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Ancient Religions > Week 1 > Flashcards

Week 1 Flashcards

1
Q

Who formed the majority of Priests/Priestesses?

A

The Elite (for the most part)

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2
Q

What are the 6 characteristics of Ancient Greek religion?

A
  • Polytheistic
  • Pragmatic
  • Absence of Atheism
  • non-confessional
  • non-exclusive
  • NO sacred texts
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3
Q

True or False:

Generally, ancient priests/priestesses were expected to be morally righteous

A

FALSE

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4
Q

How was priesthoodship acquired?

A
  • Election
  • Hereditary
  • Purchased
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5
Q

What was the main duty of ancient priests and priestesses?

A
  • Supervising sacrifices and other religious events
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6
Q

True or False:

Priests control state money used for religious ceremonies.

A

FALSE

The financing is always from the state-priests NEVER control money

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7
Q

True or False:

Priests did NOT monopolize communication with the gods.

A

TRUE

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8
Q

What are the 4 steps of an ancient prayer?

A
  • Invocation (declare who you are summoning for attention)
  • Argument (explain why the god should help you)
  • Petition (what you are asking for)
  • Vow (Optional-promise future favours to the god should the wish be granted)
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9
Q

What did the scholar Lincoln say about the pervasiveness of Ancient Religions?

A

People are not fanatically religious per se, but rather, religion is just a fixture of everyday life

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10
Q

True or False:

There was NOT a word for religion in Ancient Greece

A

TRUE

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11
Q

What is the concept of diffusion?

A
  • The spread of cultural/religious beliefs and practices from one civilization to another
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12
Q

Explain the concept of Syncretism:

A
  • The translation of deities and religious/cultural practices through diffusion
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13
Q

How (practically speaking) did Syncretism often occur?

A
  • Through trade
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14
Q

What is Hybridity?

A
  • The assimilation of a minor culture into a major culture (ex. after conquest)
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15
Q

Which 3 religions never officially participated in Syncretism (i.e. never officially adopted foreign gods)?

A
  1. Egypt
  2. Judaism
  3. Christianity
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16
Q

Why did the Egyptians never syncretize?

A
  • Because they viewed themselves as superior
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17
Q

Why didn’t the Christians and Jews syncretize with other cultures?

A
  • Because they are forced to renounce all gods that aren’t theirs
  • Their religions were purely monotheistic, thus, direct deistic syncretism was impossible
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18
Q

True or False:

The Bible renounces the very existence of all other gods.

A

FALSE

  • The Bible never denied the existence of other gods outright
  • In fact, the Bible at one point references “All the Gods” in one section
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19
Q

Due to syncretism, were rituals generally comprehensible to all in their similarity to other cultures in the ancient world?

A
  • Many rituals were nearly exactly the same (ex. prayer)
  • Some were common in some places (i.e Hepatoscopy)
  • Some were exclusive to one small region
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20
Q

True or False:

Syncretism does NOT explain every religious practice

A

TRUE

  • Many similar/universal practices are thought to have been homegrown - it is just a coincidence that they are nearly exactly the same as those of other regions
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21
Q

*** What is the scholar Graf’s 4 criteria points for Ancient Religion?

A
  1. Discourse of transcending the human state
  2. A set of specific practices
  3. Communities defined by transcendence and practices
  4. Institutions that regulate transcendence and practices
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22
Q

How are Mesopotamian gods depicted?

A
  • Wearing large ornate hats
  • Otherwise, look pretty much like humans
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23
Q

How to identify a head deity in Mesopotamian art:

A
  • Always male
  • Sitting on a throne
  • Holding a symbolic object
24
Q

How to identify Mesopotamian storm gods in art?

A
  • They are walking with one arm in the air
25
Q

Who was the first Mesopotamian goddess?

A

Inanna

26
Q

Who served the deities in ancient Mesopotamia?

A

The God-Kings (rulers of each state)

27
Q

What was the first powerhouse state of Mesopotamia?

A

Uruk

28
Q

When did Babylon experience an evolution of more complex theology dealing with the gap between god and man?

A

Middle 2nd Millennium BC

29
Q

Which Neo-Babylonian king had a brief bout of monotheism?

A

King Nabonidus

30
Q

With which god does King Nabonidus try to establish monotheism with?

A

Sin

31
Q

What was the basic symbol of civic presence and any amount of power in a Mesopotamian town/city?

A

A Ziggurat

32
Q

What Mesopotamian law code predates Hammurabi’s code?

A
  • Ur-Nammu’s law code 2050 BC
33
Q

What is the name of the Mesopotamian religious creation myth?

A

The Enuma Elish

34
Q

What god creates the universe in Mesopotamian myth?

A

Marduk

35
Q

Marduk creates the earth out of:

A

The dismembered limbs of the female mosnter, Tiamat

36
Q

What is Marduk tasked with doing for the rest of his life?

A

Fighting off the angry allies of the monster, Tiamat

37
Q

What does the name “Babylon” mean etymologically?

A
  • Sanctuary
38
Q

Who were the peoples of Syria-Canaan?

A
  • Various Semitic peoples inhabiting the area between the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia
39
Q

True or False: The Syrian-Canaanite peoples were Semitic.

A

TRUE

40
Q

What is one of the principle Syrian-Canaanite gods?

A

Baal

41
Q

Who was in charge of maintaining the temples in Phoenicia?

A
  • The Kings
42
Q

Who committed child sacrifice?

A

The Phoenicians

43
Q

What is considered a top religious offence in Phoenicia?

A
  • Desecrating burials
44
Q

Who was the chief god of the Israelites?

A

YHWH (Yahweh)

45
Q

In what millennium was Judaism founded?

A

1st Mill. BC

46
Q

Who was the first Jew?

A

Abraham (from Ur)

47
Q

Why did Abraham move from Israel to Egypt?

A

Famine

48
Q

Who led the Jews back to Israel?

A

Moses

49
Q

Who do the Israelites massacre in order to found their own monarchy?

A
  • The Canaanites in Palestine
50
Q

What were the 2 kingdoms of Israel?

A
  1. Israel
  2. Judah
51
Q

Who restored the law code of Moses?

A

Josiah of Judah

52
Q

Give a quick chronology of the ancient Israelites:

A
  • Founded by Abraham (from Ur) who moves to Israel with his wife
  • He and his new people flee Israel and go to Egypt due to famine
  • Moses leads them back to Israel
  • Israelites decide to expand south into Palestine, and slaughter the Canaanites there to establish a new Israelite kingdom
  • Assyrians destroy Israel (Kingdom of Judah survives)
  • Babylonian exile
  • Restoration of religion of Moses in kingdom of Judah
53
Q

What religion was known for their distinctive absence of worshipping female goddesses ?

A

Judaism

54
Q

What goddess was the one exception to early Israelites relative male dominated worship?

A

Asherah

55
Q

The discovery of this book __________ gave the Jewish diaspora a new sense of identity and purpose?

A

Book of Deuteronomy

56
Q

What crazed Egyptian Pharaoh tried to instate monotheism in Egypt?

A

Ahkenaten

Ancient Religions (8 decks)

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