Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures and Maps
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Defining Time and Space
- 2 Early Inklings
- 3 Gods, Gods, Gods
- 4 Cities, States, and Gods
- 5 The Lure of Egypt, 4000–1400 BCE
- 6 The Gods of Egypt
- 7 The Akhenaten Dream, 1350–1300 BCE
- 8 Practice in Egypt
- 9 The International Age, 1400–1000 BCE
- 10 Gods and People
- 11 The Lord Is One – Israel in Its Environment
- 12 The Turning
- 13 The Good God and the Bad God
- 14 The Lands of Baal
- 15 Greece, Etruria, Rome, and Conveying Traditions
- 16 The Dead Hand of the Past and the Living God
- 17 Experiencing Ancient Near Eastern Religion
- References
- Index
4 - Cities, States, and Gods
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures and Maps
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Defining Time and Space
- 2 Early Inklings
- 3 Gods, Gods, Gods
- 4 Cities, States, and Gods
- 5 The Lure of Egypt, 4000–1400 BCE
- 6 The Gods of Egypt
- 7 The Akhenaten Dream, 1350–1300 BCE
- 8 Practice in Egypt
- 9 The International Age, 1400–1000 BCE
- 10 Gods and People
- 11 The Lord Is One – Israel in Its Environment
- 12 The Turning
- 13 The Good God and the Bad God
- 14 The Lands of Baal
- 15 Greece, Etruria, Rome, and Conveying Traditions
- 16 The Dead Hand of the Past and the Living God
- 17 Experiencing Ancient Near Eastern Religion
- References
- Index
Summary
For Germany the criticism of religion is in the main complete, and criticism of religion is the premise of all criticism.…The basis of irreligious criticism is Man makes religion, religion does not make man.
– Karl Marx (quoted in Niebuhr 1964: 41)She looked beautiful in death, her hair done up elegantly, as it had not been in the few weeks of her last illness, and she wore her favorite jewelry, a necklace of gold and the rich blue stone, lapis lazuli. Laid on her bier, she looked most regal, almost peaceful, and certainly not in distress as in her last days. The servants were gratified that it was finally over, but they were aware of their duty now, and they met that future with mixed emotions. Most were quite young themselves and not ready to die. The lady had requested it, however, and those around her were ostensibly ready to comply.
It was true that their futures were in fact uncertain. The ruler might take another wife or promote another from among his concubines, and she would inevitably have her own attachments to her favorites. Her family would benefit from favor and offices, and the entourage of the dead lady would be demoted, just how far there was no telling. The dead lady's family would be concerned about erasing her memory completely, but it might be wise for the courtiers to end their lives, too. It would simplify matters for the ruler, and the lady had asked it of them because she did not want to go alone into the underworld, which she imagined was an unpleasant place where rank was mostly ignored, and food and drink were scarce. Even the hero Gilgamesh, the king of the underworld, was a shadow of his earthly self and could not be expected to care for a new arrival, even if she had been consort of the ruler of Ur. Better to bring your own help, she had reasoned, to the extent she had been able to reason toward the end.
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- Information
- Religions of the Ancient Near East , pp. 30 - 53Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010