***Example*** EPIC of Gilgamesh and Mesopotamian Beliefs

For this project we spent time learning about the religious beliefs of the Ancient Mesopotamian civilizations. We also read the Epic of Gilgamesh in class, the oldest story in human history. I have included some of what I learned below.

First of all the Civilizations of Mesopotamia had a polytheistic religion. According to dictionary.com polytheism is "the doctrine of or belief in more than one god or in many gods."

The people of Mesopotamia worshiped many gods, but each city had a patron or main god that they believed looked out for the people of their city especially.  The different god, monsters, and demons were in charge of different things such as the sun, water, war, and death.  

When regular people wanted to get help from the gods they would visit a temple.  Temples in Mesopotamia were called Ziggurats these were tall mud brick buildings that looked a bit like small mountains.  At the temple priests would communicate and pray to the gods for you.  People made sacrifices to the gods of things that were valuable to them including food.  

According to Mesopotamian Mythology the reason the gods created humans is....

In class we read through the Epic of Gilgamesh which is the oldest written story in human history.  The Epic of Gilgamesh tells us about the world of the Ancient Mesopotamian peoples, what they valued, what they feared, and what they thought about.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the story of Gilgamesh king of strong walled Uruk..... 

After reading the Epic of Gilgamesh we created multiple choice questions based on what we learned.  Here are my three favorite questions...

1. What was Gilgamesh's final quest?
A. To defeat the demon Humbaba
B. To marry the goddess Ishtar
C. To tame the bull of heaven
D. To find the secret of immortality

https://youtu.be/2pGhEu9elnA

Sources:

British Museum for Kids Mesopotamian Gods Site

Epic of Gilgamesh Video 

Middle School Translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh 

Polytheism Definition 

Ziggurat Picture 

Example of Polytheism Blog >EGYPT

For this project Mr. Rothemich had us research and learn about the religious beliefs of the Ancient Egyptians.  The Ancient Egyptians were Polytheists meaning they believed in many gods.  The Egyptians believed that many hundreds even thousands of gods existed.  These gods controlled all aspects of nature, from the rising and the setting of the sun to the annual flood of the Nile River.  

Interesting Fact: Many Egyptian gods and goddesses were depicted with human bodies and animal heads.

A variety of Egyptian gods and goddesses.

According to Egyptian mythology, humans were created from the tears of a god.  Humans as a creation of the gods were put in charge of maintaining balance and order in the universe which the Egyptians called Maat.  It was important that humans do what is right and good in order for Maat to be maintained and for order to triumph over chaos..  

In my research I found the God Osiris particularly interesting.  Osiris was the god of the underworld protector of the dead.  Egyptian religion taught that when a pharaoh died he would become Osiris and rule over his good and loyal subjects that had died before him.

This is an image of Osiris from the tomb of Queen Nefertari.  

Here is where you write your paragraph on the Epic of Gilgamesh answering the following three questions based on what you have learned in Social Studies and ELA 2.

1. What is the Epic of Gilgamesh?
2. Why is it important?
3. Summarize the story and main theme of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Sources:

Definition of Polytheism
British Museum Site for Kids
Ancient History Encyclopedia 
Big Myth APP
Image of Osiris