Essay On Sumerian Religion

Religion and its accompanying world view reflects the values of the culture which practices that religion as exhibited in the ancient world cultures of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome.
In Mesopotamia, it is evident that the religion and world view of the Sumerians reflects the values of their culture based upon their negative outlook on life and the inability they had to trust their gods to take care of them. In Sumer, peoples were afraid of unexpected floods and possible raids by outsiders, which according the Kidner, “this gave the Sumerians a pessimistic outlook on life.” The pessimistic Sumerians believed that these uncertainties in life were caused by their unpredictable gods. The Sumerians believed they could influence the gods in order to make the world more secure, which caused their culture to focus mainly on pleasing and persuading the gods. According to Kidner they “placed small statues of themselves in temples to ensure that the gods would be watching over them,” showing …show more content…
In Egypt, the lack of worry of floods or invasion along with the presence of their pharaohs gave the Egyptians an optimistic outlook on life. The Egyptians, according to Kidner, “were confident that their pharaohs, and their other gods, would take care of them,” showing the lack of worry the Egyptians had includes their ability to trust their gods. Egyptian culture does not involve worrying about their safety or trying to influence their gods, which gave them the ability to focus their culture on things such as the aspects of the family life that Egyptians treasured. It is evident that the Egyptians religious beliefs and optimistic outlook created a culture that did not need to be focused on the gods they worshipped, but rather their own personal lives