Soc- Ch. 19- Start of Religion

 *Old Stone Age or Paleolithic age, until about 10,000 BC  The people were know as hunter gatherers or nomads  People made tools, digging sticks, spears and axes from natural materials  Learned to build fires and wear clothing  Developed spoken languages  Before writing systems are developed  Religions began- How do we know? Sungir, Russia, buried some 25,000 years ago

 *Humans learned to farm, a development that transformed the way people lived  Planting seeds and domesticating animals  * By about 5,000 years ago, the advances made by early farming communities led to the rise of civilizations.  Social hierarchy  Accumulation of personal property  New technologies

 *Cities, first rose in river valleys  Water  Farming  Renewable soil  Animals  Transportation

Mesopotamia Climate: Unpredictable flooding -Why a blessing? -Why a curse? Topography: No geographical barriers -Why is that a problem?

 * Polytheistic  Gods controlled every aspect of life  More pessimistic than Egyptians The Bull-man is a demon. He is a man above the waist and a bull below the waist. He also has the horns and the ears of a bull. He helps people fight evil and chaos. He holds the gates of dawn open for the sun god Shamash and supports the sun disc. Ishtar is the morning and evening star (the planet we call Venus), and the goddess of love and war. She is shown as a woman standing on a lion, generally holding several weapons.

Believed gods controlled every aspect of life. Anthropomorphic - gods possess same characteristics as man Man at the mercy of the gods - Why? Natural disasters Natural blessing

The Code of Hammurabi –first written set of laws –282+ laws –“Eye for an eye, life for life” What does that mean? Hammurabi Babylonian Leader B.C.E

Egypt: “The Gift of the Nile” 4,160 miles longest river in the world Predictable floodingPredictable flooding carried rich deposits of silt along with it.carried rich deposits of silt along with it. primary means of communication and transportation.primary means of communication and transportation.

 Imposing natural barriers of desert and harborless seacoast provided what?  protection from outside influences and threats and allowed Egypt to develop a unique culture in isolation and security

 Pharaoh  god on earth  maintain ma’at, the divine order of the universe  He was the link between the people and the gods, therefore ensuring the welfare and prosperity of the country.  The death of the pharaoh was critical  because the well-being of the state depended on him.  every effort was made to ensure that he had a safe journey back to the gods in his afterlife.

Religion in the Lives of Ancient Egyptians Gods controlled nature, especially the weather and illnessEgyptians, like all ancient peoples believed that the Gods controlled nature, especially the weather and illness Egyptian Priest

Most Honored Egyptian Gods Major Gods: -Amon-Re (ra) Osiris Major Gods: -Amon-Re (ra) was the sun god – Most Powerful God! -Osiris was the god of the underworld and of the Nile. Isis -Isis was the most powerful mother goddess worshiped all over Egypt

Mummification –Mummify to preserve a sound body for the Ka to return to –70 day process –Improper embalming leads to second true death

Mummification Ka –Spirit created when all men are born –This spirit of life returns once the body has passed the test…

Egyptians had to pass test after they died. It was believed that dead souls were ferried across a lake of fire to the hall of Osiris The heart of the dead was weighed against a feather if the heart weighted less he was allowed to go on Those who were viewed as sinners were fed to the crocodile-shaped eater of the dead/ those who were viewed as worthy entered the happy field of food.