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ESSAY SAMPLE ON "THE CULTURES OF THE EGYPTIANS, BABYLONIANS, AND HEBREWS" |
The Cultures of the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Hebrews
Egyptians, Babylonians, and Hebrews have similarities yet also differences in their
religions. The importance is not in the similarities as much as it is in the differences
that distinguish the cultures from each other and their views on life. I would like to
point out each civilization's creation and flood story. By analyzing these stories we
can come to a better understanding of their world views.
The Hebrew creation story from the book of Genesis is one that most people know well. In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was without form and void.
God said, "let there be light," and there was light. He then separated the light from
the darkness. He also created the land, plants, and animals. He saw everything he
created and, behold, it was good. The heavens and earth were completed and all that
dwelled within them. On the seventh day he rested. The earth was complete, but there
was nothing to take care of this creation. So, God created man in the image of himself.
Man was created from the dust of the ground. God gave him the breath of life and the man
became a living soul (Moses 1:1-2:7). With the background of that story, one should
look at the Egyptian interpretation of the beginning.
At first there was nothing but chaos that contained the seed of everything to come. In
this confusion the sun god dwelled. By an effort of his will he emerged from chaos as Ra
and gave birth to Shu, the god of air, and Tefnut, the goddess moisture. Shu and Tefnut
gave birth to Geb and Nut, the earth god and sky goddess. Thus the physical universe was
created. People were created from Ra's tears. Time passed and Ra grew frail, so the
ungrateful race of men plotted against Ra. When Ra learned of this he called the gods
together. The gods decided that mankind must be destroyed. Tens of thousands of men
were killed until only a few were left. Then Ra relented and man was spared.
Nevertheless Ra was sick of the world and retreated into the heavens, leaving Shu to
reign in his place. At that time the present world was established.
The Babylonians have their own interpretation of the beginning. All things came from the
water. From the mixture of sweet water, Aspu, with salt water, Tiamat, the gods arose.
Aspu and Tiamat gave birth to a pair of gigantic serpents, Lakhmu and Lakhamu. These two
serpents produced Anshar and Kishar, the heavens and the earth. Anshar and Kishar then
conceived Anu, Enlil, and Ea. Aspu and Tiamat grew angry because the younger gods were
noisy. So, they decided to destroy the new gods. Ea, the all knowing, learned of this
plan and used his magic to capture Apsu. Tiamat became furious and created and army of
gods and monsters to punish Ea and the others. Marduk was asked to stand against Tiamat
and her army. Marduk promised to defeat Tiamat if he was given supremacy over the gods.
Marduk defeated Tiamat and her army. While he was cutting up Tiamat's body he used half
her body and created the dome of the heavens. With the other half he made the earth.
Then to make the other gods happy he created men from the blood of the battle. He then
made rivers, plants, and animals completing creation.
With these stories' background one can now analyze the likeness and differences among
them. The Egyptian and Babylonian stories show several gods in charge of creating the
world. The difference between these two is that Marduk was given leadership by the gods
bestowing their powers upon him. The Egyptians do not actually raise one god above
another. The Hebrews have only one God, who created the earth. The gods from each story
created man from different items. The Egyptian and Babylonian gods created man from
tears and blood respectively. The Hebrew God created man from dust, but in the image of
himself. This seems to forge a connection or bond between the Hebrews and their god.
They are not gods themselves, but with his image they have the ability to be godlike.
The flood stories of the cultures also show how they view their gods and the attitude the
gods have toward the people. The Hebrew God flooded the world because people had turned
their backs on God and were no longer worshipping him. In short, one could say that the
people in a way deserved the punishment they received. This is also shown in the
Egyptian creation story when the people turned against Ra. Both of these gods showed
compassion and remorse after the killing was done. However, the Babylonian gods flooded
the earth because it was so noisy that they could not sleep. Not a fitting punishment
for the crime committed. The Babylonian gods were outraged when they realized
Utnapishtim was delivered from the catastrophe. The Egyptians do not have a flood story,
is this because of the regularity of the Nile's flooding. The Egyptian saw balance and
harmony with the Nile's example.
The different cultures' attitude toward their gods is also shown in their literature.
The Egyptians and Hebrews loved and worshipped their gods.. This is shown in the Egyptian
"The Hymn to the Aten" and the Hebrew "Psalms." Each of these works praises and exalts
their respective god. The Babylonians feared their god as they did their rivers that
were unpredictable. The lifestyles and geography of each civilization helped shape each
cultures view of their gods. For nature was the only physical manifestation of their
gods.
Works Cited
Fiero, Gloria K. The Humanistic Tradition. 1992 Madison: Wm. C. Brown Communications.
1995
Godolphin, F, ed. Great Classical Myths. New York: Modern Library, 1964.
Moses. "Genesis." The Holy Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1976.
The Epic of Gilgamesh. Translated by N. K. Sanders. Baltimore: Penguin, 1960.
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