Mesopotamian

MESOPOTAMIAN CREATION MYTH
How does creation myth affect the woman's role in society?

Map of Mesopotamia


http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/cultures/images/mesopotamia_map.jpg

Creation Myth Recording
media type="file" key="mesopotanian creation recording.mp3" width="240" height="20"

Motif Paragraph
A motifs are recurring themes that develop through a myth. The four types of motifs are land emerging from ocean, separation/division (especially from mother and father gods), fractionation of things from primordial chaos, and creation ex nihilo (creation out of nothing). The Mesopotamian creation myth uses the motif of land emerging from ocean. In the beginning, the fresh and salt water formed the first gods. Then Tiamat (goddess of the sea) was killed and half of her was raised to create the movement of the sun and stars, and made Earth out of the other half. Thus, the motif explained how everything came from the ocean. This recurring theme continued to develop throughout the Mesopotamian myth.

How Does Creation Myth Affect the Woman's Role in Society?
 Does creation myth affect on the social status of different genders in the society? The Mesopotamian myth is an example of how creation myth impact on people’s status in the society, and the neighboring countries as well. It influenced Persians and Babylonians greatly, thus their creation myths were similar. Creation myth also affects the woman’s role, including their daily life, and their status in society.

  The daily lives of ancient Mesopotamian women were to play the role of a wife, mother, and housekeeper. (Nardo 29) The majorities of the Mesopotamian women stayed home to labor on lands. Only boys went to school, and girls stayed home to learn the traditional roles of a housewife. The wife remains under the husband’s control throughout marriage, and rarely acted as individuals. On the other hand, males dominated the society, and were the head of the household. In the Mesopotamian creation myth, male gods had absolute authority, and received all the glory. Female gods, however, were mentioned less throughout the myth. This showed how men were more powerful than women, and therefore reflecting a patriarchal society. (Nardo 25)

 Creation myth also puts an effect on the women’s role through their status in society. Women in ancient Mesopotamia were considered “daughter of the father and wife of the husband”, (The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago) and did not have a high status in the society. In general, Mesopotamian women lacked political rights, thus could not work for public offices or rule over the nation. Reflecting upon the Mesopotamian creation myth, the female gods were weak. For example, Tiamat (goddess of the sea) was portrayed as evil and was killed by Marduk (a male god). Later on, she was split into half to create the stars and the earth, whereas Marduk was considered the hero of the myth. Observing the connections between the society and its creation myth, it tells us that the creation myth does affect on shaping the society and the people’s perspectives.

 Creation myths not only affect the society and the way people thought, but also on the culture and religion. Many look at creation myth as a false story that doesn’t make sense in any way. However, by comparing the creation myth and how people lived at the time, it explains and shows how it influenced neighboring communities and created religions and traditions of a nation.



Annotations

 * Bellingham, David, David M. Jones, Margaret Carey, Louise Tythacott, and Kathleen McPhilemy. The Kingfisher Book of Mythology: Gods, Goddesses and Heroes from around the World. London: Kingfisher, 2001. Print. **

A. Everything came from fresh and salt water, which formed two serpents who gave birth to the sky (Anshar) and earth (Kishar). The sky and earth gave birth to gods who fought each other for power over the universe. Humans were created later. B. This was a useful source because it talked about the Mesopotamian creation myths. It gave me a brief understanding of the Mesopotamian beliefs and linked it to the art and some culture. It is a reliable source compared to others and it is not biased in any way. C. This source was helpful because it gave me a basic understanding of Mesopotamian myths. It talked about how men were powerful and women were weak, which showed a connection between the myths and how people thought. It gave me a clearer idea of how life was in Mesopotamia, and how the Gods played a crucial role in both the myths and the daily life of people.


 * The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. "Mesopotamia: Daily Life." The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Web. 12 Dec. 2010. . **

A. Women rarely acted as individuals and men were ht ones with power and status. B. This was a useful source, and the information was reliable since it was a University website. This source was not biased in any way. It talks about the ancient Mesopotamia and explains the role women plays in. compared to other sources, this website gave well explained information on different areas of ancient Mesopotamia. C. This source was helpful, for it made me understand towards the women’s status in ancient Mesopotamia. It supported my research question and showed a connection between creation myths and the women’s role. It gave me a clearer understanding and helped shape my argument.