gods, and, from
11322-440: The favor of the goddess Inanna and the drowning of Ur-Zababa by the goddess in a river of blood. Deeply frightened, Ur-Zababa orders Sargon murdered by the hands of Beliš-tikal, the chief smith, but Inanna prevents it, demanding that Sargon stop at the gates because of his being "polluted with blood". When Sargon returns to Ur-Zababa, the king becomes frightened again and decides to send Sargon to king Lugal-zage-si of Uruk with
11475-450: The finite spirit." Edward Burnett Tylor defined religion in 1871 as "the belief in spiritual beings". He argued that narrowing the definition to mean the belief in a supreme deity or judgment after death or idolatry and so on, would exclude many peoples from the category of religious, and thus "has the fault of identifying religion rather with particular developments than with the deeper motive which underlies them". He also argued that
11628-583: The first records, and are believed to have been the founders of the civilization of the Ubaid period (6500 BC to 3800 BC) in Upper Mesopotamia . By historical times they resided in southern Mesopotamia, which was known as Sumer (and much later, Babylonia ), and had considerable influence on the Akkadian speakers and their culture. Akkadian speakers are believed to have entered the region at some point between 3500 BC and 3000 BC, with Akkadian names first appearing in
11781-415: The form of a ziggurat , which rose to the sky in a series of stairstep stages. Its significance and symbolism have been the subject of much discussion, but most regard the tower as a kind of staircase or ladder for the god to descend from and ascend to the heavens, though there are signs which point towards an actual cult having been practiced in the upper temple, so the entire temple may have been regarded as
11934-413: The god Marduk with Babylon . Though the full number of gods and goddesses found in Mesopotamia is not known, K. Tallqvist, in his Akkadische Götterepitheta (1938) counted around 2,400 that scholars know, most of which had Sumerian names. In the Sumerian language , the gods were referred to as dingir , while in the Akkadian language they were known as ilu and it seems that there was syncretism between
12087-471: The god that they are describing above all others. The historian J. Bottéro stated that these poems display "extreme reverence, profound devotion, [and] the unarguable emotion that the supernatural evoked in the hearts of those ancient believers" but that they showed a people who were scared of their gods rather than openly celebrating them. They were thought to offer good luck, success, and protection from disease and demons, and one's place and success in society
12240-681: The god, who was thought to reside and hold court on earth for the good of the city and kingdom. His presence was symbolized by an image of the god in a separate room. The god's presence within the image seems to have been thought of in a very concrete way, as instruments for the presence of the deity." This is evident from the poem How Erra Wrecked the World , in which Erra deceived the god Marduk into leaving his cult statue . Once constructed, idols were consecrated through special nocturnal rituals where they were given "life", and their mouth "was opened" ( pet pî ) and washed ( mes pî ) so they could see and eat. If
12393-412: The gods as well. Besides demons, there were also spirits of the dead , (etimmu) who could also cause mischief. Amulets were occasionally used, and sometimes a special priest or exorcist ( āšipu or mašmašu) was required. Incantations and ceremonies were also used to cure diseases which were also thought to be associated with demonic activity, sometimes making use of sympathetic magic . Sometimes an attempt
12546-643: The gods into a monarchical hierarchy, with the national god being the head of the pantheon. Mesopotamian religion finally declined with the spread of Iranian religions during the Achaemenid Empire and with the Christianization of Mesopotamia. The very earliest undercurrents of Mesopotamian religious thought are believed to have developed in the first half of the sixth millennium BC, at the time people first began to permanently settle in Mesopotamia owing to improved irrigation. The early religious developments of
12699-551: The gods worshipped by the two groups, adopting one another's deities. The Mesopotamian gods bore many similarities with humans, and were anthropomorphic , thereby having humanoid form. Similarly, they often acted like humans, requiring food and drink, as well as drinking alcohol and subsequently suffering the effects of drunkenness , but were thought to have a higher degree of perfection than common men. They were thought to be more powerful, all-seeing and all-knowing, unfathomable, and, above all, immortal. One of their prominent features
12852-435: The gods, and how kings were used as a tool for deliverance. Sumerian myths suggest a prohibition against premarital sex. Marriages were often arranged by the parents of the bride and groom; engagements were usually completed through the approval of contracts recorded on clay tablets. These marriages became legal as soon as the groom delivered a bridal gift to his bride's father. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that premarital sex
13005-443: The gods. Punishment came through sickness or misfortune, which inevitably lead to the common reference to unknown sins, or the idea that one can transgress a divine prohibition without knowing it—psalms of lamentation rarely mention concrete sins. This idea of retribution was also applied to the nation and history as a whole. A number of examples of Mesopotamian literature show how war and natural disasters were treated as punishment from
13158-477: The heirs of Sargon's empire. Sargon may indeed have introduced the notion of "empire" as understood in the later Assyrian period; the Neo-Assyrian Sargon Text , written in the first person, has Sargon challenging later rulers to "govern the black-headed people" (i.e. the indigenous population of Mesopotamia) as he did. An important source for "Sargonic heroes" in oral tradition in the later Bronze Age
13311-483: The help of religious scholars and translators, to re-construct a working knowledge of the religious history, customs, and the role these beliefs played in everyday life in Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, Ebla and Chaldea during this time. Mesopotamian religion is thought to have been an influence on subsequent religions throughout the world, including Canaanite /Israelite, Aramean , and ancient Greek . Mesopotamian religion
13464-502: The hills. My city is Azupiranu , which is situated on the banks of the Euphrates. My high priestess mother conceived me, in secret she bore me. She set me in a basket of rushes, with bitumen she sealed my lid. She cast me into the river which rose over me. The river bore me up and carried me to Akki, the drawer of water. Akki, the drawer of water, took me as his son and reared me. Akki, the drawer of water, appointed me as his gardener. While I
13617-447: The idea of divine mandate. The Assyrian king, while not being a god himself, was acknowledged as the chief servant of the chief god, Ashur . In this manner, the king's authority was seen as absolute so long as the high priest reassured the peoples that the gods, or in the case of the henotheistic Assyrians, the god, was pleased with the current ruler. For the Assyrians who lived in Assur and
13770-512: The infant birth exposure motif found in Eurasian folktales. He discusses a possible archetype form, giving particular attention to the Sargon legend and the account of the birth of Moses . Joseph Campbell has also made such comparisons. Sargon is also one of the many suggestions for the identity or inspiration for the biblical Nimrod . Ewing William (1910) suggested Sargon based on his unification of
13923-421: The influence of Babylonian mythology on Jewish mythology and other Near Eastern mythologies, albeit indirect. Indeed, similarities between both religious traditions may draw from even older sources. In March 2020, archaeologists announced the discovery of a 5,000-year-old cultic area filled with more than 300 broken ceremonial ceramic cups, bowls, jars, animal bones and ritual processions dedicated to Ningirsu at
14076-414: The inscription, Sargon styles himself "Sargon, king of Akkad, overseer ( mashkim ) of Inanna, king of Kish, anointed ( guda ) of Anu, king of the land [Mesopotamia], governor ( ensi ) of Enlil". It celebrates the conquest of Uruk and the defeat of Lugalzagesi , whom Sargon brought "in a collar to the gate of Enlil": Sargon, king of Akkad , overseer of Inanna , king of Kish , anointed of Anu, king of
14229-428: The king list give the duration of his reign as either 40 or 54–56 years. Only a few contemporary inscriptions relating to Sargon exist, though there are a number of Old Babylonian period texts that purport to be copies of earlier inscriptions of Sargon. In absolute years, his reign would correspond to c. 2334–2279 BC in the middle chronology . His successors until the Gutian conquest of Sumer are also known as
14382-420: The king shared in these meals, and the priests may have had some share in the offerings as well. Incense was also burned before the image, because it was thought that the gods enjoyed the smell. Sacrificial meals were also set out regularly, with a sacrificial animal seen as a replacement ( pūhu ) or substitute ( dinānu ) for a man, and it was considered that the anger of the gods or demons was then directed towards
14535-403: The land, governor of Enlil : he defeated the city of Uruk and tore down its walls, in the battle of Uruk he won, took Lugalzagesi king of Uruk in the course of the battle, and led him in a collar to the gate of Enlil . Sargon then conquered Ur and E-Ninmar and "laid waste" the territory from Lagash to the sea, and from there went on to conquer and destroy Umma : Sargon, king of Agade,
14688-515: The lands revolted against him, and they besieged him in Akkad; and Sargon went onward to battle and defeated them; he accomplished their overthrow, and their widespreading host he destroyed. Afterward he attacked the land of Subartu in his might, and they submitted to his arms, and Sargon settled that revolt, and defeated them; he accomplished their overthrow, and their widespreading host he destroyed, and he brought their possessions into Akkad. The soil from
14841-424: The linguistic expressions, emotions and, actions and signs that refer to a supernatural being or supernatural beings. Peter Mandaville and Paul James intended to get away from the modernist dualisms or dichotomous understandings of immanence/transcendence, spirituality/materialism, and sacredness/secularity. They define religion as: ... a relatively-bounded system of beliefs, symbols and practices that addresses
14994-437: The mid- 4th millennium BC , coincides with the invention of writing , and involved the worship of forces of nature as providers of sustenance. In the 3rd millennium BC , objects of worship were personified and became an expansive cast of divinities with particular functions. The last stages of Mesopotamian polytheism, which developed in the 2nd and 1st millennia BC, introduced greater emphasis on personal religion and structured
15147-458: The most important of these early Mesopotamian deities was the god Enlil , who was originally a Sumerian divinity viewed as a king of the gods and a controller of the world, who was later adopted by the Akkadians. Another was the Sumerian god An, who served a similar role to Enlil and became known as Anu among the Akkadians. The Sumerian god Enki was later also adopted by the Akkadians, initially under his original name, and later as Éa . Similarly
15300-516: The most important sources for Sargon's reign is a tablet, in two fragments, of the Old Babylonian period recovered at Nippur in the University of Pennsylvania expedition in the 1890s. The tablet is a copy of the inscriptions on the pedestal of a statue erected by Sargon in the temple of Enlil . Fragment one (CBS 13972) was edited by Arno Poebel and fragment two (Ni 3200) by Leon Legrain. In
15453-479: The movements of the various peoples into and throughout the area. Rather, Mesopotamian religion was a consistent and coherent tradition, which adapted to the internal needs of its adherents over millennia of development. The earliest undercurrents of Mesopotamian religious thought are believed to have developed in Mesopotamia in the 6th millennium BC , coinciding with when the region began to be permanently settled. The earliest evidence of Mesopotamian religion dates to
15606-583: The nature of existence, and in which communion with others and Otherness is lived as if it both takes in and spiritually transcends socially-grounded ontologies of time, space, embodiment and knowing. According to the MacMillan Encyclopedia of Religions , there is an experiential aspect to religion which can be found in almost every culture: ... almost every known culture [has] a depth dimension in cultural experiences ... toward some sort of ultimacy and transcendence that will provide norms and power for
15759-407: The one begging for alms honor, clothe; in this a man's god takes pleasure, it is pleasing to Shamash, who will repay him with favour. Be helpful, do good" Incantation from the Šurpu series. Although ancient paganism tended to focus more on duty and ritual than morality, a number of general moral virtues can be gleaned from surviving prayers and myths. It was believed that man originated as
15912-535: The personal gods changed over time and little is known about early practice as they are rarely named or described. In the mid-third millennium BC, some rulers regarded a particular god or gods as being their personal protector. In the second millennium BC, personal gods began to function more on behalf of the common man, with whom he had a close, personal relationship, maintained through prayer and maintenance of his god's statue. A number of written prayers have survived from ancient Mesopotamia, each of which typically exalt
16065-428: The possibility of a definition. Others argue that regardless of its definition, it is not appropriate to apply it to non-Western cultures. An increasing number of scholars have expressed reservations about ever defining the essence of religion. They observe that the way the concept today is used is a particularly modern construct that would not have been understood through much of history and in many cultures outside
16218-425: The purification of the temple ( mašmašu ), priests to appease the wrath of the gods with song and music ( kalū ), as well as female singers ( nāru ), male singers ( zammeru ), craftsmen ( mārē ummāni ), swordbearers ( nāš paṭri ), masters of divination ( bārû ), penitents ( šā'ilu ), and others. Besides the worship of the gods at public rituals, individuals also paid homage to a personal deity. As with other deities,
16371-474: The region are unknown since they preceded the invention of writing. The first evidence for what is recognisably Mesopotamian religion can be seen with the invention in Mesopotamia of writing circa 3500 BC. The people of Mesopotamia originally consisted of two groups, East Semitic speakers of Akkadian and the people of Sumer , who spoke Sumerian , a language isolate . These peoples were members of various city-states and small kingdoms . The Sumerians left
16524-547: The region, particularly numerous literary sources, which are usually written in Sumerian , Akkadian ( Assyro-Babylonian ) or Aramaic using cuneiform script on clay tablets and which describe both mythology and cultic practices. Other artifacts can also be useful when reconstructing Mesopotamian religion. As is common with most ancient civilizations, the objects made of the most durable and precious materials, and thus more likely to survive, were associated with religious beliefs and practices. This has prompted one scholar to make
16677-600: The regnal lists of these states c. 29th century BC. The Sumerians were advanced: as well as inventing writing, they developed early forms of mathematics , early wheeled vehicles/ chariots , astronomy , astrology , written code of law , organised medicine , advanced agriculture and architecture , and the calendar . They created the first city-states such as Uruk , Ur , Lagash , Isin , Kish , Umma , Eridu , Adab , Akshak , Sippar , Nippur and Larsa , each of them ruled by an ensí . The Sumerians remained largely dominant in this synthesised culture, however, until
16830-759: The religions of the Near East were rooted in Babylonian astral science- including the Hebrew Bible and Judaism. This theory of a Babylonian-derived Bible originated from the discovery of a stele in the acropolis of Susa bearing a Babylonian flood myth with many similarities to the flood of Genesis, the Epic of Gilgamesh . However, flood myths appear in almost every culture around the world, including cultures that never had contact with Mesopotamia. The fundamental tenets of Panbabylonism were eventually dismissed as pseudoscientific, however Assyriologists and biblical scholars recognize
16983-419: The rest of life. When more or less distinct patterns of behavior are built around this depth dimension in a culture, this structure constitutes religion in its historically recognizable form. Religion is the organization of life around the depth dimensions of experience—varied in form, completeness, and clarity in accordance with the environing culture. Anthropologists Lyle Steadman and Craig T. Palmer emphasized
17136-402: The rise of the Akkadian Empire under Sargon of Akkad circa 2335 BC, which united all of Mesopotamia under one ruler. There was increasing syncretism between the Sumerian and Akkadian cultures and deities, with the Akkadians typically preferring to worship fewer deities but elevating them to greater positions of power. Like many nations in Mesopotamian history, Assyria was originally, to
17289-425: The ruler was the high priest . The ruler himself was only designated as "steward of Assur" ( iššiak Assur ), where the term for steward is a borrowing from Sumerian ensí . The third centre of power was the eponym ( limmum ), who gave the year his name, similarly to the eponymous archon and Roman consuls of classical antiquity . He was annually elected by lot and was responsible for the economic administration of
17442-528: The sacrificial animal. Additionally, certain days required extra sacrifices and ceremonies for certain gods, and every day was sacred to a particular god. The king was thought, in theory, to be the religious leader ( enu or šangū ) of the cult and exercised a large number of duties within the temple, with a large number of specialists whose task was to mediate between men and gods: a supervising or "watchman" priest ( šešgallu ), priests for individual purification against demons and magicians ( āšipu ), priests for
17595-399: The second tablet of the Šurpu incantation series. Sin, on the other hand, was expressed by the words hitu (mistake, false step), annu or arnu (rebellion), and qillatu (sin or curse), with strong emphasis on the idea of rebellion, sometimes with the idea that sin is man's wishing to "live on his own terms" (ina ramanisu). Sin also was described as anything which incited the wrath of
17748-449: The single mention of the name (in reference to Sargon II ) in the Hebrew Bible , as סַרְגוֹן , in Isaiah 20 :1. The first element in the name is šarru , the Akkadian (East Semitic) for "king" (c.f. Hebrew śar שַׂר ). The second element is derived from the verb kīnum "to confirm, establish" (related to Hebrew kūn כּוּן ). A possible interpretation of the reading Šarru-ukīn
17901-600: The site of Girsu . One of the remains was a duck-shaped bronze figurine with eyes made from bark which is thought to be dedicated to Nanshe . While Mesopotamian religion had almost completely died out by approximately 400–500 AD after its indigenous adherents had largely become Assyrian Christians , it has still had an influence on the modern world, predominantly because many biblical stories that are today found in Judaism , Christianity , Islam and Mandaeism were possibly based upon earlier Mesopotamian myths, in particular that of
18054-673: The soil of the pit of Babylon, and made a counterpart of Babylon next to Agade". Van de Mieroop suggested that those two chronicles may refer to the much later Assyrian king, Sargon II of the Neo-Assyrian Empire , rather than to Sargon of Akkad. While various copies of the Sumerian king list and later Babylonian chronicles credit Sargon with a reign length ranging from 34 to 56 years, dated documents have been found for only four different year-names of his actual reign. The names of these four years describe his campaigns against Elam, Mari, Simurrum , and Uru'a/Arawa (in western Elam). Numerous other inscriptions related to Sargon are known. Among
18207-483: The subject of legendary narratives describing his rise to power from humble origins and his conquest of Mesopotamia in later Assyrian and Babylonian literature. Apart from these secondary, and partly legendary, accounts, there are many inscriptions due to Sargon himself, although the majority of these are known only from much later copies. The Louvre has fragments of two Sargonic victory steles recovered from Susa (where they were presumably transported from Mesopotamia in
18360-431: The succession of ancient near eastern states did not impact the presence of a broadly shared religious system across them. According to Panbabylonism , a school of thought founded by Hugo Winckler and held in the early 20th century among primarily German Assyriologists, there was a common cultural system extending over the ancient Near East which was overwhelmingly influenced by the Babylonians. According to this theory
18513-538: The surrounding lands, this system was the norm. For the conquered peoples, however, it was novel, particularly to the people of smaller city-states. In time, Ashur was promoted from being the local deity of Assur to the overlord of the vast Assyrian domain, which spread from the Caucasus and Armenia in the north to Egypt, Nubia and the Arabian Peninsula in the south, and from Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean Sea in
18666-399: The surviving two fragments name Sargon's father as La'ibum. After a lacuna , the text skips to Ur-Zababa , king of Kish , who awakens after a dream, the contents of which are not revealed on the surviving portion of the tablet. For unknown reasons, Ur-Zababa appoints Sargon as his cup-bearer . Soon after this, Ur-Zababa invites Sargon to his chambers to discuss a dream of Sargon's, involving
18819-479: The temple of Shamash in Sippar . This "Shar-Gani" was identified with the Sargon of Agade of Assyrian legend. The identification of "Shar-Gani-sharri" with Sargon was recognised as mistaken in the 1910s. Shar-Gani-sharri ( Shar-Kali-Sharri ) is, in fact, Sargon's great-grandson, the successor of Naram-Sin . It is not entirely clear whether the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II was directly named for Sargon of Akkad, as there
18972-413: The term superstitio (which meant too much fear or anxiety or shame) to religiō at times. When religiō came into English around the 1200s as religion, it took the meaning of "life bound by monastic vows" or monastic orders. The compartmentalized concept of religion, where religious and worldly things were separated, was not used before the 1500s. The concept of religion was first used in
19125-609: The trenches of Babylon he removed, and the boundaries of Akkad he made like those of Babylon. But because of the evil which he had committed, the great lord Marduk was angry, and he destroyed his people by famine. From the rising of the sun unto the setting of the sun they opposed him and gave him no rest. A. Leo Oppenheim translates the last sentence as "From the East to the West he [i.e. Marduk] alienated (them) from him and inflicted upon (him as punishment) that he could not rest (in his grave)." Shortly after securing Sumer, Sargon embarked on
19278-460: The two halves of her carcass, constructs the heavens and the earth to shape the modern observable cosmos. A document from a similar period stated that the heavens and the earth can each be divided into three layers. The gods dwell in the higher levels of heaven, with the stars being fixed into the lowermost heavenly layer. Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic , thereby accepting the existence of many different deities, both male and female, though it
19431-453: The virtue of heroism, and a lecture by a courtier on the glory achieved by a champion of the army, a narrative relating a campaign of Sargon's into the far land of Uta-raspashtim , including an account of a "darkening of the Sun" and the conquest of the land of Simurrum , and a concluding oration by Sargon listing his conquests. The narrative of King of Battle relates Sargon's campaign against
19584-488: The west to central Iran in the east. Assur , the patron deity of the city of Assur from the late Bronze Age , was in constant rivalry with the patron deity of Babylon, Marduk . Worship was conducted in his name throughout the lands dominated by the Assyrians. With the worship of Assur across much of the Fertile Crescent , the Assyrian king could command the loyalty of his fellow servants of Assur. In 539 BC, Mesopotamia
19737-497: The west's booty across on barges. He stationed his court officials at intervals of five double hours and ruled in unity the tribes of the lands. He marched to Kazallu and turned Kazallu into a ruin heap, so that there was not even a perch for a bird left. and In the east, Sargon defeated four leaders of Elam , led by the king of Awan . Their cities were sacked; the governors, viceroys, and kings of Susa , Waraḫše , and neighboring districts became vassals of Akkad. Sargon became
19890-513: The word to describe their own belief system. The concept of "ancient religion" stems from modern interpretations of a range of practices that conform to a modern concept of religion, influenced by early modern and 19th century Christian discourse. The concept of religion was formed in the 16th and 17th centuries, despite the fact that ancient sacred texts like the Bible , the Quran , and others did not have
20043-502: The world's population, and 92% of the world either follows one of those four religions or identifies as nonreligious , meaning that the remaining 9,000+ faiths account for only 8% of the population combined. The religiously unaffiliated demographic includes those who do not identify with any particular religion, atheists , and agnostics , although many in the demographic still have various religious beliefs. Many world religions are also organized religions , most definitively including
20196-400: The writings of Josephus in the 1st century CE. It was used in mundane contexts and could mean multiple things from respectful fear to excessive or harmfully distracting practices of others, to cultic practices. It was often contrasted with the Greek word deisidaimonia , which meant too much fear. Religion is a modern concept. The concept was invented recently in the English language and
20349-439: The writings of, for example, Frederick Ferré who defined religion as "one's way of valuing most comprehensively and intensively". Similarly, for the theologian Paul Tillich , faith is "the state of being ultimately concerned", which "is itself religion. Religion is the substance, the ground, and the depth of man's spiritual life." When religion is seen in terms of sacred, divine, intensive valuing, or ultimate concern, then it
20502-410: Was polytheistic , worshipping over 2,100 different deities, many of which were associated with a specific state within Mesopotamia, such as Sumer, Akkad, Assyria or Babylonia, or a specific Mesopotamian city. Mesopotamian religion has historically the oldest body of recorded literature of any religious tradition. What is known about Mesopotamian religion comes from archaeological evidence uncovered in
20655-423: Was a common, but surreptitious, occurrence. The worship of Inanna/Ishtar, which was prevalent in Mesopotamia could involve wild, frenzied dancing and bloody ritual celebrations of social and physical abnormality. It was believed that "nothing is prohibited to Inanna", and that by depicting transgressions of normal human social and physical limitations, including traditional gender definition, one could cross over from
20808-592: Was a gardener, Ishtar granted me her love, and for four and ... years I exercised kingship. Similarities between the Sargon Birth Legend and other infant birth exposures in ancient literature, including Moses , Karna , and Oedipus , were noted by psychoanalyst Otto Rank in his 1909 book The Myth of the Birth of the Hero . The legend was also studied in detail by Brian Lewis, and compared with many different examples of
20961-473: Was a strong belief in demons in Mesopotamia, and private individuals, like the temple priests, also participated in incantations (šiptu) to ward them off. Although there was no collective term for these beings either in Sumerian or Akkadian, they were merely described as harmful or dangerous beings or forces, and they were used as a logical way to explain the existence of evil in the world. They were thought to be countless in number, and were thought to even attack
21114-531: Was a terrifying brightness ( melammu ) which surrounded them, producing an immediate reaction of awe and reverence among men. In many cases, the various deities were family relations of one another, a trait found in many other polytheistic religions. The historian J. Bottéro was of the opinion that the gods were not viewed mystically , but were instead seen as high-up masters who had to be obeyed and feared, as opposed to loved and adored. Nonetheless, many Mesopotamians, of all classes, often had names that were devoted to
21267-418: Was also henotheistic , with certain gods being viewed as superior to others by their specific devotees. These devotees were often from a particular city or city-state that held that deity as its tutelary deity ; for instance, Enki was often associated with the city of Eridu in Sumer, Assur with Assur and Assyria , Enlil with the Sumerian city of Nippur , Ishtar with the Assyrian city of Arbela , and
21420-401: Was believed that the gods expressed their will through "words" (amatu) and "commandments" (qibitu) which were not necessarily spoken, but were thought to manifest in the unfolding routine of events and things. There were countless ways to divine the future, such as observing oil dropped into a cup of water ( lecanomancy ), observing the entrails of sacrificial animals ( extispicy ), observation of
21573-577: Was brought to the region by the Seleucid Empire . Assyria and Babylonia later became provinces under the Parthian Empire ( Achaemenid Assyria and province of Babylonia ), Rome (province of Assyria ) and Sasanian Empire (province of Asoristan ). Babylonia was dissolved as an entity during the Parthian Empire, though Assyria endured as a geopolitical entity until the Muslim conquest of Persia , while
21726-473: Was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire (539–332 BC), then ruled by Cyrus the Great . This brought to an end over 3000 years of Mesopotamian dominance of the Near East. The Persians maintained and did not interfere in the native culture and religion and Assyria and Babylon continued to exist as entities (although Chaldea and the Chaldeans disappeared), and Assyria was strong enough to launch major rebellions against
21879-409: Was governed only by usage, not by any official decision, and by nature it was neither dogmatic nor systematic. Deities, characters, and their actions within myths changed in character and importance over time, and occasionally depicted different, sometimes even contrasting images or concepts. This is further complicated by the fact that scholars are not entirely certain what role religious texts played in
22032-540: Was invented by the Christian Church , and it was in the 19th century that Jews began to see their ancestral culture as a religion analogous to Christianity. The Greek word threskeia , which was used by Greek writers such as Herodotus and Josephus, is found in the New Testament . Threskeia is sometimes translated as "religion" in today's translations, but the term was understood as generic "worship" well into
22185-503: Was made to capture a demon by making an image of it, placing it above the head of a sick person, then destroying the image, which the demon was somehow likely to inhabit. Images of protecting spirits were also made and placed at gates to ward off disaster. Divination was also employed by private individuals, with the assumption that the gods have already determined the destinies of men and these destinies could be ascertained through observing omens and through rituals (e.g., casting lots). It
22338-434: Was most often used by the ancient Romans not in the context of a relation towards gods, but as a range of general emotions which arose from heightened attention in any mundane context such as hesitation , caution, anxiety , or fear , as well as feelings of being bound, restricted, or inhibited. The term was also closely related to other terms like scrupulus (which meant "very precisely"), and some Roman authors related
22491-515: Was no corresponding Japanese word, nor anything close to its meaning, but when American warships appeared off the coast of Japan in 1853 and forced the Japanese government to sign treaties demanding, among other things, freedom of religion, the country had to contend with this idea. According to the philologist Max Müller in the 19th century, the root of the English word religion, the Latin religiō ,
22644-424: Was originally used to mean only reverence for God or the gods, careful pondering of divine things, piety (which Cicero further derived to mean diligence). Müller characterized many other cultures around the world, including Egypt, Persia, and India, as having a similar power structure at this point in history. What is called ancient religion today, they would have only called law. Scholars have failed to agree on
22797-459: Was rendered Sargon ( סַרְגוֹן ) in the Hebrew Bible ( Isaiah 20:1). Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus showed great interest in the history of the Sargonid dynasty and even conducted excavations of Sargon's palaces and those of his successors. The fanciful adventure film The Scorpion King: Rise of a Warrior (2008) imagines Sargon of Akkad as a murderous army commander wielding black magic . He
22950-490: Was succeeded by his son Rimush ; after Rimush's death another son, Manishtushu , became king. Manishtushu would be succeeded by his own son, Naram-Sin . Two other sons, Shu-Enlil (Ibarum) and Ilaba'is-takal (Abaish-Takal), are known. Sargon of Akkad is sometimes identified as the first person in recorded history to rule over an empire (in the sense of the central government of a multi-ethnic territory), although earlier Sumerian rulers such as Lugal-zage-si might have
23103-493: Was thought that one of the reasons the gods gave power to the king was to exercise justice and righteousness, described as mēšaru and kettu , literally "straightness, rightness, firmness, truth". Examples of this include not alienating and causing dissension between friends and relatives, setting innocent prisoners free, being truthful, being honest in trade, respecting boundary lines and property rights, and not putting on airs with subordinates. Some of these guidelines are found in
23256-431: Was thought to depend on his personal deity, including the development of his certain talents and even his personality. This was even taken to the point that everything he experienced was considered a reflection of what was happening to his personal god. When a man neglected his god, it was assumed that the demons were free to inflict him, and when he revered his god, that god was like a shepherd who seeks food for him. There
23409-463: Was victorious over Ur in battle, conquered the city and destroyed its wall. He conquered Eninmar, destroyed its walls, and conquered its district and Lagash as far as the sea. He washed his weapons in the sea. He was victorious over Umma in battle, [conquered the city, and destroyed its walls]. [To Sargon], lo[rd] of the land the god Enlil [gave no] ri[val]. The god Enlil gave to him [the Upper Sea and]
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