Religion and Ritual in the Ancient World

Introduction

Religious beliefs in antiquity were characterized by major deities (most but not all were polytheistic), festivals, shrines, and in some cases theology.

Archaeological evidence indicates that many prehistoric societies had animistic religious beliefs involving the worship of spirits inherent in forces of nature. Fertility images such as the Venus of Willendorf (Germany) depict women with exaggerated breasts; similar images, as well as rituals involving stone axes, appeared as late as Classical Greek times. The absence of written records makes other information, except for the belief in magic and the existence in some cases of elaborate burials of the dead, problematical.

Mesopotamia

In the cradle of civilization, the lands centering on modern Iraq, religious beliefs were generally polytheistic. Many of the later Mesopotamian civilizations adopted belief systems that differed from that of the earliest known civilization, Sumer, primarily in the names of the gods. An was the highest god, representing the vault of heaven; Enlil was the active force of nature, Nin-khursag the earth goddess, and Enki the god of waters. All four created the universe, an event commemorated in the Babylonian new year festival, when the priests recited an account of the creation myth beginning with the words enuma elish, “when on high.” A Hebrew version of this phrase, usually translated “in the beginning,” begins the Book of Genesis. More than fifty other gods were worshiped.

Mesopotamia’s gods, like those of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, were generally human in form, drinking, fighting, and debating like human beings, although they were immortal. Only occasionally did they pay attention to human beings. After death, people went to a dark, dreary place regardless of their merits; however, on one occasion, the gods did send a great flood (depicted from a different viewpoint in the Bible) to punish human sins. Perhaps of other origin was the belief in a fertility goddess and god who died and were reborn annually. There were priests and nuns, and the worship of the fertility goddess in some areas included cult prostitution.

Egypt

Like the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians were polytheists. The king was worshipped as a god, unlike in Mesopotamia, and many of the gods were depicted in animal form. The Egyptian priesthood was powerful and frequently involved in politics. The sky-god Horus was depicted both as a falcon and as the son of the mother-goddess Isis. Osiris, a god of agriculture and the afterlife, was the husband of Isis; he was, according to a myth arising in the Old Kingdom (c. 2700-c. 2200 b.c.e.), cut to pieces and thrown into the Nile by his evil brother Seth but was resurrected in order to beget Horus. In later years, the cult of Re, later called Amun-Re, the Sun god, whose cult was centered at Memphis, near the modern Cairo, assumed great importance.

Egyptian concepts of the afterlife differed substantially from those of the Mesopotamians. Egyptians believed that human beings had two souls, the ka, to which funeral offerings were made, and the ba, which could separate from the corpse. Egyptians were buried with various objects that they could continue to enjoy in the afterlife; elaborate embalming was necessary to preserve the spirit, which was judged on the basis of morality by Osiris. Various magical spells and charms were also believed to be necessary to conduct the dead to the afterlife. In the Old Kingdom, the Egyptians apparently believed that admittance to the afterlife was reserved to kings and other high-ranking personages; the pyramids are in fact royal tombs, as are the later colossal rock tombs of Abu Simbel in Upper (south) Egypt. The so-called pyramid texts describe these beliefs.

In later times, it came to be believed that the afterlife was open to ordinary people, provided they followed the moral and magical practices described in the Book of the Dead (also known as Book of Going Forth by Day, Coming Into Day, compiled and edited in the sixteenth century b.c.e.) dating from the New Kingdom (c. 1570-c. 1085 b.c.e.). Akhenaton, king from 1379 to 1362 b.c.e., attempted to introduce a solar monotheism, but after his death, the old religion was restored. The old religion continued to be practiced while Egypt was under foreign rule, until well into the common era. The Egyptians adopted Christianity in the fourth century c.e. and, for the most part, Islam after the Arab conquest in the seventh century.

The Hebrews

According to the Book of Genesis, Hebrew religion began when the first prophet, Abraham, destroyed idols at Ur in Chaldaea (Mesopotamia; modern Iraq), after becoming convinced that there is one God (monotheism). This made the Hebrews unique (except perhaps for Akhenaton’s short-lived solar monotheism) among ancient peoples before the beginnings of Christianity. This event may have occurred in about 1900 b.c.e. Perhaps five hundred years later, the Hebrews, according to the Book of Exodus, were led out of Egyptian captivity by Moses, who received the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai. These commandments form the primary document of Hebrew ethical monotheism.

In later years, the Hebrews conquered the Promised Land of Israel, where between 966 and 959 b.c.e., King Solomon built the temple of Jerusalem. Access to parts of the temple was severely restricted, and animal sacrifice took place. In 587 or 586 b.c.e., the Babylonians destroyed the temple, sending the Jews, now so called from Judaea, the area around Jerusalem, into captivity. During this period, synagogue worship seems to have begun. The temple was rebuilt, and the captivity ended under Persian rule beginning in 531 b.c.e.

By then, the writings of the prophets, further emphasizing ethical monotheism, were added to the Torah (five books of Moses). Together with other writings, they form the Hebrew scriptures, the reading of which is a major feature of synagogue worship. The Second Hebrew Commonwealth began after the Maccabees revolted from the Seleucid Empire in the second century b.c.e., and the temple was rebuilt by King Herod between 20 and 18 b.c.e. By the following century, Judaism was divided into factions, including the Sadducees, closely connected with the temple, the Pharisees, the priesthood in general, and the ascetic Essenes. Later Judaism was primarily influenced by the ideas of the Pharisees. Under Roman rule, the temple was destroyed after the revolt of 70 c.e., and the majority of Jews dispersed around the civilized world after the revolt of 132-135. The office of patriarch lasted until 425 c.e., but synagogue worship under the rabbi, “teacher,” replaced temple worship.

Beginning in the second century c.e., Jewish laws and traditions were codified in the Talmud, of which there are Palestinian and Babylonian versions. The Jews were and are distinctive for their dietary laws, observance of the Sabbath on Saturday, and holidays such as Passsover, in the spring, commemmorating the Exodus, and the High Holidays, Rosh Hashanah (New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement, a day of fasting and prayer), in the early fall.

The Greeks

The Greeks were polytheistic, although in the Mycenaean period (2100-1000 b.c.e.), some gods were depicted as snakes and other animals.

After the Greek Dark Ages (c. 1000-800 b.c.e.), Greek myths began to be written down and to be depicted in art. The poet Hesiod, who lived about 700 b.c.e., in the Theogonia (c. 700 b.c.e.; Theogony, 1728) supplements the earlier Iliad and Odyssey (both c. 800 b.c.e.; English translation, 1616) ascribed to Homer in depicting twelve major gods who inhabited Mount Olympus in northern Greece and consumed substances called nectar and ambrosia, which gave them immortality. These deities, like those of Mesopotamia, were human in form, drank, argued, caroused, and sometimes mated with human beings, the resulting offspring being such heroes as Heracles and Achilles. Numerous myths depict the gods as actively intervening in human affairs. They had acquired their powers by defeating earlier beings called Titans, who were now shut up in chains because they could not be killed. The twelve major Olympian gods included Zeus, their king (married to Hera); Athena, goddess of craftsmanship and patroness of the city of Athens, her main temple having been the Parthenon; Poseidon, god of the sea; Apollo, god of the arts and culture; Ares, the war god; Aphrodite, the goddess of love; Hephaestus, the lame smith of the gods; Demeter, the earth goddess; and Hermes, messenger of the gods. Much of early Greek literature and art dealt with the extensive body of myths involving these and other gods.

The Greek priesthood was often hereditary and included women, who were priestesses of goddesses and women’s cults. Although all major gods were worshiped throughout the Greek world, particular gods were patrons of individual city-states. Temples were the most architecturally impressive buildings in the Greek world, being solidly built and displaying the orders of architecture. Unlike modern churches, they did not have extensive seating arrangements for a congregation. Inside the temple, a large image of the god or goddess filled up much of the space; individual devotions, often involving the burning of incense or the dropping of wine or oil as a sacrifice, were the main activities. Animal sacrifices took place at an altar outside the temple.

Some religious festivals, such as the Olympic Games, involved all Greeks. Other such panhellenic religious institutions included the Delphic oracle, in which questions were put to a priestess, often on important occasions such as the foundation of a city (the answers were usually deliberately vague), and the Eleusinian mysteries, centered on a temple at Eleusis, near Athens. Although the details of this initiation rite were closely guarded secrets, any worthy person, even foreigners and slaves, could become a mystes (initiate). The mysteries generally involved agricultural fertility, and initiates enjoyed a good afterlife (the Greeks generally believed that most of the dead went to a dark, gloomy place called Hades, although belief in reincarnation also existed). Local initiation rites, oracles, games (including women’s games), and festivals also existed. The most important local festival in Athens, the Greek city of which the most is known, was the Panathenaica, involving a great procession followed by the presentation of an elaborate robe to the image of the goddess, followed by games. The frieze of the Parthenon depicts scenes from this procession. In the 1990’s, one scholar postulated that human sacrifice was involved in this festival.

In the Hellenistic period, following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 b.c.e., religious beliefs from Asia, Egypt, and elsewhere spread to Greece and influenced Greek religion. Earlier rationalism and even atheism had spread among an intellectual elite. Under Roman rule, following 146 b.c.e., massive temples were built. Later Christianity spread, replacing Greek polytheism after the conversion of the emperor Constantine the Great in 313 c.e.

The Romans

The Romans were polytheistic but at first did not make images of their gods; early Roman temples seem to have been wooden. The neighboring Etruscans had some influence on early Roman religion; gladiatorial games originated as a form of Etruscan human sacrifice. The Romans, like the Etruscans, had a gloomy view of the afterlife. The personal cults of families were a major factor in Roman religion; each family had its lares and penates, household gods. Ancestor worship also existed. Characteristic Roman gods included Janus, who had two faces, one looking forward to the future and the other backward to the past. His temple was open only during wartime.

There were special priests, fetiales, who performed ancient rituals relating to war. Numerous priesthoods, some with substantial political influence, existed; the highest priest was the pontifex maximus, the “greatest bridge-builder,” a title later held by the emperor and still later by the pope.

Bridges as well as arches had significance in Roman religion, and were connected with elections in ways not fully determined. Divination from livers or thunder, the Etruscan discipline, was practiced by haruspices. There were six Vestal Virgins, girls chosen at the age of six by the pontifex maximus from noble families, who had to keep the fire of the hearth-goddess burning at all times and who could leave the service of the shrine of Vesta only after thirty years. They had substantial political influence and had reserved front seats at the games. At an early date, the major Roman gods were considered equivalent to Greek gods; therefore, Iove or Jupiter was identified with Zeus, Neptune with Poseidon, Vulcan with Hephaestus, Venus with Aphrodite, Mars with Ares, and Minerva with Athena.

By the third century b.c.e., Greek-influenced images and temples had appeared. Worship of the gods was based on the concept do ut des, “I give so that you may give,” mutual benefit to people and gods. Animal sacrifice was an important part of ritual. Major festivals included the Lupercalia, a fertility festival held in February, and the Saturnalia, coinciding with the winter solstice, combining elements of modern popular celebrations of Christmas and Mardi Gras. After about 200 b.c.e., Greek, Egyptian, and Asiatic influence increased; the genius (soul, conscience) of the emperor was worshiped in later years. In 3213 c.e., under Constantine, Christianity was legalized throughout the Roman Empire.

Teutonic Peoples

The Germanic peoples to the north of the Western Roman Empire, including Scandinavia, were polytheists, worshiping among their main gods Woden (Odin), the one-eyed father of Thor, the god of thunder and the sky, and the fertility-goddess Freya. There were numerous minor gods. There were no permanent temples in ancient Germany, groves having been the center of worship, which included tree-worship. Sacrifices included humans; priests practiced divination using runes, a system of writing based ultimately on the Roman alphabet. There seem to have been both good and bad sides of the afterlife, the former, called Valhalla by the Scandinavians, being for warriors killed in battle. The world, it was believed, would end in the future. How prevalent some of these beliefs were in Germany before the fall of the Roman Empire is debatable; most of the information comes from later Scandinavian sources. Conversion of the Germans to Christianity began before the barbarian invasions of the fifth century c.e., that of the Scandinavians much later.

Christians

Christianity began in Judaea as a Jewish sect. The Christian scriptures, known as the New Testament, are, however, written in Greek. Before the beginning of the second century c.e., non-Jews converted to Christianity, and even earlier, Peter introduced the faith to Rome. Christians believed that Christianity fulfilled the prophecies in the Hebrew scriptures, which they called the Old Testament, and an apologetic literature in Greek and then Latin began toward the end of the first century c.e. Various forms of Christianity, called heresies by those calling themselves orthodox Christians, arose, and persecution began in the time of the Roman emperor Nero (r. 54-68 c.e.), if not earlier, because the Christians refused emperor-worship and, unlike the Jews, actively proselytized people of all nationalities. After the emperor Constantine the Great was converted in 313 c.e., the Council of Nicaea worked out the Nicene Creed, which remains the basis of Christian belief. During the fourth and early fifth centuries c.e., the church fathers, such as Saint John Chrysostom and Gregory of Nazianzus writing in Greek and Saints Jerome and Augustine in Latin, continued to build the foundations of Christian theology. In later centuries, parts of northern Europe, north of the former Western Roman Empire, were Christianized, while in the seventh century c.e., the Arab conquest brought Islam to the majority of the population of the Middle East.

Africa

Because of the absence of writing in antiquity in the majority of regions in Africa other than Egypt and Ethiopia, information on ancient religion is largely conjectural and dependent on archaeology. In Carthage (in modern Tunisia), inhabited by settlers from Phoenicia (modern Lebanon), religion was polytheistic. Until the Roman defeat of Carthage in 146 b.c.e., firstborn infants were sacrificed in ovens to the god Moloch. Farther west, among the Berbers of modern Algeria and Morocco, images of gods with names similar to those of the pre-Islamic gods of Arabia were venerated.

In Ethiopia, an advanced civilization existed in or before the second millennium b.c.e. Early religion was polytheistic with both Egyptian and Sabaean (Arabian peninsula, modern Yemen) influence. Jews (Falashas) settled in Ethiopia at a very early but undetermined date, introducing monotheistic beliefs. Ethiopians claim descent from the Queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon, and Solomon himself. In 330 c.e., Saint Frumentius introduced Christianity as the state religion and was consecrated a bishop by Saint Athanasius of Alexandria. Ethiopian Christianity resembles that of the Copts of Egypt, forming part of what is known as Eastern or Oriental (not the same as Eastern Orthodox) Christianity. About three hundred years later, Ethiopia, fighting to spread Christianity, conquered and temporarily ruled Yemen. Later Islam was introduced into the region.

Farther south, in East and South Africa, the Bantu peoples, like the peoples of India, accorded a religious significance to cattle. Ancestor worship was prevalent; in some areas, chiefs were regarded as divine. Belief in magic and witchcraft was also frequent. A supreme deity was usually located in the sky.

In West Africa, families often had their own religious rites. Initiation schools, in which youths were taken to the forests at puberty and taught secret rites, were frequently found in this region, as was belief in witchcraft. Elaborate images and masks of gods were carved in wood. As far south as the equator, by the beginning of the common era and probably much earlier, Abraham and Moses were reputed to have been great magicians, but other aspects of Judaism do not seem to have been widespread in antiquity.

Mesoamerica

In antiquity, the most advanced civilizations in the Western Hemisphere were found in the region of Mesoamerica, consisting of modern central and southern Mexico as well as Central America. The Maya of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico and some related peoples seem to have had a writing system. The Maya, like other Mesoamerican peoples, were polytheistic, worshiping the creator-god Kukulcan, “queztal-bird-snake” (which later became the Aztec Queztalcoatl), pictured as a feathered serpent, representing life, as well as the sky god Itzamna, the rain god Chac, and numerous other deities personifying forces of nature. These and other gods are frequently depicted in stone carvings. Relatively little is known about rituals. What little is known about the earlier inhabitants (Olmecs) seems to indicate a belief in magic and the use of ecstacy-inducing drugs.

North America

The earliest peoples of North America arrived from Asia long before the invention of writing. Religion was shamanistic (“medicine men”) and totemistic. In many areas, there was vague belief in a great spirit, as well as in agricultural spirits, and in a few, there was human sacrifice. Ancestor worship existed in some areas. Initiation rituals were found in many areas; religious artifacts included masks and, in the Pacific Northwest, totem poles. Among the Pueblo tribes of the American Southwest, there were small religious statues (kachinas) and underground rooms used for rituals (kivas). Elaborate ceremonies involving self-torture, including swinging from poles, found in the Great Plains, have analogies in India.

South America

The earliest cultures in Peru, generally considered to be the site of the most advanced indigenous civilizations in South America, flourished at Tiwanaku and nearby regions in the four centuries following 200 b.c.e. Among the earliest cultures, the rain god Uiracocha was associated with fertility; other gods existed; totemism was practiced by neighboring peoples. Ancestor worship and mummification were widespread. Elsewhere in South America, culture was less advanced. Shamanism and the use of ritual dances were widespread, as were initiation rituals. Temples were built only in the northwest of the continent. In many areas, elaborate images and masks, often of precious metals, were used.

China

From about 1600 b.c.e., early Chinese civilization, the Shang Dynasty, was localized along the Yellow River. Oracle bones, tortoise shells, and ox shoulder bones, inscribed with syllabic characters, were heated and the resulting cracks read to predict the weather and tell fortunes. The Chinese were polytheistic, worshiping Shang Di, “ruler above,” and many other gods as well as their own ancestors. Rulers were buried in elaborate graves, not unlike those of Egyptian kings, with weapons, valuable objects, and sacrificed servants.

Confucius (551-479 b.c.e.) was a philosopher during a period of national disunity. His teaching, that right relationships between different types of people, such as father and son and king and subject, are essential, stated in the Lunyu (later sixth-early fifth centuries b.c.e.; The Analects, 1861), gave rise to the religious philosophy of Confucianism, which received official sanction and is still a major factor in Chinese life. Such later Confucians as Mencius (c. 372-c. 289 b.c.e.), who thought people were naturally good and therefore could be easily taught wisdom, and Xunzi (c. 298-c. 230 b.c.e.), who believed that people, although naturally bad, were still capable of correction, were also influential. Earlier Laozi (604-sixth century b.c.e.) introduced the mystical philosophy of Daoism, which in succeeding centuries attached itself to polytheistic and magical beliefs. Early in the common era, Buddhism, originating in India, gained great popularity in China, and before long, many or even most Chinese practiced all three religions simultaneously, as is still the case, because, unlike Western religions, their beliefs are not thought of as mutually contradictory.

Japan

According to tradition, the first emperor of Japan ascended the throne in 660 b.c.e.; however, the Japanese state of Yamato probably appeared in the Kofun period (c. 300 c.e.-710 c.e.). Until the end of World War II in 1945, the emperor was considered divine under Shintō (“the way of the gods”), the indigenous, polytheistic religion of Japan. Buddhism was introduced from China in 552 c.e. and became an official religion in 587 c.e. From an early date, most Japanese combined Shintō and Buddhist beliefs and rituals.

Korea

Early Korean beliefs were shamanistic; many of the shamans were (and are) women. Later Confucianism, Daoism, and still later Buddhism, were introduced from China. As in China and Japan, Koreans combined the beliefs and rituals of these three religions.

Tibet

Earliest Tibetan religion, known as Bon, was polytheistic and shamanistic. It has been overlaid and combined with a form of Buddhism that emphasizes the emotions and assigns great authority to monks, known as lamas, to the extent that it has been called (by Western scholars) lamaism. Belief in reincarnation is particularly important.

India

Early Indo-Aryan civilization was polytheistic, worshiping gods, some of whom corresponded to those of the Greeks; images were venerated at a very early date. The earliest works dealing with religious thought and custom are the Vedas, consisting of hymns, chants, and ritual phrases, of which the Rigveda (also known as Ṛgveda, c. 1500-1000 b.c.e.; English translation, 1896-1897), consisting of more than a thousand hymns to various gods, is best known. In the second half of the first millennium b.c.e., proto-Hinduism became more mystical; the priests wrote the Brāhmaṇas, prose commentaries on the Vedas, and the more famous Upaniṣads (a large group of documents compiled and composed c. 1000-c. 200 b.c.e.), mystical works on seeking after truth written by ascetics or monks circa 700-500 b.c.e.

The message of the Upaniṣads is that the individual soul, the ātman, is identical with the soul of the world, the brahman, and it is the chief goal of people to fully realize this identity through prayer and meditation, the alternative being repeated reincarnation, the nature of which depends on acts in the previous incarnation (karma), which has to be “burned up” through meditation, the physical world being a mere illusion (māyā).

Siddhārtha Gautama (c. 566-c. 486 b.c.e.), known as the Buddha, or Enlightened One, founded a new religion, Buddhism, from Hindu roots. According to tradition, the Buddha, brought up in luxury as a king’s son in northern India, first encountered death, disease, and old age as a young man. As a result, he became an ascetic, later turning in disappointment with asceticism to the Middle Way, emphasizing practical morality over extreme self-denial. To Buddhists, desire (attachment) causes the suffering of life, which leads to an endless cycle of reincarnation; however, a cessation of desire is possible if one follows the Eightfold Path, which leads to Nirvana, the cessation of desire and attachment. In Buddhism, each individual can attain Buddahood; therefore, there is no central god figure.

Buddhism, usually in combination with other beliefs (syncretism), became the dominant religion in eastern and southeastern Asia but had little long-term impact in India, which remained predominantly Hindu. Vardhamāna, said to have lived in India at about the same time as the Buddha, was, according to tradition, the founder of Jainism, which has some features in common with Buddhism but places far greater emphasis on asceticism. A few million Jains still live in modern India.

Iran

The Persians are Indo-European in language and culture. They were originally polytheistic, with priests called magi, from which the word “magic” derives. In what later became Iran, the priest Zoroaster, in the sixth century b.c.e., preached an ethical faith, in which the good force, Ahura Mazda, opposed the personification of evil, Angra Mainyu (Ahriman). The Avesta (1000-600 b.c.e.), early Zoroastrian writings, preach truth telling and self-denial. The elements, especially fire, played a major part in Zoroastrian rituals. Much later, in the third century c.e., the Sāsānian Dynasty encouraged the priest Mani to develop Zoroastrianism into a more ascetic form known in later centuries as Manichaeanism, which teaches that an evil force created material things; Manichaeanism had some influence in Europe in later centuries in the form of heresies; later Zoroastrianism remains the religion of a small minority in Iran and of the Parsees of Bombay.

Celts

Early Celts, inhabiting central Europe, including the Gauls in what is now France, were polytheistic, worshiped fertility gods, had priests called Druids, and practiced human sacrifice, especially in wartime. They built stone and earth places of worship, which may have had astronomical significance. The well-known Stonehenge (3100-1550 b.c.e.) in England is believed by archaeologists to have been built in an earlier period, before the Celts’ arrival on that island. Evidence is limited because of a lack of written records.

Pacific and Oceanic Peoples

The Polynesians, Melanesians, and Micronesians of the Pacific Islands generally practiced sprit worship and polytheism. The first group believed that certain objects have mana, “sacredness” or “power,” while others are taboo, forbidden to be touched by most people. All three had elaborate creation myths but none had written records. The full significance of the stone heads of Easter Island is a matter of dispute.

Bibliography

Cerny, J. Ancient Egyptian Religion. New York: Greenwood Press, 1979.

Finegan, Jack. The Archaeology of World Religions. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1952.

Frend, W. H. C. The Rise of Christianity. London: Darnton, 1984.

Jacobsen, Thorkild. The Treasures of Darkness. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1976.

Nilsson, Martin P. History of Greek Religion. 2d ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 1964.

Orlinsky, Harry M. Ancient Israel. 2d ed. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1960.

Rose, H. J. Ancient Roman Religion. New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1959.