ancient religion
... about their experiences. They would talk of who was being persecuted, pray for those in prison and being tortured. Later on in the Roman Empire things changed, Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the entire Empire. Large churches were built and huge masses of people flocked to praise God. Worship stayed the same basically with singing and praying but in greater numbers. They could now worship in public without having fear. Soon there was an organized religion where before there was simply groups of believers. There were festivals and religious days recognized by the whole of Rome. The early church was like today’s Catholic Church and eventually developed into the Catholic Church we know today. Many of the rituals and customs that are observed came from things done in the early days of the church (Williams, p3). These three religions had different ideas of how to worship their God or Gods; this often affected other areas of religion. B- Places Of Worship: 1- Mesopotamians Temples: Because of these different styles of worship, each religion needs a completely different place to worship. As was mentioned earlier, the Mesopotamians stored great wealth inside their temples. The temple itself was thought of as the house of the God and therefore looked worthy for a God to live in. It was finished in precious stones and the finest timber. The design itself was simple: the temples were built around a rectangular chamber with a statue of the God in one of the short sides (Garber, 204). The outside of the temple was a massive and they were called ziggurats (Millard, p14). These ziggurats were like step pyramids with large sets of stairs leading up the many entrances. They had many levels and walkways going around it. The temple itself was actually a shrine located on the top of the ziggurat but the entire thing was considered the god’s worldly home. The interiors of the Greek temples were much like that of Mesopotamia but outside there were many differences. B- Greek Temples: Greek temples were also very elaborate and beautiful. Inside there was an alter and usually a large statue of the god the temple was dedicated to. Outside, the temples were amazing. They had one or two rings of columns going all the way around the out side. These were topped by fancy carvings of marble and were very tall and impressive. The entire thing was built of marble and cost a fortune to make. There were different styles of temples from small with only 4 columns to massive with over 60 columns. The most famous and impressive Greek temple is the Parthenon in Athens; it was built for the goddess Athena, the patron goddess of Athens and cost millions (Walker, p 148). C- Christian’s Churches: The Christian religion in the Roman days has had two real styles of worship place, none, and large, grand churches. In the early days of Christianity there were no churches or temples for people to worship at because it was a new religion. Also, because people found to be believers of god were killed, they could not really build churches. Instead they met anywhere they could, in people’s houses, underground in the catacombs or even just outside in a secluded spot. Later on though, after Christianity was recognized as the official religion of Rome, grand churches were made to honor god. Most of these were built in the gothic style with lots of marble and very complex carving. The interior was filled with rows of benches and had an alter at the front with a cross, representing Jesus’ sacrifice, hanging at the front as well. One of the interesting things about Christian churches is their steeple. None of the other religions studied have had these. Inside there was usually a bell or a collection of bells that were rung to summon people to church or to tell the time of day. A cities wealth and power was represented by the height of their church’s steeple. There have been many different styles of architecture throughout the days and different ways to show glory to the civilization’s God or Gods, this could be because of the differences in the one being worshipped. C- Gods and Goddesses: 1- Mesopotamian Gods: These three styles of worship and places of worship may have been so different because of the how different the deities that they were worshiping were. In Mesopotamian religion there were well over 3000 gods and goddesses. Each city had its own patron god who was in charge of that city. Also it was believed that each person had their own lesser god who would appeal with the greater gods on their account. At the top of the Mesopotamian pantheon sits an, the lord of heaven and Enlil, lord of the earth. These two had an uncaring attitude toward the human beings, it was Enki, god of sweet waters, magic and wisdom, that was humanity’s friend. The Mesopotamians also had a very interesting view on doing evil and evil acts. They never blamed themselves; instead it was blamed on a demon taking over the person’s body. So therefore instead of punishing people for their crimes the Mesopotamians would try to exorcise them. People wore amulets or charms to try to keep the evil demons away. If they performed a ritual fault or accident, like touching a cursed person, it could invoke the wrath of the gods and that was when a person’s personal god would have to defend you before the greater gods (Garber, 204). 2- Greeks Gods: Greece also had a multiple gods, but not the extremes of Mesopotamia. There were 12 gods in the Greek pantheon called the Olympian gods. Outside this group there were also two other important gods, Hades, god of the underworld and Dionysus, the god of wine. Each of these gods was anthropomorphic, meaning they have human characteristics, both the good and the bad. They had the same need that we have and that is why there were often offerings of food left for a god or goddess. While having human characteristics, these gods were still all powerful controlling everything from the stars and planets to the harvest of grain brought in that year. Of all the ancient gods, Greek gods are the most widely known, probably for the amazing myths involved with them. Almost every single event or item on the earth has a Greek myth explaining why it is here, how it came to be here and whose fault it is that it is here. For example, in the m...