Oscar Tomsick-Religion by

Religion

856900_1 — 2024-10-07 17:19:02 UTC

The characteristic of a civilization that had the most influence on the Mesopotamian society was religion. Religion impacted Mesopotamia society by treating gods as if they were humans alongside them and they had to care for them. Another reason religion impacted Mesopotamia is that their cities were centered around religious sanctuaries that were homes to different gods. Also, each house had their own religious area.

Religion article evidence 1

856900_1 — 2024-10-07 17:21:11 UTC

According to the religion article, “Sumerians believed the gods were humanlike in many ways—needing to eat, sleep, and more—so the statues were treated as if they were alive. Priests would clean and dress them, give them food and drinks, and sing to them daily.”

Religion article evidence 2

856900_1 — 2024-10-07 17:22:49 UTC

According to the religion article,” Each ziggurat was the home on earth for a deity, with one at each city’s center honoring that city’s patron god or goddess.”

Reasoning 1

856900_1 — 2024-10-07 17:25:35 UTC

This shows that they were very devoted to their gods and keeping them happy as if they were humans. They even had a job committed to this. Also, they were important for society to keep them happy so they were like the people and were happy together.

Reasoning 2

856900_1 — 2024-10-07 17:26:26 UTC

This shows how their city was centered around religion and it was an important part of all cities. Also, each city was represented by a god and followed that god. The Ziggurats were at the center of cities too which means their homes and lives were centered around religions and a religious area.

Religious article evidence 3

856900_1 — 2024-10-07 17:39:12 UTC

According to the religion article,”They instead worshipped and honored the gods with personal shrines, and by gathering for sacrifices and festivals outside the temple.”

Reasoning 3

856900_1 — 2024-10-07 17:40:12 UTC

This shows that people of Mesopotamia worshiped the gods personally because they weren't allowed in the ziggurats and they made offerings outside of the temples. Also, they participated in religious festivals. The shrines also meant when they were in the house they would see them everyday which created more importance of religion for them.

Counterclaim

856900_1 — 2024-10-07 17:45:24 UTC

If someone were to say religion was the least important civilization element, they would say that written language makes up religion so it is more a version of written language. A piece of evidence is,”To understand how religion developed, we must first consider the history of written language.”This shows that religion was just a written item so it should fall into the written language category and is only expressed as a writing. This is what I think an opposite view of religion could be.