“King Ur-engur proclaimed his code of laws in the name of the great god Shamash, for government had so soon discovered the political utility of heaven. Having been found useful, the gods became innumerable; every city and state, every human activity, had some inspiring and disciplinary divinity. [...]"
Will Durant, Story of Civilization, Vol.1: Our Oriental Heritage, Book 1, Ch.7, Part 2, Segment 4, 1935 (italics and formatting added)
"[...] Originally, it seems, the gods preferred human flesh; but as human morality improved they had to be content with animals. A liturgical tablet found in the Sumerian ruins says, with strange theological premonitions: "The lamb is the substitute for humanity; he hath given up a lamb for his life.[...]"
Will Durant, Story of Civilization, Vol.1: Our Oriental Heritage, Book 1, Ch.7, Part 2, Segment 4, 1935 (italics added)
OBVIOUS SUGGESTION THAT CHRIST AS "THE LAMB" IS BASED ON SOMETHING EARLIER
"[...] Enriched by such beneficence, the priests became the wealthiest and most powerful class in the Sumerian cities. In most matters they were the government; it is difficult to make out to what extent the patesi was a priest, and to what extent a king.
Urukagina rose like a Luther against the exactions of the clergy,
denounced them for their voracity,
accused them of taking bribes in their administration of the law, and
charged that they were levying such taxes upon farmers and fishermen as to rob them of the fruits of their toil.
He swept the courts clear for a time of these corrupt officials, and
established laws regulating the taxes and fees paid to the temples,
protecting the helpless against extortion, and providing against the violent alienation of funds or property. [...]"
Will Durant, Story of Civilization, Vol.1: Our Oriental Heritage, Book 1, Ch.7, Part 2, Segment 4, 1935 (italics and formatting added)
OBVIOUS SUGGESTION THAT CHRISTIANITY GOT ETERNAL LIFE, SIN, AND THE FALL FROM SUMERIA
"[...] Men will pay any price for mythology. Even in this early age the great myths of religion were taking form. Since food and tools were placed in the graves with the dead, we may presume that the Sumerians believed in an after-life. But like the Greeks they pictured the other world as a dark abode of miserable shadows, to which all the dead descended indiscriminately. They had not yet conceived heaven and hell, eternal reward and punishment; they offered prayer and sacrifice not for 'eternal life,' but for tangible advantages here on the earth.
Later legend told how Adapa, a sage of Eridu, had been initiated into all lore by Ea, goddess of wisdom; one secret only had been refused him— the knowledge of deathless life.
Another legend narrated how the gods had created man happy; how man, by his free will, had sinned, and been punished with a flood, from which but one man— Tagtug the weaver— had survived. Tag- tug forfeited longevity and health by eating the fruit of a forbidden tree."
Will Durant, Story of Civilization, Vol.1: Our Oriental Heritage, Book 1, Ch.7, Part 2, Segment 4, 1935 (italics and formatting added)
"The priests transmitted education as well as mythology, and doubtless sought to teach, as well as to rule, by their myths. [...]"
Will Durant, Story of Civilization, Vol.1: Our Oriental Heritage, Book 1, Ch.7, Part 2, Segment 4, 1935
"Nevertheless, as in most civilizations, the women of the upper classes almost balanced, by their luxury and their privileges, the toil and dis- abilities of their poorer sisters. Cosmetics and jewelry are prominent in the Sumerian tombs. In Queen Shub-ad’s grave Professor Woolley picked up a little compact of blue-green malachite, golden pins with knobs of lapis-lazuli, and a vanity-case of filigree gold shell. This vanity-case, as large as a little finger, contained a tiny spoon, presumably for scooping up rouge from the compact; a metal stick, perhaps for training the cuticle; and a pair of tweezers probably used to train the eyebrows or to pluck out inopportune hairs. The Queen’s rings were made of gold wire; one ring was inset with segments of lapis-lazuli; her necklace was of fluted lapis and gold. Surely there is nothing new under the sun; and the difference between the first woman and the last could pass through the eye of a needle."
Will Durant, Story of Civilization, Vol.1: Our Oriental Heritage, Book 1, Ch.7, Part 2, Segment 4, 1935 (italics added)
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