Week 3

Question 1

Define the concept of Hypsistos:

Answer 1

• The fact that different civilizations all worship very similar deities leads to a belief in a common single Supreme Being
• Ex. The reverence of Zeus is at one with that of Ra

Question 2

What are 5 notable attributes of Revolutionary Monotheism?

Answer 2

• NOT evolving directly from polytheism
• Counter-religious movement
• Rejects folklike religion
• Hierarchical; top down
• Canonization: This truth cannot be relived naturally without the codification for future worshippers

Question 3

What is one blaming-point every monotheism needs?

Answer 3

• Monotheism always needs a construction of “the other” to justify and rally it’s power
• Ex. the Pagan within

Question 4

In short, Revolutionary monotheism centres around:

Answer 4

The power of the Elite

Question 5

How do most Revolutionary Monotheists interpret theology, and it’s link to justice?

Answer 5

• The supreme god is not only just, but JUSTICE itself

Question 6

Ancient Egyptian priests were organized into groups called:

Answer 6

Phyles

Question 7

Each Phyle was assigned a __________ and an __________

Answer 7

Name and animal emblem

Question 8

What was the largest Egyptian temple?

Answer 8

Amun at Karnak

Question 9

What was the official name for the Egyptian pantheon?

Answer 9

The Great Ennead

Question 10

Which Egyptian city had its own separate Ennead (that coexisted with the pre-established general one)?

Answer 10

Heliopolis

Question 11

Cults in Egypt are first attested to in the period of the ___________.

Answer 11

Middle Kingdom

Question 12

What duties did cult membership entail in Egypt?

Answer 12

• Delivering food, aromatic resins, money, drinks, etc. to the temples

Question 13

What were the priests of Ka?

Answer 13

• Private mortuary priests hired by families to performed frequent rituals at a deceased loved one’s tomb.

Question 14

What was the Parsu?

Answer 14

The essential laws and offices of Mesopotamian civilization, Aetiologically derived from the primordial mother, Nammu

Question 15

What was the chief priest in Syro-Canaanite cultures called?

Answer 15

Rb (predecessor to rabbi?)

Question 16

True or False: Syro-Canaanite cults often owned real estate.

Answer 16

TRUE

Question 17

Describe Syro-Canaanite cult practices:

Answer 17

• Essentially a funerary and dinner party club

Question 18

Jewish schools to train scribes began in the _______ Temple Period.

Answer 18

First Temple Period

Question 19

In what century AND where was the first ever synagogue established?

Answer 19

3rd century BC in Egypt

Question 20

True or False: Jerusalem was the only place where early Jews could sacrifice.

Answer 20

TRUE

Question 21

What was the Hittite king’s role in cult activities?

Answer 21

• Chief Priest of all state cults

Question 22

True or False: Upkeep of Hittite temples was a state business.

Answer 22

TRUE

Question 23

How did Zoroastrian priests get their position?

Answer 23

Hereditarily

Question 24

What types of Cults existed in Ancient Greece?

Answer 24

• Family level, Municipal level, State level, International level, etc.etc.etc.
• They were omnipresent and existed in every single fold and level of society

Question 25

True or False: ALL volunteer organizations in Ancient Greece were listed as "cult association".

Answer 25

TRUE Why? Because they always had some religious component, no matter what

Question 26

Ancient Greek cult meetings occurred every ______

Answer 26

month

Question 27

What were the 4 stages of a Greek cult meeting?

Answer 27

1. Sacrifice 2. Procession 3. Prayers 4. Feast

Question 28

What did Greek cults do with the real estate they owned?

Answer 28

- Used it to privately bury their members

Question 29

What was the women only festival in Athens?

Answer 29

Thesmophoria

Question 30

What were the Collegias?

Answer 30

- Collegias were Roman "clubs" essentially, both religious and lay - They were permitted so long as they met maximum once a month and abided by the law - Caesar abolished all lay collegias except those that had significant seniority

Question 31

Who disbanded all lay collegias that did not have sufficient age?

Answer 31

Caesar

Question 32

What type of collegias were very popular for poor and middle class Romans?

Answer 32

- Collegia Funeraticia (Funerary clubs) - Why? Being a member was one of the few ways to receive a respectable burial and funeral as a poorer citizen.

Question 33

What were the 4 priestly collegias in Rome?

Answer 33

1. Pontificiales 2. Augurales 3. Quimdeciviri sacris faciundis 4. Septemviri Epulones

Question 34

True or False: The Bacchiadae cult was banned in Rome.

Answer 34

FALSE Contrary to popular conception, the Bacchiadae cult was not banned outright, but rather, heavily limited in new cultic decrees, and thus, fizzled out overtime.

Question 35

Why did early Christianity draw bad attention from the Romans?

Answer 35

- Because it operated completely outside traditional parameters of organized religion (different organization, different moral expectation for adherents, different hierarchy, etc.)

Question 36

In which century did monarchial episcopacy begin to rise?

Answer 36

2nd century AD

Question 37

By the __ century AD, Bishops were advising Emperors.

Answer 37

4th century AD

Question 38

What are rituals?

Answer 38

Repeated actions and words that will influence the divine in a way that is predictable and useful for humans.

Question 39

Which civilization has the best records on their rituals?

Answer 39

Greece

Question 40

What are 5 common intercultural rituals of the ancient world?

Answer 40

- Processions - Purifications - Old/New Year festivals - Scapegoating - Aetiological myths Acronym SOAPP

Question 41

How was communal impurity purified in Ancient Israel?

Answer 41

- Scapegoat ceremony - Two goats were brought up - One was sacrificed for the sins of the community (instead of sacrificing the community itself) - Similar to the Idea of the sacrificial lamb

Question 42

What 2 things caused a personal impurity in ancient Israel?

Answer 42

- Cultic defilement (ex. touching a corpse) - Amoral activities (ex. bribery)

Question 43

What kind of animals are used for blood sacrifices?

Answer 43

- Always an unblemished animal - No blisters, growths, birth marks, etc.

Question 44

What is the etymology of the word Sacrifice?

Answer 44

- Sacrificus: To cut off from this world

Question 45

What is a Tithe?

Answer 45

- The practice of giving 1/10th of your annual income to your local temple

Question 46

What is an often common means of transporting offerings to a god?

Answer 46

- Burning - (ex. burning a wooden picture of the god to honour him)

Question 47

What were Egyptian sacrificial victims often deemed as?

Answer 47

- The Enemy (i.e supporters of Seth) - Sacrifice is a victory over evil

Question 48

What does the Eye of Horus represent?

Answer 48

- Health and completeness - Why? It made Horus complete again after he lost his eye fighting Seth

Question 49

What is different about the nature of most Mesopotamian offerings?

Answer 49

- They mostly did bloodless food offerings (i.e. bread) - Blood sacrifices were seemingly reserved for higher status individuals

Question 50

How many times a day would Mesopotamian landowners give offerings to the gods?

Answer 50

Twice a day

Question 51

True or False: All offerings in Mesopotamia were owned by the god it was given to, but retained the name of the original owner.

Answer 51

TRUE

Question 52

Were the Syro-Canaanites picky with which animal they sacrificed ?

Answer 52

Not at all --> No animal is deemed unworthy of sacrifice

Question 53

True or False: There were child sacrifices in ancient Israel.

Answer 53

TRUE

Question 54

True or False: The Israelites were super strict with what animals could be sacrificed.

Answer 54

TRUE - NO pigs - Animal had to be unblemished

Question 55

How did the Israelites transport the sacrificial animal to the gods?

Answer 55

- Through Holocaust (Greek word for the complete burning of something) of the meat and blood at the altar.

Question 56

True or False: Israelite sacrifices gave vows to YHWH in return for NOTHING.

Answer 56

TRUE

Question 57

True or False: In Israelite sacrificial ceremonies, the meat is always eaten by those participating.

Answer 57

FALSE - Only in well-being sacrifices do all people get to eat the meat - In reparation sacrifices, only the priests get to eat the meat

Question 58

During which kind of ceremonies did laypersons have the privilege to consume the sacrificial meat in Ancient Israel?

Answer 58

Wellbeing ceremonies