1. Polytheism of the Ancient World
PPT 01: Polytheism in the Ancient World
Polytheism of the Ancient World
I can list examples of early polytheistic civilizations in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas;
I can explain how classical societies used mythology to interpret daily events and experiences;
I can explain how polytheistic beliefs shaped the worldviews and actions of pre-modern civilizations (i.e. burial rituals, sacrifices, governance, architecture).
Class website:

2. The origin of religion? Neanderthal burial sites
30,000 – 130,000 years ago
Deliberate placement of dead bodies in carefully-dug gravesites
What do the burial sites teach us about the Neanderthal culture?
Burial sites teach us that Neanderthals may have believed in an afterlife.
If they believed in an afterlife, then they may have believed in gods.

3. Polytheism (belief in many gods)
Most early civilizations practiced polytheism.
(advanced human society)
Polytheism (belief in many gods)
poly: many
the/theo: god
ism: doctrine, belief in, practice

4. Asia: The Sumerians
1st civilization of Mesopotamia (in the Fertile Crescent)
Meso – middle, between; Potamia – rivers
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers run through SW Asia

5. Egypt is “the gift of the Nile.” Empties into the Mediterranean Sea.
Africa: The Egyptians
Egypt is “the gift of the Nile.”
Empties into the Mediterranean Sea.

6. Europe: Greeks and Romans
QUICK FACTS
- Most powerful city in ancient Greece: Athens
- Rome’s position on the Italian Peninsula gave
the city many economic advantages.
…the will of the gods…

7. America: Mesoamericans
Major civilizations of Mesoamerica
OLMECS
MAYANS
AZTECS
INCAS

8. 1. Gods were active in human life.
MYTHOLOGY
1. Gods were active in human life.
Greek gods of Mt. Olympus
Roman pantheon
Roman gods had Latin names
Pan = all
Theos = gods
Greeks and Romans developed a mythology (a collection of stories) that explained who the gods were and how they were connected to daily life. People prayed to specific gods for specific things.

9. 2. Gods caused natural phenomena.
MUD
2. Gods caused natural phenomena.
Sumerians faced disastrous floods
Tigris & Euphrates Rivers
Flooded without warning
Sumerians suffered major losses
Mud-brick homes and food harvests
How do you think these floods affected the Sumerians’ attitudes toward their gods?

10. 2. Gods caused natural phenomena.
MIRACLE
2. Gods caused natural phenomena.
Floods of Egypt’s Nile River
Nile floods: Gifts of the gods
The god of the afterlife sent floods at the same time each year.
Floods left good soil, called silt, on the farmland.
Helped the farmers grow a large food surplus (extra food)
Egyptians able to build a strong civilization that lasted for centuries

11. Gift of the Nile Connections: Floods and gods
MIRACLE
Gift of the Nile
Connections: Floods and gods
The miracle of Osiris: Resurrection
The predictable Nile floods resurrected Nile farmland from drought – the floods brought the farmland back to life.
With fertilized soil, farmers grew a surplus that resurrected the strength of ancient Egypt.

12. 3. Gods create and destroy life.
BLOOD
3. Gods create and destroy life.
Mayans (Mesoamerica)
Creation story: The gods made men out of mud, but the mud men could not move or speak. Then the gods built men out of wood, but the creatures had no souls, no blood, and no memories of the gods. Finally, the gods created men out of maize (corn).
“After that they began to talk about the creation and the making of our first mother and father; of yellow corn and of white corn they made their flesh; of cornmeal dough they made the arms and the legs of man. Only dough of corn meal went into the flesh of our first fathers, the four men, who were created.” ***
***Translation of the Popol Vuh by D. Goetz and S. Morely, 1950.

13. 3. Gods create and destroy life.
BLOOD
3. Gods create and destroy life.
Aztecs (Mesoamerica)
Legend of the Five Suns
The gods sacrificed themselves so that people could live: “Life is because of the gods; with their sacrifice they gave us life… They produce our sustenance…which nourishes life.”***
Aztecs believed the gods were present in all things, including the sun.
The sun had five lifecycles… and the Aztecs believed the existing sun was the last.
***H. Nicholson, Handbook of Middle American Indians, 1971.

14. How did people respond to the gods?
Ceremonies to please gods
Aztec New Fire Ceremony
Every 52 years
Sacrifices gave gods strength
If the sun did not receive enough human sacrifice, then it would die a final time, and it’s 5th death would destroy the universe.

15. How did people respond to the gods?
Greeks built the Parthenon in Athens.
Romans built the Pantheon in Rome.
Mesoamericans built giant step-pyramids.
Sumerians step-pyramids were called ziggurats.
Egyptians built pyramids as tombs for pharaohs.
Pharaohs were the kings of Egypt.
Egyptians thought the pharaohs were gods.

16. Why did people care so much?
People worried about the afterlife
Mesoamerica: Death determined afterlife
Death by war, sacrifice, childbirth… best afterlife
Egypt: Actions determined afterlife
Egyptians built tombs for the ruling Pharaohs.
Pharaohs were considered gods
To work for the pharaohs was to work for the gods.
If I help build a tomb, then the gods will bring me back to life in the good afterworld.

17. Journeying to the afterlife
Egyptian burial practices
Necessary rituals (actions, practices)
Mummification
Preserved the body for the afterlife
Organs stored in canopic jars
Book of the Dead
Provided instructions for safe passage to the afterlife.
Burial goods