This website demonstrates how the geographical locations of religions influences the perception of deities, or gods.
The landscape of our world is one with a diverse climate. With each geographical location comes a unique climate, which includes the patterns of temperature, precipitation, wind, natural disasters and the seasons.
On the other hand, our world also exemplifies a vast diversity of religions. Every religion originates in a specific geographical location. The climate and the climate changes of these locations have greatly influenced how the different religions perceive and thus appease their god(s), or deities.
The three different geographical locations discussed in this website include:
To learn more about these different geographical locations and how they influence the perception of deities you can click on the links above.
The landscape of our world is one with a diverse climate. With each geographical location comes a unique climate, which includes the patterns of temperature, precipitation, wind, natural disasters and the seasons.
On the other hand, our world also exemplifies a vast diversity of religions. Every religion originates in a specific geographical location. The climate and the climate changes of these locations have greatly influenced how the different religions perceive and thus appease their god(s), or deities.
The three different geographical locations discussed in this website include:
To learn more about these different geographical locations and how they influence the perception of deities you can click on the links above.
Mesopotamia
What historians refer to, as Mesopotamia is the region of present-day Iraq. Mesopotamia is referred to by many as the first civilization, and lasted from 5,000 BC to the sixth century BC. This region is historically famous for being located between two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. Mesopotamia is the Greek word meaning “between the rivers.”(2)
The climate of Mesopotamia was generally dry with occasional, but fierce rainstorms. This region was extremely flat and did not contain many accessible metals and few stones for building materials(2).
However, there were some advantages of this region. The source of these advantages were the two rivers that surrounded this region, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers accounted for a continuous supply of water to this region(2). The composition of the water that flowed in these rivers was essential to the success of this civilization. The water consisted of deposits of clay, which could be turned into bricks for building. More importantly, the nutrient-rich water provided productive, fertile soil that could easily be cultivated for farming(2). Agriculture was such an essential part of Mesopotamian economy that approxiamtley 90 % of Mesopotamians were farmers(1).
The Tigirs and Euphrates were essential to the Mesopotamians, but the occasional yet fierce rainstorms of this region flooded the land and washed away their crops(2). Thus, the Mesopotamians were forced to devise organized methods to take full advantage of the rivers. This marked the first time that “man had shown that he could control nature by improved farming methods" (2). This lead to the idea that man could attempt to control every aspects of life by influencing the “gods" (2).
The Mesopotamians believed that the world was controlled by gods and goddesses, and demons. They believed that there were hundreds of different gods who were responsible for different aspects of their natural world, including everything from rivers and trees to to making bread and pottery (3). Within Mesopotamia, each city was protected by its own unique god or goddess and their family (3). Many cities constructed temples known as ziggurats, to honor the cities' god. Ziggurats (6) were mound-shaped and were meant to resemble mountains, which were believed to be the focus of power on Earth (2). These temples were believed to connect heaven and earth (1). The demons of Mesopotamian religion were created by the gods, and had human bodies with animal or bird heads (3). These demons could be either evil or good (3). You can learn more about the Mesopotamian demons here (4).
The climate of Mesopotamia was generally dry with occasional, but fierce rainstorms. This region was extremely flat and did not contain many accessible metals and few stones for building materials(2).
However, there were some advantages of this region. The source of these advantages were the two rivers that surrounded this region, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers accounted for a continuous supply of water to this region(2). The composition of the water that flowed in these rivers was essential to the success of this civilization. The water consisted of deposits of clay, which could be turned into bricks for building. More importantly, the nutrient-rich water provided productive, fertile soil that could easily be cultivated for farming(2). Agriculture was such an essential part of Mesopotamian economy that approxiamtley 90 % of Mesopotamians were farmers(1).
The Tigirs and Euphrates were essential to the Mesopotamians, but the occasional yet fierce rainstorms of this region flooded the land and washed away their crops(2). Thus, the Mesopotamians were forced to devise organized methods to take full advantage of the rivers. This marked the first time that “man had shown that he could control nature by improved farming methods" (2). This lead to the idea that man could attempt to control every aspects of life by influencing the “gods" (2).
The Mesopotamians believed that the world was controlled by gods and goddesses, and demons. They believed that there were hundreds of different gods who were responsible for different aspects of their natural world, including everything from rivers and trees to to making bread and pottery (3). Within Mesopotamia, each city was protected by its own unique god or goddess and their family (3). Many cities constructed temples known as ziggurats, to honor the cities' god. Ziggurats (6) were mound-shaped and were meant to resemble mountains, which were believed to be the focus of power on Earth (2). These temples were believed to connect heaven and earth (1). The demons of Mesopotamian religion were created by the gods, and had human bodies with animal or bird heads (3). These demons could be either evil or good (3). You can learn more about the Mesopotamian demons here (4).
Mesopotamian Myth: The Creation of Humans
The Mesopotamians had a myth which described how and why the gods created humans. According to this myth, at the beginning of time there were only gods and goddesses on Earth (3). They had to work and understand the land in order to grow crops to eat. Each god and goddesses had his/her own job to do in order to grow the crops. Some dug the fields and planted the crops, while others brought water to the fields and picked the crops of weeds. These manual labor jobs of the gods and goddesses were very hard, so they came together to discuss how they could lighten their heavy work-load. They went to get advice from Enki, who was very wise and clever god (3). Enki suggested that he create humans to serve them by working the land, and the other gods and goddesses agreed (3). Enki collected clay from his underwater home, which he used to make humans (3). Enki then breathed life into the clay figures, but he limited how long they could live (3). Only the gods and goddesses could live forever. The humans were put to work in the fields as servants of the gods and goddesses (3). The humans provided the gods and goddesses with food and drink to appease them. This made the gods and goddesses happy, but only for the moment (3). The human servants were required to continue to appease the gods, which was not always the case.
In this story the gods and goddesses sought out the advice from their peer Enki, the water god. This is a great example of how the geography of the land can influence its inhabitants perception of deities. Mesopotamian civilization relied heavily on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Thus, it would make since that their gods and goddesses would seek advice from the water god, who is also viewed as the patron of wisdom in Mesopotamian religion.
In this story the gods and goddesses sought out the advice from their peer Enki, the water god. This is a great example of how the geography of the land can influence its inhabitants perception of deities. Mesopotamian civilization relied heavily on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Thus, it would make since that their gods and goddesses would seek advice from the water god, who is also viewed as the patron of wisdom in Mesopotamian religion.
Mesopotamian Deities:
The Mesopotamians believed that the forces of nature of earth were attributed to the workings of divine forces (6). Thus, there were many gods and goddesses, including the four creator gods. The four creator gods were created by Taimat and Abzu, who were primordial beings that emerged from the chaos of water (6). The four creator gods are named so because they were involved in the creation of man, as previously described. The four creator gods included An, Enlil, Nin-khursag, and Enki, and were created in the following order:
Spread of Mesopotamian Culture:
The geographical location of ancient Mesopotamia consisted of few natural boundaries to protect or contain Mesopotamia (2). This, along with close proximity to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, would allow the Mesopotamians to spread their cultural influences across Europe and Asia (2). Often travelers would visit Mesopotamia and take note of the different aspects of their culture, including religion, and try to imitate what the Mesopotamians practiced in their own home land.