...When examining the ancient cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia, it is vital to observe the distinct similarities between their religious beliefs. Considering the geographic closeness of the two ancient civilizations, Mesopotamia occupying mainly modern day Iraq, centered around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and Egypt which is still located in the region recognized as modern Egypt, centralized around the Nile River, and the overlapping time frame both of these societies occupied, it is not unexpected that Mesopotamia and Egypt would possess similar ideologies. Despite the fact that the political structure of these civilizations differed between Mesopotamia’s unstable collection of city-states and Egypt’s unified monarchy, both societies were comprised a polytheistic philosophy where the Gods reflected a larger, universal system. Furthermore, both ancient civilizations relied on the flooding of their adjacent rivers for survival and these floods manifested within their religious ideologies. Although, the annual flooding of the Nile gave the Egyptians a sense of comfort and satiability surrounding death and was the direct rational of the Egyptians belief that rebirth followed death, the inconsistent flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates left the Mesopotamian people uncertain of the continuity of lives, evident in their harsh God’s and lack of interpretation of what the after-life consists of. Nevertheless, the similarities between the two culture’s religious beliefs are far too comparable...
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...The Role of Governments in Ancient Civilizations Peoples in ancient civilizations had different worldviews, and government was an essential aspect of their cultures. How those peoples understood the role of government determined the expectations individuals had from rulers. Some written records provide essential information to understand the differences and similarities of governments of the first civilizations. A comparison and contrast of some of those written records on three ancient civilization aims to provide a description of the different understandings of the role of government in those cultures. The Judgments of Hammurabi, a collection of decisions or laws and the Epic of Gilgamesh, the story of a king, are documents that provide...
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...How Geography Effected Ancient Cultures Mesopotamia and Egypt in the ancient world were in modern day Iraq, and Egypt is still there today. Culture in theses societies, was loosely based on their natural surroundings. While geography in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt differed in stability and protection, they were similar in farming opportunities, with comparable sources of water giving them both the chance to excel in agriculture. The river flooding in Mesopotamia and Egypt differed in predictability; while rivers in Mesopotamia were sporadic in flood patterns, the Nile in Egypt was very predictable in its flooding. This caused the two civilizations to have opposing ideas of the power of their gods. In ancient Mesopotamia, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were incredibly unpredictable, and when they flooded they caused frenzies in surrounding areas. This unpredictability was reflected in their religion, as they felt the flooding of the rivers was a punishment for something they did. In thinking they could never please the gods, the people of Mesopotamia believed one only had the underworld to look forward to after death. They viewed nature as something out to get them. This belief led to more selfishness in people, and as a result, people were generally less trusting. However, in Egypt, the Nile River and its yearly predictable flooding led to the creation of calendars to plan agriculture around flooding; therefore, the flooding would help, not hurt them. The predictability...
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...of information about the ancient cultures that constructed them. When comparing The Great Pyramids of Egypt with The Ziggurats of Mesopotamia, the differences between them are more apparent than the similarities that they share. The two structures actually only appear to be similar. Both have the general form of a pyramid. Some other similarities shared by these two types of structures can be interpreted from the context of the religions of those who had them erected and what role they served for the society. Among the differences are their intended usage, how they were decorated, their designs, and the materials used in their construction. In order to clearly describe how different these two structures are, I have summarized some information about their designs and the materials used to build them. Contrasts in the decorations of the two types of structures are then discussed. The intended uses of these structures then introduces some similarities in relation to the religious symbolism of the structures. Considered to be among the greatest wonders of the known world, The Pyramids of Egypt were built with exacting precision from granite blocks. The pyramids of the early dynasties were of a more stepped pyramid form, similar in appearance to the ziggurats of Mesopotamia. Advancements in available technologies and construction techniques in the later dynasties of ancient Egypt allowed for pyramids to be constructed with less of a stepping slop. A pyramid has four triangular sides...
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...Michael Yost B. Berry History 140 07 Nov 2004 Egypt and Mesopotamia; the comparison and contrast of the ancient societies As we take a look at the Egyptian and Mesopotamian societies, there are several similarities. Although, each of the societies had some differences within them, they both borrowed technologies from other societies and were successful during their period in history. Evolving from the Paleolithic times where the people were in small tribes, they lived in whatever shelter that was found. There became a transition to a more stable style of living, known as the Neolithic time or New Stone age. It was a period of history where agriculture started to take hold. Both Egypt and Mesopotamia began to farm the land and settle into an area. Neolithic people began to settle around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; as well as, the Nile River roughly 8,000 B.C. River water provided the necessary irrigation needed to grow crops and a fertile land for farming. These people started to develop science of agriculture. By using agriculture, the Neolithic people move away from the traditional life as a nomad. These people were not always on the move to hunt or gather the food needed to survive. This was the first time for people to enjoy the benefits of not moving around all the time and to develop a large society in one area. Around 4000 B.C., the Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures began to develop and flourish. With large groups of people within one area, they...
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...Wine - historical & Archaeological OVERVIEW INTRODUCTION: Archeological studies of alcohol can provide deep insight into societies past and present. Around the world and throughout time, humans demonstrate a nearly universal proclivity towards alcoholic beverages. As cultural anthropologist David Mandelbaum writes, cultural attitudes towards alcohol vary around the world from adoration to proscription of drink, but there are few cultures [1]that completely ignore alcohol (Mandelbaum 1965: 281). Distillation of hard spirits happened only in recent times and for much of human history, wine and beer[2] were the only alcoholic beverages available for common consumption (if a bar or tavern was present in a particular culture). Archeological evidence shows that while during the last 10,000 years alcohol consumption was common, it was also uniquely culturally contextual. Dutch archeologist Marijke Van der Veen claims that “[studying] the production, preparation, consumption, and disposal can help identify the social context of food” (Van der Veen 2006: 407). A more traditional archeological approach focuses less on the production of food due to its “transient nature”.[3] Ethnographic research can provide more information about consumption practices as can historic sources, but we need more information from actual artifacts found at sites around the world. With artifacts, we can provide a more conclusive picture of how different cultures produced, consumed, valued or...
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...All of the three empires (Egypt, Sumer & Indus) are similar in their development and contributions. They had Domesticate animals and they also had center trade. The major similarities of these three civilization is their their development of written documents and records keeping. Each civilization recorded important events (such as taxes, wars, property lines and religious texts) is necessary to the success of a culture. In Sumer they developed a writing called cuneiform. Cuneiform is a writing relating to the wedge shaped characters used in the ancient writing system of Mesopotamia, Persia, and ugarit. In Egypt the ancient use a form of writing called Hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Even further, in Indus culture they developed a written language called the Harappan. Harappan language is a language that is not directly attested and its affiliation is uncertain since the Indus script is still undeciphered. Given that written languages is necessary to a thriving society, it’s clear that all three of the empires civilizations effectively used written language. Another significant...
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...LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY BOOK SUMMARY OF “ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN THOUGHT AND THE OLD TESTAMENT” BY JOHN H. WALTON SUBMITTED TO PROFESSOR DANIEL WARNER IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR OBST 590 BY JOEY F. LANGLINAIS LYNCHBURG, VA JUNE 23, 2013 Chapter 1 History and Methods John Walton begins this chapter by stating that the “rediscovery of Egypt began in the eighteenth century AD and of Mesopotamia in the mid nineteenth century AD.” This allowed the tens of thousands of texts that were being unearthed to be translated and studied. The motives of those involved ranged from political to interest in antiquities to biblical apologetics. Regardless of the motive, this allowed scholars to assess what might be learned from one to enhance the understanding of another . The noted Assyriologist Freidrich Delitzsch claimed that the Bible was borrowed from Mesopotamian literature, specifically the regions of the Tigris and Euphrates. His conclusion was that the Old Testament was not divine and that Christianity was rooted in pagan mythology. The result was growing division among biblical scholars. Some even took the stand that the Old Testament should be excluded from Christian theology. Others came to the defense of the Bible. This division was between a confessional standpoint and the secular view. This work actually spawned a movement called “Pan-Babylonianism” which asserted that all world myths and Christian Scriptures were...
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...Book Review Summary of Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament by John H. Walton Chapter 1 Chapter 1 is Walton’s introduction to the discussion concerning the congruence of the Old Testament with the world surrounding it. This chapter discusses the history, methodology, and reasoning behind comparative Old Testament studies. It then concludes with the principles and goals each student should possess as he or she studies the Old Testament. His synopsis of comparative Old Testament studies begins with the resurgence of Egyptian and Mesopotamian archaeological studies during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.[1] He then moves on to discuss the impact of Friedrich Delitzsch’s lectures concerning how the writers of the Old Testament borrowed from extrabiblical sources set the stage for many secular ideologies removing the special revelation aspect from the Bible. This allowed two things to take place. First, it brought out the comparative study of the Bible into a critical realm; and second, it made Assyriology, Egyptology, and Hittitology serious academic disciplines which have greatly enhanced modern man’s understanding of these ancient cultures. While Walton discusses several forms of Old Testament study, his opinion favors comparative studies. He starts with explaining the reasoning for sound methodological comparative study and moves on to answer the “why” it should be performed over other studies. In his view, it expands...
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...A. Discuss the origins of Christianity? Who was Paul of Tarsus? What Contributions did he make to Christianity? Why did it ultimately survive and succeed? The Origins of Christianity originates from when Judea came under Roman rule in 6 C.E. The roman didn’t really care for the Jews and their beliefs, in turn, the Jews turned to religion and the wanting or waiting of being saved from the Roman oppression. The Jews believed in one god, unlike the Romans, and they believed that this one god would sent a messiah or chosen one, that would help free them from the Roman Empire and their ruling power. In other words, the Jews believed a military leader anointed by God to lead the Jews and drive out the Romans from the Jewish holy land. Out of this rebellion of sorts, a man named Jesus rose to the task of trying to reform the beliefs and practices of the Jews. Many people believed that Jesus was a Rabbi of a teacher, but in fact he was a young Jewish carpenter from Galilee in Northern Israel. Jesus was also a Jew, but his teachings were somewhat out of the ordinary for Judaism. Jesus believed that as children of God that his followers should go back to religion in its purest form of spirituality and personal faith. Jesus was also not very fond of how the Jewish religious were corrupt and living in excess, while so many others were poverty stricken. Jesus was offended with how the current Jewish political and religious leaders were obsessed money and power. Jesus was...
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...The beginnings of Western civilization can be drawn back to the ancient Near East, where people in Mesopotamia and Egypt developed organized societies and created the ideas and institutions that are associated with civilization. There are two major types of cultures: the Hebrew culture and the Greek culture. The first Western Civilization, the Ancient Greeks began their beliefs of stories about multiple gods. In the Hebrew culture Moses, and Achilles in the Ancient Greek culture, displayed good moral character in their respective cultures and is evident through the relationship between God and humans, the standards of honor or heroism, and awareness of death. Throughout the Ancient Greece and the Hebrew culture there are various similarities...
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...Genieva Subic HIST – 1110 WESTERN CIVILIZATION I E Journal #1 Chapter one of our text covers a broad range of history beginning with the legend of Babel. (1) The story tells us how spoken communication has been lost over the years and it also creates a foundation for spoken history. (1) The text then moves on to the city of Çatalhöyük, which was established around nine thousand years ago in south central Turkey. (2) This city had eight thousand occupants living in two thousand homes, which is an average of four occupants per home, that’s not so different from how we live today. The people of Çatalhöyük were an organized and technologically sophisticated society that practiced religion, and had domesticated plants and animals. (2) This is just another example of how even though these people lived nine thousand years ago people today are still living in the same ways. I think that has been the most interesting part of the beginning of chapter one; our society still has many of the same values and practices of our ancient ancestors. The next section of chapter one focuses on the Old Stone Age or Paleolithic era. (3) The people of this era lived before written history existed, around 3000 B.C.E. However, they were tool-makers and artists. The cave paintings at Lascaux act as a type of history as do the finely made tools and jewelry that historians have discovered. (3) The Paleolithic people were known to be hunters and gatherers, they did not have domesticated animals, they had...
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...Walton. It includes five main sections. Along with these sections there are historical pictures that consist of over 20 images. Each one of those images are included in a complete appendix at the beginning of the book. Walton gives acknowledgements, which are followed by a list of abbreviations. Part 1- Comparative Studies In this first section it includes the first two chapters. Chapter one is appropriately named history and methods. The resolution of this part of the book is to protect the Bible from the harm done by comparative studies which warped evidence to work against the historicity, canonicity, and divine revelation of the Bible. Chapter 1- History and Methods This chapter opens up with the rediscovery of Egypt and Mesopotamia, dating back to the 1800s and the mid 1900s. The author states that archeologists were very quickly discovering that the Bible in its entirety was completely and wholly accurate and true. It was during this time that evolution and the scientific movement was at its prime. Science was progressing. IT was during this time that science and theology began to clash. The truth of the Bible was being fought against on all sides and was quickly being twisted. New data that confirmed the themes of parallel theologies to the Old Testament were being uncovered by archeologists. For people who have an interest in understanding the Bible, it...
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...The statue is a figure of a person or an animal in stone, metal, etc. (Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary, 2010). Sculptures help us to know how our ancestors lived and practiced their life and tell the history of ancient periods. This essay will compare between two statues of ancient times. The first one is The Royal Acquaintances Memi and Sabu from the Egyptian culture while the other is the Statue of Gudea from the Neo Sumerian culture. Firstly, I will discuss the Egyptian statue of Memi and Sabu. It was discovered at the western cemetery in Memphite, Giza in Egypt. It dates back to the period of the Old Kingdom, the fourth dynasty, between 2575 and 2465 BC. (The Met Fifth Avenue, n.d.). The statue depicts an Egyptian husband and wife...
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...Christianity and Islam are the two most practiced faiths in the world. There are also many common misconceptions about both religions. Like with all religions, both have different believe systems, but there are more similarities than there are differences. For the most part their history, holy writings, featured leaders, and the way that they go about there everyday lives are more similar than most people think. The most surprising fact is that they both preach almost the same teachings! For example they both follow rules known as the ten commandments. Also, they believe that there is only one true God and that he is the keeper of the universe. Christianity is said to emerge in Levant (modern day Palestine and Israel) during the mid first century AD, initially it spread to places such as: Syria, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Asia Minor, Jordan, and Egypt. By the middle ages Christianity had spread over all Europe, mostly because of Europe's Age of exploration. During this time, European explorers in search of new trading partners, new routes, and new goods to sell. There where also some explorers who ventured out to gain more geographical knowledge and to spread religions. Its widely thought that the nation of Islam began in the seventh to eighth century and it rapidly spread to the east and west in short time, due to Arab armies conquering many different place at once. This was made possible by the Persian empire practically collapsing , also allowing Islam to be spread...
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