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3.5
Philosophy 6000 to 2000 BCE: The ancient Asia-minor mind
 
  The earliest found relics of ancient northern hemisphere ("Western") culture from which we can piece together the belief systems of our ancestors are those principally found in the Mesopotamian basin (now Iraq) and ancient Egyptian cities along the Nile.  
  The oldest of these, the Sumerians also happen to be one the richest resources of ancient beliefs next to the Egyptians. Their belief systems have largely been classified by western scholars according to the assumptions ("1st, therefore more ancient, therefore less developed."). Therefore, beliefs relating to Gods and human origins have largely been considered under the assumption of these ancestors having less sophisticated minds than we.  
3.5.1 The existence of physical gods from another physical place  
  The earliest writings of the Sumerians are quite specific about their belief structure of Gods. There is none of the mystical and often difficult mixture of ethereal and fantastic writings that are found in say the Greek Mystical Schools ( which we will discuss later). The Sumerians essentially believed in gods that were as physical as you or I, that came from another place.  
  There is no indication in their writings that they considered this place of origin to be something ethereal as an "other world", or "underworld" as is interpreted by the Egyptian scholars. What is clear is that their origin is from the physical heavens, not some other dimension. The ancient Egyptian mythology on the other hand, is almost suffocated in metaphor and symbolism, quite possibly due to simplistic translations.  
  Both the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians believed in a deity of gods and interrelated blood feuds between the various gods.  
3.5.2 All human knowledge as a gift from the physical Gods  
  Not only were the Sumerians quite practical in their consideration of physical "flesh and blood" gods, but also in the origin of human civilization (their own civilization). Quite simply, they considered it a gift of the gods, nothing less. This is identical to the belief of the ancient Egyptian kingdoms that their culture was due directly to the physical blessing and gifts of physical gods.  
3.5.3 Humans as creations as pets and slaves by physical Gods  
  In the case of the history of the creation of the human race, the Sumerians provide an interesting insight. They believed the first human beings to be created in response to an uprising of the worker/prisoner gods on earth. These first beings were called the LuLu and, were giant and negroid in appearance. The creation of caucasian humans they claimed were by the worker/prisoner gods themselves much later in the history of life on the planet.  
  In the mind of the ancient Sumerians and ancient Egyptians (pre 4,000 BCE), the human being was at best and intelligent slave animal at the whim and behest of violent and uncertain gods, or at worst a tortured pet, set up to mimic its masters in charge of things such as cattle, fields and minor roles, but never to be taken too seriously, lest the gods choose to change their mind at any minute.  
  Only the representatives of the gods and those that served these representatives had any hope in a better existence. Theirs was the privileged life of living in walled and well planned cities, to be tended by the largely slave populations.
3.5.4 The gift of immortality by the gods
  Today when we speak of immortality we would most likely consider the concept of the soul. Yet to the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians pre 4,000 BCE, the concept of everlasting life was considered the rarest of gifts and reserved almost completely to the highest representatives of the gods and their most devoted of court. Unlike the more contemporary understanding of the ethereal mind/soul detaching from the terrestrial body, the ancients were convinced that part of the secret to everlasting life was somehow re-animation and physical transformation.
  Today's obsession by many of the wealthiest to cryogenically freeze their bodies until sometime in the future when re-animation is possible may not be too dissimilar to the practice of mummification of the ancient Egyptians.
  At any rate, the belief that (a) immortality is the preserve of the gods and (b) granted only to Kings, Queens and those they nominate at the time of death may very well account for the macabre practice of mass burial pits in Sumer.
 
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