C375SurveyofWHTask1.CH
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C375
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Religion
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Apr 3, 2024
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Key Geographical Features
Religious Beliefs
Political Structures
Social and/or Cultural Characteristics
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia compromised the land between the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers.
Fertile soil allowed for the production of surplus food that increased the population in the area and provided goods for trade.
Prone to destructive flooding.
Each city-state had their own leading god.
Some believed in Polytheism, which is the worship of many gods.
Ancient Hebrews/Jews were monotheistic, which means they worshipped one god.
Created the religious literature, known ad the Torah, which are the five books of the
Old Testament.
Between 4000–
3000 BCE, these
peoples gathered into
city-states
Each city was ruled
by a king.
City-states were transformed into empires governed by a centralized authority.
Hammurabi’s code of law was a means by which the Sumerian king could maintain order throughout his domain.
Invented
the
wheel,
which
dates back to
3500 BCE.
4000 BCE copper and tin were merged together to form bronze.
Bronze armory, weaponry and axes were created.
Invented a sexagesimal numberal system.
Cuneiform, records kept on clay tablets, was the standard form of writing.
Egypt
The summer tropical rains from the Ethiopian mountains poured into the Nile valley and led to the cultivation of a variety of crops.
Populaltion settled on the upper and lower Nile valley, which emerged Egypt & Nubia.
Farmers cultivated a
variety of food and crops after the floodings in July and
recession in October, which left behind rich volcanic silt.
Pharoahs were the central figure in religious ceremonies to honor gods and was considered god on earth.
The importance of gods descended down to the household level.
They believed that gods and goddesses ruled the universe and could determine the fates of all mortals.
Egyptians ruled their land in the spirit of Ma’at, a goddess who
represented truth, justice
and and order.
The king owned everything.
The chief responsibility of the king was performing rituals that appeased the gods and assured ma’at.
Old Kingdom, or Age of the Pyramid, was the concentration of power in the hands of
the king.
Long lasting unified kingdoms.
They used hieroglyphics, sacred carvings, a system of pictographs and sound symbols.
Created the writing tool known as a stylus
and papyrus, a paper-
like material of the papyrus plant.
Because the Egyptians required specialized knowledge to build,
measure and manipulate farmland, it is believed that the study of geometry originates with them.
India
The floods of the Indus River deposited soil nutrients that were essential for intensive agriculture.
The distinctive feature of the Indus was that its flooding usually occurred as the result of the monsoons— the heavy, wind- driven summer rains in South Asia.
Successful agriculture led to increased population demands, which, combined with
insufficient scientific knowledge, often
put a heavy
The Aryans primary god was Indra, a war god who guided them in battle and was responsible for favorable weather and
agriculture.
Buddhism was declared the state religion around 261 BCE.
Hinduism, formed in the late centuries BCE, was comprised of Vedic and Upanishad beliefs.
The caste system and Hinduism, were two major institutions that permanently transformed the history of India, were
formed by the migration of the Aryans into India.
The caste system, is the division of status and labor in a society based on birth, helped shape the government structures that evolved alongside the caste system.
The political structure was mostly
decentralized
One of the many technological advances
of the Harappan civilization was their development of a water management and sanitation system
which greatly benefitted the masses.
The Brahmins were the highest caste, comprised of priests and spiritual leaders, and correspond to the mouth as they spoke the hymns and kept the people in line.
Developed the Sanskrit writing
system.
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strain on the
early
agarian
civiliazations.
throughout its history and was rarely unified under a central ruler for
short
periods of time.
China
China is located near the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers.
Annual flooding destroyed farmland and irrigation systems
and killed people and farm animals.
Landscape made up of mountains, dense forest, seas and oceans.
Yu, a mythical king, rose to power as a result of his work to authorize a coordinated scheme along a stretch of the river.
The emperor become a symbol of unity and a
necessary link between heaven and earth.
The religious beliefs of Confuciasm, Daoism and Buddhism, aligned with
their
Early river civilization moved from decentralized settlements to expansive kingdoms by 221 BCE.
The Shang Dynasty amassed the largest armies ever recorded in
Asia and flourished under a centralized bureacacy.
The political structure was a feudal system.
Bronze metallurgy began during the Xia Dynasty, but was mastered during the Shang dynasty.
Workers in southern
China, invented iron
casting in the fifth century BCE, which
allowed for quicker production of tools.
Preparing ceremonial meals for the dead has
been a part of
the Chinese
philosophical beliefs.
culture for centuries.
(Acrobatiq, 2017)
Part B. Comparison
Religion is one characteristic that the Mesopotamians and Egyptians had in common. The Mesopotamians and Egyptians were both polytheistic, meaning they worshipped many gods. However, the Hebrews were monotheistic and worshipped one god, Yahweh. Both civilizations had a great interest in monumental architecture. The Mesopotamians built ziggurats to please their gods. The ziggurats are temples that were usually pyramid shaped and located in the center of the city. One of the main purposes of the ziggurat was to allow priests and rulers to get closer to the gods. Similarly, the Egyptians built pyramids that embodied their religion and served as tombs for their dead. They hoped to gain favor with the pharaohs and garner rewards in the afterlife by contributing pyramids. The pyramids of Giza, which were built by Pharaohs Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure are three famous pyramids that still stand today. Further, the priests in each society were powerful land-holders and held their positions through the control of writing and specialized knowledge (Acrobatiq, 2017).
As similar as these two civilizations were, there were also several differences. One difference was their perception of their gods. The Mesopotamians gods were destructive and indifferent with little concern for their people. The Egyptians seen their gods as kind, caring and benign (Acrobatiq, 2017). Another difference was how they handled death.
Death was the final rite of passage for the Mesopotamians. After death, the corpse was washed and perfumed and then placed in a coffin. Whereas for the Egyptians, mummification was the first stage in the funeral rites. Mummies were placed in tombs or
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pyramids with numerous items they needed in the afterlife (
"Ancient Religions of Egypt and Mesopotamia" n.d.). In addition, their beliefs in the afterlife were notably different. The Mesopotamians mostly believed that earthly life was all
there was, and that death led to disintegration of the body. It was believed that a kind of ghost or double survived physical death. However, the Egyptians believed strongly in an afterlife. They believed in at least three different concepts
dealing with the afterlife, ma ’at, ka, and ba. Ma’at is order. the gods and kings were responsible for maintaining ma’at through a series of rituals and failure to do so would result in chaos. Ka is the form in afterlife. Upon death, the ka continues to exist provided that the body is still intact, and nourishment is given by the living. Ba is the “soul”, which is the essence that defines each person uniquely (Acrobatiq, 2017).
References
"Ancient Religions of Egypt and Mesopotamia." (n.d.). World
Religions
Reference
Library
. from
Encyclopedia.com:
https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-
transcripts-and-maps/ancient-religions-egypt-and-mesopotamia
Acrobatiq. (2017). Survey of world history. Retrieved from https://wgunx.acrobatiq.com/courseware/contents/wh_apr14