Cuneiform Impact on Religion and Arts

The epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the first epic poem that was believed to have been documented on cuneiform in 2700 BCE. This poem highlights how the development of cuneiform writing could teach moral lessons via artistic literature. In this poem, King Gilgamesh's loosely depicted life involves working civilians to death, objectifying women, and murdering men as he pleases. After applying this text to Voyant, it became very clear to see that the emphasizes of this epic poem was centered around god and how one should aim to live a godly life

"Vessel stand with ibex support,ca. 2600–2350 B.C."

This is a sculpture that served to offer gifts to the gods that were worshipped by Mesopotamians.

The Sumerians Develop the Earliest Known Creation Myth

This source depicts that the world’s first religious texts were written in Sumer located in southern Mesopotamia. The invention of Cuneiform enabled society to share their religious beliefs via writing, record hymns, and also document myths similar to the Christian belief of Noah's ark. Mesopotamian society centered around a ziggurat (a temple).

Religion was literally the heart of Mesopotamia because city states were established around a temple. Naturally, when cuneiform writing was developed, religion began to evolve and became easier to convey to people both near and far. As a result of religious texts being documented, religious ideals were able to be spread and passed to other societies in a much more efficient manner than word of mouth. In spite of religious differences leading to a multitude of hardships throughout the history of civilization, religion in this case helped to unite Mesopotamia to further advance their societies. As an added bonus, religion lead to the advancement of art that was offered to praise and honor gods and goddesses. In addition, cuneiform writing began as pictographs which is incredibly artistic in itself. Perhaps this was the catalyst that inspired craftsmen of this time to utilize a different medium to relay their intended message.