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Mesopotamian Deities and Divine Realities in Life

Explore how Mesopotamian culture was shaped by its intricate belief system in gods, city-states as divine copies, and the central role of temples. The environment, especially rivers, influenced their religious views. With 4 main deities like An, Enil, Enki, and Ninhursaga, this polytheistic society revered various gods but had a hierarchy. Human-God relations were marked by subservience and divination practices like animal sacrifice, dream interpretation, and astrology. Cuneiform writing originated in 3000 BCE, primarily for record-keeping and literary works like "The Epic of Gilgamesh".

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Mesopotamian Deities and Divine Realities in Life

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  1. Mesopotamian Culture • I. Religion • A. Gods living realities that affected all aspects of life • B. City-sates- viewed as earthly copies of divine model & order

  2. C. Temple- center of city & life • D. Environment / Religion- rivers shaped view of universe (floods)

  3. E. Polytheistic / 4 Main Deities • 1. An (god of sky) • a.most important force in universe • b. source of all authority

  4. 2. Enil (god of wind) – expression of legitimate use of force • 3. Enki (god of Earth) • a. Also god of rivers • b. Represented water’s creativity, as such was responsible for invention & crafts

  5. 4. Ninhursaga- (associated soil, mountains,& vegetation) • a. Eventually worshiped as mother goddess • b. Mother of all children / manifested power by giving birth to kings & conferring royal insignia on them

  6. 4 gods ranked supreme but there were numerous other gods.

  7. F. Human Relations to Gods • 1. Subservient • 2. Insecure • 3. Divination- variety of forms developed out of desire to figure out gods a. Animal sacrifice b. Interpretation of dreams c. Astrological/ horoscope

  8. G. Writing- 3000BCE • 1. Cuneiform- wedge shaped sytem of writing • 2. Originally pictograph • 3. Phonetics – allowed abstract ideas • 4. Primarily used for record keeping • 5. Literature“The Epic of Gilgamesh”

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