Although mentioning this role last, Assur-Nassir-Pal II ironically boasts about his status as warrior more profoundly than the others. Displayed on the walls of his palace at Nimrud in Mesopatamia, this excerpt portrays Assur-Nasir-Pal II as a mighty warrior. Assur's words personify his achievements in battle, having described his soldiers as “birds of prey” that defeated the once undefeated. When illustrating his own characteristics as a warrior, Assur-Nassir-Pal II exaggerates his conquests. He claims to have massacred 260 enemy soldiers and having “their heads cut off in heaps”.
In these ancient religions, each god or goddess would have their own temples, and when people needed the help of one of these gods, they would go to these temples and sacrifice some of their crops or cattle for the god. In the ancient Rome, the richest classes of people had temple rooms in their home, and would have to go there to thank the “household gods” before they could safely leave the house. Polytheism is still very strong in today’s world. In fact, most of the world’s religions are polytheistic, or at least have polytheistic tendencies. Polytheism is present in Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Shintoism, and many others in the East, and in many tribal religions throughout Africa and the Americas.
The gods played a large part in everyday life especially during times of war. “Amun-Re, principal god during the New Kingdom, was said to give the scimitar of conquest to the pharaoh during times of war. This was meant to give the pharaoh wisdom so he may defeat Egypt’s enemies” (Hart 24). The gods were also believed to fight each other. As stated by Baines and Malek in their book, Atlas of Ancient Egypt “if one Egyptian village or city would attack another each one would be represented by a local deity.
During Hammurabi's time as king, he would oversee a great expansion of his kingdom from a city-state to an empire. The Ancient times, Babylonians have lived under the assumption that the gods could do and would do anything they wanted to the humans. That is why Hammarabi's codes were classified as the most important because he was the first person to ever to write down a set number of laws.At this time many citizens were illiterate, which made it difficult for them to understand Hammurabi's codes, which was carved upon a black stone monument, eight feet high, and clearly intended to be reared in public view. It was said that Hammurabi's attempt was to cover all possible legal situations, yet this statement was false. In its epilogue, Hammurabi describes the code as the "laws of Justice" which intended to clarify the rights of any "oppressed man."
Divinity In the epic of Gilgamesh divinity is defined by the presence of the gods and their actions in the epic. In the beginning of the epic it is clear that is a man who is self-centered and is focused on what is in the best interest of him and his place in the universe. The first presence of divinity from the gods in shown from the prayers of people that lived in uruk because of Gilgamesh rule of the kingdom from him raping women to just bullying people. The gods reacted from the people’s prayers which are a great sign of divinity for being loyal to the people that were praying to them and answering their prayers and creates Enkidu (Gilgamesh Tab.1 65-110) which is created by the goddess of birth to be a reflection of the King Gilgamesh. His creation was a result of the cries to the Gods for bad leadership and power of King Gilgamesh.
• It is ironic that Athena is praying to the gods, because she is one and is fulfilling her own prayer. I guess she has to in order to stay disguised, so she puts courage into his mind. Later, she probably reveals her identity because people will be more willing to help Telemachos if he has a god helping him. • The heifer that they sacrificed shows that people are willing to kill innocent creatures in order to make their life better. The reason people make sacrifices is to please gods, right?
He sent his troops in to aid his father in battle against Athens and Thebes. Soon after this battle Alexander became king at his father’s demise. King Phillip was killed by a man names Pausanias, but it is speculated as to why. After much talk and consideration by the government they agreed it would be in the best interest of the kingdom to have Alexander replace his father for his chance as King. Once he had his much desired position as ruler he killed anyone who could possibly take his place.
(2)"Life is because of the gods; with their sacrifice they gave us life" Aztec people believed the Gods controlled every aspect of a person including their life from his or her birth to death. In other words they believed their Gods were the key to their survival. Since they believe, that only because of their Gods they exist in this world, they had to delight the Gods. Therefore the Aztecs conducted many ceremonies to gratify their Gods and they thought that if they please the Gods, in return they would receive good harvests, good weather, secure and easier life. They never out looked their God nor took them for granted.
In Rome the entire citizen had the obligation to satisfy the Gods.In Ancient Romans used the Greek pantheon but gave them different names. The Roman worshiped the gods by sacrificing animals on the altar and praying to their God. The gods played an important role in a Roman’s life because the Romans believed that the Gods controlled everything and you and plead with them to change. The Romans built temples as a sacred place of worship. In Australia temples/churches all had the same basic design.
As the Roman community grew religion became closely related to politics and society. This created a state religion that would grow with the Roman society as gods were absorbed from other cultures including Greek gods from colonies in Italy (Adkins & Adkins, 1996). The Roman religious practice also differed than the Greeks religious expression in that the Romans believed in spirits or a divine power rather than a god with human characteristics. The Roman people were free to believe what they wanted to believe about their gods given that any rituals performed were performed in the correct manner as dictated by the government. Similarly the Romans did not have any sacred writing of religious expression early on like the Greeks.