FROM HISTORY TO PREHISTORY
A major reorganization of religion took place when large human groups developed a politically minded sedentary society.
In the first empires in Mesopotamia, in Egypt, in China, or in Mexico, the central government needed religion for political reasons.
In complex societies with a centralized government, the temporal centre of power found it useful to balance its authority with that of an esoteric “government” which established ways of behaviour and punishment of sins, and offered indulgencies to obedient and loyal subjects. Before the political use of religion within the framework of the first centralized states, Neolithic communities led a sedentary way of life and developed an agricultural economy. Both in Europe and in Asia, they displayed remarkable collective engagements to create structures and cult practices, investing time and energy far superior to what was directed at the economy and daily life. In many of the excavated archaeological sites the sanctuaries and other structures devoted to religious practices are among the most eminent and laborious monuments. In the oldest urban settlements like Jericho in Palestine, Qatal Hdyiik in Anatolia, or Banpo in China, the structures and the objects of cult demonstrate the major involvement in religion.In other Neolithic sites, megalithic monuments, such as alignments of menhirs, cromlechs and dolmens, are a testimony to major efforts devoted by early societies with complex economies to structures which had no economic functions. Apparently, the communal work offered by the entire society was a binding element as well as an element of social conditioning. Here again, beliefs and rituals, social and moral behaviour, seem to be the ingredients of the package. Major monuments - such as the megalithic structures in their various forms - are found all over the world in five continents, from China to the Near East, to Mexico, to the Pacific Islands.
More on the topic FROM HISTORY TO PREHISTORY:
- Bredholt Christensen Lisbeth, Hammer Olav, Warburton David. The Handbook of Religions in Ancient Europe. Acumen,2013. — 456 p., 2013
- Once upon a time, humans did not have to contend with violence beyond the hearth and their face-to-face community.
- Bibliography
- CAN REFUTATION BE FINAL?
- Urban African-American Religions