hist 100 discussion post

Post a thoughtful response of at least 350 words. You can do either Option A on Ancient Mesopotamia or Option B on Egypt. Any simple citation style works, including something like this (Brand, Chapter One, Section 5).

Option A: Ancient Mesopotamia

Using our text and the following websites, discuss the religion and society of Mesopotamia. What type of religion did they have, what gods did they have, what type of personalities did the gods have, and how did the religion impact the development of the society and reinforce the power system? Why do you think this very ancient civilization had the type of beliefs that it did? Of what importance were the priests and the buildings known as ziggurats? What was offered at the ziggurats? What was the relationship of the people to their gods? Why did they believe people were created and what could they expect after death?

Option B: Egypt

Using the following websites, and our book, please describe the religion of Egypt and how it related to/helped build and organize their society. What was the mummification process, discuss why the Egyptians mummified their dead including some information on their religious beliefs, and analyze some consequences such a strong emphasis on death and the afterlife had on the development of Egyptian art, architecture, and political power. How do you account for the development from simple cave based rituals and Venus figurines to such highly sophisticated beliefs and practices — do you think we are seeing the same fears/concerns/desires driving the development of more complex religion and social systems or is something really new happening?