What is the relationship between religion and government in Mesopotamian culture?
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In Mesopotaian culture religion and government worked together hand and hand. The nobles in these cultures were thought to be connected to the gods. Ziggurats were built for the gods and the nobles connected such as the king or high priest of the land would live in these temples.
ReplyDeleteAnother instance would be The Code of Hammurabi in which the people would follow strict laws that were supposed to promote just that were implimented by the King Hammurabi, but he got inspiration for these code of laws from the Sun God Shamash. This is showing another instance of government and rule mixed with religion to create order.
-Dimitrius Lara-
In Mesopotamian culture, religion is extremly important. All of the leaders are said to have believed that they have a personal relationship with the gods. So in turn the peolple trusted and believed that what the leaders said, believeing it came directly from the higher power. This belief gave the government a lot of power over their people and what they said would become law. The leaders in this culture, and others, would build their temples and other important building as though they are reaching up to the gods, hoping and believing it would better connect them to the gods.
ReplyDelete-Madeline Hoffman-
Religion and government were both very important in Mesopotamian culture, and there was no separation between church and state. Government and religion had the connection that the laws that were created were mainly for the common good of the people, which is a religious belief. The citizens trusted their rulers, since they believed defying their ruled would be defying the Gods, but they also believed they could not judge the Gods or be judged in return.
ReplyDeleteMeg Thompson
Relgion and government were directly linked in the Mesopotamian culture. There leaders we said to directly speak to the gods and some even to be direct desendence of the gods.They felt by simply asking questions or making suggestions to there leaders that they would in some way be defying the gods and could and would be punished. This made people very uneasy about confronting what there leaders said or did, even if it brought great hardship to them and there family. They simply felt it to be the will of the gods so as you can imagine the power that came with that was great. It was abused in many ways but also brought about the fundamaentals of government that we can still see today.
ReplyDeleteMesopotamian culture relied heavily upon their religious beliefs for political guidance. Mesopotamians believed their kings and queens descended from the city gods. The use of religion to establish laws for maintaining order ensured public obedience. Due to the belief that the gods owned all property, powerful priesthoods were developed to make all political decisions such as land rentals, trade, and war. The priests were thought to receive instruction directly from the gods. Popular Mesopotamian city-states were built around cult centers which strengthened the bond between religion and government.
ReplyDeleteTammy Shelton
Throughout Mesopotamia, religion and government were as one. The people believed in many gods and goddesses which were thought to 'own' their cities. To honor their 'chief' god, the Mesopotamian people built huge temples, known as ziggurats. These temples were built in the heart of each city and believed to 'own' all property and livestock through the city. Priests and other powerful officals oversaw these temples. Primarily though, kings ruled the land and these kings were thought to be 'divine' and as one with the gods.
ReplyDeleteMelissa Oberholzer
In the Mesopotamia culture religion and government were not seperated at all. They were like one whole group kings and queens and the gods but the gods were more powerful. These people believe in gods such as the Romans and Greeks did and also thought that the king and queen were the senders or messagers of theses gods. They believed that the kings and queens would get their law or information from the gods above so they wouldnt be not a believer they had to go the rules of the government or else they would surfer the consequences of the lords or kings.
ReplyDeleteJesus Pantoja
The Mesopotamian government was basically created through religion, so the relationship is quite connected. An example of this would be Hammurabi's Code, which came to existence when he claims that the god of Justice, Shamash, gave it to him. Everybody respected these laws because it was also a sign of having respect for the gods. Also, the Sumerians were one of the first to develop a sophisticated religious system. King Hammurabi made it seem that if you went agaisnt his Code was like going against the gods, so the government and the religious system was indeed connected.
ReplyDelete-Tania Diaz.
Religion was used by Mesopotamian leadership to create order and to create a foundation for their power. As a couple people stated previously, King Hammurabi laid down his Law Code and cited the god of justice, Shamash, as having given them to him. In addition, in Babylon, the god Marduk was woven into the creation story shared throughout the fertile crescent. This was used to unite the previously powerful kingdoms of Sumer and Akkadia through a commonality of religion under the Old Babylonian government. Citing the gods for divine authority is something that spreads throughout the world and made Old Babylon one of the earliest, if not the earliest, theocracies.
ReplyDelete-Whitney Anderson
In Mesopotamain culture the relationship between religion and government are dependent on one another. From the Code of Hammurabi to the construction of ziggurats, the authority of the divine right was inforced by the military. Hammurambi claimed to have been given the right to rule by the god of justice and anyone who disagreed with the code would be considered to go against the god's wishes hence his power was established due to the fear of the people. The concept behind the design of ziggurats was to get as close to heaven as possible. This believe has been demonstrated in many different cultures not just the Mesopotamian people. The code of Hammurabi is a great example of how he used the power of government to mix two different cultures and create a new culture.
ReplyDelete-Elizabeth Espinoza
Religion in early Mesopotamian culture was used as tool to govern the people of the various cities of the region. The people believed in the divine and feared the power of the gods, showing their reverence by building Ziggurats - often in the center of the city, which was the safest by being the furthest area from the city walls. Leaders of the governments of these cities often claimed their power and authority came from the god of that city and that laws put forth by these leaders were also by decree of that god. Therefore, disobeying a law meant disobeying god and that was not something most people wanted to do.
ReplyDelete- James Walker
The Mesopotamian culture centered around religion. The gods were not loving or benevolent, they didn't care about the problems of the people, as the people were insignificant and the Gods did whatever they pleased. When a universal law code was introduced by Hammurabi, its social back bone was the fact that it was given to Hammurabi by the God of Justice and the Gods weren't to be questioned. With the introduction of the law code we also see the idea of divine selection of the leaders, and backing of the deities gave the leaders trememdous power over the common people.
ReplyDelete-Hannah Koerner-
The rulers of Mesopotamia controlled its citizens by claming they were the conduits of the gods. This created reverence out of fear because to go against your king would be to go against your God. As citizens would gaze upon these towering Ziggurats the consensus among the people would be of awe. Surely anyone that had a thrown so close to the heavens must truly be of the Gods loins.
ReplyDelete-Adrian Ramirez
It was believed in Mesopotamian culture that the cities were ruled by gods. The representatives of the gods on Earth were kings. Therefore, the kings had absolute power over their domain and their decisions or rulings were incontestable. The kings were assisted by priest and priestesses, who served the gods. Temple dedicated the god or goddess of the city were build atop Ziggurats using much of the financial resources available. In being direct servant to the gods, priest and priestesses had some power, partically in advising the kings. Government legislation was introduced by the kings. They served as judge and jury of their cities and also organized labor for the development of the economy and society. Mesopotamia was a theocracy.
ReplyDeleteHeber Cruz
Mesopotamian culture consisted of a collaboration of both religion and government. Perhaps one of the best examples of this connection would be to look at Hammurabi and his Code of Laws. It was believed that Hammurabi recieved the laws to govern the people directly from the god Shamash, and it was just his position to impose them. And of course the people obeyed these laws because they were seen as a religious symbol as well. This also held so much power because it was believed that the cities were ruled by the Gods, therefore government was just a faction of their religious ways. So the ties between the two were highly significant and prominent within the Mesopotamian way of life.
ReplyDeleteCrystal Barber
In the mesopotamian culture, religion and government, was parallel. Both religion and government had same beliefs. In that time the government only had the priviledge to speak with the gods. And the gods only listen and only spoke with the government. The government followed the same beliefs of what the gods believed, and governed that toward the people. And which I believe even through the past centuries, history has shown that goernment usually still follow religion hand and hand. Even in today times we still believe in some spirtual being to help guild the government in decisions, and with the worlds future. Even with using BC before christ and AD after death of christ, has shown that government and man still acknowledge some sort of God, and still expect man or the people to follow. Even look at Hummurabi and the code of laws he wrote. Which was one the most historical laws to be recorded. He said he was given the laws from the god Shamash, and that he sould impose them. And by reading the laws that Hummurabi wrote, it follows right alone with religion
ReplyDeleteP. Tate