Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Hebrews
October 10th, 1994
Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Hebrews
Their development from the 3rd millennium to 2nd C.E.
When the canonization of the Hebrew Holy ("TaNaKh") took place.
Frank Mancini
irg@ix.netcom.com
MESOPOTAMIA
Mesopotamia was the land of four primary civilizations: the Sumerian, the Akkadians, the Babylonian and the Assyrians. The Hebrews, like the Akkadians, belong to a group of people known as Semites and from there we can see the influence of Mesopotamian culture in some of the Hebrews traditions. During the same time, civilization began in Egypt, and there can be seen a distinct difference in the social, religious and political system from Mesopotamia; that the link between the two civilizations are the Hebrews, and although no historical records are available aside from the Holy Scriptures, it is believed that the Hebrews settled in Egypt during the era of Hyksos domination in the seventeenth century B.C.E. These three civilizations to be discussed were the foundation of today's society and provided the common era with concrete religious beliefs still practiced today.
Evidence of the mechanics on the evolution of social, religious and political values, as well as the fluctuating development of the role of women then and now, are present in these documents, beginning with the oldest document which is most likely the Epic of Gilgamesh, first passed on by word of mouth and later recorded by the Sumerians around the third millennium and finally edited and written down in cuneiform by the Babylonians.
This legend appears to have been used by all the civilizations in Mesopotamia in order to satisfy the need to know why we die and to justify the instincts that drove the people of these societies to war, to kill and to control as a must for survival. The gods were the only outlet available to justify such behavior to grant permission to rule, to kill and subdue the weak.
The Epic of Gilgamesh does just that: It
Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Hebrews
Their development from the 3rd millennium to 2nd C.E.
When the canonization of the Hebrew Holy ("TaNaKh") took place.
Frank Mancini
irg@ix.netcom.com
MESOPOTAMIA
Mesopotamia was the land of four primary civilizations: the Sumerian, the Akkadians, the Babylonian and the Assyrians. The Hebrews, like the Akkadians, belong to a group of people known as Semites and from there we can see the influence of Mesopotamian culture in some of the Hebrews traditions. During the same time, civilization began in Egypt, and there can be seen a distinct difference in the social, religious and political system from Mesopotamia; that the link between the two civilizations are the Hebrews, and although no historical records are available aside from the Holy Scriptures, it is believed that the Hebrews settled in Egypt during the era of Hyksos domination in the seventeenth century B.C.E. These three civilizations to be discussed were the foundation of today's society and provided the common era with concrete religious beliefs still practiced today.
Evidence of the mechanics on the evolution of social, religious and political values, as well as the fluctuating development of the role of women then and now, are present in these documents, beginning with the oldest document which is most likely the Epic of Gilgamesh, first passed on by word of mouth and later recorded by the Sumerians around the third millennium and finally edited and written down in cuneiform by the Babylonians.
This legend appears to have been used by all the civilizations in Mesopotamia in order to satisfy the need to know why we die and to justify the instincts that drove the people of these societies to war, to kill and to control as a must for survival. The gods were the only outlet available to justify such behavior to grant permission to rule, to kill and subdue the weak.
The Epic of Gilgamesh does just that: It
Bibliography: B. Ness, Class notes, Oct. 6, 1994. Civilizations of the West, Volume One. Brief Edition. Grieves, R., R. Zaller, J.T. Roberts. (HarperCollins, 1994). Pg. 9 IBD, Pg B. Ness, Class notes, Sept. 8, 1994. B. Ness, Class notes, Sept. 13, 1994. B. Ness, Class notes, Sept. 22, 1994. The Epic of Gilgamesh, (Penguin Classics , 1972). Pg. 97. B. Ness, Class notes, Sept. 20, 1994. B. Ness, Class notes, Sept. 22, 1994. Civilizations of the West, Volume One. Brief Edition. Grieves, R., R. Zaller, J.T. Roberts. (Harper Collins, 1994). Pg. 17 IBD, Pg Classics of Western Thought, Volume I. The Ancient World. Gochberg, S. Donald. (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Fourth Edition, 1988). Pg. 555. (Footnote # 20). B. Ness, Class notes, Sept. 20, 1994.