ANCIENT RELIGION
By Tim Lambert
Egypt
The Egyptians were polytheists. That is, they worshipped many gods. Gods and goddesses were usually depicted as human beings though sometimes they had animal heads.
Among Egyptian gods were Amun-Re , the sun god and leader of the gods. Nut was the sky goddess. Her brother Geb was the earth god. Osiris was in charge of the underworld. His wife was Isis and his son was Horus (who was sometimes depicted with a falcons head). His wife was Hathor goddess of beauty and love. She was also the goddess of music and dance.
They also worshipped Anubis, god of the dead and mummification. He was a man with a jackal's head and Egyptians believed he guarded the places where the dead were buried. Other gods included Thoth, a man with an ibis's head, who was god of the moon and wisdom. Ptah was god of craftsmen. Tawaret, a pregnant hippo, was goddess of childbirth.
Maat was goddess of law and order and truth. Sekhmet was goddess of war. She was a woman with a lion's head. Hapi was the god who made the Nile flood. Egyptians believed he lived in a cave from where he sent out the flood waters.
The Egyptians believed that the gods 'lived' in temples (the gods spirit was believed to inhabit a statue). Three times a day priests cleaned the statue, changed its clothes and placed fresh food before it for it to 'eat'. (After a while priests removed the food and ate it).
After death Egyptians believed they would be judged. Their heart was placed in a balance and weighed against an ostrich feather (a symbol of truth and justice). If the heart was good it would balance the feather and the person was granted eternal happiness. If it was evil the feather would outweigh it. In that case the heart was fed to a monster called Anmit, who was part lion, part crocodile and part hippotomus. If Anmit ate your heart you ceased to exist.
Egyptians tried to preserve dead bodies by mummifying them so the owners could use them in the next life. The dead were also buried with 'grave goods' to use in the next life.
Animals, especially cats, were also mummified.
To mummify a body the Egyptians first removed its internal organs (otherwise they would rot).They rinsed the cavities with palm wine then covered the body with a salt paste called natron to dry it. After 70 days the body was washed and wrapped in linen bandages.
To read more about life in Egypt click here
Palestine
The peoples of ancient Palestine polytheists (they worshipped many gods). The chief god of the Philistines was Dagon. The chief god of the Moabites was Chemosh. The Canaanites worshipped Baal, god of rain and storms. They worshipped Baal on high places such as hilltops. They also worshipped his wife, Asherah, a fertility goddess. They worshipped wooden poles dedicated to her. The Canaanites also worshipped a god called Moloch or Molech and they sacrificed children to him.
Greece
The Greeks were polytheists (they worshipped many gods). The Greeks imagined that gods and goddesses were like human beings. Often they behaved just as badly!
Among the gods were Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and love, Athena, goddess of wisdom, Artemis goddess of hunting, the moon and childbirth and Ares god of war. They also worshipped Dionysus god of wine, (he was also god of music, dancing and the theatre), Demeter goddess of crops, Hephaestus the blacksmith of the gods and Hermes the messenger of the gods.
Other gods were Poseidon god of the sea and Hades the god of the dead who ruled over a gloomy underworld where the spirits of the dead dwelt.
Apollo was god of the sun, music and poetry. The chief god was Zeus. His wife was Hera, goddess of marriage.
Every city had many temples. People went to the temple to pray. Outside them were altars were offerings were made and animals were sacrificed.
Very often Greek houses also had an altar in the courtyard where they made offerings to the gods.
When Greeks died they were either buried or they were cremated and their ashes were then buried. Food, drink and goods were buried with the dead person and from time to time the family of the dead person made offerings on the grave.
The Greeks believed that when you died a ferryman called Charon rowed your spirit across a river called the Styx to the entrance of the underworld. The entrance was guarded by a three-headed dog called Cerberus, who prevented anyone from leaving!
If you were very bad during your life then after your death you went to a place called Tartarus to be punished. If you were very good you went to a beautiful place to be rewarded. However most people were neither particularly good nor bad. After death they went to a dull and dismal place. The Greeks believed that if they made offerings to a dead relative it would temporarily brighten their existence in the dreary underworld.
To read more about life in Greece click here
Rome
The Etruscans were a highly civilised people who lived in central Italy from about 800 BC until they were conquered by the Romans. The Etruscans were polytheists (they worshipped many gods) including Tinia the ruler of the gods and god of thunder, Fufluns the god of vegetation, Nethuns the god of water and Tiv the moon god.
The Romans too were polytheists. They worshipped many gods. Jupiter was king of the gods. His wife Juno was goddess of women and marriage. Minerva was goddess of wisdom and crafts. Mars was god of war and Mercury was the messenger of the gods. Neptune was god of the sea and Bacchus was god of wine. Diana was goddess of the moon and of hunting. Ceres was the goddess of crops. Saturn was the god of farming. Venus was goddess of love and beauty and Vulcan was the god of blacksmiths. Pluto was god of the underworld, where the dead dwelt.
The Romans believed it was important to keep the gods happy. To do this sacrifices were made outside the god's temple.
Houses usually had a shrine called a lararium where the family made offerings of food and wine to the gods who, they believed, protected their household.
Children were also given a charm called a bulla to protect them from evil.
The Romans were usually tolerant in religion but they sometimes persecuted Christians.
The Romans also introduced religions from the east. By the 3rd century Mithraism was popular. It involved the worship of the Persian god Mithras, god of light and the sun.
In the late 1st and 2nd centuries the Romans practices cremation. However in the 3rd century they began to bury the dead. Citizens were buried in cemeteries outside the walls.
Persecution of Christians ended in 312 when Constantine converted to the new faith. In 395 Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.
To read more about life in Rome click here
The Celts
The Celts had priests called Druids. The Druids were very important in Celtic society. As well as being priests they were scholars, judges and advisors to the kings. The Celts were polytheists (they worshipped many gods and goddesses). They did not build temples but instead worshipped at natural sites such as groves of trees, springs, rivers and lakes. Sometimes the Celts sacrificed valuable goods by throwing them into lakes and rivers.
In Celtic times the practice of building barrows died out. Instead people were interned in individual graves. They were still buried with grave goods showing the Celts had a strong belief in an afterlife.
They believed that when you died your spirit went to a place called the Otherworld.
Unfortunately although the Celts did have system of writing most of what we know about their religion comes from Roman writers. Since they conquered the Celts the Romans were likely to have been biased. According to Roman writers the Druids practiced human sacrifice.
The main Celtic festivals were Imbolc at the beginning of February at the start of the lambing season, Beltane at the beginning of May, when cattle were sent out to graze in the fields after being kept indoors and fed on hay during the Winter, Lughasad in August when the crops were growing ripe and Samhain at the beginning of November. That was the time when animals were brought in from the fields for the Winter. The Celts could not grow enough hay to feed them all so those not needed for breeding were slaughtered.
The Romans claimed that the Druids practiced human sacrifice but this claim is doubtful. (See Did the Druids practice human sacrifice?).
The Vikings
The Vikings were polytheists as well. Father of the gods was Odin, also known as Woden or Wotan. Odin was god of wisdom. (He sacrificed one of his eyes to obtain wisdom). His wife was Frigg, goddess of love. Another important god was Thor god of thunder and lightning. He had a hammer, which always returned to him when thrown.
In Viking mythology the universe was divided into three levels, one above another. A giant ash tree called Yggdrasil supported them all. At the top was Asgard the abode of the gods. In the middle was Midgard where humans lived. Midgard was joined to Asgard by a rainbow bridge called Bifrost, which was guarded by Heimdal the watchman of the gods. At the bottom was Niflheim a desolate place of ice, which was ruled by Hel, Queen of the dead.
Vikings who died of old age or illness went to the realm of Hel. However those who died in battle went to Valhalla, a magnificent hall in Asgard where dead warriors enjoyed great feasts. Female beings called valkeryies flew over battles and took the souls of the slain to Valhalla.
In Viking mythology the world would end with a conflict between the gods and their enemies the ice giants. This final struggle was called Ragnarok. However a new world would emerge from the ruins of the old.
To read more about the Vikings click here