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The world's first known religion and culture in relation to Christianity |
It really amazes me how little the general populace knows about Babylon and Sumer. Forgive me Im not a great history buff so I cant give you tons of dates but I can give you the jist.
As of now the world's oldest civilization has been found to be the 'Sumerians' or ancestors of the Akkadians (who we know as Babylonians.) They may not have been the first (there is proof their nameless ancestors may have had quite a few advancements themselves) but they did do quite a few 'firsts' in the world.
They were the first to have organized cities due to being able to farm and have enough extra food they could 'sell' it thus people were free to have the first 'careers': bueracrats (ah spelling!), artists, craftsmen, and yes teachers. They had the first schools (edubbas) and the first writing system (yes just barely older then the Egyptian system.) They even had a bit of democracy going with consuls of men making decisions though they did still have royality so they werent truly free of that. Thats just the 'surface' of what they started!
Religion wise they were Pagans. They believed in several Gods and Goddesses and at this point in history women werent so oppressed (sure they had less rights then men but they could own property and divorce!) so Goddesses had good power. Some of the main Gods were An the ruler of the Sky and Heaven, Enki God of wisdom and earth as well as creator and helper of humans. The main Goddesses were Inanna Goddess of love and war, Ereshkigal her sister and Goddess of the Underworld, and a slew of more minor Goddesses including Ninlil Enlil's wife, Nidaba the Goddess of scribes, and of course Ninkasi Goddess of Beer (the holiest of drinks!)
They believed in a heaven but that was mainly where Gods dwelled. They believed in an Underworld that most browsers of the culture see as 'hell' and 'dreary' but it really wasnt that. The underworld was dark by day but at night the sun God Utu retired there thus the Sun shone. And on the day of the 'darkness of the moon' on Earth the Moon God Nanna also joined the Sun in the underworld. The more good you did in life the more comfy your life could be in the underworld. And no matter how 'unfun' death could be they did believe in living life to the fullest (as witnessed by the later versions of Gilgamesh recorded by the Babylonians.)
They had temples, quite a few in ziggurat or 'tower' form. Thats where the myth of the Biblical Tower of Babel comes from but they really werent trying to literally reach God. Also by that point in time many other languages (even in that area) already existed. Sumerian and Akkadian were as English and Spanish are right now in the US. And of course the Bible is notorious for 'mishearing' local namesake (Shumer anyone?) The common belief is that the ziggurat represented mountains where the earlier Sumerian ancestors had come from and thus were 'holy'. One such temple was found to be rebuilt 13 times! So obviously it had some religious significance.
The Sumerians were very religious and had many festivals to celebrate their Gods. They did sacrifice animals but it seems no human sacrifice occured (except for the one of a kind Death Pits at Ur which if they were sacrificed the participants appeared to go willingly.) They used a statues to represent Gods as well as humans role playing especially during the Sacred Marriage where the King and a Priestess took on the parts of Dumuzi and Inanna.
Okay thats a bit of a brief history so now you got the jist of them where do they come into play in relation to Christianity? The Sumerians being the first and later the Babylonians; they had a chance to write some of the first religious mythology down.
Of these there are striking similiarities between their myths and other early Pagan mythology (Greeks in particular who did later conquer that area). Now of course most religions pre Christianity had the creation, flood, Divine human God, a God rebirth, and end times myths or some combo of them (Greeks, Egyptians, various Native American mythologies, Scandanavians). But the Sumerians were the first :) and the Babylonians of course elaborated on it (well from what we know. The stories certainly existed in the time of the Sumerians but some were not written down or all put together tell the Babylonians or Assyrians; either way all 3 cultures were pre Christianity.)
*Creation and the Garden of Eden myths*
http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.1.2&charenc=j#
In Sumerian mythology a few myths make up for these two. The Creation myth the Gods were created but they made the lesser Gods do the work (it was believed the Gods needed to eat and drink like humans). Namma asked her son Enki to free them of the burden and so he made humans out of clay. The myth even goes a bit further then the Bible's by saying why crippled or disadvantage people were created: Enki and Ninmah got drunk and started challenging each other by making humans who needed some form of help or station in life to get over the disadvantage made by them. Terrible but it does give you something to think about! So not much in relation to the Bible here but there is more in the 'Garden of Eden' part.
http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.1.1&charenc=j#
Dilmun (believed to be India or Bahrain) was constantly mentioned in Sumerian mythology. Sometimes it was 'heaven' but sometimes it seemed as humans could physically go there as well. In this myth Enki ate some plants that Ninhursaja had planted and angered her so much she put a curse on him so he almost died. When she heard from the other Gods how sickly he was she rushed to his side and created 8 Gods to cure him. One of his aliments is his ribs 'Ti' in Sumerian and she gave birth of Ninti to cure him. Apparently this word has relations to the old Hebrew word for Eve (Im so sorry I dont have the exacts; if someone can post it Id love u forever!) No one could figure out how they got 'Eve' out of 'Rib' linguistically tell that myth. I still dont think its the most proving evidence but a lot of people are interested in it. For more info see: http://www.geocities.com/garyweb65/eden1.html
*The Flood*
http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.7.4&charenc=j#
The Sumerians were first but the Babylonians did it better. Its hard to give a good jist of the Sumerian version because its missing so much. So Im gonna do a combo here (mix it in with the Babylonian version which can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh.) The humans were made and the world created. But the humans became too loud and the Gods couldnt sleep. Enlil was a big pusher for the Flood idea and convinced An to go with it. Enki having created humans was pretty heartbroken and decided to try and save at least one human. So (Sumerian name though there is a Babylonian one) he talked with (discreetly of course :p) Ziudsura a King and had him gather his family, some animals, and craftsmen on a boat. The flood came and as soon as it did the Gods realized their mistake. Inanna lamenated most of all swearing she would never do that again to her people. As the flood died down the Gods became so hungry and weak: no humans were alive to make sacrifices. Ziudsura finally was able to dock and made a sacrifice and the Gods flocked around and argued amongst themselves about why and how they had done it and who had told the human? They forgave Enki and made Ziudsura and his wife immortal 'like Gods' and put them in Dilmun.
The Biblical parlells are pretty glaring there so no need to go into detail :p.
*The Demi God*
http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.1.8.1*&charenc=j#
Again the Babylonians do it better. They put the info in 13 tablets and made a connecting myth out of the many myths about him. Gilgamesh was the son of a Goddess and a King. He became too arrogant now a King himself so the Gods sent Enkidu to balance him out. He went on many trials and trips and is very similiar to Hercales in that way. He tries to find immortality but he realizes in the end being too human he cant 'really' find it though he realizes his name will live on.
*The Rebirth of a God*
http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.4.1&charenc=j
Yes ladies and gentleman the first 'dying and reborn' God myth wasnt a God but a Goddess: Inanna. She ruled heaven and Earth and said 'ya know what? I wanna rule the underworld too.' So she went down to the gates of the underworld but her sister Ereshkiegal wasnt happy with her decision and since the land of the Dead no one is allowed to leave Inanna couldnt leave and was 'dead'. Her servant lamenated for her and finally Enki sent two creatures (believed to be Eunuchs) down to save her. Ereshkigal was tricked into letting her go but she wasnt done yet. The demons escorted Inanna out of the underworld but they said someone would have to go in her place. First they asked to take her servant who had mourned and helped her escape the underworld. She of course refused. Next they asked to take her (in some versions son some) manicurist and hairdresser but she said no because he had mourned for her. Then they said to take another friend but she again refused.
Finally they came to her home with her husband Dumuzi. He wasnt mourning and seemed quite fine with her being dead and all. She said take his butt down to the underworld she had no need for him because of his arrogance. And thus she had risen again.
I love that myth :).
Now the Sumerians didnt have a 'end times' myth and the Babylonians really didnt either. But I think enough has been posted here. I hope you all learn something on the history of religion here :). Its quite fascinating how other cultures and faiths adapted these myths to their own and how to this day some of them live on though people dont realize it. |
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| Alias | Date | Reply |
| Magick Happens |
3/5/2006 1:17:00 PM |
Cool post, I have been wondering what the first religion was!! |
| MAN OF ASGARD |
3/5/2006 1:29:00 PM |
nicely done |
| Miss Kaja |
3/5/2006 1:56:00 PM |
Thanks! Spirits of the Light to be fair its the first 'known' religion ;) |
| ladyspiritguide |
3/5/2006 4:02:00 PM |
excellent post.....:) |
| Gryffindor Seeker |
3/5/2006 4:18:00 PM |
Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU! I'm always saddened that us Christians don't take into account or acknowledge the religions and faiths that came prior to the organization of our religion. We just pass everything off as pagan and heathen. Sad when you consider many of our myths and stories were in fact adapted from the Sumerians & Babylonians. |
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