Ancient Mythology: Religion Through The Ages
Posted By The Ancient Scribe on April 16, 2010
Since I’ve been posting boring articles about ancient religion, I figured I’d do a brief recap for those who don’t want to check each post. Ancient mythology has its own story to tell, and modern day humans have a lot to learn from the stories of the past. The Biblical Stories offer a deeper insight into the various aspects of life supported by the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the stories are related to the prophets in Judaism and feature eight books. The Old Testament is also known as the Tanakh, which is primarily written in Hebrew, a language that had emerged in Mesopotamia. On the other hand, the New Testament is known as the second part of the Christian Bible, and has 27 books. In fact, mythology is not confined just to the Western world. Even the Muslims believe in certain things from the Bible.
Celtic mythology is something not many people know of, as unlike the popular communities like the Mesopotamians, Greeks and Egyptians, the Celts had a more confined and localized form of community, and so their mythology was not so widespread. However, on finding out more about Celtic mythology one comes to know about approximately 400 Celtic gods and goddesses. There was a time when the Celtic culture had spread its influence to most parts of Europe including Asia Minor. Most of the Celtic communities had come into existence with the Roman and German civilizations.
Most of their population was spread in Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, Wales, the Isle of Man, and Brittany (British Isles). A part of their population also lived in Britain and Spain. King Arthur is the most popular mythological character among the Celts. Celtic mythology also gives us a vivid description about the practices of Celtic Wicca and paganism.
Egyptian mythology has fascinated us since time immemorial, and till date, the world is yearning to know more about the Egyptians and their history. Egyptian mythology gives us an insight into their belief, practices and religion. As we go deeper into the various facets of Egyptian mythology we will realize the importance of Egyptian belief in animal worship and their prophecies. The animals in Egyptian mythology were known to have represented certain gods, whom the tribes used to consider as their protectors and saviors. For example, the cat was considered as the guardian of the dark underworld. Their Book of the Dead is one of the most popular scripts, and their most popular mythology revolved around Ra.
Greek mythology is among the most popular and widely studied mythologies worldwide. In Greek mythology, the contributions of the various Gods and Goddesses played a vital role in shaping people’s lives. Among them the popular names are those of Aphrodite, Apollo, Ajax, Artemis, Atlas, Dionysus, Demeter, Helen, Heracles and the most popular mythological books most can recall are Homer’s ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’.
Mayan Mythology
Among the various Mesopotamian civilizations, the Mayan civilization has taught us a lot about ancient life and ancient mythology. The Mayan civilization traces its extent from southern Mexico through Central America, and into the Yucatán Peninsula. In 10th c B.C, the Mayan region was inhabited and continued to be so till the end of the classic period. In fact, among the various mythological beliefs and stories about the Mayan culture, the most popular speculation deals with the Mayan calendar predicting the end of the earth, and the resetting of an apocalyptic occurrence. Of course, the Mayan civilization eventually collapsed like so many others.
This is just a briefing of the mystery hidden in the various mythologies of the world and ancient mythology on the whole is a never ending story.
Related posts:
- Greek Mythology: The Role of Rituals and Beliefs (Part I)
- Ancient Mayan Culture: Unearthing the Golden Era
- Norse Religion: Of Asgard and Valhalla
- Ancient Egyptian History: The Treasures of Time
- Greek Mythology: The Role of Rituals and Beliefs (Part II)
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