Moon Owl Observations

Mesopotamian Rundown

Most people have heard of Mesopotamia and know a little bit about it, like how it was located mostly in the modern day Iraq and how Neopaganism stems a lot from it. A lot of what we know today we owe to Mesopotamians. They invented many objects and ideas and even though they lived over 6000 years ago is no excuse to not give them the credit they deserve. As Pagans and humans we are indebted to them and all the knowledge they have given us.

First off we should just touch base on some of the things that the Mesopotamians have given us. They invented the world’s first irrigation system, pottery, sailboats, schools, the seven day week, sixty-minute hour, 360 degree circle. poetry, the wheel, the first writing system, numerous mathematical concepts, formulas to predict eclipses and astrology .In 5000BCE, in the city called Eridu they built the first religious shrine plus they also created numerous imaginative myths. Their stories and legends play a huge role in the literature and history of the bible, as well as other religions.

Mesopotamia was located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In fact, Mesopotamia literally means ’the land between two rivers’. It was in  a very open location and many armies moved freely across it, resulting in countless invasions. It was occupied and ruled by many small kingdoms that grew into entire empires including: Sumerians, Babylonians, Hittites, Assyrians, Chaldeans and Persians.  The city of Sumer was one of the first advanced civilizations of the world. It was known as the ‘Land of the Lords of Brightness’. But Babylonia unified the cities of Mesopotamia.  They were the first culture to conceptualize the zodiac, and use it with astronomy.  But about 3000 years ago, Babylonia was invaded by the Persians, and eventually lost its independence and culture.

Every time the power in the kingdoms would change and grow, so would the myths, they would be rewritten and modified depending on how the new ruler saw fit. They would worship many gods, which sadly were later introduced in the bible as ‘false gods’. They had over 2000 different deities and each empire had their own God. This meant that the city with the most powerful God, would be the most powerful empire.  Mesopotamians would build high-gated walls around their cities, with and added wall surrounding the center, which contained the cities temples, palaces and royal houses.  The temples were thought to be the actual houses of the gods and that they gods lived, ate and slept in these. Also the rulers of Mesopotamia created their political and social power using the various myths and beliefs of the people meaning that the government and religion were linked closely together. Gods would ‘choose’ the next kings and were also represented by the kings and priests themselves.

To end I will share with you  one of the first known written legends which happened in 1200 BCE, it is called the Gilgamesh and was written on 12 clay tablets. It is about the adventures of the king of Uruk and has been translated and interpreted by many different scholars. It is roughly about Gilgamesh setting a trap for Enkidu to get him to the city to befriend him. (Enkidu is a wild man who lives by the river) Gilgamesh’s trap is a beautiful woman, whom Enkidu kisses, which makes him tame and causes him to follow her back to the city. Gilgamesh was a mean man before, but he is so relieved to have a friend and not be bored that he calms down and is much nicer to those around him. The two friends make a trip to the west, and while there they battle Humbaba. After defeating the monster and doing some trading, they return back home to Uruk and begin to have problems. The Goddess Ishtar falls in love with Gilgamesh but he refuses her and makes her angry. Because of this Ishar kills Enkidu with a brutal fever. Gilgamesh was so upset by his friends death and that he would die himself that he travelled to the Land of the Dead to find a way to live forever. While there he meets a man named Utnapishtim who tells him to the story of a great flood and how he survived on a boat (similar to the story of Noah’s Arc). The man Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh how to live forever, which is staying awake for a week while watching a plant. However, he falls asleep and awakes realizing that no one can live forever. He continued to rule his city as a sad but good king.