Religious Ideas, the Hebrews vs the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians
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- Category: History: Middle Eastern
- Date Submitted: 03/17/2010 10:03 AM
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Religious Ideas Compared and Contrasted:
The Hebrews versus the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians
The foundation of the Hebrew religious’ idea was monotheism, the act of worshiping one god. This meant that there was no place for other gods to exist or be worship. It also allowed for the message of god to be consistently delivered by their scriptures. Hebrews saw god as transcendent, above nature and not part of nature. Unlike the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, Hebrews removed the myths away from religion and nature. This gave way to the beginning of reasoning and scientific thinking. The Hebrew monotheistic belief marked a clear brake from the Near Eastern religious believes of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. Both of them while clearly different, had many elements in common like the worshiping of multiple gods.
The Mesopotamians by default of their geographical location with rivers overflowing and other hostile acts of nature believed that gods and demons were everywhere in nature and were the cause for many of their misfortunes or successes. For Mesopotamians, people were given life so that they can execute on earth the will of gods in heaven. The gods while not being able to be viewed by the human eye controlled the entire universe and everything in it. They also believed in personal Gods who provided them protection against evil spirits.
Egyptians by contrast, while believing in multiple gods, accepted many different representations of said gods. Polytheism manifested in many form including the worship of animals, for the Egyptians believe that gods manifested them self in animal shapes. For Egyptians religion did not need to make sense, as everything around them was mythical. Like the Mesopotamians, Egyptians believed in the great power of nature and the gods of the sun, earth, sky and the Nile. Divine Kingship was a central institution of both Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations, for they believe kings were gods or agents of gods in...
The Hebrews versus the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians
The foundation of the Hebrew religious’ idea was monotheism, the act of worshiping one god. This meant that there was no place for other gods to exist or be worship. It also allowed for the message of god to be consistently delivered by their scriptures. Hebrews saw god as transcendent, above nature and not part of nature. Unlike the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, Hebrews removed the myths away from religion and nature. This gave way to the beginning of reasoning and scientific thinking. The Hebrew monotheistic belief marked a clear brake from the Near Eastern religious believes of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. Both of them while clearly different, had many elements in common like the worshiping of multiple gods.
The Mesopotamians by default of their geographical location with rivers overflowing and other hostile acts of nature believed that gods and demons were everywhere in nature and were the cause for many of their misfortunes or successes. For Mesopotamians, people were given life so that they can execute on earth the will of gods in heaven. The gods while not being able to be viewed by the human eye controlled the entire universe and everything in it. They also believed in personal Gods who provided them protection against evil spirits.
Egyptians by contrast, while believing in multiple gods, accepted many different representations of said gods. Polytheism manifested in many form including the worship of animals, for the Egyptians believe that gods manifested them self in animal shapes. For Egyptians religion did not need to make sense, as everything around them was mythical. Like the Mesopotamians, Egyptians believed in the great power of nature and the gods of the sun, earth, sky and the Nile. Divine Kingship was a central institution of both Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations, for they believe kings were gods or agents of gods in...