Admin Table of Contents
Why was it important for the Sumerians to please the gods?
If the gods were happy with people’s prayers and offerings, they might bring good fortunes to the city. If not, they might bring war, floods, or other disasters. As a result, Sumerians felt that they needed to keep the gods happy for their city to grow and prosper.
Did Sumerians try to make the gods angry?
In fact they were downright grumpy. So the Sumerians spent a lot of their time and effort seeking new ways to please their gods. This kept them very busy because they believed in super powerful gods, like the god of the sky and the god of the sea.
How did the gods punish the Sumerians?
If you stole something, you were punished according to what you stole. If you offended the gods, you were punished. Everyone knew what the punishment was so there was no escape by saying you didn’t know. The thing is, the Sumerians were organized into city-states.
What did the Sumerians believe they were put on Earth for?
SERVANTS TO THE GODS. The Sumerian religion was polytheistic; they worshiped more than one god/goddess. The Sumerians believed that they were put on earth to serve and take care of the gods. If the gods weren’t happy, they became cranky and took it out on the people – or so they believed.
How did the Akkadians change the Sumerian religion?
The Akkadians syncretized their own gods with the Sumerian ones, causing Sumerian religion to take on a Semitic coloration. Male deities became dominant and the gods completely lost their original associations with natural phenomena. People began to view the gods as living in a feudal society with class structure.
Who is the Sumerian god of the Earth?
Ki is the Sumerian word for earth, and she was personified as a goddess and female counterpart to An (the heaven god). In Sumerian myth, An and Ki produced a variety of plants on the earth. They were thought to be the offspring of the goddess Nammu and were originally united as one.
What did the Sumerians do when a king died?
When a king died, people who worked for him and many of his possessions were buried with him, including wagons and animals.” Most Sumerian people lived hard lives, and their ideas about the afterlife resembled their earthly existence so they “wasted no time” preparing for the afterlife.