Mesopotamian Religion

There is a basic start to religion. People wonder about why a certain object or person acts as it does, and then comes with an idea on why they do. Sometimes these ideas maybe supernatural in making and this took place around the fourth millennium according to Britannica for the Mesopotamians. The next stage was to view the supernatural beings as humans and giving them their own special powers and functions and this took place during the third millennium (Bottéro). The final transformation for the Mesopotamian gods and goddesses to go through was during the second and first millennium and this dealt with sin and forgiveness; the gods became an absolute monarchical structure, and the people faithfully believed in them (Bottéro). This is how the Mesopotamian religion got its start so long ago. The acts of nature that the Mesopotamians viewed everyday were attributed to the workings of their gods and for that reason that is why there are so many different ones. There were four gods that were the highest of them all. These were the sky god Anu, the overarching bowl of heaven, Enlil, seen as the most powerful, who could produce raging storms or act to help man, Nin-khursag, the goddess of
They were mostly based upon the cycle of agricultural events, such as the hitching and unhitching of the cows, or the rites of sowing and harvesting (Bottéro). Each event was celebrated because it was something the gods had allowed to happen and would maybe bring them good fortune to the harvest. There were also several fertility festivals in the spring to help with the birthing of new babies and livestock. Not to be forgotten was the New Year Festival, which was celebrated out in a special temple in the field were a new king would be crowned (Bottéro). Monthly festivals would also be held according to the moon. These were the festivities that went along with worshiping the