Mailing List Archive

Mailing List: techdiver

Message Display

Babylonian documents indicate that the ethical and moral beliefs of the =
people stressed goodness and truth, law and order, justice and freedom, =
wisdom and learning, and courage and loyalty. Mercy and compassion were =
espoused, and special protection was accorded widows, orphans, refugees, =
the poor, and the oppressed. Immoral and unethical acts were considered =
transgressions against the gods and the divine order and were believed =
to be punished by the gods accordingly. No one was considered to be =
without sin, and therefore all suffering was held to be deserved. The =
proper course for Babylonians unhappy with their condition in life was =
not to argue and complain but to plead and wail, to lament and confess =
their inevitable sins and failings before their personal god, who acted =
as their mediator in the assembly of the great gods.=20
The religiosity of the Babylonians has come to be proverbial, and not =
unjustifiably so. Never-the-less, religious skepticism existed and may =
have been more prevalent than sources reveal.=20
One extant literary document known as the Babylonian Theodicy, for =
example, consists of a debate between a skeptic and a believer in which =
the latter finds it necessary to conclude with the patent and somewhat =
unsatisfying argument that the will of the gods is inscrutable. In =
another Babylonian essay, taking the form of a dialogue between a master =
and slave, the tone is similarly skeptical and the mood cynical; the =
relativist view is advanced that all human actions can be justified and =
are therefore fundamentally without meaning, particularly because death =
makes life itself insignificant.=20
For the Babylonians, death was indeed the consuming dread and a source =
of great despair. The Babylonian generally believed that at death the =
disembodied spirit descends to the dark nether world, and that human =
existence beyond the grave is at best only a dismal, wretched reflection =
of life on earth. Any hope of an eternal reward for the righteous and =
deserving was absent; everyone was impartially consigned to the world =
below. It is not strange that the most popular, dramatic, and creative =
Babylonian literary work, the Gilgamesh Epic (q.v.) , centers on a vain =
and pathetic quest for eternal life.

--
Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'.
Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.

Navigate by Author: [Previous] [Next] [Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject: [Previous] [Next] [Subject Search Index]

[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]

[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]