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. Babylon , a minor city in the third millennium, had become an important military presence by the Old Babylonian period , and its patron deity, noted in a mid-third millennium text from Abu-Salabikh as ranking near the bottom of the gods, rose to become the head of the pantheon when Babylon ascended to military supremacy in the late second millennium.
Political events influenced the makeup of the pantheon. With the fall of Sumerian hegemony at the end of the third millennium, Babylonian culture and political control spread throughout southern Mesopotamia.
At the end of the third millennium B. With the fall of Sumerian political might and the rise of the Amorite dynasties at the end of the third millennium and beginning of the second millennium, religious traditions began to merge. Older Sumerian deities were absorbed into the pantheon of Semitic-speaking peoples. Some were reduced to subordinate status while newer gods took on the characteristics of older deities.
As Enlil, the supreme Sumerian god, had no counterpart in the Semitic pantheon, his name remained unchanged. Most of the lesser Sumerian deities now faded from the scene.
At the end of the second millennium, the Babylonian creation story Enuma Elish refers to only gods of the heavens. He shall provide the procedures for all my offices.
He shall take charge of all my commands. Beginning in the second millennium B. Anu was represented by the number 60, Enlil by 50, Ea by 40, Sin, the moon god, by 30, Shamash by 20, Ishtar by 15, and Adad, the god of storms, by 6.
While the great gods of the pantheon were worshipped by priests at rituals in cultic centers, ordinary people had no direct contact with these deities. In their homes, they worshipped personal gods, who were conceived as divine parents and were thought to be deities who could intercede on their behalf to ensure health and protection for their families.
Demons were viewed as being either good or evil. Evil demons were thought to be agents of the gods sent to carry out divine orders, often as punishment for sins. They could attack at any moment by bringing disease, destitution, or death. Demons could include the angry ghosts of the dead or spirits associated with storms. Some gods played a beneficent role to protect against demonic scourges. A deity depicted with the body of a lion and the head and arms of a bearded man was thought to ward off the attacks of lion-demons.
Pazuzu, a demonic-looking god with a canine face and scaly body, possessing talons and wings, could bring evil, but could also act as a protector against evil winds or attacks by lamastu -demons. Rituals and magic were used to ward off both present and future demonic attacks and counter misfortune.
Demons were also represented as hybrid human-animal creatures, some with birdlike characteristics. Although the gods were said to be immortal, some slain in divine combat had to reside in the Underworld along with demons.
There the spirits of the dead gidim dwelt in complete darkness with nothing to eat but dust and no water to drink. The Underworld was ruled by Eresh-kigal, its queen, and her husband Nergal, together with their household of laborers and administrators. From about the middle of the third millennium B. Statues of the gods were mainly fashioned out of wood, covered with an overleaf of gold, and adorned with decorated garments. Texts refer to chests, the property of the god, filled with gold rings, pendants, rosettes, stars, and other types of ornaments that could adorn their clothing.
The Gods are more superior beings then men and gave blessings and punishments to humans. On the other hand, humans pay tributes and ask questions to gods. For instance, Gilgamesh continuously asks deities for advices.
Mesopotamian deities were more approachable beings rather than inaccessible things. Review your answers to question 2 and 3 in light on the epilogue, where the poet lays out for us the moral of the story. Basing your answer on the entire story, and especially the epilogue, what would you say was the Mesopotamian view of the meaning of life? The moral of this Epic poem is straight, one should accept fate and live with as much virtue as possible.
The Mesopotamian view of the meaning of life was living a righteous life and then waiting for their inevitable death. What specific actions did Hammurabi take in his attempt to provide for the good order of society and the basic welfare of his subjects? What was the status of women in this society?
Did they enjoy any protection or liberties? The status of women in Mesopotamia was lower then men. Women enjoyed some protection and liberties, yet not as much as men. Mesopotamian society had been characterized as a patriarchal society. Does the evidence in this collection of decisions tend to support or refute that judgment? The Hammurabi code is definitely patriarchal. This supposes that it is the males who are considered first.
The Hammurabi code supports the patriarchal characteristic of Mesopotamian society. Related documents. Download advertisement. Add this document to collection s. You can add this document to your study collection s Sign in Available only to authorized users. Description optional. Visible to Everyone.
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