Something random-
I've been reading up on ancient Canaanite religion recently, and it is a very interesting subject. Particularly when you look at it as the precursor religion to what would eventually become Judaism.
A lot of the god names are maintained in Hebrew- which is, itself, a Canaanite language- the only living (Although you could say resurrected) Canaanite language. Yam (long A, Yaam) for instance is one that is super easy to spot because the word, in Hebrew, for ocean is still yam.
It's a very interesting thing to study for me, as a Jewish person and a secular Zionist who ascribes to the notion that the Jewish people are the aboriginal people to the region of the world I've chosen to make my home.
However, from a history standpoint it's particularly interesting to see where my culture and the religion associated with said culture came from and evolved from.
@js290
No clue. I haven't really been studying ancient Babylonian religion. However, the pattern in the ancient religions I've looked into seems more in line with the anthropomorphism of natural forces, philosophical concepts, and attempts to explain things that were not yet fully understood.
I'm no expert though. Just someone who really finds this stuff interesting.
@js290 I'm not sure I'd classify it as a narrative. The personification of that which we don't understand seems to be a fairly natural response to those things we can't explain.
Taking, for instance, ancient religions- you have concepts such as war, or avatars of storms and lightning. Gods of the ocean, or of fertility and crops.
We began to explain our world and our place in it through the observations we could make with the tools we had in that particular time. The questions of why we are, what we are, where we are, and how everything works are questions that humanity has been asking itself for as long as we've been able to do so.
It is in our nature to give human characteristics even to things we do understand. People ascribe human elements to their vehicles (cars, or boats in particular), or to their pets for instance.
You can also see elements of this personification of things in language and how we communicate. Some languages ascribe gender to objects, as an example.
As for how we'll be viewed in the eyes of history? I'm not sure, I don't really have an answer for how the world will be ten thousand years down the line. That is a really, really long time. I can only hope that historians ten thousand years from now remember me, personally, as handsome and a nice guy.
@Surasanji Why do you believe it is in our nature to give these characteristics? Is this a deep rooted, narcissistic tendency? Or do you think it is a coping mechanism for the unknown and we assign what we are comfortable with, humanity?
