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| - Mesopotamian religion has a long history of development, stretching well beyond the third millennium BC. Its roots lie in the prehistory of Sumerian civilization, before the invention of writing or the formation of city-states. Before being crowded into a dense urban environment with its unique set of protocols and hazards, the early Sumerians lived in diffuse village communities. They encountered nature on a more basic and immediate level. Hence it is no surprise that their theology and religious practices acquired a naturalistic character. The earliest Sumerian pantheon included gods for the sun, moon, sky, and earth, as well as a number of chthonic deities associated with growth and snakes (Wiggermann, pg. 1867). The deities lacked anthropomorphic features, and did not fit into a clear
- Some, such as the historian Jean Bottero, have made the claim that Mesopotamian religionibcs is the worlds oldest faith, although there are several other claims to that title. Although as writing was invented in Mesopotamia, it is certainly the oldest faith in written history. What we know about Mesopotamian religion comes from archaeological evidence uncovered in the region, particularly literary sources, which are usually written in cuneiform on clay tablets and which describe both mythology and cultic practices. However, other artefacts can also be used as the Mesopotamians' "entire existence was infused by their religiosity, just about everything they have passed on to us can be used a source of knowledge about their religion."
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| abstract
| - Mesopotamian religion has a long history of development, stretching well beyond the third millennium BC. Its roots lie in the prehistory of Sumerian civilization, before the invention of writing or the formation of city-states. Before being crowded into a dense urban environment with its unique set of protocols and hazards, the early Sumerians lived in diffuse village communities. They encountered nature on a more basic and immediate level. Hence it is no surprise that their theology and religious practices acquired a naturalistic character. The earliest Sumerian pantheon included gods for the sun, moon, sky, and earth, as well as a number of chthonic deities associated with growth and snakes (Wiggermann, pg. 1867). The deities lacked anthropomorphic features, and did not fit into a clear hierarchy of authority. Once the Sumerians developed a culture centered around the city-state, however, the character of their religion changed. The prehistoric gods acquired human characteristics, including gender and propitiatory epithets. The surviving prehistoric gods were: Utu, the sun god, Nanna, the moon goddess, An, the sky god, Inanna, the sky goddess, Enki, the earth god, Enlil, the 'Ether' god, Ninhursag, the lady of the Hills, Ninazu, the lord of healing, and Ningishzida, the lord of the True Tree. Toward the end of the third millennium, many of these deities were equated with their Semitic counterparts. Thus Utu corresponded to Shamash, Nanna to Sin, and Enki to Ea.
- Some, such as the historian Jean Bottero, have made the claim that Mesopotamian religionibcs is the worlds oldest faith, although there are several other claims to that title. Although as writing was invented in Mesopotamia, it is certainly the oldest faith in written history. What we know about Mesopotamian religion comes from archaeological evidence uncovered in the region, particularly literary sources, which are usually written in cuneiform on clay tablets and which describe both mythology and cultic practices. However, other artefacts can also be used as the Mesopotamians' "entire existence was infused by their religiosity, just about everything they have passed on to us can be used a source of knowledge about their religion." Although it mostly died out 1600 to 1700 years ago, Mesopotamian religion has still had an influence on the modern world, predominantly because much Biblical mythology that is today found in Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Mandeanism shares some overlapping consistency with much older ancient Mesopotamian myths, in particular the Creation Myth, the Garden of Eden, The Great Flood, Tower of Babel and mythical Biblical characters such as Nimrod and Lilith (the Assyrian Lilitu). In addition the story of Moses' origins shares a striking similarity with that of Sargon of Akkad, and the Ten Commandments mirror older Assyrian-Babylonian legal codes to some degree. It has also inspired various contemporary Neopagan groups to begin worshipping the Mesopotamian deities once more, albeit in a way often different from that of the Mesopotamian peoples.
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