SUMERIAN CULTURE IV The Ziggurat The Sumerians were a very religious people. Religion played a big part of their day to day lives. Bronze Age humans in general were very pragmatic about religion. First of all, since science was not yet invented and would not be until the Ionian Greek philosophers of the 7th century, all things that were a part of ones universe was the result of Divine action. So, if you needed a new plow, you prayed to and gave tithes to the gods to provide you with one. Conversely, if your field was destroyed, the gods did it and one needed to find out why. There also was a belief, especially in Vedic India that one could force the gods into action through incessant sacrifice and spiritual exercises...hence Ravanna became so powerful that even the gods could not stop him and a hero was needed. Throughout ancient times, ones connection with the gods was not personal. The worshiper was not of enough impotance to be heard by the great ones. One needed a priest to be the connecting wire between you and the Divinities. The priests had no problem charging a price for their services either, that is why the priesthood in most ancient societies was only open to a select socio/economic strata and was for all extents and purposes a caste. In Sumerian cities the priesthood kept themselves distant from the rest of the population to reinforce their holiness. The same was true in all the primary civilizations: the Indus Valley, Ecypt, Crete, China and the Americas as well. In Sumer the priests lived in the center of the city in an area marked off by a sacred enclosure called a TEMEN. All four main streets led to this centrally located area, which was set off from the rest of the city by a mud brick wall in Sumer and was an actual citadel of mud brick in the Indus Valley. In the center of the TEMEN stood the first example of monumental architecture in human history: the ZIGGURAT. Built in a sort of step pyramid shape because that was the only shape that could be used to build to great heights, the city ziggurat stood as high as seven stories and was made of kiln fired brick and decorated in mosaics with colored tiles on the outside. At the top was the temple shrine where one would go to give offerings to the gods. Often the EDUBBA was in or near the ziggurat and this also served as a residence for the priesthood and as a warehouse for the citys emergency food supply. Edith Hamilton always claimed erroneously that the Greek gods were the first gods to be personified and that previous civilizations worshiped bizarre hybrid mythological creatures, like the gryphon-man-lions of Assyria and Babylon (actually called seraphim and cherubim). This is not true. The gods of Sumer took the form of humans and had the personalities of humans, with all of our nobility and our imperfections. Like the gods of Greece, the gods of Sumer could be unpredictable and would smile upon you one day and then just for the heck of it smite you the next. According to Sumerian myth, disease, infirmity, and physical and mental handicaps among humans were done by the gods for fun and humor when they got drunk. Yup, I have three heads because Enlil had too much beer! The term godfearing comes from Sumer. The relationship between gods and men was an uneasy one. They could smite you whenever they wanted to, so you had better sacrifice generously at the temple and even that was not something that would guarantee benevolent behavior from those on high. Inanna was particularly known to be cruel to her lovers when she tired of them...she would sometimes change them into animals like moles.Why were the people of this great civilization so distrusting and fearful of their gods? The answer is simple...look at Iraq. It is, flat and has been the tramping ground for invading armies since Nippur was built. Conqueror after conqueror has steam rolled over the place because it has no real natural impediment to stop them. The place has been plagued by warfare since 3500 BCE or beyond and warfare of extreme violence and atrocity too I might add. To the people this was the doing of the gods and it might not even have anything to do at all with a curse upon mankind, it was could simply be the gods at play. The Tigris and Euphrates also were unpredictable and would flood violently at different times of the year, sometimes destroying your entire harvest. They are not predictable rivers like the Nile or Indus, but while rich in alluvial soil, extremely dangerous. A Sumerian farmer had to hope and PRAY that all would go well and that they would not be wiped out. Of course this was all attributable to the gods, not geographic conditions. The relationship between mankind was one of masters and servants. We were made to worship andwork the land for the gods. They were not loving creators for the most part, but unpredictable masters and mistresses. One can see a bit of that influence on the Hebrews and their relationship with God in the Old Testament still.The Old Testament God had logical reasons though for his actions, whilst the same cannot be said for the Sumerian pantheon. The Sumerians were consummate polytheists, They had hundreds of gods and you had to make sure they were placated. You also had to worry about displeasing the spirits of your ancestors, who haunted the world of the living as long as there was someone who remembered them. Life was hard in Sumer. War, disease (mainly malaria) and the capricious nature of the rivers made you constantly on your guard and at the bottom of all of this were the gods, who were not always friends of mankind, although there were exceptions like Anu. Overall, the impression one gets from Sumerian literature is one of pessimism and fear. This is where we will go next: the worlds first literature and the great Epic of Gilgamesh (which includes within its narrative the first version of the GREAT FLOOD STORY. Gnight all!
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 04:02:36 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015