Ancient Mesopotamia spans a great distance both in space and time. Much of what united this vast expanse of peoples and cultures is religion. For the people of ancient Mesopotamia religion was at the foundation of their entire world. They all shared an unwavering belief that humans had been placed on the Earth solely for the purpose of providing for and serving at the pleasure of the gods. To them the deities that they worshipped were all knowing and all powerful, and needed to be both feared and respected by the people. Ancient Mesopotamians felt an allegiance to these gods and spent a great deal of time practicing rituals, praying, and performing hymns . They hoped that the gods would see these cultic activities as favourable and bestow
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If these obligations appeared to have met to the satisfaction of the gods then the ruler was continually given divine approval to reign. This close relationship rulers of ancient Mesopotamia had with the religious deities allotted them superior status in society and gave them divine authority to rule. The religion of ancient Mesopotamia was polytheistic, meaning there was a belief in multiple deities, as well as anthropomorphic, meaning the gods were given human like characteristics. For example, in depictions of deities their appearances reflect that of humans, although their features and powers were usually more exaggerated. Similarly, gods were also depicted as having similar basic needs, desires and vices as mankind. Gods needed to be fed, they desired sex, had dreams and emotions, got married, fought with each other, were competitive, expressed jealously, and were even known to occasionally drink a little too much. Interestingly, the power structure of the gods was a mirror image of the human regimes and dynasties in ancient …show more content…
Because the substantial stretch of time and subsequent political shifts that occurred in ancient Mesopotamia, this central god shifted over time. The original king of the gods in myth was An, the god of the heavens, creation and royal power. Despite being given this dominant role amongst the deities he played little role in the actual religious life of ancient Mesopotamians. An was superseded by his son Enlil, who was the god of the relations between humans and gods and was traditionally connected with air. Enlil’s rise to this position of superiority within the pantheon may be accounted for because of the rise of his home city of Nippur, which became the religious hub of Mesopotamia around 2700 BC. However, Enlil also had to surrender his godly throne, when the earthly king Hammurabi took power in Babylon. Babylon’s political and cultural cache increased with Hammurabi at the head, and consequently its patron god Marduk became ruler of the gods, although he appeared to not be very well known before this. It appeared that when there was a surge in power of a city state in Mesopotamia not only did it give the city’s patron deity more power and respect, it also gave the king of that city more status and legitimacy. With Marduk being the patron god of Babylon, Hammurabi could claim Marduk selected him to rule, in effect giving his kingship more divine
If these obligations appeared to have met to the satisfaction of the gods then the ruler was continually given divine approval to reign. This close relationship rulers of ancient Mesopotamia had with the religious deities allotted them superior status in society and gave them divine authority to rule. The religion of ancient Mesopotamia was polytheistic, meaning there was a belief in multiple deities, as well as anthropomorphic, meaning the gods were given human like characteristics. For example, in depictions of deities their appearances reflect that of humans, although their features and powers were usually more exaggerated. Similarly, gods were also depicted as having similar basic needs, desires and vices as mankind. Gods needed to be fed, they desired sex, had dreams and emotions, got married, fought with each other, were competitive, expressed jealously, and were even known to occasionally drink a little too much. Interestingly, the power structure of the gods was a mirror image of the human regimes and dynasties in ancient …show more content…
Because the substantial stretch of time and subsequent political shifts that occurred in ancient Mesopotamia, this central god shifted over time. The original king of the gods in myth was An, the god of the heavens, creation and royal power. Despite being given this dominant role amongst the deities he played little role in the actual religious life of ancient Mesopotamians. An was superseded by his son Enlil, who was the god of the relations between humans and gods and was traditionally connected with air. Enlil’s rise to this position of superiority within the pantheon may be accounted for because of the rise of his home city of Nippur, which became the religious hub of Mesopotamia around 2700 BC. However, Enlil also had to surrender his godly throne, when the earthly king Hammurabi took power in Babylon. Babylon’s political and cultural cache increased with Hammurabi at the head, and consequently its patron god Marduk became ruler of the gods, although he appeared to not be very well known before this. It appeared that when there was a surge in power of a city state in Mesopotamia not only did it give the city’s patron deity more power and respect, it also gave the king of that city more status and legitimacy. With Marduk being the patron god of Babylon, Hammurabi could claim Marduk selected him to rule, in effect giving his kingship more divine