Chapter One
Mesopotamia – land between rivers (Tigres and Euphrates)
Polytheism – believe and worship many gods (most of Mesopotamian people)
Monotheism – believe and worship one god (Hebrews)
Henotheism – believe in many gods and worship one god (Akhenaten
worshipped among all the sun gods)
Cosmology – study of the order of the universe
Cosmogeny – origin of the order of the universe (a small part of cosmology)
Gilgamesh – demigod, search for immortality, Samarian ruler of Uruk and
BFFs with Enkidu and Ishtar killed Enkidu
Ziggurat- stepwise pyramids, burial tombs
Ethical monotheism - one god gives you plan and how to live in a good way
Decalogue – Ten Commandments
Chapter Two
Heliopolis – “city of the sun”
Isis is a female god married to Osiris, who is killed. Isis finds him and has sex
to bring him back to life and then Osiris governs underworld
Narmer aka Menes – Egypt’s first pharaoh united Upper and Lower Egypt –
palette of Narmer shows unification of Egypt
Theocratic socialism – helping people that don’t have land/food to avoid
lower class uprisings
Akhenaten
Born as Amenhotep, also was Aten (god of sun disk)
Akhenaten was hated because he tried to take all power for
himself
Book of the Dead – collection of funerary prayers, more like Decalogue (list of
confessions) and less like Hammurabi’s rules (if you do this, you get punished)
Chapter 3
Brahman – all pervasive spirit; god is in everything
Vedas – Sanskrit language, stressed worship/prayer
Upanishads – Commentaries on the Vedas, also Sanskrit, stressed meditation
Nirvana – union of Atman (self) with Brahman (absolute spirit)
Yoga (yoke) – to join Atman and Brahman
Karma– thinking at the end what you have done throughout your life,
punishment/reward after lifetime; Deeds you do determine your afterlife
China's two rivers – Yellow and Yangzi
Mandate of Heaven – heaven favors virtuous rule and natural order ruled.
Chapter 4/5
