Religion in Ancient MesopotamiaReligion is a big thing in a person's life, and it has also been present in Ancient Mesopotamian times. In the Paleolithic Era, religion wasn't around that much. They buried the dead and believed in an afterlife and that's pretty much it. With the Neolithic Era, that's different. In Sumer, religious beliefs guided Sumerians daily lives. They grew crops and settled disputes trying to please their gods. Sumerians built ziggurats, which were temples and religious towers to express their beliefs. The person in charge of building and maintaining these buildings was the king. Ziggurats could be seen from 20 miles away because they were so big (as high as 8 stories and as wide as 200 feet). They were big platforms made of mud bricks, with shrines at the highest point. Sumerians believed their gods lived in these structures, most likely in the shrine at the top. There was a long staircase, for the gods to walk down to Earth, on the outside walls of each ziggurat. Kings and priests stood inside the ziggurat, to ask for the gods' blessings. Sumerians also had highly detailed statues expressing religion. The Sumerians believed it pleased the gods to show these acts of devotion, love, and obedience. Sumerians also had religious ceremonies, these often included musicians playing music. These ceremonies may have involved human sacrifice, the act of killing someone as an offering to the gods.
Fun Fact:The "Leap of Faith" water slide at the Atlantis Resort in Nassau, Bahamas is designed to look like a ziggurat.
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