Response for Was Sumerian Civilization Exclusively Male Dominated Essay

Response for Was Sumerian Civilization Exclusively Male Dominated - Essay Example The Sumerian Pantheon and theology were primarily populated and controlled by male deities like An, Enlil and Enki (Starr, 1965). The important Sumerian epic Gilgamesh has a male as its central character (Starr, 1965). In the Sumerian social hierarchy, the leading priestly class was male dominated (Starr, 1965). In contrast, Kramer presents Sumerian history and cosmology as an arena impregnated by both the male and female influences, in which the feminine element does hold its sway. The inscriptions of King Urukagina do prove that in the early Sumerian society, women did wield power in the Sumerian political and religious life (Kramer, 1976). Many important high priestesses like Enheduanna were esteemed for the political and literary contributions made by them (Kramer, 1976). The Sumerian Pantheon comprised of influential and powerful goddesses like Ninhursag and Inanna (Kramer, 1976). The position evinced by Kramer is more agreeable as it takes into consideration the larger body of the available historical and literary evidence, to elaborate on the position of women in the Sumerian society. This position is supported by Henk Dijkstra. As per him, women did command much power in the Sumerian legal system (Dijkstra, 1996, p. 241). K Ann Pyburn also mentions the important role played by women in the Sumerian political hierarchy (Pyburn, 2004, p. 34). As per Pyburn, the feminine element is distinctly visible in the Sumerian political history and

Similarities And Differences Between The Scientific Method And The Essay

Similarities And Differences Between The Scientific Method And The Religion Method - Essay Example Myths generally are stories that seek to answer the questions of who we are as human beings, and our purpose in the world; myths also seek to answer questions on the origin and the nature of the world. Examples of myths in religion are the creation myths and the hero myths. The sacred time refers to the time when the sacred manifested. Every religion has sacred time and sacred time is considered a very important element of religion. Examples of the sacred space are the Hindu Temples, Christian Cathedrals, and the Islam Mosques. Having looked both at the definition of religion and also at the phenomenology of religion, let us now look at mysticism, as the methodological heart of religion. The mysticism proceeds through drawing conclusions from general and abstract premises, while the scientific method proceeds through drawing conclusions from specific and empirical data. Many fundamental truths in religion are perceived through mysticism. Looking at the similarities and the differences between the religion method and the scientific method, I am not sure which is most fundamental. This because on the one hand, the similarities between the two methods of knowledge seem quite significant; and the two methods seem complimentary in helping us to know the world and ourselves better. On the other hand, the differences also seem quite fundamental because the two methods of knowledge are based on completely different methodology, the mysticism method uses deductive method while the scientific method uses the inductive method.