Assignment 9

Part I

Myths and science both give explanations for the world around us.

For example, read this creation myth from India:

The Tree of Life

"In the beginning there was only water. Life came from the water when a mighty tree emerged
and grew up to the sky. But there was a worm inside the tree and it slowly devoured the tree
from the inside out. The wood dust fell into the water and gradually formed into the world."

How does science explain the beginning of life on Earth?

Scientists ideas about how life on Earth began. The most widely accepted scenarios involve the
geochemistry of the planet’s surface. In the early universe, vast molecular clouds of dust and gas
condensed to form a protostar, surrounded by a protoplanetary disk. Tiny dust grains, consisting
of silicate minerals coated with ice, stuck together and assembled into larger particles. Earth was
formed. Because it was not too hot and not too cold, not too dry and not too wet, liquid water
existed on the surface. The first land was probably volcanic, forming island arcs in a vast ocean.
Ponds or lakes in volcanic regions were likely environments for jump-starting life. They believe
that the beginning of earth was only water, Water mostly enters a tree through the roots by
osmosis and any dissolved mineral nutrients will travel with it upward through the inner bark's
xylem and into the leaves. These traveling nutrients then feed the tree through the process of leaf
photosynthesis that’s why it become wide and spread into the ground and become what we called
environment.

Part II
Essay.
1) Explain how conquests brought new empires and ideas into the Middle East.

The beginning of the Iron Age 1400 B.C the hittites used a new technology, to conquer
Mesopotamia ironworking, Iron was plentiful so they were able to arm many people and stronger
than bronze, hitties also built larger, stronger, three man chariots, they kept this a secret until
their empire collapsed in 1200 BCE and their blacksmith went elsewhere. The Assyrians
expanded from the upper Tigris warfare was central to the Assyrian culture, they used wealth
from looted cities and trade to build places and a well ordered empire, they created the first place
rules regulating behavior of the royal family, and King Assurbanipal create a great cuneiform
library at Nineveh, Assyrian warriors expand ancient knowledge 1350 B.C they began to expand
and create an Empire across Mesotopia, for over 500 years they were the most feared people in
World, they ha a culture of warfare, they encourage a well ordered society, they had trade, well
organized cities, they had and expanded law. King Nebuchadnezzar he was ruthless king, he
stretched hs empire very far, he revived Babylon and established a new empire which is The gate
of Ishtar is one of several that honored Babylon’s gods, under Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon again
became city he built temples, canals, roads, and places, a defensive moat and walls surrounded
the city, the empire stretched from the Persian gulf to the Mediterranean Sea, He may have built
the mythical hanging gardens one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Babylon fell to the
Persian armies of Cyrus the great, who successors built the largest empire yet, Emperior Darius
divided the empire into satrapy or provinces each under a governor, the Persians eventually
controlled most of present day Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, they were
respected local customs built roads, and codified laws.

2) Explain the relevance of Ancient Middle East myths in society today.

The relevance of Ancient Middle East myths in society today myths are constanly evolving
that’s what makes them relevant to reflect our society our concerns our values, for the ancient
greek the world was so much more alive than for us, there is a mindset where the observable
world and the reality of it, the tangible things we see and deal with everyday are connected to a
higher reality which is that of the line between the gods and the dead, Underneath is hades the
wolds of the dead and then over the land and the seas are the heavens where the god live, that’s
Olympus so while were living we sort of in between these two other worlds, birds are very
interesting to the Greeks because they mediate between the worlds in a very visual way
especially aquatic birds the notions is travelling these birds across boundaries of the human
world, they’re good symbols to represent that a person has passed between various states of
existence and that’s where we see myths of diving where the person offers themselves up to the
Gods and frequently is reborn, renewed by this experience. Today, we tend to want to make so
many sharp distinctions between religious and cultural and what’s real and tangible and we need
to realize that were human and that what we’re looking for is meaning. A culture, after all can
never abandon its age old traditions without undergoing disintegration, In their vital stage, when
they accepted as truth, myths, represent the learning of a society.