ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS AND RELIGION
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Transcript ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS AND RELIGION
ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
AND RELIGION
Religion and Society from a
Sociological Perspective
THE PRIMITIVE MEN
Primitive men and the environment
Forces of nature and the search for
explanations
Interpretation of natural events and
beings as religious phenomena
Towards a social life: the tribe
Collective labor, collective identity
and collective belief
ELEMENTARY FORMS OF
RELIGION
TOTEMISM
The Totem as the symbol whereby
the mystical powers surrounding the
members of the tribe are
concentrated
Mana and the totem
Mana, totem and taboo
ELEMENTARY FORMS OF
RELIGION
ANIMISM
Worshipping the spirits of nature
Mankind as an inseparable element
of nature
ELEMENTARY FORMS OF
RELIGION
ANCESTOR CULT
The concept of Spirit: Death and Sleep
Worshipping the Spirits of the ancestors
ANCIENT FORMS OF RELIGION
From pastoral nomads (huntersgatherers) to settled social
communities (agrarian)
Division of labor and specialization
Social life, social order and laws
Social hierarchy
Systematic society – systematic
belief forms
The Pantheons (Polytheism)
THE PANTHEON
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Personification of natural beings and
forces, even emotions
Gods and Goddesses regulating the lives
and social order of mankind
Pantheon: sum of Gods and Goddesses in
any polytheist belief system
Different communities, different names,
identical functions
The Chaos-Order theme in polytheist
religions: Gods and pre-Gods
CHAOS & ORDER
Sumerian and Babylonian Pantheons
Cosmogony: Creation of the universe and
its chaotic situation
Chaotic cosmic forces giving birth to Gods
and Goddesses
The tale of Marduk and Tiamat
MARDUK AND TIAMAT
CHAOS & ORDER
Ancient Egyptians
Re (Ra) and Apophis
Ancient Greeks
Gods (order) rebelling against the
Titans (chaos)
ZEUS & KRONOS
AGRARIAN SOCIETY AND
AGRARIAN THEMES IN
RELIGION
Osiris Cult in
Ancient Egypt
DEMETER AND DIONYSOS
CULTS IN ANCIENT GREECE
A NEW THEME IN POLYTHEISM:
GOOD GODS and EVIL GODS
The Zoroastrian Religion in ancient Persia
Ahuramazda (good) and Ahriman (evil)
Ancient Turks
Ulgen (good) and Erlik (evil)
TOWARDS MONOTHEIST
RELIGIONS
The Aton Cult in Ancient Egypt