Egypt And Mesopotamia Essay

In early Mesopotamia and Egypt, religion played a huge part in the people’s life. In Mesopotamia, the city-states were ruled by religion and in Egypt, the empire was dictated by what the gods said and wanted them to do. Both Ancient Civilizations were built on the principles of religion. The people of Mesopotamia and Egypt believed in multiple gods and both perceived them as human like, or with animalistic features. While Mesopotamians feared their gods and believed that their afterlife was full of misery, Egyptians adored their gods and believed that their afterlife was splendid and to be celebrated. Both the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian people believed that there were multiple gods. The early Mesopotamian people “looked to religion to answer their questions about life” and they saw their gods and goddesses as “powerful spiritual beings” who “permeated all aspects of the universe” (Ch 1.3.2). For the Egyptian people, “they had a number of gods associated with heavenly bodies and natural forces” (Ch 2.1.2). The Egyptians held “[t]wo groups” higher than the others, the “sun gods and land gods” due to their “view of importance of the sun and the fertile land along the Nile to Egypt’s well-being” (Ch 2.1.2). The Mesopotamian and Egyptian people were polytheistic due to the fact that they both perceived the gods to be natural landmarks or …show more content…
The Mesopotamian people perceived their gods as “animal-humans” with unique powers. An example of a “animal-human” is Anu, the god of sun, who appears to have wings and clawed feet (Meso.Civil.ppt1). In Egypt, the people saw their gods as “animals, humans or combined”(Egypt ppt pd3). The Egyptians and Mesopotamians both perceived their gods with animalistic features due to the fact that all of the gods represented natural forces or landmarks, so making the gods look like part of nature could be a factor as to why they look like