World Mythology, Monday, Period 3

[atreideslioness]

"Today, we start at the very beginning," Ghanima announced crisply. "Or as close to the beginning as such a young planet can get. Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies from parts of the fertile crescent, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq."

"The Sumerians practiced a polytheistic religion, with anthropomorphic gods or goddesses representing forces or presences in the world, in much the same way as later Greek mythology. According to said mythology, the gods originally created humans as servant and freed them when they became too much to handle. Many stories in Sumerian religion appear similar to stories in other Middle-Eastern religions. Gods and Goddesses from Sumer have similar representations in the religions of the Akkadians, Canaanites, and others."

"Today we look at one of the first primordial goddesses of this world: Tiamat. Tiamat is considered the embodiment of primordial chaos. Although there are no early precedents for it, some sources identify her with images of a sea serpent or dragon. In the Enûma Elish, the Babylonian epic of creation, she gives birth to the first generation of deities; she later makes war upon them and is killed by the storm-god Marduk. The heavens and the earth are formed from her divided body."

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Re: Discussion

[vrajna_kralis]

Hyacinthe chuckled, rich and smooth like chocolate. "'Tis a kindness of you to say so," he said. "For D'Angelines, the biggest holiday is the Longest Night. 'Tis our new year, a night of celebration and pageantry. Growing up in Night's Doorstep, we were right at the foot of the hill where the Night Court hosts their yearly masque and every year, their celebration spills down to us, for those looking a rougher kind of fun."