Civilization in Mesopotamia

Religion Civilization in Mesopotamia. In ancient Mesopotamia, religion was polytheistic. Instead of just one, Mesopotamians believed in multiple gods and goddesses. Mesopotamians developed their own belief system with a large number of gods and goddesses. In developing their own belief system, they developed different rituals and religious practices for the purpose of worshiping. They had over 2000 gods and goddesses. The main chief of the gods was changed from time to time. Among the Sumerians, Enlin, the Sky God was the Chief God. Above all the other gods, Marduk was worshipped among the Babylonians. The supreme god among the Assyrians was Ashur. The list of the gods and goddesses is endless, but we cannot fail to mention other notable gods and goddesses like Ishter who was the goddess of fertility and love. The god of chaos and the sea was Tiamat. Sin was the god of the moon. The Mesopotamians understood the material world to be absolutely controlled by some divine powers. One cannot fail to come across a god in Mesopotamia. Every city, town or homestead had its own god. Each single thing that occurred in the world, at a length had some divine dimensions. The main purpose of man in Mesopotamia was to serve the gods. It was not all about tending the gods’ sanctuaries as well as burning of incense alone at their holy places, it was about feeding the gods and providing for them all their basic material needs as normal human beings in a special way. In ancient Mesopotamia, this meant that the entire economic fraternity was changed to the service of the gods in the temple. Later in the days, when Kingship started, the kings who represented the gods on earth, picked up the responsibility of ensuring that people serviced the gods well. This gave the kings religious justification that made them have complete authority over their subjects. Religion influenced their lives greatly, their daily lives changed and become different from the early life of hunting and gathering. Religion development in Mesopotamia based on its own culture was not influenced by the movement of people in and out of the area. Concerning movement, I am talking about the likes of Akkadians, Sumerians, Kassites, Gutians, Aramaeans, and Chaldeans. Rather it forms continuous, similar, and logical tradition in Mesopotamia. It changed in response to satisfy local needs of expressions and insights. Mesopotamians believed in demons that the gods created. It was believed that they could do good or evil. Mesopotamians worshipped the gods to make them happy, because if one of them was angered, then the people of Mesopotamia would have to face punishment for the god’s unhappiness. They believed that if something bad occurred, whether a natural disaster or not, then the gods were responsible for it, so they only had to try their best and keep the gods happy. Every town in Mesopotamia had a patron deity who were specialized to perform religious duties. The gods and goddesses were also present, they ruled the sky, air and received worship from man. Mesopotamians had to build temples in order to worship the gods and goddesses. Ziggurats served as temples. Inside it, during worship, people would place curved stones of human figures with big eyes and clasped hands. They were praying on behalf of other people in Mesopotamia. In this temple, people made offerings to please the gods and get offers. Medicine Civilization in Mesopotamia The gods in ancient Mesopotamia infused every aspect of man's daily life, the same extended to healthcare. The gods took part in Mesopotamian medicine. Gula also known as Ninisinna or Ninikarrak, was the goddess who was responsible for presiding over health matters. He was helped healing by a divine judge who was known as Pabilsag. Gula was the main goddess of health and healing. He was the healer of black headed ones, a term used to refer to the Sumerians. The rod that was used in Mesopotamia was intertwined by the image of serpent. Connecting to the world today, this is the same insignia in the medical field. The logo of WHO has the symbol of serpent on the rod just like what it was in Mesopotamian. Gulu did not start this but her son Ninazu. He was associated with the underworld, the serpent, and the power of healing. Ninazu was the steward of the underworld and his name means 'Lord Healer.' Ninazu’s serpents were associated with healing and health. The serpent was used to symbolize transformation and regeneration because of the molting that the snake undergoes (the shedding of the skin). He associated with serpents because they helped Mesopotamians to Passover to the life after life on earth or enabling people to recover from their different kind of health conditions. In other words, doctors in Mesopotamia were only being used by the gods as tools to maintain the health of the people. Physicians had the responsibility of ensuring good health and treating people who suffered from different health problems. The initial step in treatment of the sick just as it is today was diagnosing the cause of the disease. Unlike today, the diagnosed cause was associated with a sin that an individual had committed, be it knowingly or unknowingly. They believed that the gods punished everything that disturbed the authorities. The Mesopotamians lived with their gods in their communities, and just like a ruler who might consider to forgive an offense, so did the gods. In order for them to be merciful, the patient had to confess all their wrong deeds so as to be treated by a doctor. They removed every hand of demons that had been sent by the gods to punish the sick. They referred to illness as ‘the hand of…’ this meant that the sick is touched by the hand of Shamash god. It also meant demon Lamashtu’s hand was upon her or rather the hand of this or that ghost that is unhappy. Whatever the disease could be, they always linked diagnosis to god’s will and their intervention in the life of man to obtain the final cure of the condition presented. This made illness to equal sin whose cure required one to confess the committed sin and accept that they had done it and affirm to do right in future. All this while, the gods were still supreme and it was absolutely possible for a sick individual to do the right thing to enable the physicians to perform their duties correctly by administering proper medicine, and yet some of the patients would still succumb to death. Even if one among all the other gods wants the best for the sick person, and another god was offended and refuses to bestow healing, no matter what kind and times the offerings were made, it was hard to be treated. People had to consider that the gods were not responsible for the condition but the ghosts whom the gods sent to inflict illness. The dead caused trouble to their living relatives especially if the offering were not supplied to the gods as intended. From the Ashurbanipal library, medical books make it clear that physicians had enough medical knowledge and applied it to ensure good health of the people and make the gods happy as well as the spirit of the dead. From the inscriptions found at Mari and Nineveh, it is revealed that Mesopotamians had no doctors completely as discovered by scholars. They believed so because of the account given by the historians from Greek who wrote about healthcare in Mesopotamia. The claim that there were no doctors in Mesopotamia at all is incorrect because throughout the history of Mesopotamia, two kinds of doctors existed in history; Ashu was a medical doctor who handled issues like injury and illness in an empirical way, and Asipu who was a magic healer because all his healings were based on magic. Surgeons were present too who are believed to have been nurtured by Ashu and Asipu, and veterinians who were assumed to be the real Asipu and Ashu. Both kinds of doctors had the ability to hand dentistry issues and have also presided over births. It is evident that expectant mothers who were on labor had to wear special amulets to protect their unborn children from being harmed by the ghost Lamashtu at the same time invoking the Pazuzu to protect them. This shows that demons were not always meant to bring harm to the people. In the modern-day, demons are associated with evil. In modern-day, Asipu was referred to as a witch doctor while Asu as a medical practitioner. The case in Mesopotamia is different, the two were treated equally. The only salient difference between the two was that Asipu relied on supernatural while Asu directly dealt with physical symptoms as presented by the patient. The two experts mostly treated patients in their homes and made good use of portable beds. Men and women could both be doctors. The doctors were supposed to shave their heads to be easily identified. Unlike what we call germs today, Mesopotamians linked sickness to uncleanliness Medical fees were standardized allowing every individual in their social status to access healthcare. Doctors were paid handsomely when handling noble births as compared to common births. The prescription charges were on the same scale. Among the nobles, they were paid gold. The common people could only afford to pay a clay cup or a bowl of soup. No evidence shows that doctors failed to offer treatment to the poor. Without considering their social status, they gave the same ingredients and prescriptions to the people. They made aesthetics by mixing alcohol, myrrh and honey. Their surgery was more advanced than in all the other regions in that time. In treatment of a wound, they would first clean it, apply plasters and close the wound. Doctors used plants and herbs to treat the sick. Their treatment was very effective. They treated conditions like; urinary track problems, skin infections, gastrointestinal problems, mental problem, cardiovascular disease, and general body problems. Architecture Civilization in Mesopotamia The design of temples in Mesopotamia were rectangular in plan. Early structures were constructed with a small earthen at the top, as time passed, these structures became taller and taller forming the classic Mesopotamian ziggurat. Ziggurat was a representation of the holy mountain where gods could meet men. The temples were built in bricks that made mounds taking the form of a layered design. They looked like step pyramids and had a flat roof on which they built shrines. The shrines could only be accessed by using the ramp or the stairway. The construction of these buildings required a high level of design and excellent engineering skills. Proportions of the buildings were exact. This showed how their constructors were masters of mathematics. The central temple was surrounded by ceremonial banqueting halls granaries along with workshops, a store house and administrative buildings because the temple was the main center of administrative and economic activity in ancient Mesopotamia. Rulers of Mesopotamia lived in palaces. They were lavishly decorated and large in size. A series of courtyards were built around it. This is where craftsmen workshops were located, they housed, servants, food stores, shrines, and of course accommodated the royal family. The largest led to the throne room, it was large in size, lavishly decorated to stun visitors. The decorations were made of curved stone slabs on which pictures and text depictions concerning cultural scenes and the deeds of the king. There were big stone sculptures at the gates and other passageways. Outside the palace were parks and expansive gardens. The gardens had wild animals for the purpose of hunting. The houses of people in Mesopotamia resemble the houses of today. They were made of mud and sunbaked bricks with wooden doors. Materials used were naturally available in Mesopotamia. Houses were built around courtyards be it in town or in the countryside. Such were big houses where the largest room was for receiving visitors and dinning. From the living room, the rooms that followed were private for the family. Other rooms included the kitchen, store and servants’ rooms. The poor had houses built of mud and reeds. They have long perished and can not be tracked today. They can be compared to the shanties of the modern-day in towns and cities.