by a disk with rays coming down off it.Egyptian society was the first to believe that man was part god. They believed that their kings, or Pharaohs, were gods. More specifically, the pharaohs wanted the people to believe that they were direct intermediaries to the gods. A sort of tertium quid above humanity and just below divinity. This is evidenced in the great monuments built for them, the Pyramids.The Egyptians undoubtedly believed that you could take it with you when you leave. They had a definite understanding of the afterlife and thought that when you die, you will need all sorts of things for your journey. Pharaohs and high officials were mummified, buried with riches, and sometimes buried with servants to help them on their way. Before moving on to time Greek spirituality, which marks a whole new direction in religious evolution, it is important to look at the major similarities of these three societies’ religions. All three viewed the gods as uncontrollable, subject to whim and great anger for no reason. All three attempted to assuage the gods with offerings and sacrifices. The gods were governed by no morality or laws. It was the Greeks who would begin to change that way of thinking.The Greeks As stated earlier, there are echoes of Egyptian and Mesopotamian religion evident in Greek religion. The Greeks were polytheists, like those before them, and like the Egyptians, had an organized understanding of what each god responsible for. They saw their gods in human form, like the Mesopotamians. While people worshipped smaller, guardian gods that varied from city to city, everyone worshipped the 12 main gods: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Hephaestus, and Hermes. People had festivals for, built temples for, prayed to, and gave offerings to these gods. But it was done in a different manner than humans before the Greeks. The Gods meant less. The Greeks, throu...
