Kings, priests and priestesses were the most important people in Mesopotamian society. If Mesopotamian pantheon and mythology were not simple and straightforward, the cosmology was.
The universe was the heaven and earth, the term for which was an-ki or heaven-earth. Earth was flat, surrounded by a hollow space in which everything existed. A solid surface, thought to be made of tin, enclosed the an-ki. Within the space was lil, a word that means air or breath. All around the an-ki was the sea, abzu.
Nergal and Ereshkigal ruled the underworld, where people went when they died. People entered the underworld from their graves. Mesopotamian civilization existed for well over 3, years, from the formation of the first cities at the end of the fourth millennium B.
During this period, religion was a major factor influencing behavior, political decision making, and material culture. Unlike some later monotheistic religions, in Mesopotamian mythology there existed no systematic theological tractate on the nature of the deities. Examination of ancient myths, legends, ritual texts, and images reveals that most gods were conceived in human terms.
They had human or humanlike forms, were male or female, engaged in intercourse, and reacted to stimuli with both reason and emotion. Being similar to humans, they were considered to be unpredictable and oftentimes capricious. Their need for food and drink, housing, and care mirrored that of humans. Unlike humans, however, they were immortal and, like kings and holy temples, they possessed a splendor called melammu. Melammu is a radiance or aura, a glamour that the god embodied.
It could be fearsome or awe-inspiring. Temples also had melammu. If a god descended into the Netherworld, he lost his melammu. Except for the goddess Inanna Ishtar in Akkadian , the principal gods were masculine and had at least one consort. Gods also had families. Possessing powers greater than that of humans, many gods were associated with astral phenomena such as the sun, moon, and stars, others with the forces of nature such as winds and fresh and ocean waters, yet others with real animals—lions, bulls, wild oxen—and imagined creatures such as fire-spitting dragons.
Without the Great Mountain Enlil. The sea would not produce all its heavy treasure, no freshwater fish would lay eggs in the reedbeds, no bird of the sky would build nests in the spacious lands; in the sky, the thick clouds would not open their mouths; on the fields, dappled grain would not fill the arable lands, vegetation would not grow lushly on the plain; in the gardens, the spreading trees of the mountain would not yield fruit.
As supreme figures, the gods were transcendent and awesome, but unlike most modern conceptions of the divine, they were distant. Feared and admired rather than loved, the great gods were revered and praised as masters. They could display kindness, but were also fickle and at times, as explained in mythology, poor decision makers, which explains why humans suffer such hardships in life.
Generally speaking, gods lived a life of ease and slumber. While humans were destined to lives of toil, often for a marginal existence, the gods of heaven did no work.
Humankind was created to ease their burdens and provide them with daily care and food. Humans, but not animals, thus served the gods. Cuneiform tablets as early as the third millennium indicate that the gods were associated with cities.
The sky god An and his daughter Inanna were worshipped at Uruk; Enlil, the god of earth, at Nippur; and Enki, lord of the subterranean freshwaters, at Eridu. This association of city with deity was celebrated in both ritual and myth. A painted terracotta plaque from B. While making art predates civilization in Mesopotamia, the innovations there include creating art on a larger scale, often in the context of their grandiose and complex architecture, and frequently employing metalwork.
A Kneeling bull holding a spouted vessel, one of the earliest examples of metalwork in art from Mesopotamia. One of the earliest examples of metalwork in art comes from southern Mesopotamia, a silver statuette of a kneeling bull from B. Before this, painted ceramics and limestone were the most common art forms. Another metal-based work, a goat standing on its hind legs and leaning on the branches of a tree, featuring gold and copper along with other materials, was found in the Great Death Pit at Ur and dates to B.
Mesopotamian art often depicted its rulers and the glories of their lives. Also created around B. One famous relief in his palace in Nimrud shows him leading an army into battle, accompanied by the winged god Assur.
Ashurbanipal is also featured in multiple reliefs that portray his frequent lion-hunting activity. An impressive lion image also figures into the Ishtar Gate in B.
Mesopotamian art returned to the public eye in the 21st century when museums in Iraq were looted during conflicts there. Many pieces went missing, including a 4,year-old bronze mask of an Akkadian king, jewelry from Ur, a solid gold Sumerian harp, 80, cuneiform tablets and numerous other irreplaceable items.
Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization. Paul Kriwaczek. Ancient Mesopotamia. Leo Oppenheim. University of Chicago. Mesopotamia B. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editors at Phaidon. Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Sumer was an ancient civilization founded in the Mesopotamia region of the Fertile Crescent situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Known for their innovations in language, governance, architecture and more, Sumerians are considered the creators of civilization as The Persian Empire is the name given to a series of dynasties centered in modern-day Iran that spanned several centuries—from the sixth century B.
The Bronze Age marked the first time humans started to work with metal. Bronze tools and weapons soon replaced earlier stone versions.
Humans made many technological advances during the The Fertile Crescent is the boomerang-shaped region of the Middle East that was home to some of the earliest human civilizations. Babylonia was a state in ancient Mesopotamia. The city of Babylon, whose ruins are located in present-day Iraq, was founded more than 4, years ago as a small port town on the Euphrates River.
It grew into one of the largest cities of the ancient world under the rule of Palmyra is an ancient archaeological site located in modern-day Syria. Originally founded near a fertile natural oasis, it was established sometime during the third millennium B. Jerusalem is a city located in modern-day Israel and is considered by many to be one of the holiest places in the world. Jerusalem is a site of major significance for the three largest monotheistic religions: Judaism, Islam and Christianity, and both Israel and Palestine have The Code of Hammurabi was one of the earliest and most complete written legal codes and was proclaimed by the Babylonian king Hammurabi, who reigned from to B.
Hammurabi expanded the city-state of Babylon along the Euphrates River to unite all of southern Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault.
Where is Mesopotamia?
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