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Example research essay topic: The Role Of Temple In Mesopotamia And Egypt - 1,665 words

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... t have been possible without the Egyptian concept of con substantiality. The Mesopotamian's, however, did not evolve such ideas of divine kingship until after the Egyptians. As the time of conquest and urbanization dawned, the Legal (at first, only temporary appointments) gained the power of rulers over the land.

There is a limit to the amount we know about the earliest temples of Mesopotamia and Egypt. There first of the Mesopotamian shrines were made of short-lived materials, so it is unlikely that any will be found. However, what little information we do have about the temples of this time period (the earliest dating back to the Ubaid period, or early 5 th millenium, B. C.

E. ) is mostly architectural, and the function of such structures is hard to determine. In fact, there is much debate over whether or not they functioned as temples at all. However, it is worth mentioning that the structure of the Ubaid temple found at Eric suggests cultic function, according to the Anchor Bible Dictionary. The developing temple eventually came to "comprise a central rectangular sanctuary with wall niche (presumably for the god's statue or symbol) and central 'offering table. '" The early temples of Egypt in the Archaic periods analogously had architecture suggesting cultic function as well. The tiny early funerary temples also had such niches and places for offerings and prayer.

Both Egyptian and Mesopotamian temples were open to the public, the point at which the divine was tangible. The temples had many roles beyond the aforementioned funerary and various other religious functions. One important economic function was the employment of the workers needed to maintain the temple. As urbanization dawned on Egypt, some of the larger temples employed up to thousands to care for the fields, animals, upkeep of land, storehouses, and written records all housed in the temple. The temple households of Mesopotamia also performed such administrative duties. In both these cultures, the temples of later years had vast estates, the produce of which played an important part in the city's economic life.

The temple was not only the place for religious activity, but served administrative, educational, and many other functions as well. In Egypt, the economic realm of the temple was the most important non-cultic function the temple had. There were, of course, the products of the temple including agriculture, textiles and others that contributed to the economy. However, it is suggested that the temple did not stop here, but was directly involved in the administration of the redistribution of resources under a subsistence level economy. The temples were at the center of this process - collecting, storing and redistributing the surplus. As Egypt began to conquer foreign lands and urbanization dawned, the temples seem to have grown.

There are records that indicate temple wealth regularly increasing after the 18 th dynasty. Donating to temples to assist with renovations and other maintenance was a common practice for a Pharaoh, due in part to the reputation it created for him. (Interestingly enough, another temple function evolved - housing of archives and records to boast of the king's achievements to the gods. ) The Egyptian temple, it seems, played a vital role in the economic affairs of the state. Likewise, Mesopotamian temples had various economic functions, including employment. Tending to the great estates provided those in the temple households security in ownership.

They were able to reap the profits from the crops and in doing so, provide a living for themselves. Jacobsen puts it best: The vast expanses of temple fields and orchards were unspoken testimony that his ties were the strong ties of a landowner to his land, and the numerous ways in which man served him as house servant and worker in the fields gave man status: needed by the god, belonging to him as a servant belongs to his master, bound to absolute obedience in unquestioning loyalty, unprotected against arbitrary moods and unjust punishment but always belonging, never under any circumstances to be abandoned. It is suggested that the limited economic security the temple and the "gods" provided to the Mesopotamian gave him a sense of belonging. In an unstable environment such as his, any amount of security was valued. However, this notion that belonging to or being needed by the gods did not guarantee being spared of their wrath seems somewhat harsh. Perhaps for the Mesopotamian, it was necessary to explain the ways of god in a way that was acceptable for continued faith in the gods.

Although to the people, the temple was the means for the gods to provide some security (through profits from its lands), the unkind forces of nature that beset the land still warranted a sort of explanation. Egypt, as we have seen, had fertile lands and fairly reliable environmental conditions. Rarely did they experience the "wrath" of their gods. There was no need to make rationalizations about their gods' neglect of humans. Their relative security afforded them their trust in the cosmos.

In Mesopotamia, which was unfortunately "unprotected against arbitrary moods", and consequently had the potential to suffer economically, the temple was needed to reassure the people of the holy presence of the numinous in their lives. In addition to the separate cultic and economic aspects of temple discussed, both Egyptian and Mesopotamian temples were the nucleus of the city. Not only did it house the important administrative headquarters, but it was essential to the city in so many other ways, as is evident by its location. Carolyn Routledge proposes a theory on urbanism that suggests that the first cities in Egypt were planned around the nucleus of the temple, and that this constituted the ideal model of the Egyptian city. We see that many cities were arranged roughly in four sectors comprising a square, with processional pathways connecting the sectors and central temples.

The pathways were meant for processional routes as part of a cultic ritual or for royal processions. However, Akhenaten changed these routes when planning the city of Amarna. In attempting to uncover why he created such an unconventional layout, Routledge concludes that "the placement of temples and palaces was an integral element providing through royal processions a concrete, physical representation of the conceptual relationship between society, king and divinity. " Even the layout of the temples was of the utmost significance to the Egyptians in terms of what it represented. In addition to the functions discussed here, there are also mentions of other miscellaneous non-cultic aspects of the temple.

Although the main purpose of a Mesopotamian temple was to provide appropriate residence and luxury for the patron god, the temple had other community functions. For example, it was a storehouse for surplus produce that may sustain the city in harder times. The temple also regulated standards such as measurements and interest rates. It provided education and training for those people that required literacy (priests, kings, etc. ) The temple was the source of social programs to protect the disadvantaged (homeless, poor, etc. ) and even provided small interest-free loans. The Egyptians has similar various social functions of the temple. Since education was offered solely through the temple, educated men were considered to be somewhat priestly.

The archives mentioned earlier housed much more than just records, but all types of literature present in the day. Temples were responsible for medical education as well as a few that went so far as to house the clinics where the sick sought remedies from the healing deities. There is also mention of Oracles sought in the temple to answer problems and convey messages from the gods. In some later periods, some cities that were prone to attack built their temples like fortresses to provide safety during an attack. The great temples played a vital role in the lives of the Mesopotamian and the Egyptian, as is evident through the location, grandiose structure, and expressive decoration that characterizes them. We have seen many similarities and differences in the function and nature of the temples of these two cultures. "How the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian civilizations came to acquire these very different moods - one trusting, the other distrusting, man's power and ultimate significance" may not be clear, but it seems to be a great factor in the differences in religious structure of the two.

Bibliography: Carolyn Routledge, "Temple as the Center in Ancient Egyptian Urbanism, " Urbanism in Antiquity, (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997) 232. Robertson, John F. , "Temples and Sanctuaries: Mesopotamia, " Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1992, Vol. 6, 372 - 373. William A. Ward, "Temples and Sanctuaries: Egypt, " Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1992, Vol. 6, 370 - 372. Thorkild Jacobsen, "Formative Tendencies in Sumerian Religion, " The Bible and the Ancient Near East, (United States: Doubleday & Company, 1961) 276. Carolyn Routledge, "Temple as the Center in Ancient Egyptian Urbanism, " Urbanism in Antiquity, (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997) 221 - 235.

Harold H. Nelson, "The Egyptian Temple, " The Biblical Archaeologist Reader, (New York: Anchor Doubleday & Company, 1961) 155. Robertson, John F. , "Temples and Sanctuaries: Mesopotamia, " Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1992, Vol. 6, 372 - 373. Thorkild Jacobsen, et. al. , Intellectual Adventure of Man, (Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, 1946) 126. Henri Frankfort, et.

al. , Intellectual Adventure of Man, (Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, 1946) 65. William A. Ward, "Temples and Sanctuaries: Egypt, " Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1992, Vol. 6, 370. A.

Wiedemann, trans. J. Hutchinson, The Realms of the Egyptian Dead, (London: David Nutt, 1902) Thorkild Jacobsen, "Formative Tendencies in Sumerian Religion", The Bible and the Ancient Near East, (United States: Doubleday & Company, 1961) 276. Thorkild Jacobsen, The Treasures of Darkness, (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1976) 5 - 6. Robertson, John F. , "Temples and Sanctuaries: Mesopotamia, "Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1992, Vol. 6, 372 - 373. Thorkild Jacobsen, "Formative Tendencies in Sumerian Religion", The Bible and the Ancient Near East, (United States: Doubleday & Company, 1961) 276.


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Research essay sample on The Role Of Temple In Mesopotamia And Egypt

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