118-613: Pūluga (or Puluga ) is the creator in the religion of the indigenous inhabitants of the Andaman Islands . According to Andaman mythology [ lt ] , Puluga ceased to visit the people when they became remiss of the commands given to them at the creation. Then, without further warning he sent a devastating flood. Only four people survived this flood: two men, Loralola and Poilola, and two women, Kalola and Rimalola. When they landed they found they had lost their fire and all living things had perished. Puluga then recreated
236-558: A demiurge out of a primordial state of matter (known in religious studies as chaos after the Greek term used by Hesiod in his Theogony ). Jewish thinkers took up the idea, which became important to Judaism. According to Islam , the creator deity, God, known in Arabic as Allah , is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator, Sustainer, Ordainer, and Judge of the universe. Creation is seen as an act of divine choice and mercy, one with
354-595: A sar being 3,600 years, this would indicate that at least some of the Mesopotamians believed that the Earth would only last 518,400 years. Berossus does not report what was thought to follow this event, however. As with most dead religions, many aspects of the common practices and intricacies of the doctrine have been lost and forgotten over time. However, much of the information and knowledge has survived, and great work has been done by historians and scientists, with
472-480: A conscious and immaterial entity like God cannot create a material entity like the universe. Furthermore, according to the Jain concept of divinity, any soul who destroys its karmas and desires achieves liberation. A soul who destroys all its passions and desires has no desire to interfere in the working of the universe. Moral rewards and sufferings are not the work of a divine being, but a result of an innate moral order in
590-601: A different god or goddess is the secondary creator at the start of each cosmic cycle ( kalpa , aeon). Brahma is a "secondary creator" as described in the Mahabharata and Puranas , and among the most studied and described. Born from a lotus emerging from the navel of Vishnu , Brahma creates all the forms in the universe, but not the primordial universe itself. In contrast, the Shiva -focused Puranas describe Brahma and Vishnu to have been created by Ardhanarishvara , that
708-399: A divine act of creation, and the gods were believed to be the source of life, and held power over sickness and health, as well as the destinies of men. Personal names show that each child was considered a gift from divinity. Man was believed to have been created to serve the gods, or perhaps wait on them: the god is lord ( belu ) and man is servant or slave ( ardu ), and was to fear ( puluhtu )
826-461: A giant altar. Other theories treat the tower as an image of the cosmic mountain where a dying and rising god "lay buried." Some temples, such as the temple of Enki in Eridu contained a holy tree ( kiskanu ) in a holy grove, which was the central point of various rites performed by the king, who functioned as a "master gardener." Mesopotamian temples were originally built to serve as dwelling places for
944-602: A grand purpose: "And We did not create the heaven and earth and that between them in play." Rather, the purpose of humanity is to be tested: "Who has created death and life, that He may test you which of you is best in deed. And He is the All-Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving;" Those who pass the test are rewarded with Paradise: "Verily for the Righteous there will be a fulfilment of (the heart's) desires;" According to
1062-450: A hereditary ruler, and an eponym . The ruler presided over the assembly and carried out its decisions. He was not referred to with the usual Akkadian term for "king", šarrum ; that was instead reserved for the city's patron deity Ashur , of whom the ruler was the high priest . The ruler himself was only designated as "steward of Assur" ( iššiak Assur ), where the term for steward is a borrowing from Sumerian ensí . The third centre of power
1180-532: A moral agent. The second account, in contrast to the regimented seven-day scheme of Genesis 1, uses a simple flowing narrative style that proceeds from God's forming the first man through the Garden of Eden to the creation of the first woman and the institution of marriage. In contrast to the omnipotent God of Genesis 1 creating a god-like humanity, the God of Genesis 2 can fail as well as succeed. The humanity he creates
1298-444: A secondary creator from the primary transcendent being, identified as a primary creator. According to Gaudiya Vaishnavas , Brahma is the secondary creator and not the supreme. Vishnu is the primary creator. According to Vaishnava belief Vishnu creates the basic universal shell and provides all the raw materials and also places the living entities within the material world, fulfilling their own independent will. Brahma works with
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#17327651078871416-557: A solemn prayer hymned by Jonathan , Nehemiah and the Priest of Israel , while making sacrifices in honour of God: "O Lord, Lord God, Creator of all things, who art fearefull, and strong, and righteous, and mercifull, and the onely, and gracious king". The Prologue to the Gospel of John begins with: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same
1534-409: A stable for the god's chariot and draft animals. Generally, the god's well-being was maintained through service, or work ( dullu ). The image was dressed and served banquets twice a day. It is not known how the god was thought to consume the food, but a curtain was drawn before the table while he or she "ate", just as the king himself was not allowed to be seen by the masses while he ate. Occasionally,
1652-420: A trait found in many other polytheistic religions. The historian J. Bottéro was of the opinion that the gods were not viewed mystically , but were instead seen as high-up masters who had to be obeyed and feared, as opposed to loved and adored. Nonetheless, many Mesopotamians, of all classes, often had names that were devoted to a certain deity; this practice appeared to have begun in the third millennium BC among
1770-451: Is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth , world , and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism , the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatristic traditions separate a secondary creator from a primary transcendent being, identified as a primary creator. Initiated by Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti around 1330 BCE, during
1888-531: Is a creation ex nihilo . Traditional interpreters argue on grammatical and syntactical grounds that this is the meaning of Genesis 1:1, which is commonly rendered: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." However, other interpreters understand creation ex nihilo as a 2nd-century theological development. According to this view, church fathers opposed notions appearing in pre -Christian creation myths and in Gnosticism —notions of creation by
2006-488: Is complex and depends upon each individual and the tradition and philosophy followed. Hinduism is sometimes referred to as henotheistic (i.e., involving devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of others), but any such term is an overgeneralization. The Nasadiya Sukta ( Creation Hymn ) of the Rigveda is one of the earliest texts which "demonstrates a sense of metaphysical speculation" about what created
2124-429: Is far-reaching; his word is sublime and holy. His decisions are unalterable; he decides fate forever! His eyes scrutinize the entire world!" A prayer to the god Enlil. Each Mesopotamian city was home to a deity, and each of the prominent deities was the patron of a city, and all known temples were located in cities, though there may have been shrines in the suburbs. The temple itself was constructed of mud brick in
2242-465: Is for the created to have the capacity to know and love its creator. In Mandaeism , Hayyi Rabbi (lit=The Great Life), or 'The Great Living God', is the supreme God from which all things emanate . He is also known as 'The First Life', since during the creation of the material world, Yushamin emanated from Hayyi Rabbi as the "Second Life." "The principles of the Mandaean doctrine: the belief of
2360-586: Is half Shiva and half Parvati; or alternatively, Brahma was born from Rudra , or Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma creating each other cyclically in different aeons ( kalpa ). Thus in most Puranic texts, Brahma's creative activity depends on the presence and power of a higher god. In other versions of creation, the creator deity is the one who is equivalent to the Brahman , the metaphysical reality in Hinduism. In Vaishnavism , Vishnu creates Brahma and orders him to order
2478-472: Is not god-like, but is punished for acts which would lead to their becoming god-like (Genesis 3:1-24) and the order and method of creation itself differs. "Together, this combination of parallel character and contrasting profile point to the different origin of materials in Genesis 1:1 and Gen 2:4, however elegantly they have now been combined." An early conflation of Greek philosophy with the narratives in
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#17327651078872596-527: Is one, and material monism which holds that everything including all material reality is one and the same thing. Buddhism denies a creator deity and posits that mundane deities such as Mahabrahma are misperceived to be a creator. Jainism does not support belief in a creator deity. According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents—soul, matter, space, time, and principles of motion have always existed (a static universe similar to that of Epicureanism and steady state cosmological model ). All
2714-531: Is only with his Lord. Indeed, the disbelievers will not succeed." ). Islam teaches that God as referenced in the Qur'an is the only god and the same God worshipped by members of other Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Judaism. One of the biggest responsibilities in the faith of Sikhism is to worship God as "The Creator", termed Waheguru , who is shapeless, timeless, and sightless, i.e., Nirankar , Akal, and Alakh Niranjan . The religion only takes after
2832-529: Is seen as the origin of life and a force of motion. The Bakongo believe that life requires constant change and perpetual motion. Nzambi Mpunga is also referred to as Kalûnga, the God of change. Similarities between the Bakongo belief of Kalûnga and the Big Bang Theory have been studied. Nzambi is also said to have created two worlds. As Kalûnga filled mbûngi, it created an invisible line that divided
2950-658: Is the Subtle, the Acquainted." God in Islam is not only majestic and sovereign, but also a personal God: "And indeed We have created man, and We know what his ownself whispers to him. And We are nearer to him than his jugular vein (by Our Knowledge)." Allah commands the believers to constantly remember Him ("O you who have believed, remember Allah with much remembrance" ) and to invoke Him alone ("And whoever invokes besides Allah another deity for which he has no proof—then his account
3068-455: Is the creator of the world. Ancient Mesopotamian religion Mesopotamian religion refers to the religious beliefs (concerning the gods, creation and the cosmos , the origin of man, and so forth) and practices of the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia , particularly Sumer , Akkad , Assyria and Babylonia between circa 6000 BC and 400 AD. The religious development of Mesopotamia and Mesopotamian culture in general, especially in
3186-544: The Hebrew Bible . In the Enuma Elish (ca. 12th century BC), the god Marduk kills Tiamat , the mother of the gods, and, from the two halves of her carcass, constructs the heavens and the earth to shape the modern observable cosmos. A document from a similar period stated that the heavens and the earth can each be divided into three layers. The gods dwell in the higher levels of heaven, with the stars being fixed into
3304-635: The Israelite people's belief in one God . The first major comprehensive draft of the Pentateuch (the series of five books which begins with Genesis and ends with Deuteronomy ) was composed in the late 7th or the 6th century BCE (the Jahwist source) and was later expanded by other authors (the Priestly source ) into a work very similar to Genesis as known today. The two sources can be identified in
3422-567: The New Kingdom period in ancient Egyptian history. They built an entirely new capital city ( Akhetaten ) for themselves and worshippers of their sole creator god in a wilderness. His father used to worship Aten alongside other gods of their polytheistic religion. Aten, for a long time before his father's time, was revered as a god among the many gods and goddesses in Egypt. Atenism was countermanded by later pharaoh Tutankhamun , as chronicled in
3540-589: The Sumerian language , the gods were referred to as dingir , while in the Akkadian language they were known as ilu and it seems that there was syncretism between the gods worshipped by the two groups, adopting one another's deities. The Mesopotamian gods bore many similarities with humans, and were anthropomorphic , thereby having humanoid form. Similarly, they often acted like humans, requiring food and drink, as well as drinking alcohol and subsequently suffering
3658-418: The basimbi , bakisi and bakita. Oral tradition accounts that in the beginning, there was only a circular void ( mbûngi ) with no life. Nzambi Mpungu summoned a spark of fire ( Kalûnga ) that grew until it filled the mbûngi. When it grew too large, Kalûnga became a great force of energy and unleashed heated elements across space, forming the universe with the sun, stars, planets, etc. Because of this, Kalûnga
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3776-481: The calendar . They created the first city-states such as Uruk , Ur , Lagash , Isin , Kish , Umma , Eridu , Adab , Akshak , Sippar , Nippur and Larsa , each of them ruled by an ensí . The Sumerians remained largely dominant in this synthesised culture, however, until the rise of the Akkadian Empire under Sargon of Akkad circa 2335 BC, which united all of Mesopotamia under one ruler. There
3894-539: The cosmos ; a self-regulating mechanism whereby the individual reaps the fruits of his own actions through the workings of the karmas. Through the ages, Jain philosophers have adamantly rejected and opposed the concept of creator and omnipotent God and this has resulted in Jainism being labeled as nāstika darsana or atheist philosophy by the rival religious philosophies . The theme of non-creationism and absence of omnipotent God and divine grace runs strongly in all
4012-588: The creation myth , the Garden of Eden , the flood myth , the Tower of Babel , figures such as Nimrod and Lilith and the Book of Esther . It has also inspired various contemporary neo-pagan groups. In the New Testament Book of Revelation , Babylonian religion is associated with religious apostasy of the lowest order, the archetype of a political/religious system heavily tied to global commerce, and it
4130-425: The "conscious everyday world into the trance world of spiritual ecstasy." Mesopotamians believed in an afterlife that took place in a region below the surface of the earth inhabited by living humans. This was the ancient Mesopotamian underworld , known by many names including Arallû , Ganzer or Irkallu ("Great Below"). It was believed everyone went to this region after death, irrespective of social status or
4248-538: The "waters below", and day three the sea from the land. In each of the next three days these divisions are populated: day four populates the darkness and light with sun, moon, and stars; day five populates seas and skies with fish and fowl; and finally, land-based creatures and mankind populate the land. The first (the Priestly story ) was concerned with the cosmic plan of creation, while the second (the Yahwist story ) focuses on man as cultivator of his environment and as
4366-577: The 2nd and 1st millennia BC, introduced greater emphasis on personal religion and structured the gods into a monarchical hierarchy, with the national god being the head of the pantheon. Mesopotamian religion finally declined with the spread of Iranian religions during the Achaemenid Empire and with the Christianization of Mesopotamia. The very earliest undercurrents of Mesopotamian religious thought are believed to have developed in
4484-493: The Adapa myth resignedly relate that, due to a blunder, all men must die and that true everlasting life is the sole property of the gods. There are no known Mesopotamian tales about the end of the world , although it has been speculated that they believed that this would eventually occur. This is largely because Berossus wrote that the Mesopotamians believed the world to last "twelve times twelve sars " in his Babyloniaca ; with
4602-494: The Akkadian speakers and their culture. Akkadian speakers are believed to have entered the region at some point between 3500 BC and 3000 BC, with Akkadian names first appearing in the regnal lists of these states c. 29th century BC. The Sumerians were advanced: as well as inventing writing, they developed early forms of mathematics , early wheeled vehicles/ chariots , astronomy , astrology , written code of law , organised medicine , advanced agriculture and architecture , and
4720-613: The Christian faith, followed by the statement that God is the First Being, the First Mover, and is Pure Act. The deuterocanonical 2 Maccabees has two relevant passages. At chapter 7, it narrows about the mother of a Jewish proto-martyr telling to her son: "I beseech thee, my son, look upon heaven and earth, and all that is in them: and consider that God made them out of nothing, and mankind also"; at chapter 1, it refers
4838-639: The Hebrew Bible came from Philo of Alexandria (d. 50 CE), writing in the context of Hellenistic Judaism . Philo equated the Hebrew creator-deity Yahweh with Aristotle 's unmoved mover ( First Cause ) in an attempt to prove that the Jews had held monotheistic views even before the Greeks. A similar theoretical proposition was demonstrated by Thomas Aquinas , who linked Aristotelian philosophy with
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4956-718: The Islamic teachings, God exists above the heavens and the creation itself. The Quran mentions, "He it is Who created for you all that is on earth. Then He Istawa (rose over) towards the heaven and made them seven heavens and He is the All-Knower of everything." At the same time, God is unlike anything in creation: "There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing." and nobody can perceive God in totality: "Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives [all] vision; and He
5074-616: The Mesopotamian world. A number of scholars once argued that defining a single Mesopotamian religion was not possible, and as such, a systematic exposition of Mesopotamian religion should not be produced. Other have rebutted that this is a mistaken approach, insofar as it would fracture the study of religion among social divisions (such as private religion, religion of the educated), individual cities and provinces ( Ebla , Mari , Assyria ), and time periods ( Seleucid , Achaemenid , etc), and that this fracture would be counterproductive as
5192-737: The Sumerian moon god Nanna became the Akkadian Sîn while the Sumerian sun god Utu became the Akkadian Shamash . One of the most notable goddesses was the Sumerian sex and war deity Inanna . With the later rise to power of the Babylonians in the 18th century BC, the king, Hammurabi , declared Marduk, a deity who before then had not been of significant importance, to a position of supremacy alongside Anu and Enlil in southern Mesopotamia. Although Marduk may have been modelled after
5310-648: The Sumerian storm-god Ninurta ; whose exploits share great similarity. Perhaps the most significant legend to survive from Mesopotamian religion is the Epic of Gilgamesh , which tells the story of the heroic king Gilgamesh and his wild friend Enkidu , and the former's search for immortality which is entwined with all the gods and their approval. It also contains the earliest reference to The Great Flood . Akkadian religion sometimes took inspiration from influential Sumerian religious leaders and beliefs, and deified Sumerian kings at some points. " Enlil ! his authority
5428-561: The Sumerians, but also was later adopted by the Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians as well. Initially, the pantheon was not ordered, but later Mesopotamian theologians came up with the concept of ranking the deities in order of importance. A Sumerian list of around 560 deities that did this was uncovered at Farm and Tell Abû Ṣalābīkh and dated to circa 2600 BC, ranking five primary deities as being of particular importance. One of
5546-493: The actions performed during their lifetime. Unlike Christian hell , the Mesopotamians considered the underworld neither a punishment nor a reward. Nevertheless, the condition of the dead was hardly considered the same as the life previously enjoyed on earth: they were considered merely weak and powerless ghosts. The myth of Ishtar's descent into the underworld relates that "dust is their food and clay their nourishment, they see no light, where they dwell in darkness." Stories such as
5664-550: The animals and plants but does not seem to have given any further instructions, nor did he return the fire to the survivors. Puluga created the entire riches of forests of Marakele (Andaman Islands). With the dwindled number of Andamanese tribals who now live in Strait Island, the reverence to Puluga seem to be forgotten. This article relating to anthropology is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Creator deity A creator deity or creator god
5782-507: The artifact, the Restoration Stela. Despite different views, Atenism is considered by some scholars to be one of the frontiers of monotheism in human history. The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity . The narrative is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis . In the first, Elohim (the Hebrew generic word for God ) creates
5900-419: The beginning there was nothing in the universe except a formless chaos . However this chaos began to coalesce into a cosmic egg for eighteen thousand years. Within it, the perfectly opposed principles of yin and yang became balanced and Pangu emerged (or woke up) from the egg. Pangu is usually depicted as a primitive, hairy giant with horns on his head and clad in furs. Pangu set about the task of creating
6018-578: The behavior of birds ( augury ) and observing celestial and meteorological phenomena ( astrology ), as well as through interpretation of dreams. Often interpretation of these phenomena required the need for two classes of priests: askers (sa'ilu) and observer ( baru ), and also sometimes a lower class of ecstatic seer (mahhu) that was also associated with witchcraft . "Do not return evil to the man who disputes with you, requite with kindness your evil-doer, maintain justice to your enemy... Let not your heart be induced to do evil... Give food to eat, beer to drink,
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#17327651078876136-469: The belief in "One God for All" or Ik Onkar . In the Baháʼí Faith God is the imperishable, uncreated being who is the source of all existence. He is described as "a personal God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all Revelation, eternal, omniscient , omnipresent and almighty ". Although transcendent and inaccessible directly, his image is reflected in his creation. The purpose of creation
6254-403: The circle in half. The top half represents the physical world ( Ku Nseke or nsi a bamôyo ), while the bottom half represents the spiritual world of the ancestors ( Ku Mpèmba ). The Kalûnga line separates these two worlds, and all living things exists on one side or another. After creation, the line and the mbûngi circle became a river, carrying people between the worlds at birth and death. Then
6372-506: The claim that the Mesopotamian's "entire existence was infused by their religiosity, just about everything they have passed on to us can be used as a source of knowledge about their religion." The modern study of Mesopotamia ( Assyriology ) is still a fairly young science, beginning only in the middle of the Nineteenth century, and the study of Mesopotamian religion can be a complex and difficult subject because, by nature, their religion
6490-458: The constituents and actions are governed by universal natural laws . It is not possible to create matter out of nothing and hence the sum total of matter in the universe remains the same (similar to law of conservation of mass ). Similarly, the soul of each living being is unique and uncreated and has existed since beginningless time. The Jain theory of causation holds that a cause and its effect are always identical in nature and therefore
6608-467: The creation narrative: Priestly and Jahwistic. The combined narrative is a critique of the Mesopotamian theology of creation: Genesis affirms monotheism and denies polytheism . Robert Alter described the combined narrative as "compelling in its archetypal character, its adaptation of myth to monotheistic ends". The Abrahamic creation narrative is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to
6726-401: The deity approved, it would accept the image and agree to "inhabit" it. These images were also entertained, and sometime escorted on hunting expeditions. In order to service the gods, the temple was equipped with a household with kitchens and kitchenware, sleeping rooms with beds and side rooms for the deity's family, as well as a courtyard with a basin and water for cleansing visitors, as well as
6844-545: The demiurge represents the second cause or dyad , after the monad . In Gnostic dualism , the demiurge is an imperfect spirit and possibly an evil being, transcended by divine Fullness ( Pleroma ). Unlike the Abrahamic God, Plato's demiurge is unable to create ex-nihilo . Hinduism is a diverse system of thought with beliefs spanning monotheism , polytheism , panentheism , pantheism , pandeism , monism , and atheism among others; and its concept of creator deity
6962-442: The effects of drunkenness , but were thought to have a higher degree of perfection than common men. They were thought to be more powerful, all-seeing and all-knowing, unfathomable, and, above all, immortal. One of their prominent features was a terrifying brightness ( melammu ) which surrounded them, producing an immediate reaction of awe and reverence among men. In many cases, the various deities were family relations of one another,
7080-552: The first half of the sixth millennium BC, at the time people first began to permanently settle in Mesopotamia owing to improved irrigation. The early religious developments of the region are unknown since they preceded the invention of writing. The first evidence for what is recognisably Mesopotamian religion can be seen with the invention in Mesopotamia of writing circa 3500 BC. The people of Mesopotamia originally consisted of two groups, East Semitic speakers of Akkadian and
7198-415: The form of a ziggurat , which rose to the sky in a series of stairstep stages. Its significance and symbolism have been the subject of much discussion, but most regard the tower as a kind of staircase or ladder for the god to descend from and ascend to the heavens, though there are signs which point towards an actual cult having been practiced in the upper temple, so the entire temple may have been regarded as
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#17327651078877316-608: The four most prominent beasts, namely the Turtle , the Qilin , the Phoenix , and the Dragon . After eighteen thousand years had elapsed, Pangu was laid to rest. His breath became the wind ; his voice the thunder ; left eye the sun and right eye the moon ; his body became the mountains and extremes of the world; his blood formed rivers; his muscles the fertile lands; his facial hair
7434-474: The god that they are describing above all others. The historian J. Bottéro stated that these poems display "extreme reverence, profound devotion, [and] the unarguable emotion that the supernatural evoked in the hearts of those ancient believers" but that they showed a people who were scared of their gods rather than openly celebrating them. They were thought to offer good luck, success, and protection from disease and demons, and one's place and success in society
7552-689: The god, who was thought to reside and hold court on earth for the good of the city and kingdom. His presence was symbolized by an image of the god in a separate room. The god's presence within the image seems to have been thought of in a very concrete way, as instruments for the presence of the deity." This is evident from the poem How Erra Wrecked the World , in which Erra deceived the god Marduk into leaving his cult statue . Once constructed, idols were consecrated through special nocturnal rituals where they were given "life", and their mouth "was opened" ( pet pî ) and washed ( mes pî ) so they could see and eat. If
7670-415: The gods and have the appropriate attitude towards them. Duties seem to have been primarily of a cultic and ritual nature, although some prayers express a positive psychological relationship, or a sort of conversion experience in regard to a god. Generally the reward to mankind is described as success and long life. Every man also had duties to his fellow man which had some religious character, particularly
7788-413: The gods as well. Besides demons, there were also spirits of the dead , (etimmu) who could also cause mischief. Amulets were occasionally used, and sometimes a special priest or exorcist ( āšipu or mašmašu) was required. Incantations and ceremonies were also used to cure diseases which were also thought to be associated with demonic activity, sometimes making use of sympathetic magic . Sometimes an attempt
7906-437: The gods, and how kings were used as a tool for deliverance. Sumerian myths suggest a prohibition against premarital sex. Marriages were often arranged by the parents of the bride and groom; engagements were usually completed through the approval of contracts recorded on clay tablets. These marriages became legal as soon as the groom delivered a bridal gift to his bride's father. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that premarital sex
8024-444: The gods. Punishment came through sickness or misfortune, which inevitably lead to the common reference to unknown sins, or the idea that one can transgress a divine prohibition without knowing it—psalms of lamentation rarely mention concrete sins. This idea of retribution was also applied to the nation and history as a whole. A number of examples of Mesopotamian literature show how war and natural disasters were treated as punishment from
8142-502: The great happenings and processes of nature. The post-Vedic texts of Hinduism offer multiple theories of cosmogony , many involving Brahma . These include Sarga (primary creation of universe) and Visarga (secondary creation), ideas related to the Indian thought that there are two levels of reality, one primary that is unchanging ( metaphysical ) and other secondary that is always changing ( empirical ), and that all observed reality of
8260-559: The heavens and the Earth, the animals, and mankind in six days, then rests on, blesses and sanctifies the seventh (i.e. the Biblical Sabbath ). In the second story, God, now referred to by the personal name Yahweh , creates Adam , the first man, from dust and places him in the Garden of Eden , where he is given dominion over the animals. Eve , the first woman, is created from Adam and as his companion. It expounds themes parallel to those in Mesopotamian mythology , emphasizing
8378-487: The help of religious scholars and translators, to re-construct a working knowledge of the religious history, customs, and the role these beliefs played in everyday life in Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, Ebla and Chaldea during this time. Mesopotamian religion is thought to have been an influence on subsequent religions throughout the world, including Canaanite /Israelite, Aramean , and ancient Greek . Mesopotamian religion
8496-514: The high priest reassured the peoples that the gods, or in the case of the henotheistic Assyrians, the god, was pleased with the current ruler. For the Assyrians who lived in Assur and the surrounding lands, this system was the norm. For the conquered peoples, however, it was novel, particularly to the people of smaller city-states. In time, Ashur was promoted from being the local deity of Assur to
8614-550: The history of the Assyrian monarchy. The religion of the Neo-Assyrian Empire centered around the Assyrian king as the king of their lands as well. However, kingship at the time was linked very closely with the idea of divine mandate. The Assyrian king, while not being a god himself, was acknowledged as the chief servant of the chief god, Ashur . In this manner, the king's authority was seen as absolute so long as
8732-422: The influence of Babylonian mythology on Jewish mythology and other Near Eastern mythologies, albeit indirect. Indeed, similarities between both religious traditions may draw from even older sources. In March 2020, archaeologists announced the discovery of a 5,000-year-old cultic area filled with more than 300 broken ceremonial ceramic cups, bowls, jars, animal bones and ritual processions dedicated to Ningirsu at
8850-420: The king shared in these meals, and the priests may have had some share in the offerings as well. Incense was also burned before the image, because it was thought that the gods enjoyed the smell. Sacrificial meals were also set out regularly, with a sacrificial animal seen as a replacement ( pūhu ) or substitute ( dinānu ) for a man, and it was considered that the anger of the gods or demons was then directed towards
8968-533: The king's duties to his subjects. It was thought that one of the reasons the gods gave power to the king was to exercise justice and righteousness, described as mēšaru and kettu , literally "straightness, rightness, firmness, truth". Examples of this include not alienating and causing dissension between friends and relatives, setting innocent prisoners free, being truthful, being honest in trade, respecting boundary lines and property rights, and not putting on airs with subordinates. Some of these guidelines are found in
9086-512: The latter is in an endless repeating cycle of existence, that cosmos and life we experience is continually created, evolved, dissolved and then re-created. The primary creator is extensively discussed in Vedic cosmogonies with Brahman or Purusha or Devi among the terms used for the primary creator, while the Vedic and post-Vedic texts name different gods and goddesses as secondary creators (often Brahma in post-Vedic texts), and in some cases
9204-401: The lowermost heavenly layer. Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic , thereby accepting the existence of many different deities, both male and female, though it was also henotheistic , with certain gods being viewed as superior to others by their specific devotees. These devotees were often from a particular city or city-state that held that deity as its tutelary deity ; for instance, Enki
9322-514: The materials provided by Vishnu to actually create what are believed to be planets in Puranic terminology, and he supervises the population of them. Monism is the philosophy that asserts oneness as its fundamental premise, and it contradicts the dualism-based theistic premise that there is a creator God that is eternal and separate from the rest of existence. There are two types of monism, namely spiritual monism which holds that all spiritual reality
9440-458: The most important of these early Mesopotamian deities was the god Enlil , who was originally a Sumerian divinity viewed as a king of the gods and a controller of the world, who was later adopted by the Akkadians. Another was the Sumerian god An, who served a similar role to Enlil and became known as Anu among the Akkadians. The Sumerian god Enki was later also adopted by the Akkadians, initially under his original name, and later as Éa . Similarly
9558-661: The native culture and religion and Assyria and Babylon continued to exist as entities (although Chaldea and the Chaldeans disappeared), and Assyria was strong enough to launch major rebellions against the Achaemenids in 522 and 482 BC. During this period the Syriac language and Syriac alphabet evolved in Assyria among the Assyrian people, and were centuries later to be the vehicle for the spread of Syriac Christianity throughout
9676-784: The near east. Then, two centuries later in 330 BC, the Macedonian emperor Alexander the Great overthrew the Persians and took control of Mesopotamia itself. After Alexander's death, increased Hellenistic influence was brought to the region by the Seleucid Empire . Assyria and Babylonia later became provinces under the Parthian Empire ( Achaemenid Assyria and province of Babylonia ), Rome (province of Assyria ) and Sasanian Empire (province of Asoristan ). Babylonia
9794-408: The one begging for alms honor, clothe; in this a man's god takes pleasure, it is pleasing to Shamash, who will repay him with favour. Be helpful, do good" Incantation from the Šurpu series. Although ancient paganism tended to focus more on duty and ritual than morality, a number of general moral virtues can be gleaned from surviving prayers and myths. It was believed that man originated as
9912-404: The only one great God, Hayyi Rabbi, to whom all absolute properties belong; He created all the worlds, formed the soul through his power, and placed it by means of angels into the human body. So He created Adam and Eve , the first man and woman." Mandaeans recognize God to be the eternal, creator of all, the one and only in domination who has no partner. Monolatristic traditions would separate
10030-524: The overlord of the vast Assyrian domain, which spread from the Caucasus and Armenia in the north to Egypt, Nubia and the Arabian Peninsula in the south, and from Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean Sea in the west to central Iran in the east. Assur , the patron deity of the city of Assur from the late Bronze Age , was in constant rivalry with the patron deity of Babylon, Marduk . Worship
10148-574: The people of Sumer , who spoke Sumerian , a language isolate . These peoples were members of various city-states and small kingdoms . The Sumerians left the first records, and are believed to have been the founders of the civilization of the Ubaid period (6500 BC to 3800 BC) in Upper Mesopotamia . By historical times they resided in southern Mesopotamia, which was known as Sumer (and much later, Babylonia ), and had considerable influence on
10266-537: The personal gods changed over time and little is known about early practice as they are rarely named or described. In the mid-third millennium BC, some rulers regarded a particular god or gods as being their personal protector. In the second millennium BC, personal gods began to function more on behalf of the common man, with whom he had a close, personal relationship, maintained through prayer and maintenance of his god's statue. A number of written prayers have survived from ancient Mesopotamia, each of which typically exalt
10384-417: The philosophical dimensions of Jainism, including its cosmology , karma , moksa and its moral code of conduct. Jainism asserts a religious and virtuous life is possible without the idea of a creator god. In polytheistic creation, the world often comes into being organically, e.g. sprouting from a primal seed, sexually, by miraculous birth (sometimes by parthenogenesis ), by hieros gamos , violently, by
10502-480: The process repeats and a person is reborn. A simbi (pl. bisimbi) is a water spirit that is believed to inhabit bodies of water and rocks, having the ability to guide bakulu , or the ancestors, along the Kalûnga line to the spiritual world after death. They are also present during the baptisms of African American Christians , according to Hoodoo tradition . Pangu can be interpreted as another creator deity. In
10620-426: The purification of the temple ( mašmašu ), priests to appease the wrath of the gods with song and music ( kalū ), as well as female singers ( nāru ), male singers ( zammeru ), craftsmen ( mārē ummāni ), swordbearers ( nāš paṭri ), masters of divination ( bārû ), penitents ( šā'ilu ), and others. Besides the worship of the gods at public rituals, individuals also paid homage to a personal deity. As with other deities,
10738-445: The region began to be permanently settled. The earliest evidence of Mesopotamian religion dates to the mid- 4th millennium BC , coincides with the invention of writing , and involved the worship of forces of nature as providers of sustenance. In the 3rd millennium BC , objects of worship were personified and became an expansive cast of divinities with particular functions. The last stages of Mesopotamian polytheism, which developed in
10856-547: The region, particularly numerous literary sources, which are usually written in Sumerian , Akkadian ( Assyro-Babylonian ) or Aramaic using cuneiform script on clay tablets and which describe both mythology and cultic practices. Other artifacts can also be useful when reconstructing Mesopotamian religion. As is common with most ancient civilizations, the objects made of the most durable and precious materials, and thus more likely to survive, were associated with religious beliefs and practices. This has prompted one scholar to make
10974-716: The religions of the Near East were rooted in Babylonian astral science- including the Hebrew Bible and Judaism. This theory of a Babylonian-derived Bible originated from the discovery of a stele in the acropolis of Susa bearing a Babylonian flood myth with many similarities to the flood of Genesis, the Epic of Gilgamesh . However, flood myths appear in almost every culture around the world, including cultures that never had contact with Mesopotamia. The fundamental tenets of Panbabylonism were eventually dismissed as pseudoscientific, however Assyriologists and biblical scholars recognize
11092-779: The rest of universe. In Shaivism , Shiva may be treated as the creator. In Shaktism , the Great Goddess creates the Trimurti. The Bakongo people traditionally believe in Nzambi Mpungu , the Creator God, whom the Portuguese compared to the Christian God during colonization. They also believe his female counterpart called Nzambici , the ancestors ( bakulu ) as well as guardian spirits, such as Lemba,
11210-530: The sacrificial animal. Additionally, certain days required extra sacrifices and ceremonies for certain gods, and every day was sacred to a particular god. The king was thought, in theory, to be the religious leader ( enu or šangū ) of the cult and exercised a large number of duties within the temple, with a large number of specialists whose task was to mediate between men and gods: a supervising or "watchman" priest ( šešgallu ), priests for individual purification against demons and magicians ( āšipu ), priests for
11328-401: The second tablet of the Šurpu incantation series. Sin, on the other hand, was expressed by the words hitu (mistake, false step), annu or arnu (rebellion), and qillatu (sin or curse), with strong emphasis on the idea of rebellion, sometimes with the idea that sin is man's wishing to "live on his own terms" (ina ramanisu). Sin also was described as anything which incited the wrath of
11446-608: The site of Girsu . One of the remains was a duck-shaped bronze figurine with eyes made from bark which is thought to be dedicated to Nanshe . While Mesopotamian religion had almost completely died out by approximately 400–500 AD after its indigenous adherents had largely become Assyrian Christians , it has still had an influence on the modern world, predominantly because many biblical stories that are today found in Judaism , Christianity , Islam and Mandaeism were possibly based upon earlier Mesopotamian myths, in particular that of
11564-416: The slaying of a primeval monster , or artificially, by a divine demiurge or "craftsman". Sometimes, a god is involved, wittingly or unwittingly, in bringing about creation. Examples include: Plato , in his dialogue Timaeus , describes a creation myth involving a being called the demiurge ( δημιουργός "craftsman"). Neoplatonism and Gnosticism continued and developed this concept. In Neoplatonism,
11682-427: The south, were not particularly influenced by the movements of the various peoples into and throughout the area. Rather, Mesopotamian religion was a consistent and coherent tradition, which adapted to the internal needs of its adherents over millennia of development. The earliest undercurrents of Mesopotamian religious thought are believed to have developed in Mesopotamia in the 6th millennium BC , coinciding with when
11800-549: The stars and milky way; his fur the bushes and forests; his bones the valuable minerals; his bone marrows sacred diamonds; his sweat fell as rain; and the fleas on his fur carried by the wind became human beings all over the world. The first writer to record the myth of Pangu was Xu Zheng during the Three Kingdoms period. Shangdi is another creator deity, possibly prior to Pangu; sharing concepts similar to Abrahamic faiths. According to Kazakh folk tales, Jasagnan
11918-432: The succession of ancient near eastern states did not impact the presence of a broadly shared religious system across them. According to Panbabylonism , a school of thought founded by Hugo Winckler and held in the early 20th century among primarily German Assyriologists, there was a common cultural system extending over the ancient Near East which was overwhelmingly influenced by the Babylonians. According to this theory
12036-508: The third century AD, Manichaeism , which incorporated elements of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism , Zoroastrianism , and local Mesopotamian religion, developed. With the exception of the Enuma Elish , there are no surviving records that systematically explain Mesopotamian cosmology. Nonetheless, modern scholars have reconstructed a roughly accurate depiction from the surviving evidence, including Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform and
12154-403: The two first chapters of the Book of Genesis . The first account (1:1 through 2:3) employs a repetitious structure of divine fiat and fulfillment, then the statement "And there was evening and there was morning, the [ x ] day," for each of the six days of creation. In each of the first three days there is an act of division: day one divides the darkness from light, day two the "waters above" from
12272-417: The universe, the concept of god(s) and The One, and whether even The One knows how the universe came into being. The Rig Veda praises various deities, none superior nor inferior, in a henotheistic manner. The hymns repeatedly refer to One Truth and Reality. The "One Truth" of Vedic literature, in modern era scholarship, has been interpreted as monotheism, monism, as well as a deified Hidden Principles behind
12390-501: The world: he separated Yin from Yang with a swing of his giant axe, creating the Earth (murky Yin ) and the Sky (clear Yang ). To keep them separated, Pangu stood between them and pushed up the Sky. This task took eighteen thousand years, with each day the sky grew ten feet higher, the Earth ten feet wider, and Pangu ten feet taller. In some versions of the story, Pangu is aided in this task by
12508-411: Was polytheistic , worshipping over 2,100 different deities, many of which were associated with a specific state within Mesopotamia, such as Sumer, Akkad, Assyria or Babylonia, or a specific Mesopotamian city. Mesopotamian religion has historically the oldest body of recorded literature of any religious tradition. What is known about Mesopotamian religion comes from archaeological evidence uncovered in
12626-425: Was a common, but surreptitious, occurrence. The worship of Inanna/Ishtar, which was prevalent in Mesopotamia could involve wild, frenzied dancing and bloody ritual celebrations of social and physical abnormality. It was believed that "nothing is prohibited to Inanna", and that by depicting transgressions of normal human social and physical limitations, including traditional gender definition, one could cross over from
12744-475: Was a strong belief in demons in Mesopotamia, and private individuals, like the temple priests, also participated in incantations (šiptu) to ward them off. Although there was no collective term for these beings either in Sumerian or Akkadian, they were merely described as harmful or dangerous beings or forces, and they were used as a logical way to explain the existence of evil in the world. They were thought to be countless in number, and were thought to even attack
12862-402: Was believed that the gods expressed their will through "words" (amatu) and "commandments" (qibitu) which were not necessarily spoken, but were thought to manifest in the unfolding routine of events and things. There were countless ways to divine the future, such as observing oil dropped into a cup of water ( lecanomancy ), observing the entrails of sacrificial animals ( extispicy ), observation of
12980-527: Was conducted in his name throughout the lands dominated by the Assyrians. With the worship of Assur across much of the Fertile Crescent , the Assyrian king could command the loyalty of his fellow servants of Assur. In 539 BC, Mesopotamia was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire (539–332 BC), then ruled by Cyrus the Great . This brought to an end over 3000 years of Mesopotamian dominance of the Near East. The Persians maintained and did not interfere in
13098-585: Was dissolved as an entity during the Parthian Empire, though Assyria endured as a geopolitical entity until the Muslim conquest of Persia , while the Assyrians are still present today. During the Parthian Empire there was a major revival in Assyria between the second century BC and fourth century AD, with temples once more being dedicated to gods such as Assur , Sin , Shamash , Hadad and Ishtar in various Parthian vassal states in Mesopotamia. In
13216-410: Was governed only by usage, not by any official decision, and by nature it was neither dogmatic nor systematic. Deities, characters, and their actions within myths changed in character and importance over time, and occasionally depicted different, sometimes even contrasting images or concepts. This is further complicated by the fact that scholars are not entirely certain what role religious texts played in
13334-663: Was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." Christianity affirms the creation by God since its early time in the Apostles' Creed ("I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.", 1st century CE), that is symmetrical to the Nicene Creed (4th century CE). Nowadays, theologians debate whether the Bible itself teaches if this creation by God
13452-448: Was increasing syncretism between the Sumerian and Akkadian cultures and deities, with the Akkadians typically preferring to worship fewer deities but elevating them to greater positions of power. Like many nations in Mesopotamian history, Assyria was originally, to a great extent, an oligarchy rather than a monarchy. Authority was considered to lie with "the city", and the polity had three main centres of power—an assembly of elders,
13570-505: Was made to capture a demon by making an image of it, placing it above the head of a sick person, then destroying the image, which the demon was somehow likely to inhabit. Images of protecting spirits were also made and placed at gates to ward off disaster. Divination was also employed by private individuals, with the assumption that the gods have already determined the destinies of men and these destinies could be ascertained through observing omens and through rituals (e.g., casting lots). It
13688-430: Was often associated with the city of Eridu in Sumer, Assur with Assur and Assyria , Enlil with the Sumerian city of Nippur , Ishtar with the Assyrian city of Arbela , and the god Marduk with Babylon . Though the full number of gods and goddesses found in Mesopotamia is not known, K. Tallqvist, in his Akkadische Götterepitheta (1938) counted around 2,400 that scholars know, most of which had Sumerian names. In
13806-436: Was the eponym ( limmum ), who gave the year his name, similarly to the eponymous archon and Roman consuls of classical antiquity . He was annually elected by lot and was responsible for the economic administration of the city, which included the power to detain people and confiscate property. The institution of the eponym as well as the formula iššiak Assur lingered on as ceremonial vestiges of this early system throughout
13924-433: Was thought to depend on his personal deity, including the development of his certain talents and even his personality. This was even taken to the point that everything he experienced was considered a reflection of what was happening to his personal god. When a man neglected his god, it was assumed that the demons were free to inflict him, and when he revered his god, that god was like a shepherd who seeks food for him. There
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