Download Primary Gods and Goddesses

By Forrest Evans
Their Lives and Power
• Mesopotamian history extends from the
emergence of Urban societies in Southern
Iraq in the 5th millennium BC to the
arrival of Alexander the Great in the 4th
century BC (which is seen as the hallmark
of the Hellenization of the Near East,
therefore supposedly marking the "end" of
Mesopotamia).
Location, Location, Location
Mesopotamia was a cradle of
civilization geographically located
between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers, largely corresponding to
modern-day Iraq.
This is a map of some Mesopotamian trade routes.
Mesopotamia people created new trade routes and eased the
transport of goods to various areas. Trade provides mankind's
most significant meeting place, the market.
Trade Route
• These trade routes provided a marketplace for new
ideas and technologies.
• Mesopotamian people developed many
technologies to fill the marketplaces among them
metal making, glassblowing, lamp making, textile
weaving, and could predict eclipses and solstices.
Pictures of inventions
New ideas and Inventions
Mesopotamians were also one of the first Bronze Age people in the
world. Early on they used copper, bronze and gold, and later they
used iron.
More Innovations
They invented things such as beer, wine, wooden plows, brick, the
wheel(possible), the reed boat and sail, cuneiform script
Glass blowing, electric battery(no one is sure how they used it), the
Zodiac, the current 60-minute hours and 24-hour days, as well as
the 360 degree circle were also invented by them. Their calendar
was one of the first to measure weeks of seven days each.
Pictures of inventions
Zodiac
Brick
Beer…mmm
Wheels
Irrigation
Reed boat and sail
Battery
Known Artifacts
Continued
Some Gold Artifacts
Mesopotamian "map of the world" in
the British Museum, London. It is the
earliest extant map. The clay tablet is
12.2 cms tall. The map was composed
in Babylon(a city in Masopotamia) and
is the only Mesopotamian map drawn
on an international scale. It is also the
only known map of the world dating
from the Neo-Babylonian
Period(Persian Period, circa 500 BC).
Lamp
Helmet
Coin of Herod Philip II (4
BC to 34 A.D.
Other
Mesopotamian
coins
Mesopotamian
pots/jugs/jars/vases
leaves necklace
Lyre Detail
Dagger
Statues, tablets,
hieroglyphics, etc.
Stone tablet
2100 B.C.
Lyre
2600
B.C.
Statue
of a
woman
2600
B.C.
Statue of
a man
Marble
Mask
3000
B.C.
"God Kill"
at Sin
Temple
1800 B.C.
Hieroglyphics
from Inana
Temple 2900 B.C.
Sitting
Figure
6000 B.C.
Lion
Game
Board
2660
B.C.
Nimrud 880 B.C.
These very sophisticated people can up with flood control,
water storage, as well as irrigation. This allowed them to
create Babylon, a major city in Mesopotamia, which is home
to one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World – the Hanging
Gardens of Babylon
Culture
Religion
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- Mesopotamian religion was the first to be recorded. Mesopotamians believed
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that the world was a flat disc, surrounded by a huge, holed space, and above that,
heaven. They also believed that water was everywhere, the top, bottom and sides, and
that the universe was born from this enormous sea. In addition, Mesopotamian religion
was polytheistic.
Primary Gods and Goddesses
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El- father of Gods;mankind
Anu -god of heaven; may have been the main god before 2500 B.C.
Ninhursag- mother goddess; progenitor with An of the gods; assists in creation of man.
Enlil)- god or air; pantheon leader from 2500 B.C.; father of the gods; king of heaven & earth.
Enki -lord of the abyss, semen & wisdom; god of water, creation, fertility.
Nanna- moon god.
Inanna -- love and war.
Utu- god of the sun and justice.
Mot- sterility, death, and the underworld
Ninlil -bride of Enlil.
Music, holidays, housing,
clothing.
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Music-Cuneiform sources reveal an orderly organized system of diatonic scales, depending on the tuning of stringed
instruments in alternating fifths and fourths. Instruments of Ancient Mesopotamia include harps, lyres, lutes, reed
pipes and drums. The vocal tone or timbre was probably similar to the pungently nasal sound of the narrow-bore reed
pipes, and most likely shared the contemporary "typically" Asian vocal quality and techniques, including little
dynamic changes and more graces, shakes, mordents, glides and microtonal inflections. Singers probably expressed
intense and withdrawn emotion, as if listening to oneself, as shown by the practice of cupping a hand to the ear.
Mesopotamia music was very loud and weird. Musicians were trained in schools and formed an important
professional class in Mesopotamia.
Holidays- The Mesopotamians were also the first to celebrate the Sabbats, which were held in accordance with the
lunar calendar. The very word Sabbat (or Sabbath) derives from the Assyrian word Sabattu, which means “a day of
rest for the heart,” The celebrations are traditionally marked by the observance of the moon, and thus begin at night.
In August 1st , is a festival marked by the baking of loaves of bread to represent an aspect of the Sun God.
Following this is October 31 or Scorpio astrologically. This is a good time for honoring the Dead and Ancestral
spirits, as the Mesopotamian tradition focused heavily on ancestor worship. This is also a time to honor Ereshikgal
and Ningal, the Goddess and God of the Underworld, and perhaps to retell the stories of exceptional or deified heroes
(sometimes called the “honored dead”) such as Gilgamesh. This is kind of like Halloween.
Houses- The materials used to build a Mesopotamian house were the same as those used today: mud brick, mud
plaster and wooden doors, which were all naturally available round the city,[8] although wood could not be naturally
made very well during the particular time period described. Most houses had a square center room with other rooms
attached to it, but a great variation in the size and materials used to build the houses suggest they were built by the
inhabitants themselves.
Clothing- Both men are wearing traditional ancient Mesopotamian clothing: long, fringed, robelike garments—either
skirts or tunics—probably made of wool.
Food, Government, Games,
Family.
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Food-
Normally people ate two meals a day. Except for the rich, most people ate unleavened bread, and drank
large amounts of beer (up to one gallon a day). Cow's milk was also drunk, but it quickly turned sour in the hot
climate. Because meat was expensive, most people ate cooked vegetable stews. Fish was an important source of
protein. Fruits included apples, pears, grapes, figs, quinces, plums, apricots, mulberries, melons, and pomegranates.
Pistachio nuts were also enjoyed. Cakes for special occasions were also made with butter, cheese, dates, flour, and
raisins.
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Government-
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Games- Hunting was popular among Assyrian kings. Boxing and wrestling were featured frequently in art, and a
The Mesopotamians seem to have developed one of the world's first systems of monarchy; the
early states they formed needed a new form of government in order to govern larger areas and diverse peoples. The
very first states in human history, the states of Sumer, seemed to have been ruled by a type of priest-king, called in
Sumerian; among their duties were leading the military, administering trade, judging disputes, and engaging in the
most important religious ceremonies. The priest-king ruled through a series of bureaucrats, many of them priests, that
carefully surveyed land, assigned fields, and distributed crops after harvest.
form of polo was probably popular, with men sitting on the shoulders of other men rather than on horses.[3] They also
had the first board game similar to one we have now (backgammon)It's called the UR game board. It's from the city
called Abraham which they believed came from god.[
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Family- Mesopotamia was a patriarchal society, the men were far more powerful than the women. As for schooling,
only royal offspring and sons of the rich and professionals such as scribes, physicians, temple administrators, went to
school. Most boys were taught their father's trade or were apprenticed out to learn a trade. Girls had to stay home with
their mothers to learn housekeeping and cooking, and to look after the younger children. Some children would help
with crushing grain, or cleaning birds. Unusual for that time in history, women in Mesopotamia had rights. They
could own property and, if they had good reason, get a divorce.