Afterlife

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Laura Arnold

Professor Johnson

Hist 1110-001

25 October 2006

Today, civilizations tend to be more secular and most rulers claim no particular religious or spiritual authority. Modern states are oriented towards this world and are based on the principle that the rightful power derives exclusively from the people. Nevertheless, the earliest civilizations were all considered sacred states, where authorities claimed to govern by divine command. Such rulers were perceived as gods themselves or governed in the name of some heavenly authority. Among the world's ancient civilizations, a variety of religious beliefs, along with political and social institutions, were found. However, these people shared a common view: that authority is divine. In other words, they saw no difference between the state's secular and sacred functions. A small minority - of priests, bureaucrats, and soldiers- gained power and oppressed the many. These rulers maintained power by merely using the systems of writing. Written documents divided the powerful people from the powerless. Not all of the records found by the first civilizations are open to us. Though, based on the readings from The Human Record, we can compare and contrast the ancient civilizations beliefs of society concerning the afterlife.

Humans share many basic concerns, but two of importance are: finding the meaning in life and confronting the realism of death. Many myths, or poetic stories, were written in Mesopotamia. Ancient Mesopotamia created its classic mythic answer, to the

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meaning of life and death, in its greatest literature, The Epic of Gilgamesh. Within this story, a profound theme can be recognized: the conflict between humanity's talents, aspirations, and its moral restrictions. "Gilgamesh realizes that heroic fame is no substitute for life. Facing the reality of his own death, he begins a desperate search for immortality. He travels to the end of the Earth, where he encounters Siduri, a female tavern keeper, who advises him." (The Ancient World, p.10) Gilgamesh, "two-thirds a god and one-third human," is a man of valiant proportions who still must face the unavoidability of death.

"The Egyptian civilization believed that immortality was the exclusive preserve of the divine pharaoh,