History of World Religions. Religion and the Rise of Civilization. History 145. Jason Suárez History Department El Camino College

Transcription

1 History of World Religions Religion and the Rise of Civilization History 145 Jason Suárez History Department El Camino College

2 Topic objectives 1. Identify the causes that gave rise to civilizations. 2. Explain how new forms of power relationships developed and their impact on religion. 3. Explain the difference between polytheism and monotheism. 4. Identify the main characteristics of Mediterranean religious systems.

3 Agrarian civilizations Agrarian civilizations had distinctive characteristics. They had extensive and large networked communities These networked communities formed cities and tributetaking states with bureaucracies and armies Their fundamental resource was agriculture They subscribed to dynastic succession Many of these networked communities developed writing They were controlled by elites who extracted labor and resources They were class-based societies Iraq Museum: Sargon Akkadian Period, ca BCE Period: 3000 BCE BCE Material: Bronze.

4 Agrarian civilizations and intensification The emergence of agrarian civilizations was driven mainly by increasingly productive technologies that generated more resources and larger populations. These technologies are referred to as intensification. Andrew Sherratt s ( ) secondary products revolution Also irrigation techniques Excavation Around Building 43 at Çatalhöyük, Turkey

5 Social stratification Agrarian civilizations required the vast mobilization of resources and subjects to maintain structures New power networks created were to achieve this that manifested themselves in ideological, economic, military, and political power organizations Social power, mastery exercised over other people, was a necessity in these agrarian civilizations Social power became reinforced through social stratification which is the overall creation and distribution of power in society. Social stratification became a central structure of agrarian civilizations because it made possible for human beings achieve their goals København, Det Kongelige Bibliotek: Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala: El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno (1615/1616) Inca messenger with a quipu.

6 Institutionalized power Institutionalized power became a necessity to achieve the collective goals of agrarian civilizations Institutionalized power is the concentration in the hands of a few people of substantial control over considerable human and material resources. Social stratification became an institutionalized feature of social life in agrarian civilizations The few at the top can keep the masses at the bottom compliant, provided their control is institutionalized in the laws and the norms of the social group in which both operate. Standard of UR

7 The four sources of social power Economic Production Exchange Class Military Defense Aggression Ideological Meaning Norms Rituals Social Power Political Regulation Coercion

8 Standard of Ur

9 Standard of Ur

10 The quick development of power networks Why did power networks develop so rapidly in the early Agrarian era? One key was population growth New complexity required new coordinating mechanisms "Seated statue of Gudea [Probably Tello (ancient Girsu), southern Mesopotamia]" (59.2) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

11 The role of religion A religiously centered culture provided the following: A sense of collective normative identity An ability to cooperate A particular way of organizing social relations It satisfied a number of social needs such as the genealogy and the origins of society Established sources of legitimate authority "Anubis [Egyptian]" ( ) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

12 The achievement of polytheism In polytheistic religions, the deities are clearly differentiated and personalized by name, shape, and function. The great achievement of polytheism is the articulation of a common semantic universe. It is this semantic dimension that makes the names translatable It possible for gods from different cultures or parts of a culture to be equated with one another Priests took on the role of communicating with them "Standing male worshipper [central Mesopotamia]" (40.156) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

13 Evolutionary monotheism The classical account of the rise of monotheism argues that in every society there is a natural progression of polytheism to monotheism: 1. Polytheism (the belief in many gods who are usually personifications of natural forces) 2. Henotheism or monolatry (the worship of one god as supreme over other gods) 3. Monotheism (the belief in the reality of only one god) Akhenaten (d. 1336)

14 Revolutionary monotheism Yehezkel Kaufmann (1930s) argued that monotheism cannot evolve from polytheism The two are based on radically divergent worldviews Revolutionary monotheism is a counter religion to polytheism Revolutionary monotheism is based on the distinction between one true god and false gods This distinction in the realm of religion constitutes a radical break. Dead Sea Scrolls

15 Zoroastrianism the anomaly Zoroastrianism, one of the oldest religions in the world that is still practiced today, was founded by the prophet Zarathushtra sometime between c B.C.E. It became the religion of three great Iranian empires, the Achaemenids ( B.C.E.), the Arsacids/ Parthians (247 B.C.E. 224 C.E.), and the Sasanians ( ). The teaching of Zarathushtra are embodied in The Gathas, a series of hymns composed by the prophet in the ancient language of Gathic/Avesta. The Gathas provide both a view of life and a way of life. Ahuramazda. Relief from Persepolis

16 What fueled it?

17 What fueled it?

18 Religious view According to the teachings of Zarathushtra, Ahura Mazda (Lord Wise) created the world and made Zarathustra its protector and guide. In this world there exists conflict between two diametrically opposed moral spirits, Spenta Mainyu (the spirit of goodness) and Angre Mainyu (the spirit of evil). For Zarathushtra, the world is an intrinsically good, divine creation, contaminated by evil, but capable of being perfected by the actions of humans by reason of their capacity of moral choice. In this capacity of moral choice, humans were to avoid lies, support the poor and prepare for a Last Judgment." The challenge for humans was to avoid evil and live a life of truth and righteousness. Ahuramazda. Relief from Persepolis

19 Of things to come Many scholars postulate that Zoroastrianism may have influenced future religious systems such as Judaism and Christianity. Certainly, it can be argued that it did share some characteristics: A God that reveals himself through a prophet ( divine revelation ) Duality of good versus evil A judgment day Humans are an agent of their own salvation Christus Ravenna Mosaic

20 Egypt: historical development The origins of Egyptian religion are largely unknown, for there is a very short interval between the emergence of the culture and the appearance of the basic patterns of religious belief (the concept of life after death, offering cults, mortuary practices, the relationship of the king and the gods). These features present themselves in the early Old Kingdom and remain in their basic form throughout the 3,000 years of the Dynastic period. Egypt s geographic isolation ensured that most features of their religion were unaffected by foreign influence until the New Kingdom, when Egypt had more consistent contact with Western Asia.

21 Ancient Egypt

22 Egypt: origin and structure Egypt was profoundly polytheistic, and by the New Kingdom and later there were thousands of deities. The Egyptians believed that the world was created the first time from the undifferentiated primordial mass (Nun). The universe was composed of the heaven, the earth, and the underworld. The earth was suspended in and surrounded by Nun. Gods inhabited the land, the heaven, and the underworld. Generally, heaven was the realm of the sun god Re and the underworld that of Osiris, but by the New Kingdom, there was a blurring of the boundaries with the conception that Re and Osiris together completed the cycle of rebirth. Sphinx of Amenhotep III Period: New Kingdom Dynasty: Dynasty 18 Reign: reign of Amenhotep III Date: ca B.C.

23 Egypt: cosmos is a process Every major Egyptian deity had a specific cosmic manifestation and played a role in the cosmic process. According to the Egyptians, the world or cosmos is a process rather than a space, and the idea of order is more a matter of successfully overcoming disorder and destruction. Virtually all of the gods cooperate in the project of maintaining the world, of keeping the cosmic process going. The core of this process is constituted by what the ancient Egyptians conceived of as the solar circuit, the daily course of the sun across the heavens and through the netherworld. King Sahure and a Nome God Period: Old Kingdom Dynasty: Dynasty 5 Reign: reign of Sahure Date: ca B.C.

24 Egypt: cult The sun-god and creator, Re, placed the king on earth in order that he might establish ma at (justice/ truth/ order) and annihilate isfet (injustice/ lie/ disorder) by judging humankind and satisfying the gods (by giving offerings to the gods and funerary offerings to the dead). At the center of Egyptian religion was cult. The main function of cult was to establish a connection between this world and the otherworld, where not only the gods but also the transfigured spirits of the dead were supposed to live. The basic form of this connection was an exchange of goods. The living served the gods and spirits with offerings and sacrifices and received in return all kinds of support and blessing. Akhenaten Sacrificing a Duck Period: New Kingdom, Amarna Period Dynasty: Dynasty 18 Reign: reign of Akhenaten Date: ca B.C.

25 Mummification and afterlife Belief in life after death was fundamental to Egyptian beliefs, and as early as the Predynastic period, burials were furnished with grave goods for the use of the deceased. Egyptian theology lacked of set doctrine and emphasized performative actions (rituals). The most important of these were offering rituals, which were enacted in funerary and non-funerary contexts, on both a state and a private level. The prominence of offering rituals is based on that the gods had the same material needs as people and the deceased, who dwelled eternally in the afterlife, needed food and drink and objects of daily life. The Mummification Process Getty Museum

26 Egypt: Memphite Theology It has survived because Pharaoh Shabaka ( ), of Twenty-fifth Dynasty, ordered the ancient text to be inscribed in stone. Narmer, the founder of the First Dynasty, established his capital at Memphis. Consequently, the local god of that city, Ptah, soon came to be regarded as the chief of the Egyptian pantheon. The purpose of the Memphite Theology is to explain how and why Ptah occupies the position of supremacy among the gods.

27 Egypt: Book of the Dead The earliest known versions date from the 16th century BC during the 18th Dynasty (c BC 1350 BC) The Book of the Dead is an illustrated text that was buried with the corpse as a guide to the afterlife for the deceased. Known to the ancient Egyptians as The Spell(s) for Coming Forth by Day. It was a collection of about 200 spells. It was an essential tomb accessory and was used for about 1500 years.

28 Egypt: Book of the Dead The Ancient Egyptians believed the soul had three parts, the ka, the ba, and the akh. Ka It was the life force and separated from the body at death. The god Khnum created a person s ka Ba Seen as a human-headed bird hovering over the deceased or exiting the tomb. Akh The transfigured spirit that survived death and mingled with the gods. Elaborate preparation for the body for the after life ensured the ka had a home. The Egyptians believed that the ka dwelt within either the mummy or the tomb statue (ka-statue). It was the part of the soul that could travel between the worlds of the living and the dead. It was only allowed to individuals whose souls were worthy.

29 Egypt: Hymn to the Aten Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV servant of Aten) was king of Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty and reigned from 1375 to 1358 B.C. E. He is referred to as a religious revolutionary. The Aten as a form of the Sun-god Re and was venerated long before the ascent of Akhenaten, however, his elevation to a prominent status is clearly associated with this king.