Ancient Mesopotamians believed that gods controlled their lives and each city had its own patron god housed in a central temple. They also believed in demons that could reward or punish humans. Some important gods included An, Enki, Inanna, Nanna, and Utu. Ancient Egyptians also had many gods like Ra, Isis, Osiris, Horus and Thoth and built temples to worship them. They believed in an afterlife consisting of two parts, the Ka and Ra, and mummification helped preserve the body. Greeks believed in gods living on Mount Olympus like Zeus, Hera and Poseidon that explained natural phenomena. Romans adopted Greek gods but with changed names and also believed spirits

1. By Rachel W

2. There were many different beliefs in Ancient Mesopotamia.
The citizens there thought that the gods were responsible for
what happened in their lives. Each city had one of it’s own
gods. In the center of the town there would be a temple
(ziggurat) built for just that god. In the temple, priests could
live and make sacrifices. Some of the temples were so large,
they would look like pyramids with flat tops.
In Ancient Mesopotamia, there were three distinct
civilizations: Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian. Each
civilization had their own gods and goddesses that had there
own story and meaning that the Ancient Mesopotamians
worshipped.

3. Ancient Mesopotamians also believed that there were
demons, that were created by the gods and could be either
good or bad. The citizens kept in contact with the demons to
keep them happy. They did this because they believed that if
not, the demon would punish them for it’s unhappiness.
Some of the most important gods were:
-An, sky god or father of gods
-Enki, god of fresh water and wisdom
-Inanna, goddess of love and war
-Nanna, the moon god
-Utu, the god of sun and justice
(The names vary depending on the civilization)

4. Like many of the cultures in this presentation, the Ancient
Egyptians had a wide variety of gods-over 2000. The 2 most
major gods were Ra: the sun god, and Isis: the mother of
gods. Other gods included Osiris: god of the underworld,
Horus: god of the sky, and Thoth: god of knowledge. In the
ancient times, pharaohs would build temples for the gods,
which would have gardens, statues, memorials and
somewhere to worship them.
Pharaohs were also very highly valued by the people. They
were considered high priests. Sometimes, people even
believed that the pharaohs were gods in human form.

5. Ancient Egyptians also believed there was a life after death.
There were two parts of the human, the “Ka”, a life force that
people only obtained while they were alive, and the “Ra”,
which was considered the soul. If these two elements
connected in the afterlife, the person would live again. To do
such things, the body of the deceased would be mummified
to preserve them.
The heavenly land the Egyptians believed in was called “Land
of Two Fields”. To get to such a place, the goddess Maat would
weigh your heart. The more good deeds you did, the lighter
your heart would be. If you heart was not light enough, you
would be stuck in your tomb forever.

6. Another requirement was two have your name written down
somewhere and your body had to be preserved. Since they
believed that your body split in two when you died, your two
spirits would go do different jobs. The “Ka” would go enjoy
the afterlife, while the “Ba” would go watch over your family.
Then, every night the spirits would fly back to you so you
could go to sleep. If you did not write your name down, or
something went wrong in your mummification, the Ba and
Ka would not be able to find you, and you would disappear.

7. Like many of you probably know, Greece is famous for it’s
Greek myths and gods. The Greeks believed in many gods
that made up the aspects of Earth. Some of the most major
gods lived up on the top of Mount Olympus. The gods that
lived up there were: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena,
Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Aphrodite, Hestia (who gave
her place to Dionysus) and depending on the myth,
sometimes Hades or Hephaestus.
-http://greece.mrdonn.org/greekgods/
mountolympus.html
(If you scroll to the bottom of this link, you can click on the
twelve gods to find their purposes and powers.)
Each city-state in Greece had there own Patron god, who they
worshiped so they would reward the people.

9. Along with the patron god, the citizens would also
worship Zeus, the king of gods.
In the myths, most gods were born from the titan
Kronos, while some like Aphrodite and Athena were
born in different ways. Aphrodite was born from the sea
foam, and Athena from Zeus’ head.
Along with that the Greeks have many myths that
explain the way our world works. They believe that the
gods created men before women, and that the first girl
was Pandora, another character of a story. So, in the end,
the Greek myths keep everyone interested, and explain
the events that happen around us.

10. Roman religion was quite similar to Greek. The gods were
mainly the same, but their names were changed to represent
the planets. For example: Zeus was Jupiter, Hades was Pluto
and Ares was Mars. Along with that, they believed that there
were gods for everything. Rivers, rocks, streams, bridges, even
for doors, baths, kitchens and sleeping. They also were fond
of the Greek myths, so they used the legends, but changed
some things to make it more Roman.
The Romans also liked to borrow other gods. When the
Romans conquered a civilization, they thought that taking
the gods would make them stronger. For example: they took
Isis from Egypt. They also worshipped Mithras, a god from
Iran.

11. Somewhat like Ancient Egypt and Greek, Roman people
thought that your spirit went to the underworld. To get there,
the dead would have to cross the River Styx. To do so, the
deceased’s family would leave a coin on the body, so they
could pay the ferry man to paddle them across (whose name
was Charon).
Some of their beliefs changed when Roman Emperor
Constantine made Christianity the official religion in Ancient
Rome at around the 4th century AD. Before that, many
Christians were arrested or killed because they refused to
worship emperors as gods.

12. In Canada, we have many different religions. Unlike Greece,
or Rome, we have the freedom to believe what we want. Some
examples of the religions are: Muslim, Catholic, Christian,
Jewish, etc.
Overall, Canada is made up around 67% of Christians, the
most populated religion, followed by people having no
religion at 24%. Times are changing though the percentages
are always changing.
Muslims are also very common. The fist mosque was built in
Edmonton, back in 1936.

13. Many people come to Canada because of our freedom. Unlike
some places with strict rules about your religion or choices,
Canada lets you be who you want to be.
Examples:
-Hindu
-Sikh
-Buddhist
-Lutheran
-Unitarian
-Atheist
Or no religion at all 

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