# The Ancient Gods > How the religions of the first civilisations began and ended: Sumerian city gods and Enheduanna, Babylonian myths of creation and the flood, Egyptian ma'at, the Pyramid Texts and the weighing of the heart, Akhenaten's Aten, the gods of Olympus and Delphi, Roman state religion and the cults of Isis and Mithras, the closing of the temples from 391 to 537, and their legacy in our weekdays. Episode 02 of the Origins of Religions series. Interactive film: https://www.planetpast.com/stories/religion-ancient-gods/ Publisher: PlanetPast (https://www.planetpast.com/) · Published 2026-10-13 · Religion, History ## Prologue ### The Ancient Gods *Origins of Religions · Episode 02* Religions of the first civilisations. When farming villages grew into cities, around 3500 BC, the spirits and ancestors of village life were joined by great gods, with their own houses, servants and lands. These religions had no founder and no single holy book. They grew slowly out of local traditions, and they were bound up with cities, kings and the land. Prologue · Episode 02 of the Origins of Religions series #### Gods of the first civilisations Nobody follows these religions as their ancestors did any more. That makes them a rare case: we can see a whole religious tradition from beginning to end. Episode 01 told the story before cities. Grey outlines show other traditions of the time when switched on. Sources: [Britannica: Mesopotamian religion](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mesopotamian-religion); [Britannica: Egyptian religion](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Egyptian-religion) ## Chapter I · Mesopotamia ### Each city had its god *Chapter I · 3500–2100 BC* The temple as a household. In Sumer, in southern Mesopotamia, each city belonged to a god. Inanna, goddess of love and war, lived at Uruk; the moon god Nanna at Ur; Enlil, lord of the air, at Nippur. The temple was literally the god’s house. It owned fields and herds, employed thousands, and its records were among the first uses of writing. Around 2300 BC, Enheduanna, daughter of king Sargon of Akkad and high priestess at Ur, wrote hymns to Inanna. She is the earliest author in history known by name. Chapter I · Step 1 #### Each city had its god - Uruk Inanna (later Ishtar) - Ur Nanna, the moon - Nippur Enlil, chief of the gods - c. 2100 BC Ziggurat of Ur built by Ur-Nammu Sources: [Britannica: Mesopotamian religion](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mesopotamian-religion); [Wikipedia: Enheduanna](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enheduanna) ### Humans as servants of the gods *Chapter I · 1900–600 BC* Myths of creation and the flood. Mesopotamian myths taught that humans were made to do the work of the gods: to feed them through offerings and house them in temples. The Epic of Atrahasis and the Epic of Gilgamesh tell of a great flood sent by the gods, survived by one man in a boat, a story with clear parallels to the later biblical flood. When Babylon became the leading power, its god Marduk was raised to king of the gods, as told in the creation epic Enuma Elish. Religion followed politics. Chapter I · Step 2 #### Humans as servants of the gods - Atrahasis Creation and flood, c. 18th c. BC copy - Gilgamesh XI The flood tablet, 7th c. BC copy - Enuma Elish Marduk becomes king of the gods Mesopotamian priests read the future in sheep livers and in the stars; their sky-watching laid foundations for later astronomy and astrology. Sources: [British Museum: the Flood Tablet (Gilgamesh, tablet XI)](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_K-3375); [Britannica: Mesopotamian religion](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mesopotamian-religion) ## Chapter II · Egypt ### Ma’at and the pharaoh *Chapter II · 3100–1500 BC* Keeping the world in order. In Egypt, the central idea was ma’at: truth, justice and cosmic order. Each year the Nile flooded and life returned; chaos always threatened to break in. The pharaoh was the son of the sun god Ra and the living Horus. His duty was to keep ma’at by serving the gods in their temples. Hundreds of gods were worshipped, often as animals or with animal heads. The temple of Amun at Karnak was enlarged by pharaoh after pharaoh for about two thousand years. Chapter II · Step 3 #### Ma’at and the pharaoh - Ra The sun god, centred at Heliopolis - Amun God of Thebes; later Amun-Ra, king of the gods - Karnak Built over c. 2,000 years Sources: [Britannica: Egyptian religion](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Egyptian-religion); [UNESCO: Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/87/) ### The journey after death *Chapter II · from 2400 BC* Mummies, spells and the weighing of the heart. Egyptians believed a person could live forever if the body was preserved and the right rites performed. The Pyramid Texts, carved around 2400 BC, are among the oldest religious writings in the world. At first only kings could hope for eternal life. Over time, ordinary people could too, if they could afford a tomb and a copy of the Book of the Dead. In the judgement scene, the heart of the dead was weighed against the feather of ma’at before Osiris, god of the underworld. A heavy heart was devoured. Chapter II · Step 4 #### The journey after death - c. 2400 BC Pyramid Texts (pyramid of Unas) - c. 2000 BC Coffin Texts: the afterlife opens up - c. 1550 BC on Book of the Dead Sources: [Britannica: Egyptian religion](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Egyptian-religion) ### Akhenaten’s revolution *Chapter II · 1353–1336 BC* One god, for a short time. The pharaoh Akhenaten closed the temples of Amun and promoted the worship of a single god, the Aten, the disc of the sun. He built a new capital at Amarna. Some scholars call this the first monotheism in history; others see it as worship of one god above all others, centred on the king himself. After his death it was undone. Tutankhamun, probably his son, restored the old gods, and later kings tried to erase Akhenaten’s name. Chapter II · Step 5 #### Akhenaten’s revolution - **Reign**: c. 1353–1336 BC - **Capital**: Akhetaten (Amarna) Whether Atenism influenced later monotheism, such as Judaism, is speculative; most historians doubt a direct link. Sources: [Wikipedia: Atenism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atenism) ## Chapter III · Greece and Rome ### The gods of Olympus *Chapter III · 800–300 BC* A religion of festivals and sacrifice. The Greek gods, Zeus, Hera, Athena, Apollo and the rest, were like a powerful, quarrelsome family. Homer and Hesiod, around 700 BC, told their stories. Religion was about doing, not believing: sacrifices at altars, processions, games such as the Olympics held for Zeus, and questions put to the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. There was no church and no creed. For deeper hope, some joined mystery cults, like the Mysteries of Eleusis, which promised a better fate after death. Chapter III · Step 6 #### The gods of Olympus - 776 BC First Olympic Games, by tradition - c. 700 BC Homer and Hesiod - Delphi Oracle of Apollo - Eleusis Mysteries of Demeter Sources: [Britannica: Greek religion](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-religion) ### Rome: gods of the state *Chapter III · 300 BC – AD 300* Peace with the gods, and new gods from the east. For Romans, religion meant keeping the pax deorum, the peace of the gods, through exact rituals carried out by state priests. Jupiter, Juno and Minerva protected the city. Rome welcomed foreign gods: the Egyptian goddess Isis, the Persian-styled Mithras, the mother goddess Cybele. Emperors were made gods after death. Rome tolerated many religions, but expected everyone to honour the gods of the state. Groups that refused, like the early Christians, could be persecuted. Chapter III · Step 7 #### Rome: gods of the state - c. AD 113–125 Pantheon rebuilt - Isis Egyptian goddess worshipped across the empire - Imperial cult Deified emperors Sources: [Britannica: Roman religion](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-religion) ## Chapter IV · The end ### The gods fall silent *Chapter IV · AD 75–550* How whole religions disappeared. The last known cuneiform tablets, astronomical records from Babylonia, date to around AD 75. The old gods of Mesopotamia faded with the knowledge of their writing. After Christianity became Rome’s religion, Emperor Theodosius banned sacrifice and closed temples in 391 and 392. The last known hieroglyphic inscription was carved at Philae in 394. Philae’s temple of Isis was closed around 537. Historians point to many causes: imperial laws, Christian preaching, the decline of the cities and states these religions were tied to, and the appeal of faiths offering personal salvation to everyone. Chapter IV · Step 8 #### The gods fall silent - c. AD 75 Last known cuneiform tablets - 391–392 Theodosian decrees - 24 Aug 394 Last hieroglyphic inscription, Philae - c. 537 Temple of Isis at Philae closed Sources: [Wikipedia: Cuneiform (last tablets)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform); [Wikipedia: Philae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philae) ### Still with us *Chapter IV · today* Days, planets and stories. The ancient gods live on in words. In English, Saturday is Saturn’s day; the planets carry the names of Roman gods. The seven-day planetary week took shape in the Greek-speaking world, drawing on Babylonian astronomy, and travelled to India. Thai weekday names come from the Sanskrit names of the same seven heavenly bodies, from the sun of Sunday to the Saturn of Saturday. Stories of the flood, the dying and rising god and the judgement of the dead were retold, transformed, in later religions. Chapter IV · Step 9 #### Still with us - อาทิตย์ Sun (Sunday) - จันทร์ Moon (Monday) - อังคาร Mars (Tuesday) - พุธ Mercury (Wednesday) - พฤหัสบดี Jupiter (Thursday) - ศุกร์ Venus (Friday) - เสาร์ Saturn (Saturday) Sources: [Wikipedia: Week (planetary week)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Week) ## Epilogue ### Religions of place and power *Epilogue* And what came after. The ancient religions belonged to particular cities, peoples and kings. When those fell, the gods fell with them. Next: Hinduism, whose roots go back to the same ancient world, and which is still followed by over a billion people. Epilogue #### Religions of place and power - c. 3500 BC Temples of Sumer - c. 2400 BC Pyramid Texts - c. 1350 BC Akhenaten - c. 700 BC Homer and Hesiod - 391–537 Temples closed #### The series - **00**The Origins of Religions (overview) - **01**The First Beliefs - **02** The Ancient Gods (this film) - **03**Hinduism - **04**Zoroastrianism - **05**Judaism - **06**Buddhism and Jainism - **07**Confucianism and Daoism - **08**Shinto - **09**Christianity - **10** Islam (coming soon) - **11** Sikhism (coming soon) - **12** Spirits, Brahmins and the Buddha: Southeast Asia (coming soon) The still images on the chapter cards are AI-generated illustrations. Outlines are approximate. Sources: [Britannica: Mesopotamian religion](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mesopotamian-religion); [Britannica: Egyptian religion](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Egyptian-religion); [Britannica: Greek religion](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-religion)