Hebrews vs. Ancient Middle East
... men, called prophets were sent by God to serve as his voice to his people (Spielvogel 35). The Hebrew’s God was magnificent. There was no other God like theirs. The stars, moon, rivers, wind, and other natural phenomena were not divinities or suffused with divinity, as other peoples of the ancient Near East believed, but were God’s handiwork (Spielvogel 34). Hebrew people did not have a God for everything like the ancient Middle East did. All of God’s work could be admired for its beauty but they could not be worshiped as gods. Hebrew people did not believe in making other things gods, such as statues. They also believed in the commandments that their God had given to them. These laws of morality did not discriminate the people (Spielvogel 35). They made no law distinctions and emphasized the protection of the poor, widows, orphans, and slaves. On the other hand, most of ancient Middle East were polytheism believers, which meant that they believed in more than one god. Take for example Egyptians. They had numerous gods that related with heavenly bodies and natural forces (Spielvogel 19). The Egyptians also worshiped statues and other things. Wall paintings and statues of gods and kings in temples served strictly spiritual purposes (Spielvogel 21). Just like Egyptians, the Persians focused their worshiped on the powers of nature. The culture of the Mesopotamia people was almost like that of the other cultures that civilized during this era. They thought of each city-state as being sacred because each of the city-states was connected to a god or goddess. They also worshiped statues that were kept in a temple. A considerable amount of wealth was spent o...