where your sins are weighed.and the sinless are admitted into eternal life, Immortality - focus on the afterlife. Death could be an extremely pleasant continuation of life on earth. Preserved bodies - embalming the Egyptian mummy. The ka "soul" was immortal. Chief Gods Re (Sun) Osiris (Earth/Death)4 Mesopotamian GroupsSumerians - The Sumerian city-states were the foundation for all civilizations. They were the first literate society. The potesi was the king or governor of the city state. He was a representative on earth of the gods. Cities were really governed by the gods, Ziggarats, or stepped towers were the main temples of the city-state. Epic of Gilgamesh was a story of heroic deeds. It showed the connection between gods and humans. The main themes are friendship, loss, and the inevitability of death.Babylonians - absolute monarchy - Hammarabi's Code was harsh and it showed the inequity of law. Serfs had little rights. Nobility had more rights, privileges and responsibilities. Weights and measures. Fate divination. All humans are weak/defective. Sacrifices to the Gods were given. Humans are very separated from the GodsAssyrians - War and conquest. Asshur was their main God, a war-god,. Cavalry units First state to rule both Tigris and Euphrates and the Nile River Valleys. Expansionist theory. Military and merchantile power. Mass deportation. Conquered a country and uprooted the people. Punished rebellion.Chaldeans - Neo Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar conquered and destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC. He deported the Judeans to Babylon in an event remembered as Babylonian Captivity. Cosmopolitan empire. Diverse, but superior and sophisticated. He rebuilt Babylon on a grand scale. Great interest in astronomy and astrology for religious reasons. Planets were Gods, can't be contained. Astronomers of that time could predict equinoxes and lunar eclipses and could calculate the movements of the moo...
