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47 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Prehistoric World
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• Lacks writing
•Has Archaeology that suggest religious practice |
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Archaeology that suggest religious practice
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a. Statues
b. Grave sites c. Photographs |
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Statues
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Think about the resources it took to make these; having the time to make these means they had some significance, importance.
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Grave Sites
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~Had jewelry, food, other people that didn’t die naturally, animal, wrapped up, weapons; suggest there is an after life because of its usefulness
~Get increasingly complicated; First find burial pits w/ only bodies and then they find w/ household goods. |
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Photographs
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~Depict what might be ritual behavior; showed the slaughtering of animals, writing that reflects some symbolic representation
~Found in caves; a lot of these caves are in France, think about the level of cultural recourse put into it. |
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Mesopotamia
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• Modern Iraq
• 3 Main Branches |
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3 Main Branches
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a. Sumerian
b. Akkadian c. Babylonian |
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1st sites of organized religion
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~3300 BCE
~Ancient City's ~Uruk ~Eridu ~Had writing ~Found a List of Gods |
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Writing in Mesopetamia
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Cuneiform Script
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Cuneiform Script
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Clay tablet with angular writing
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Indication of the lists of gods found in the ancient City's of Mesopotamia.
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a) Time put into the list
b) They had a word for god and goddesses c) Multiple last is station ~Found the names in different towns d) Names on alters e) Hymns f) Visual art work ~ Big=God ~ Had Exact Measurements for Gods |
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Community Organization of Mesopetamia
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~Gods/Goddesses--->Priest King (EN)---> People
~ Could tell this because of the artwork |
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Characteristic's of Monotheistic Gods
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Omnipotent
Omniscient Omnipresent Morally Good Loves People One Immortal |
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Characteristic's of Mesopotamian Gods/Goddesses
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Not Omnipotent
Not Omniscient Not Omnipresent Morally Ambivalent Indifferent of People Poly Can Die/can die and be brought back to life Humans Can Become Gods/Goddesses |
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Death of Gods
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• Important to stories
• Sometimes they come back to life sometimes they don't • Story of Ishtar and Tammuz |
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Story of Ishtar and Tammuz
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Story of how Gods can die.
~Ishtar wants to visit sister in underworld and her sister kills her; She makes a deal to come back to life but she promised her husband (Tammuz) has to spend 6 Months in the Underworld. ~Tammuz is the God of Fertility. ~This shows the changing of the seasons. |
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Indication that the Gods Were not Omnipotent
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They had specialized gods
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Story of The Epic of Gilgamesh
(Flood) |
• Story of how the Gods/Goddesses are not all knowing.
• Gods mad at humans because they where making to much noise. Wanted to open the windows and let the water come down. One of the Gods escapes and tells humans of the plan. |
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Story in the Epic of Gilgamesh
(Story of Enkidu) |
• Shows how humans have the Potential to become Gods/Goddesses; Not sure if the people actually Believed this.
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Story of Enkidu
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The people do not like there EN ( Gilgamesh). The people appeal to the Goddess. A couple of weeks later a creature appears in the woods. The do not know if it is a animal or human. A kid sees it in the forest and then goes and tells his dad. Dad asked if it was a male...Yes. Then goes and gets one of the temple prostitutes. He tells here to go and lay naked in the field with her legs open. Enkidu walks by the lady with other animal friends. Enkidu sees the lady and is drawn to her. They have sex for a week and then when he is done with her he goes back to his animal friends but they will not take him back b/c he is no longer animal to them. Prostitute helps Enkidu out by making him more human. Teaches him how to be a person. She takes him to town where there wad been a wedding. Gilgamesh takes the bride to go sleep with her (Prima Nochta- Old Tradition). Enkudo sees this and does not like it. He attacks Gilgamesh. Both are equally powerful so they give up and becomes friends. This solves the peoples problems because Enkudo keeps Gilgamesh in check. Gilgamesh goes and becomes God eventually.
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Genealogy of The Gods
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a. Primordial Gods
b. Active Gods c. Little/ Personal Gods d. Goddesses |
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Primordial Gods
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§ Listed First
§ Not in everyday life; Can tell this because they are not receiving offerings. § Do not do anything ritually with them but might of at one point § Dead Grandparents |
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Active Gods
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§ Alters
§ Shrines § Temples ~3100 BCE Active Gods replaced Primordial Gods • Assigned to 1 City; Not sure how this was done. • In each City we find a temple built to them; In each temple we find a Shrine, and in each shrine we find a Fetish. • Fate of the city= Fate of the Gods* |
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Fetish
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~Object of fetish or worship
○ If you preformed a ritual correctly in the temple the fetish would come to life; Typically meat offerings. Cook the meat, the smoke ascends to the gods, and then the priests eats it. |
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Fate of the city= Fate of the Gods
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○ God could disappear if the people that worshiped them disappeared.
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Little/ Personal Gods
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• Small statue in homes (Little Fetish's)
• Appears in homes; They are well preserved and in a special place. • Speculative • Have a ritual function • Belief gets adapted to life • This is an Example of Lived Religion* |
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Little/Personal Gods Rritual Function
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~ Simplification
~They are like a Secretary so the person does not have to go to every alter |
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Goddesses
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• Extremely Important
• Can have little Goddesses and city goddesses • In the ancient world you had as many Goddesses as you had Gods |
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Types of Goddesses of Mesopotamia
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a. Birth/Motherhood
b. Healing c. War |
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Other Spiritual Entities of Mesopotamia
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• Minor Malevolent Spirits (Demons)
• Minor Good Spirits • Ghosts |
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Minor Malevolent Spirits (Demons)
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~Demons
~Impish ~Caused Illnesses; know this through there medical text; to get rid of them you have to speak to them in a language that they can understand ~Stupid ~Vulgar |
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Causes of Ghosts*
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a. Unavenged (violent) Death
b. Incorrect burial c. Unkempt Graves; Explains of things that went wrong |
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Magic
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an amoral impersonal force that responds only to correct ritual
• Ex. Electricity • The people that can tap into this force are called Magicians |
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Magicaian
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They know the rituals and have the correct equipment
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Secularization theory
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• Tyler and early anthropologist would day as cultural sophistication/science increases the religion of the culture decreases; this is not true though. What does happen is the more scientific and rational a culture gets the fewer supernatural options the religions that flourish in that culture has.
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Mesopotamia Afterlife
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• Does not have a heaven or hell
• City of The Dead • Individual has no say* ~Dependent on the community • No morality |
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City of the Dead
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• Underworld
• Black and white • Senses did not work as well • Conscious but everything was diminished • 7 walls • Etemmu • Had a God and Goddess as a Ruler • Had Food |
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Etemmu
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spirits of the dead
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Could not get into the city of the dead if:
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1. Unavenged death
2. Improper burial 3. Unkempt grave ~Could be kicked out if this was not done |
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Food in the city of the dead
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○ Bland
○ Had enough to keep them alive |
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Food Ritual
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• Cults/Kipsu
○ Feed dead (showed social performance) § Every 2 weeks if you where rich § Only on holiday if you were poor |
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Muqlu Ritual
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• Right of Affliction
• Done in July 1 time a year • Purpose get rid of Ghost that are bothering you • People involved • 3 Parts |
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Three Parts of the Muqlu Ritual
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Part 1)
Part 2) Fumigation Part 3) Reversion (curse is reverted to witch) |
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Part 1
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○ Done at Night
○ Evoked the power of the good spirits to get rid of the witches ○ Burned objects that represent the witch |
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Part 2
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○ Done at night
○ Put Apotropaic objects around the house in bedroom of the householder § Apotropaic: wards off evil ○ Smeared oil all over naked householder and put him on the bed ○ Burned special smoke in the room ○ Made a special circle around the bed and around the house § Circles represent protection |
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Part 3
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~Reversion (curse is reverted to witch)
○ Morning ○ Makes a fried dough witch and puts the oil of the house holder on it and feed it to a dog (sends curse back to witch) ○ Open up the doors § Represents a new beginning ○ Place more apotropaic object in room ○ Make a amulet for him |
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Ritual Efficacy
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• What happens if the ritual goes wrong?
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