Jacob Hetu

SLA200
Chapter 1 and 2 Discussion

After reading chapters 1 and 2 on the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Israelites, I found
that they are very similar in both religion and culture in three primary ways.
The first similarity that I recognized between Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Israelites
were that they were largely Patriarchal, meaning that men ruled and held the positions of
power. This would carry over in both official positions, jobs, and in the household. Men held
the power over their wives and families. They also were allowed to have more than one wife if
their wife could not bare children. Officially, men were Kings, or the rulers of the city, or
territory. Women very rarely held commercial positions except in certain specific instances.
Punishments were often more severe for women who committed adultery such as having their
noses cut off and women could not have more than one husband.
The second similarity that I recognized between the three is that they were all
Theocracies. This meant that kings or priests ruled in the name of a god, gods, or in the case of
the Israelites, God. The Egyptians attributed and relied on their gods for the annual flooding of
the Nile. The Nile was central to Egyptian agriculture, trade, and prosperity. The
Mesopotamians performed sacrifices and divinations to try and discover when the Tigris and
Euphrates would flood. Mesopotamia experienced devasting and random flooding unlike the
Egyptians. In Mesopotamian and Egyptian history, rulers sometimes declared or were declared
gods. The Israelites relied on Prophets and Rabbis for leadership and God’s voice since they
were often displaced, enslaved, or rebuilding Jerusalem. The Israelites differed in the fact that
God became the only one and true God and their rulers or leaders only worshiped Him.
The third similarity I recognized between all three builds upon the previous. Since their
government was a Theocracy, their cities were centered and built around the holy place, or
place of worship of their gods, or God. One of the most impressive displays of religious
architecture are the great pyramids. They were actually more of a city of the dead than just
isolated buildings. The Egyptians believed that of their gods Osiris would judge them into the
afterlife. The Israelites reportedly had the Temple of Solomon according to the Hebrew Bible
even though there is not archeological evidence that it was in Jerusalem. One of the
Mesopotamian rulers, Naram-Sin, declared himself a god and had a temple built in the middle
of the city of Akkad. Mesopotamians viewed their cities as a divine copy since they were linked
to a god or goddess. The temple complex had a ziggurat with a temple on top of it. The space
around the ziggurat was rented out to individual and commercial space.
 In conclusion, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Israelite society were primarily a Patriarchal
Theocracy that had religion at the center of its society. So much so that their cities and lives
were centered and built upon the belief in their god, gods, or God.