11/30/10 (seating chart, binder check, gradebook) BR- What do you think it means if a religion is polytheistic ? What if the religion is monotheistic ? Today: Understanding A Few Details About Mesopotamian Religion Binder check on Thursday, December 2. among other things, I’ll be checking all of the information you have gathered about Mesopotamia (for your book!)

Religion and the Ziggurat (C.I.) 1. The characteristic Mesopotamian temple was a ziggurat, a stepped platform made out of mud-bricks, with a temple at the summit. 2. The ziggurat was not only a religious center but also an economic redistribution center--the temple base was a huge warehouse where grain and other valuable substances were stored. All things that people produced went first to the temple, the priests would then redistribute all of the things people needed to live (now you can see why it was important to develop a way of keeping track of who had paid what and who had received what was due!) 3. Mesopotamian religion was essentially fatalistic--the gods were removed from people, who were basically the slaves of the gods: the most humans could hope for was that the gods would ignore them! To what degree was this fatalism a result of the harsh environment of Mesopotamia?

Religion and the Ziggurat 1. The characteristic Mesopotamian temple was a ziggurat, a stepped platform made out of mud-bricks, with a temple at the summit. 2. The ziggurat was not only a religious center but also an economic redistribution center--the temple base was a huge warehouse where grain and other valuable substances were stored. 4. Mesopotamian religion was essentially fatalistic--the gods were removed from people, who were basically the slaves of the gods: the most humans could hope for was that the gods would ignore them! To what degree was this fatalism a result of the harsh environment of Mesopotamia?

Complex Institutions Mesopotamian Religion was Polytheistic Religion- people faced unpredictable floods and constant war- rituals were designed to persuade the gods to leave them alone. Only gods were immortal, when people died they entered a place under the Earth- no pleasure or pain- a realm of shadows Society- Kings/priests, nobles, commoners, criminals and slaves, patriarchal society- male dominated

Questions As We Read: To Hand In! 1. What did Mesopotamians believe was the cause of good and bad things happening on earth? 2. What areas did each god or goddess control: 1.Shamash 2.Adad 3.Ishtar 4.Enlil 5.Ea 3. Why do you think the Mesopotamians thought the world was so small? 4. According to the Mesopotamians, how were humans created?