Ancient religions. The emergence of religions, ancient beliefs

Today, dear friends, the subject of our article will be the ancient religions. We will plunge into the mysterious world of the Sumerians and Egyptians, get acquainted with the fire-worshipers and learn the meaning of the word "Buddhism". Also you will find out where the religion originated and when the first thoughts of man about the afterlife appeared.

Read carefully, because today we will talk about the path that humanity has passed from primitive beliefs to modern temples.

What is "religion"?

For a long time people began to think about questions that can not be explained only by earthly experience. For example, where did we come from? What happens after death? Who created trees, mountains, seas? These and many other problems remained unanswered.

The way out was found in animating and worshiping phenomena, landscapes, animals and plants. It is this approach that distinguishes all ancient religions. We will discuss them in more detail below.

The very term "religion" comes from the Latin language. This concept means world-realization, which includes faith in higher powers, moral and ethical laws, a system of cultic actions and specific organizations.

Some modern beliefs do not correspond to all points. They can not be defined as "religion." Buddhism, for example, is more inclined to refer to philosophical currents.

Further in the article we will also consider the emergence of religions, the oldest beliefs of mankind and a number of currents that exist today, but the roots go back to antiquity.

Before the rise of philosophy, it was religion that dealt with the issues of good and evil, morality and morality, the meaning of life, and many others. Also since ancient times a special social stratum - priests - has emerged. These are modern priests, preachers, missionaries. They not only deal with the problem of "saving the soul", but they represent a sufficiently influential state institution.

So, how did it all start. Now we will talk about the origin of the first thoughts about the higher nature and supernatural things in the environment.

Prehistoric beliefs

We know about the beliefs of ancient people in rock carvings and burials. In addition, some tribes still live at the level of the Stone Age. Therefore, ethnographers can study and describe their worldview and cosmology. It is from these three sources that we know about ancient religions.

Our ancestors began to separate the real world from the otherworld more than forty thousand years ago. It was at this time that a man like the Cro-Magnon, or homo sapiens, appeared. In fact, it is no different from modern people.

Before him were the Neanderthals. They existed about sixty thousand years before the appearance of the Cro-Magnon people. It is in the burials of the Neanderthals for the first time that ocher and funeral implements are found. These are symbols of purification and materials for posthumous life in the afterlife.

Gradually formed animism. It is the belief that all objects, plants, animals have a spirit within them. If you manage to propitiate the spirits of the stream, there will be a good catch. The spirits of the forest will give a successful hunt. A well-groomed spirit of fruit tree or field will help with a plentiful harvest.

The consequences of these beliefs have been preserved for centuries. Is that why we are still talking to devices, devices and other things, hoping that we will be heard, and the problem will be eliminated by itself.

As the development of animism, there are totemism, fetishism and shamanism. The first assumes the belief that each tribe has its own "totem", a protector and ancestor. Such a belief is inherent in the tribes at the next stage of development.

Among them, you can call the Indians and some other tribes from different continents. An example are the ethnonyms - the tribe of the Great Buffalo or the Wise Ondatra.

This includes the cult of sacred animals, taboos, etc.

Fetishism is a belief in a superpower, which certain things can reward us. This includes amulets, talismans and other items. They are designed to protect a person from evil influence or, conversely, contribute to a successful course of events.
Fetish could be any unusual thing, distinguished from the number of similar.

For example, a stone from a sacred mountain or an unusual bird feather. Later this belief is mixed with the cult of ancestors, dolls-amulet begin to emerge. Subsequently they become anthropomorphic gods.

Therefore, the dispute about which religion is older can not be solved unequivocally. Gradually, fragments of primitive beliefs and everyday experiences were assembled among different peoples. From this plexus, more complex forms of spiritual concepts arise.

Magic

Recalling ancient religions, we talked about shamanism, but did not discuss it. This is a more developed form of belief. It includes not only fragments from the rest of the worship, but also implies the person's ability to influence the invisible world.

Shamans, according to the belief of the rest of the tribe, can communicate with spirits and help people. These include healing rituals, appeals for success, requests for victory in the battle and the curses of a good harvest.

This practice is still preserved in Siberia, Africa and some other less developed regions. As a transitional part from simple shamanism to more complex magic and religion, voodoo culture can be mentioned.

In it already exist gods, who are responsible for various spheres of human life. In Latin America, African images are superimposed on the properties of Catholic saints. This unusual tradition also distinguishes a cult of voodoo from the environment of similar magical currents.

Mentioning the emergence of ancient religions, it is impossible to avoid magic. This is the highest form of primitive beliefs. Gradually becoming more complicated, shamanistic rituals absorb experience from different fields of knowledge. There are rituals that are designed to make some people stronger than others. It was believed that by attaining initiation and receiving secret (esoteric) knowledge, mages become practically demigods.

What is the magic rite. This is a symbolic execution of the desired action with the best outcome. For example, warriors dance combat dance, attack an imaginary enemy, suddenly a shaman appears in the form of a tribal totem and helps his children destroy the enemy. This is the most primitive form of the rite.

More complex rituals are described in special spell books, which are known from ancient times. This includes books of the dead, witches' books of spirits, "Keys of Solomon" and other grimoires.

Thus, for several tens of thousands of years, beliefs have passed from worshiping animals and trees to worshiping personified phenomena or human properties. We call them gods.

Shumero-Akkadian civilization

Further we will consider some ancient religions of the East. Why do we start with them? Because the first civilizations arose on this territory.
So, according to archaeologists, the oldest settlements are found within the "fertile crescent". These are lands related to the Middle East and the Mezhdurech. It is here that the states of Sumer and Akkad emerge. We will talk about their beliefs further.

The religion of ancient Mesopotamia is known to us from archaeological finds in the territory of modern Iraq. And also some literary monuments of that period were preserved. For example, the tale of Gilgamesh.

A similar epic was recorded on clay tablets. They were found in ancient temples and palaces, and later deciphered. So, what did we learn from them?
The oldest myth tells of the old gods who personify the water, the sun, the moon and the earth. They gave birth to young heroes who began to "make noise". For this the original decided to get rid of them. But the god of heaven Ea unraveled the insidious plan and was able to put to sleep his father Abuz, who became the ocean.

The second myth tells of the rise of Marduk. It was written, apparently, during the subordination of the other city-states by Babylon. After all, it was Marduk who was the supreme deity and guardian of this city.

The legend says that Tiamat (primary chaos) decided to attack the "heavenly" gods and destroy them. In several battles she defeated and the first-born "became dejected". In the end, they decided to send to fight with Tiamat Marduk, who successfully coped with the task. He cut the body of the defeated. From different parts of it he made heaven, earth, Mount Ararat, Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Thus, the Sumerian-Akkadian beliefs become the first step towards the formation of the institution of religion, when the latter becomes an important part of the state.

Ancient Egypt

The successor of the religion of the ancient civilizations of Sumer was Egypt. His priests were able to continue the work of the Babylonian priests. They developed such sciences as arithmetic, geometry, astronomy. Also, amazing examples of spells, hymns, sacral architecture were created. The tradition of posthumous mummification of notable people and pharaohs became unique.

The rulers of this period of history begin to proclaim themselves sons of the gods and, in fact, the celestials themselves. On the basis of this worldview, the next stage of the religion of the ancient world is built. The table from the Babylonian Palace speaks of the dedication of the ruler, received from Marduk. The texts of the pyramids illustrate not only the God's choice of pharaohs, but also show a direct related relationship.

However, such a veneration of the pharaohs was not from the very beginning. It appeared only after the conquest of the surrounding lands and the creation of a strong state with a powerful army. Before that, there was a pantheon of gods, which later changed a little, but retained its main features.

So, as they say in the work of Herodotus "History", the religion of the ancient Egyptians included rituals dedicated to different seasons, deity worship and special rituals designed to strengthen the country's position in the world.

Myths of the Egyptians tell of the goddess of heaven and the god of the earth, who gave birth to everything that surrounds us. These people believed that the sky is Nut standing above Geb, the god of the earth. She touches it only with the tips of the fingers and toes. Every evening she eats the sun, and every morning gives birth to it again.

The main god in the early period of Ancient Egypt was Ra, the sun god. Later, he gave priority to Osiris.

The legend of Isis, Osiris and Horus later became the basis of many myths about the murdered and resurrected savior.

Zoroastrianism

As we mentioned in the beginning, the religion of ancient people attributed the powerful properties to different elements and objects. This faith was preserved by the ancient Persians. Neighboring nations called them "fire worshipers", as they especially revered this phenomenon.

This is one of the first world religions, which had its own Holy Scripture. Neither in Sumeria, nor in Egypt this was not. There were only scattered books of spells and hymns, myths and recommendations for mummification. In Egypt, however, there was a book of the dead, but it can not be called Scripture.

In Zoroastrianism there is a prophet - Zarathushtra. He received the scripture (Avesta) from the supreme god Ahura Mazda.

The basis of this religion is the freedom of moral choice. The person fluctuates every second between evil (it is represented by Angro Manyu or Ahriman) and good (Ahura Mazda or Ormuz). His religion Zoroastrians called "Good Faith", and themselves "blessed".

The ancient Persians believed that man was given reason and conscience to correctly determine his side in the spiritual world. The main postulates were helping others and supporting those in need. The main prohibitions are violence, robbery and theft.
The goal of any Zoroastrian was to achieve good thoughts, words and deeds at the same time.

Like many other ancient religions of the East, "Good Faith" proclaimed in the end the victory of good over evil. But Zoroastrianism is the first dogma in which there are such concepts as heaven and hell.

They were called fire-worshipers for special reverence, which they rendered to fire. But this element was considered the most rude manifestation of Ahura Mazda. The sunlight was the main symbol of the supreme god in our world.

Buddhism

In East Asia, the religion of Buddhism has long been popular. Translated into Russian from Sanskrit this word means "the doctrine of spiritual awakening." Its founder is the prince Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in India in the sixth century BC. The term "Buddhism" appeared only in the nineteenth century, the Hindus themselves called it "dharma" or "boddhidharma."

Today it is one of the three world religions, which is considered the oldest of them. Buddhism permeates the cultures of the peoples of East Asia, therefore it is possible to understand Chinese, Hindus, Tibetans and many others only after acquaintance with the basics of this religion.

The main ideas of Buddhism are the following:
- life is suffering;
- suffering (dissatisfaction) has a cause;
- there is an opportunity to get rid of suffering;
- there is a way to deliverance.

These postulates are called the four noble truths. And the path that leads to getting rid of dissatisfaction and frustration, bears the name "Eightfold."
It is believed that the Buddha came to these conclusions after he saw the woes of the world and spent many years under a tree in meditation over the question of why people suffer.

Today, this belief is considered a philosophical trend, and not a religion. The reasons for this are as follows:
- in Buddhism there is no concept of god, soul and redemption;
- there is no organization, unified dogma and unconditional devotion to the idea;
- his adherents believe that the worlds are infinite;
- besides this, one can belong to any religion and be guided by the principles of Buddhism, this is not prohibited here.

Antiquity

Adherents of Christianity and other monotheistic beliefs, the first worship of people by nature is called paganism. Therefore, we can say that this is the oldest world religion. Now we will move from India to the Mediterranean coast.

Here in the period of antiquity the Greek and Roman cultures were especially developed. If you look closely at the pantheons of the ancient gods, they are practically interchangeable and equivalent. Often the only difference is the name of a character.

It is also remarkable that this religion of the ancient gods identified the celestials with people. If you read the ancient Greek and Roman myths, we will see that immortals are as petty, jealous and self-interested as humanity. They help those who are favored, they can be bribed. The gods, angry over small things, can destroy an entire people.

Nevertheless, it was precisely this approach to understanding the world that helped shape modern values. Based on such frivolous relations with higher forces, philosophy and many sciences could develop. If we compare antiquity with the Middle Ages, it becomes clear that freedom of expression is more valuable than planting "true faith".

The ancient gods lived on Mount Olympus, which is in Greece. Also people then inhabited the spirits of forests, ponds and mountains. It was this tradition that resulted later in European gnomes, elves and other fairy-tale creatures.

Abrahamic religions

Today we divide the historical time into the period before the birth of Christ and after. Why did this event become so important? In the Middle East, the ancestor is a man named Abraham. It is spoken of in the Torah, the Bible and the Koran. He first spoke of monotheism. About what the religions of the ancient world did not recognize.

The table of religions shows that it is the Abrahamic beliefs that today have the largest number of adherents.

The main currents are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They arose in the order listed. The most ancient is considered Judaism, it appeared somewhere in the ninth century BC. Then around the first century there is Christianity, and in the sixth - Islam.

Nevertheless, exclusively these religions have spawned countless wars and conflicts. Intolerance towards other faiths is a distinctive feature of adherents of Abrahamic beliefs.

Although if you carefully read the Scriptures, they talk about love and mercy. Only laws of the early Middle Ages, described in these books, are confused. Problems begin when fanatics want to apply obsolete dogmas to modern society, which has already changed to a large extent.

Because of the disagreement between the text of the books and the behavior of the believers, different trends arose over the centuries. They interpret the Scriptures in their own way, which led to "wars of faith".

Today, the problem is not completely resolved, but the ways have improved a bit. Modern "new churches" are more directed to the inner world of the flock and purse of the priest than to the conquest of heretics.

Ancient religion of the Slavs

Today, on the territory of the Russian Federation, one can find both ancient forms of religion and monotheistic currents. However, who did our ancestors worship from the very beginning?

The religion of Ancient Rus today is called the term "paganism". This is a Christian concept, meaning the faith of other nations. Over time, it took on a slightly pejorative connotation.

Today, attempts are being made to restore ancient beliefs in different countries of the world. Europeans, reconstructing the faith of the Celts, call their actions a "tradition". In Russia, the names "relatives", "Slavic arias", "relatives" and others have been adopted.

What materials and sources help to restore the world view of the ancient Slavs in bitterness? First, there are literary monuments, such as Veles Book and The Lay of Igor's Host. There are mentioned some rituals, names and attributes of different gods.

In addition, there are quite a lot of archaeological finds that vividly illustrate the cosmogony of our ancestors.

The supreme gods were different for different tribes. Over time, Perun, the god of thunder, and Velez stand out. Also often in the role of ancestor figures Rod. Places of worship for the deities were called "kapischa" and were located in the forests or on the banks of rivers. They put wooden and stone sculptures. There they came to pray and offer sacrifices.

Thus, dear readers, today we have become acquainted with such a concept as religion. In addition, they got acquainted with various ancient beliefs.

Good luck, friends. Be tolerant to each other!