Mesopotamia, Egypt And The Hebrews :: essays research papers fc

                                         October 10th, 1994Mesopotamia, Egypt and the HebrewsTheir development from the 3rd millenary to 2nd C.E.When the canonization of the Hebrew Holy ("TaNaKh") took place. dog-iron Manciniirgix.netcom.comMESOPOTAMIA     Mesopotamia was the land of four primary civilizations the Sumerian, the Akkadians, the Babylonian and the Assyrians. The Hebrews, like the Akkadians, belong to a group of people known as Semites and from there we can see the find out of Mesopotamian culture in some of the Hebrews traditions. During the same time, civilization began in Egypt, and there can be seen a distinct difference in the social, religious and policy-making system from Mesopotamia that the link between the two civilizations are the Hebrews, and although no historical record s are available aside from the Holy Scriptures, it is believed that the Hebrews settled in Egypt during the era of Hyksos command in the seventeenth century B.C.E. These three civilizations to be discussed were the foundation of todays society and provided the common era with concrete religious beliefs still practiced today.     Evidence of the mechanism on the evolution of social, religious and political values, as well as the fluctuating development of the role of women then and now, are present in these documents, low gear with the oldest document which is most likely the epical of Gilgamesh, first passed on by word of mouth and later recorded by the Sumerians around the third millennium and finally edited and written down in cuneiform by the Babylonians.     This legend appears to have been used by all the civilizations in Mesopotamia in rewrite to satisfy the need to know why we die and to justify the instincts that drove the people o f these societies to war, to kill and to control as a must for survival. The gods were the only press release available to justify such behavior to grant permission to rule, to kill and subdue the weak.     The Epic of Gilgamesh does just that It serves as a model for the warrior, the king and the tragical hero and the standards for divine right, friendship, brotherhood and loyalty. Finally, it becomes evident from the beginning of a higher consciousness that justifies love, brotherhood and loyalty in the midst of this need for war and gods.     The Epic is divided into seven main parts the "Coming of Enkidu", the "Forest Journey", "Ishtar", the "Search for Everlasting Life", the "Story of the Flood", the "Return", and the "Death of Gilgamesh".     The reality of life was, and is, a mystery and therefore must be justified as it shows in the "Coming of Enkidu&quo t, where he was created by Aruru by dipping "her hands in water and pinching off clay" (EOG 62).