project+ancient

12/9/16

Naturalist project idea

Reasearch how nature fit into the religion of the ancient Mesopotamians.

Mesopotamia is made up of different regions, each with its own geography. The geography of each area and the natural resources found there affected the ways that people lived.Mesopotamian religion refers to the religious beliefs and practices of the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia. The religious development of Mesopotamia and Mesopotamian culture in general was 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 millenia of development Mesopotamian religion has the oldest body of recorded literature of any religious tradition. What is known about Mesopotamian religion comes from archaeological evidence uncovered in the region, particularly literary sources, which are usually written in 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 the claim that the Mesopotamians' "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."[3] While Mesopotamian religion died out by approximately 400 CE, 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 the creation myth, the Garden of Eden, the flood myth, the Tower of Babel and figures such as Nimrod and Lilith. It has also inspired various contemporary Neo-pagan groups.