Religion106-03
10/10/2016
The Mesopotamian religion and religious beliefs were mainly influenced by their culture, which believed in rituals and the gods. People believed in different gods and not just one, since each and every aspect of life had its own god. The gods were to be worshipped and if anyone did anything wrong, then it would mean that the gods would be offended. The Mesopotamians also believed in demons which were created by the gods, and they could either be good or evil. If a calamity occurred, then it meant that the bad demons were angry and thus they decided to punish people for their wrong doings. The people of Mesopotamia therefore worshipped these gods in order to make them happy, thus reduce the chances …show more content…
Each deity had his or her own responsibility and whoever did not follow or worship him or her would end up in problems. An, was a deity of the skies, and also the father of other deities. In other words, a was the chief of all the other deities. An, was therefore respect since he was a supreme god and if anyone made a mistake of not worshipping, then he or she would suffer the consequences. Enki was the deity of the fresh water and he is praised for his wisdom (Schneider, 31). Enki was portrayed as a strong man with beards and water flowing around his body. Inanna was the goddess in charge of love, war and fertility. She was regarded as the most significant deity of other deities. Nanna was the god of the moon, and also the sun of Enlil and Ninlil. Nanna travels over the sky in his small boat which is made of woven twigs, and it is surrounded by planets and stars. Utu is the god of light and fairness. Utu lives in the world where he administers justice to the dead. Therefore each and every god was to be respected according to the purpose that he or she was serving (Berger, …show more content…
This consequently meant that the people of Mesopotamia had to lead according to the dictates of the gods. Each god was supposed to be appeased failure to which it would to natural calamities in the kingdom. The king, who was an intermediary between the people of Mesopotamia and the gods, was supposed to rule following the dictates of the gods who were superior to him even though they were not visible. The gods communicated with calamities and whenever they were angry, and then the forces of disorder would lead to natural