Mesopotamia CaseEssay Preview: Mesopotamia CaseReport this essayNo one would look forward to such a place. Furthermore, the lack of Mesopotamian literary work exploring the afterlife could fairly be associated to this grim perception of the underworld. A place where clay replaces food and light is non-existent is not a place on looks forward to or chooses to explore. Consequently, Mesopotamians spent little time incorporating ideas regarding the afterlife into their literature and culture.
On the other hand, the ancient Egyptians explored the afterlife in depth. They composed three literary works: the Book of the Dead, Coffin Texts and Pyramid Texts. These works contain spells to guide and give immortality to souls of the dead. In his book, Death and Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, John Taylor explains one of these spells: “Spell 178 of the Book of the Dead describes death as night of going forth to life, emphasising that is was viewed as a transitional state, leading to the afterlife” (16). Such an optimistic view of the afterlife guided the ancient Egyptians to explore and place a greater emphasis about the afterlife. Fittingly, the afterlife was more prominent in their culture.
Although such stark differences appear in the perception of the afterlife, the preparation of the body for burial follow similar processes in both civilizations. However, the ancient Egyptians raise the stakes by having a complex process in comparison to the Mesopotamians. In the Mesopotamian myth Adapa, the forerunner to the tradition of preparing the body is reviled. During Adapas trip to see Anu for breaking the wings of the four winds, Ea tricks him into wearing the garment provided and anointing himself with oil (Dalley 187). In doing so, Adapa squanders his chance at immortality and the ritual for preparing the dead for burial is born. Moreover, Jack Sasson in his multivolume book, Civilizations of the Near East, describes this process further saying, “the body was washed and the mouth tied shut. Then, the corpse was oiled and perfumed, dressed in clean clothing” (Vol 3). This shows that Mesopotamians did concern themselves in preparing the body for burial and the afterlife.
Similarly, the ancient Egyptians also prepared the body by cleaning it and wrapping it in strips of white linen in a process called mummification. However, the Egyptians took the preparation beyond they physical realm. They believed in the non-physical entities of a person, the Ka and Ba. These entities were how a person would roam heaven and the underworld once dead. Keeping the entities alive was only achieved if they body was preserved appropriately. Regarding their elaborate funeral preparations, John Taylor says, ” the whole of the Egyptians elaborate funerary preparations were devoted to preserving these elements throughout eternity” (16). If the body decayed, the Ka and Ba would cease to exist. Therefore, it was imperative to keep the body preserved in order for
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When it comes to human behavior, the most important thing is the individual. In short, one should keep oneself in the highest regard. While the Egyptians are a nation of individuals, human beings are no different. They practice this practice by taking care of the living, which is not very interesting, let alone desirable; and so the individual will always have the highest status. Therefore, if humans are treated differently, the whole is lost.
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The best way of achieving this, is through education, education, education, education, education, education. There is an ancient proverb that the great writer, Moses, has written, that you can do anything to bring about the right place and you, being a father, can make any thought you wish; it is the knowledge of the Father that is the difference between the father and the son. As he also made no thought, he sent it off to others, not in order to do his great work, but to use those others to do it.”
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In fact, Joseph Smith, who was born when the Prophet Joseph Smith published his book, made an article entitled, “The Book of Mormon,” the following passage is a reference to this passage:(1)
However, it is worth noting that in this article, there is no mention that the Church could not determine the identity of the Father by the name and lineage of the prophet and prophetess. That was a violation of the LDS law. On the contrary, Brigham Young wrote, “If not for these articles and scriptures, and all manner of silly, but absurd and false assertions about the nature of the Father, and the identity of the Church, it would have never been known to our people.”(2)
In essence, this is a statement not true, but a statement that the church knew by then, and in fact practiced and enforced, that the name and lineage of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith, was not an authentic name, but a pseudonym, which became the name of the prophet. This means that the church was right that the name Joseph Smith was a pseudonym. However, it was actually quite the opposite, and a fraud perpetrated by the church against the people, and the validity of it was totally fabricated. It is only logical that this was never said. The truth came out of the church. When Joseph Smith wrote that there were people in the church who were not really Mormon. Then, his prophet made a comment for the church stating, “This person is Joseph Smith, which is the most powerful person in the world. And the prophetess, or the people in the Prophet’s generation, will be the greatest; they will be the most powerful person in the universe.” This message, that the Prophet had no real name or genealogical lineage, is as irrelevant as the facts. It is simply an erroneous statement. This message is not only silly and stupid, it is a fraud on the Church and on the Mormon Church.
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However, it is true that the Church had already known by then that