Comparitive Philosophies And Religions Essay Research Paper

Comparitive Philosophies And Religions Essay, Research Paper

Life in ancient times was full of risks and uncertainty for those people living there. Much trust was put in the unknown, but as civilizations progressed, there was a feeling of need to understand the unknown and the meanings of life. Within this paper I will discuss three important issues that deal with the progress of life in relation to the civilizations of the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Hebrews and Greeks.

In ancient civilizations concepts of the afterlife were based on myth. Glamorous stories about gods and goddesses from the past were the motivation for ancient people to live their lives. In Mesopotamian culture, every day was controlled by the gods and goddesses of the world. As humans, Mesopotamians were bound to the earth in a life of servitude without promise of salvation. There was no definite afterlife; only hints of a place of darkness were given to us through stories such as The Epic of Gilgamesh. This story also eludes to the fear of death held by the Mesopotamian people. It portrays a story where a man is willing to make a dangerous journey to avoid death. “Do not let me see the face of death which I dread so much.” Was one of Gilgamesh’s pleas for an unreachable goal. In this historical story, death is looked at as a place where “They [people]… see no light, they sit in darkness” . This was most likely because of the uncertainty of life, as well as death for Mesopotamians. Even when people lived in full compliance to their gods and goddesses, their lives would not be one of luxury as we read in “Mesopotamian Wisdom Literature” The uncertainty of life and death in general lead to acts of divination, such as sacrifices, which were intended to interpret the will of the gods, though all was used to improve life in the physical world.

Unlike the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians and the Hebrews had definite afterlives in their belief systems. Orisis, who was one of the Egyptian’s natural deities, was presented as the judge of the dead, as well as a symbol of resurrection. Human’s actions in life would be judged in death by Osiris, and if found worthy, the deceased would progress to a blessed afterlife. Those deceased were preserved by ways of mummification, which was an expensive process, therefore the Osiris cult was reserved for those in high social positions. Though as time passed, any Egyptian could be judged in death to proceed to an afterlife of rebirth. .

Hebrews had a belief of the afterlife similar to the Egyptians in the fact that a supreme being would judge their actions in life, after death. Their faith was directed towards a single god, called Yahweh. The Hebrews believed they had been chosen by Yahweh to be the first recipients of his true law code. These laws, which are depicted in the biblical book of Exodus, are the standards for a good Hebrew religious and were to be followed in order to reach the coveted afterlife.

What sets Hebrew beliefs of god(s) and the afterlife apart from these other cultures is that is that Hebrews placed faith in one god, while other civilizations we have studied, especially the Greeks, believed in multiple gods and goddesses. The act of ancestor worship, wich was vital in previous religious practices, were outlawed by a group who were called “The Yahweh-Alone-ists”; those who believed Yahweh to be the one true god. Their religion as a whole moved to a confusing point where ideas of Heaven developed, which promised a blessed afterlife in return for compliance with God’s law. People believed that if they lived a life in agreement with the word of God, they would be rewarded not only in death, but also throughout their lives.

Even though the Greeks believed in many separate Gods and Goddesses, and religion was included in their every day lives, Greek religion did not hold place for an afterlife. Classical Greece was a place of theory and rational thought. It was a time when philosophers began to crave reason and understanding instead of just believing something because one would say it was true. A philosopher named Critias proposed an idea that “a wise and clever man invented fear (of the gods) for mortals” which means that he believed there was no true God or afterlife, rather that religion was used to scare humans into living the good life. This idea can be related to any studied religion, because there was never any proof of the divine, or an afterlife.

Lack of a definite life after death in Greek religion left some people to turn to mystery religions that were said to offer more promising situations for the afterlife. This goes to show that even in a philosophical high point in history, as in almost all times in history, people were still fearful of the gods and hoped for a pleasant time after death.

Laws in ancient times often changed with the rulers of different civilizations. This means the laws of a city could change at any given time, had there been a tyrant taking control, or a new king taking reign. Laws were often strict, leaving a strong impression on not only those who broke the rules, but the other members of the civilizations. By enforcing strict rules, it was hoped that the laws would never be broken in the first place.

The Code of Hammurabi is a collection of 282 laws that gives us a clear view of how law was enforced in ancient Mesopotamia. The laws were strict, and the penalties