Chloe Collins: Religion by Chloe Collins

Religion in Mesopotamia

888146_1 — 2024-10-07 14:30:23 UTC

Why is it important?

888146_1 — 2024-10-07 14:32:03 UTC

Religion in Mesopotamia allowed Mesopotamians to gather inspiration for new creations, along with realization of change if they thought the Gods were displeased.

Religion Article paragraph 4

888146_1 — 2024-10-07 14:33:28 UTC

“Instead of asking why, he would look for ways to honor the gods so they might help his crops grow.”

How did this help?

888146_1 — 2024-10-07 14:34:03 UTC

This shows that instead of being confused on why his crops aren’t growing, he changes his actions to please the Gods for better harvest. Without religion this wouldn’t have been possible since they wouldn’t have had the realization of needing to change something.

Religion Article paragraph 4

888146_1 — 2024-10-07 14:35:04 UTC

“He might also see it as the gods challenging him to find a solution—like inventing irrigation.”

How was this beneficial?

888146_1 — 2024-10-07 14:37:38 UTC

This evidence suggests that when they believed the Gods were displeased, it led Mesopotamians to create new inventions to further help the society. If religion had not existed the same, or at all, Mesopotamians wouldn’t have had reason to create new things to further progress the civilization. If they hadn't thought the Gods wanted to "challenge" them, Mesopotamian civilization either wouldn't have progressed or progressed way slower than it did.

Conclusion

888146_1 — 2024-10-07 14:42:25 UTC

Overall, religion was extremely beneficial for the Mesopotamian Civilization as it determined almost everything they did and provided reasoning for events, such as weather. Their entire lives depended on pleasing the Gods, anything and everything they did had a reason, and their religion provided this reasoning for them, as they likely would have never found reasoning for events and actions in Mesopotamia without the Gods.

888146_1 — 2024-10-07 14:50:48 UTC

888146_1 — 2024-10-08 14:27:27 UTC

What is a Ziggurat?

888146_1 — 2024-10-08 14:41:20 UTC

A Ziggurat in Mesopotamia is similar to how people today have churches. Ziggurats were "the home on earth for a deity" (Religion Article Paragraph 5) Each Ziggurat was usually dedicated to one deity and usually each Mesopotamian city had one. Ziggurats had a statue of their depiction of the God/Goddess that temple worshiped. Mesopotamians treated the Gods like they were alive, caring for their respective statues frequently.

Religion's effect on Mesopotamians

888146_1 — 2024-10-08 14:49:23 UTC

"Everything about life in Mesopotamia revolved around the deities. If you didn't respect them, you could have bad luck and even die." (Religion article paragraph 7)

What does this mean?

888146_1 — 2024-10-08 14:53:18 UTC

This piece of evidence shows that while there were other important factors of the Mesopotamian Civilization. It all stemmed and relied upon religion, everything they created and did always tied back to the Gods because they knew consequences would come if the Gods were not pleased. They knew their lives depended on the Gods and serving them.

888146_1 — 2024-10-08 14:57:14 UTC

Counterclaim

888146_1 — 2024-10-08 15:01:31 UTC

While some may argue that, Government for example, was the most important influence on Mesopotamia because Government allowed things to stay in order and prevent civilization from falling apart. However, it still ties back to Religion. Though Government in Mesopotamia was still important, it was related to the Gods and religion. Everything Mesopotamians did, including creating a Government system, was because of the Gods in hopes of pleasing them and making their own lives even better.