Ancient Near East Paganism, Ancient Near East Neopaganism, Ancient Near East Reconstructionism, or Ancient Near East Reconstructed Traditions refers to polytheistic religions of the Ancient Near East from the Neolithic times through to the Iron Age and sometimes extending into Classical times. The Near East is often considered as being located where the modern-day countries of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, the island of Cyprus, and Israel are; and can also include parts of Saudi Arabia, and Northwest Africa including Egypt. Occasionally the boundaries and time limits are stretched even further to include Cyprus, Greece, and Rome. ,neos=new, lithos=stone, or New Stone Age) was a period in the development of human technology that is traditionally the last part of the Stone Age. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... The word classical has several meanings: Pertaining to the societies of the classical antiquity, ancient Greece or Rome. ... The Near East is a term commonly used by archaeologists and historians, less commonly by journalists and commentators, to refer to the region encompassing the Levant (modern Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon), Anatolia (modern Turkey), Mesopotamia (Iraq and eastern Syria), and the Iranian Plateau (Iran). ... ... Africa is the worlds second-largest continent and 3rd most populous. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1...

List of Cultures

• Mesopotamians,
• see also Mesopotamian Mythology
  • Assyrians
    • see Assyrian Paganism
    • see also Assyrian Mythology
  • Babylonians
    • see Babylonian Paganism
    • see also Babylonian Mythology
  • Sumerians
    • see Sumerian Paganism
    • see also Sumerian Mythology
• Canaanites, and the cities of Ugarit and Ebla
  • see Natib Qadish
  • or see Canaanite Paganism
• Phoenicians, a daughter culture to Canaanites
  • see Phoenician Paganism
  • see also Phoenician Mythology
• Carthage, daughter colony of Phoenicia
  • see Cartheginian Paganism
  • see also Cartheginian Mythology
• Hurrians
  • see Hurrian Paganism
  • see also Hurrian Mythology
• Hittites
  • see Hittite Paganism
  • see also Hittite Mythology
• Nabateans and the city of Petra
  • see Nabatean Paganism
  • see also Nabatean Mythology
• Egyptians
  • see Kemetic Paganism
  • or see Egyptian Paganism
  • see also Egyptian Mythology
• Amorites
• Cypriots
  • see also Cyprus
• very early polytheistic Hebrews
  • see Judeo-Paganism

Sometimes included in Ancient Near East Paganism: Mesopotamia [mesuputāmÄ“u] (Greek: Μεσοποταμία, translated from Old Persian Miyanrudan the Land between the Rivers or the Aramaic name Beth-Nahrin House of Two Rivers) is a region of Southwest Asia. ... Chaldean mythology, also called Chaldaic mythology, is the collective name given to Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian mythologies, although Chaldea did not comprehend the whole territory inhabited by those peoples. ... Assyria in earliest historical times referred to a region on the Upper Tigris river, named for its original capital, the city of Asshur (or Ashshur). ... Babylonia was an ancient state in Mesopotamia (in modern Iraq), combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... Sumer (or Shumer, Sumeria, Shinar, native ki-en-gir) formed the southern part of Mesopotamia from the time of settlement by the Sumerians until the time of Babylonia. ... Chaldean mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian mythologies, although Chaldea did not comprehend the whole territory inhabited by those peoples. ... This article is about the land called Canaan. ... Entrance to the Palace of Ugarit Ugarit (modern site Ras Shamra رأس شمرة; in Arabic) 35°35´ N; 35°45´E) was an ancient cosmopolitan port city, sited on the Mediterranean coast of northern Syria a few kilometers north of the modern city of Latakia. ... Ebla was an ancient city located in northern Syria, about 55 km southwest of Aleppo. ... Natib Qadish is also known as Canaanite Paganism, Canaanite Neopaganism, or Canaanite Reconstructionism. ... Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal plain of what is now Lebanon and Syria. ... A map of the central Mediterranean Sea, showing the location of Carthage (near modern Tunis). ... The Hurrians were a people of the Ancient Near East, who apparently originated in the Caucasus and entered Mesopotamia from the north approximately 2500 BC. Their known homeland was centred in the Khabur River valley, and later they established themselves as rulers of small kingdoms throughout northern Mesopotamia and Syria. ... The Hittites is the conventional English-language term for an ancient people who spoke an Indo-European language and established a kingdom centered in Hattusa (the modern village of Boğazköy in north-central Turkey), through most of the second millennium BC. The Hittite kingdom, which at its height controlled central... Petra, the Nabataean capital The Nabataeans were a trading people of ancient Arabia, whose oasis settlements in the time of Josephus gave the name of Nabatene to the borderland between Syria and Arabia, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. ... The Treasury at Petra Petra (rock in Greek) is an archaeological site in Jordan, lying in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Wadi Araba, the great valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. ... Egyptian mythology (or Egyptian religion) is the name for the succession of beliefs held by the people of Egypt until the coming of Christianity and Islam. ... Amorite (Hebrew ’emōrî, Egyptian Amar, Akkadian Amurrū (corresponding to Sumerian MAR.TU or Martu) refers to a Semitic people who occupied the middle Euphrates area from the second half of the third millennium BC and also appear in the Tanakh. ... Hebrews (syns. ... Judeo-Paganism, or Jewish Paganism, is a religious movement, related to Judaism and Neopaganism, which explores the origins of the Jewish religion and its ancient neighbors, the religions of the Canaanites, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Ugarit folk, and Egyptians. ...

• Etruscans
• Minoans
  • see Minoan Paganism
  • see also Minoan Mythology
• Greeks
  • see Hellenistic Paganism
  • see Greek Paganism
  • see also Hellenism
  • see also Greek Mythology
• Romans
  • see Roman Paganism
  • see Mithraism
  • see also Roman Mythology
  • see also Rome

Also see: The Etruscan civilization existed in Etruria and the Po valley in the northern part of what is now Italy, prior to the formation of the Roman Republic. ... The Minoans were an ancient pre-Hellenic civilization on what is now Crete (in the Mediterranean), during the Bronze Age, prior to classical Greek culture. ... See Ancient Greek religion and Greek reconstructionism. ... The term Hellenistic (established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen) in the history of the ancient world is used to refer to the shift from a culture dominated by ethnic Greeks, however scattered geographically, to a culture dominated by Greek-speakers of whatever ethnicity, and from the political dominance... Greek mythology comprises the collected legends of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... Roman or Romans has several meanings, primarily related to the Roman citizens, but also applicable to typography, math, and a commune. ... Ancient Roman religion was a combination of several different practices and sets of beliefs. ... Mithraism was an ancient Iranic religion, based on worship of a god called Mehr who apparently derives from the Persian god Mithra and other Zoroastrian deities. ... Roman mythology can be considered as two parts. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1...

• Isis for the Greek and Roman Isis Cult
• Adonis for the Greek Cult of this Phoenician God

// Isis in Egypt Early Isis Isis (Greek corruption; the Egyptian is Aset) was originally a goddess from Nubia, and was adopted into Egyptian belief very early. ... A 19th-century reproduction of a Greek bronze of Adonis found at Pompeii A Syrian dying-and-reborn annual vegetation god imported into Greek mythology but always retaining aspects of his Semitic Near Eastern origins, Adonis was one of the most complex cult figures in classical times. ...

Common Threads

There are broad practices that these paths often hold in common:

• Purification and Cleansing
• Offerings, Sacrifices, and Libations
• Large Pantheons
• Religion tied to State/Government
• Use of Differing Forms of Divination
• Use of Magic, Incantation, Charms, and Amulets

Purification and Cleansing

Many Ancient Near East religions believed that in order to approach the Deities, one needed to perform rites of purification. These rites often included, but are not limited to:

• Washing with water
  • Hands
  • Face
  • Feet
  • Any combination of the above
  • Bathing
• Anointing with Oil
  • Usually olive oil
  • Sometimes oil was mixed with herbs and resins, such as myrrh
  • Sometimes sand was used to help scour away dirt
• Purification through the use of incense smoke
• Purification through performance of incantation and/or magic

Offerings, Sacrifices, and Libations

• Offerings
  • Can be food items:
    • Grain, bread
    • Seasonal fruits, vegetables, herbs
  • Can be material offerings
    • Precious metals, gems, semi-precious stones, art
    • Cloth, clothing
• Sacrifices
  • In ancient times, animals were sacrificed to the Deities. The meat from these sacrifices often fed the priests, sometimes the elite of society, and sometimes the widows and orphans.
  • In modern days, our “animal sacrifice” only consists of making an offering of meat that we cook for a meal.
• Libations
  • Offerings of a liquid nature
  • Usually includes:
    • Oil, usually olive oil
    • Wine
    • Beer
    • Fruit juice
    • Sometimes milk, but only in the mornings when it is fresh
    • Sometimes water
    • Sometimes flavored water, such as herbal “teas”

Large Pantheons

See above “List of Cultures” for each culture’s mythology. Often, because such great diversity, and religious tolerance, in such a small area of the world, some cultures would adopt Deities from other cultures.

Religions Tied to Governments

Often, in the Ancient Near East, city-states and sometimes even empires, would have a particular official state religion. This means that the state would provide funds and resources for one particular religion. The state holidays celebrated would be for that religion, and the temples constructed would be for that particular pantheon. If a person was a “foreigner,” her/his religion and religious practices were generally tolerated.

Forms of Divination

These can include: This man in Rhumsiki, Cameroon, tells the future by interpreting the changes in position of various objects as caused by a fresh-water crab. ...

• Apantomancy: seeing animals
• Cleromancy: drawing lots
• Icthyomancy: watching fish behavior
• Ophiomancy: watching snake behavior
• Hepatomancy, or Hepatoscopy: observing the liver of an animal (in ancient times only!)
• Nephomancy: cloud-watching
• Orniscopy or Ornithomancy: watching birds in flight
• Capnomancy: watching smoke
• Oneiromancy: divination through dreams
• And other forms….

Apantomancy is divination by seeing animals. ... Cleromancy, sortilege, casting lots or casting bones is a form of divination in which stuff is thrown randomly on the ground, and the resulting patterns or forms are interpreted to tell the future. ... Hepatoscopy is a form of divination using the internal organs of sacrificed animals, specifically the liver. ... Aeromancy (from Greek aero, air, and manteia, divination) is divination conducted by interpreting atmospheric conditions. ... Pyromancy (from Greek pyros, fire, and manteia, divination) is the art of divination by means of Greek society, virgins at the Temple of Athena in Athens regularly practiced pyromancy. ... Oneriomancy is a form of divination by the analysis of dreams. ... Dreaming is the subjective experience of imaginary images, sounds/voices, thoughts or sensations during sleep, usually involuntarily. ...

Magic, Incantations, Charms, and Amulets

See also Magick for modern Pagan concepts. Look up Magic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Magic is any unexplained process (contrast this with technology). ... An incantation is the words spoken during a ritual. ... Look up Charm in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Charm can have the following meanings: In the world of paranormal magic, a charm can mean either: An amulet or talisman, or A spell. ... An amulet from the Black Pullet grimoire An amulet (from Latin amuletum, meaning A means of protection) or a talisman (from Arabic tilasm, ultimately from Greek telesma or from the Greek word talein wich means to initiate into the mysteries. ... Magick is an alternate spelling of magic, coined by Aleister Crowley to differentiate the true science of the Magi from all its counterfeits. In the broadest sense, Magick is any act designed to cause intentional change. ...

(Section in Progress…)