The Spread of Religion

The influence of interaction between countries were important in the ancient world. Ideas, products, beliefs,and diseases were traded, helping to produce the society we now know. It is especially noticeable in countries that are far away but share similar beliefs or ways of life.

Religion is one of the most widespread beliefs that were transferred through the interaction of various cultures. Religions such as Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam became major religions through interactions by trading routes such as the Silk Road.For instance, Buddhism roots began in India yet the majority of its followers reside in Asia. Christianity is similar. It started in one area but it is now one of the leading religions of the world.

Products such a silk also revolutionized interactions between countries. Once silk became a popular product that only the Chinese knew how to create, more people became interested in learning the trade. Because of the boost in trade and the thirst for knowledge others found out how to make it, boosting their economy.

The interactions between different cultures can influence its people and alter their futures. Its one of the reasons many of us come to college, to interact with others from various backgrounds.

Marriage in Mesopotamia

In my history class we touched a little bit on the history of Mesopotamia and it made me interested in what their culture was like. I found a book on Ancient Mesopotamia’s everyday life. I learned a lot about women’s rights and about marriage rituals. I surprised to see how different things were in Mesopotamia then how things are run in the US today. In today’s society most things are paid by the woman’s family and there is a big ceremony to represent the bride becoming part of the groom’s family, but things in Ancient Mesopotamia were really different.

When a woman in Mesopotamia gets married, she becomes a part of the groom’s family and the new husband is in charge of the woman. He is responsible for his new wife and the husband’s family is in charge of planning the ceremony. Instead of having a wedding ceremony at a church, they have a huge feast at the new couple’s home. The man’s family is in charge of paying for the feast and they even give the family of the woman some money for allowing them to welcome her to the family.

This tradition came from a story about the Enlil who fell in love with a pretty daughter of the gods. He had made a mistake on what she wanted and realized she wanted marriage, he went to her parents and asked her father for permission to marry his daughter. He then sent her family herds of animals and he sent his future wife a lot of jewels and gems. It is believed that by sharing a feast made/retrieved by the husband’s family makes the wife part of the family. This feast was not just to rejoice about the new marriage, but to incorporate the woman into her new family. After the feast the new wife was treated as every other member of the husband’s family.

More Infomation about this can be found in Everday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. By Jean Bottero

Property Rights of Women in Ancient Egypt

In many ancient civilizations, women were seen as inferior to their male counterparts. As a result of this, their rights were severely limited. Most women in these societies could not hold property of their own. In ancient Egypt, however, women were not restricted as much in this area.

Egyptian women were allowed to own property. This is most visible in the setting of marriage. When a woman married, she brought personal property to the house of her husband. In most civilizations, she would not be entitled to take the property with her in the case divorce, if divorce was even accepted, but in Egypt, if a divorce occurred, a woman was entitled to all property she brought to the marriage.

If a husband and wife acquired property whilst married, the wife had rights to one-third of all property. If the husband passed away, the wife was entitled to two-thirds of all property, with the other third being divided among children firstly, followed by brothers and sisters of the deceased. In other societies, a majority of the property would be passed to the brothers and father of the deceased, leaving little if anything to the wife and children.

In my opinion, this is one aspect that made ancient Egypt more suitable for both genders. It appears that men and women were treated more equally there than in most other ancient societies. Although women were still in charge of household duties as well as child bearing and rearing, they were allowed to do many things aside from those few and could act as a bigger part of society.

www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/womneg.htm

http://www.helium.com/items/497107-the-life-of-women-in-ancient-greece

Picture courtesy of : http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-history/

Eyptian Mummification

I would like to expand on an older post one of my group members created about mummification and the burial process. I am currently reading the book Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt for my critical book review. Many people focus on the mummification part of ancient Egyptian society; well I would lie to explain to you why ancient Egyptians practiced mummification.

First of all, it is important to know that Egyptians were not obsessed with death they were obsessed with life, and their beliefs in the afterlife showed that. Most funerary beliefs in ancient Egypt are associated with the myth of their god Osiris. Osiris was the first mummy that ever existed, or so the myth says. In pictures he is often depicted like a mummy with his arms crossed over his chest.

A quick version of the myth is that Osiris was the ruler of Egypt and was very beloved by his subjects. His brother, Seth was very jealous and so he created a casket, and tricked Osiris into it. Seth slammed down the lid of the casket and flung it into the Nile. Isis, his wife, went in search and found the casket and brought it back to Egypt. Now, I’m not really sure if he was found dead, or not, because the article doesn’t say.

However, when Isis brought the casket back, Seth opened it, and cut Osiris into pieces and scattered them around the provinces of Egypt. Isis, along with her sister Nepthys, who is also married to Seth, went in search of Osiris’ scattered body parts, and when they gathered them all up, Isis bound his body and then mated with him, which I find rather disturbing.

Isis then became pregnant and gave birth to a son Horus. When Horus was older, he was able to defeat Seth and become King of Egypt, while his father, Osiris became king of the afterlife.

It is this myth that gives birth to Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife, and why they practice mummification.

References

Salima, Ikram. Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt. London: Pearson Education Limited, 2003.

Looking from a Different Perspective.

Many people would argue that Alexander the Great was one of the most powerful and successful leader in ancient times. What many people usually don’t take into account is where and how Alexander became as successful as he was. Born in 356 BCE, Alexander already knew royalty, having a father which was a king, tended to have this affect. Alexander took over leadership after his father Phillip II was assassinated. Phillip was arguably, perhaps not the best father figure whom Macedonia had ever seen; however, he did have the well being of Alexander at heart. At a young age, Alexander was educated by a well known philosopher, where he learned much of the information which would be crucial to his later military campaigns, lending to their success. The philosophers name was Aristotle.

Aristotle disagreed with earlier philosophers such as the stoics who taught ideas revolving around self control, saying that if one had self control, you will be a generally happy person. Aristotle believed that happiness stemmed from ones views and ideas on pleasure, and how one gains such feelings. Karl Loren has a website dedicated do different ways to be happy, an entire section of the website devoted to Aristotle and what his views of happiness entailed. Aristotle believed that there were three main points which many individuals believed invoked happiness, yet Aristotle claimed otherwise saying these common ideas of happiness: wealth, pleasure and honor, could not satisfy ones internal pleasures. Pleasure therefore, stems from ones desires, and whether or not they can be satisfied. Furthermore, the Greeks ideas of happiness came through honesty and virtue. Aristotle disagrees, and claims that happiness occurs when one realizes the opportunities which will allow individuals to fully know and realize their inner being.

Several accounts lend to the idea that had Alexander not been taught by such an important and influential philosopher, he would not have carried out military campaigns in the ways he did. Taking into account different ideas of success is important while looking back at history, looking at something in one way, can often give a much different outlook that if you look at it through the common and accepted thought.

http://www.happinessonline.org/MoralCode/LiveWithTruth/p18.htm