Ancient World Flashcards
Isis
Goddess of fertility - Egyptian goddess - took on other functions - became universal goddess
Acted as an intermediary between humanity and divine realm
Oracle
What did Greek priestesses do
Kept temples groomed- led prayers- took part in sacrifices
Cult
System of religious veneration and devotion to a specific person or object
Roman dieties
Jupiter; Juno; Venus; Minerva; Neptune; dianna
Ishtar
Babylonian and Assyrian goddess of love and war
Religions of antiquity disappeared when and why
400 CE - Christian sermon deemed antiquity as mother of all evils - reflected western beliefs of one not several gods
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Minor gods
Staff - do unpleasant tasks for more overfill dieties - agents of calamity and punishmebt
Plutarch
Greek - served as magistrate and ambassador to Mediterranean islands - senior priest at Apollo
Netherworld
Afterworld; underworld of the dead
How did groups employ understand the term religion
Communities sought to ensure support of the gods by adhering to ancestral customs - focus on community not individual
Anthropomorphism
Attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to a God animal or object
Theogoney
How gods came into being
Tripartite structure of the cosmos
The divine - theogony
Organization of the universe - heaven earth
Netherworld
Omens
Divine messages understood as warnings
Serena
Christian entered temple of manga matis took necklace placed on her own neck - seen as transfer of religious symbols - never heard from again
Zeus
Greek supreme god protector and ruler of human life
Physical representations of gods exemplified
Human ideals of beauty grace power
Most enduring omen
Astrology
Secondary gods
Supporting roles act as judges to humans or as counsellor to sovereign god
Apotropiac
Having the power to avert evil influences or bad luck
Osiris
God originally connected with fertility - influenced understanding of divine judgement in Judaism and Christianity
Greek dieties
Zeus; Hera;Aphrodite; Athena; Poseidon
Oracle
To speak - relates to gods answers to questions; the places where they were delivered; or people through whom the god spoke
Necroplis
Cemetery large belong to an ancient city
Supreme gods
Supreme power associated with forces of nature; rulers
What offices did Sumerian women hold
High priestly office
Theology
Nature of the gods
Asclepius
God of heating son of apollo
Cosmology
How the world organized
What contains messages from the gods
Anything - stars storms smoke water sacrificed animals
Enigma Elish
Mesopotamian creation epic
Pyramid texts
Utterances carved in walls of royal burial sites
Types of gods
Supreme secondary minor
Identities of zeus
Olympis the supreme god; stratios leader of armies
Tiamat
Female monster - represented primeval chaos and disorder
Divination
Interpreting fubpnction where one read between the lines noticing unusual phenomena; recognize anomalies and finding significance in them
Stela
Stone slab with commemorative inscription or design - gravestone
Predictive omens
Omens that could be solicited - if the oil sinks in water
Types of natural phenomena used to read messages from the divine realm
Observations of natural phenomena; movements of stars; unusual births; thunder; cloudless day
Antiquity in west refers to the time period of
Late 4th millennium bce to middle of first millennium ce
General trends when comparing religions of antiquity
No founding figure
Many dieties
Fewer canonical texts
Common ethical imperatives
Religions of antiquity placed a great deal of emphasis on
Rituals
These were common in rituals re antiquity
Sacrifices
The primary mechanism of communication with the divine realm in antiquity
Ritual
Earliest gods linked to
Nature Sun Moon Sky Water
Great dieties had power to
Influence human activities
Could dispense justice
Secondary dieties could
Act as messengers for the greater gods
Sometimes doing unpleasant tasks
Many ancient religions had concept of divine light. This demonstrates what
The potential positive and negative power of the gods because light can be brilliant and blinding
Examples of female dieties
Isis - Egypt - possesses great power
Demeter - Greek - fertility of the earth and associated with agriculture and motherhood
A person could demonstrate piety by
Clothing feeding dieties
Giving dieties gifts
Obeying their wishes
All done thru ritual
Sacrifice was one of the most important aspects of ritual practice in the
Ancient near east
Mediterranean
Sacrifice ritual can be understood as
A transformative act where a regular object into a sacred object that is offered as a gift to the divine
Sacrificial objects included
Food
Beverages
Animal ( rules were attached to this)
Vestal virgins Rome ensured
Sacred fire never went out
Guarded Roman storehouse
Prepared sacred objects for public sacrifice
Common themes of legal or ethical codes
Responsibility
Compassion
Justice
