Page 7 - Biblical Backgrounds student textbook

Ziggurat was a multi-tiered structure with a building on top. This building was a house. It was the resting
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place for the god of that ziggurat. The temple of that God would be nearby at the base. When the God
was deemed to “need a break” the image of the god would be carried to the house on top until it was
time to bring it back down. This reconstruction of a ziggurat makes the layout plainer. It is important to
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note that based on all that is currently known regarding the tower of Babel, it is almost certain that it
was a ziggurat.
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Religious thought in the time varies. One of the god’s names was Nanna, god of the moon. Nanna was
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the god Sumerians looked to for fertility and prosperity. This was an official god that was worshipped
by the religious structure and the government. There were gods that the state worshipped and there
were gods that individuals worshipped in addition to the state gods. It is likely that Abraham worshipped
many gods as well before Yahweh became his only God. Yahweh likely became the personal God of
Abraham when he was in Haran. Yahweh told Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the LORD said to
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Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be
a blessing. will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the
families of the earth shall be blessed.” Abraham viewed Yahweh as his personal God who would bring
him blessing. As a result, Abraham followed Yahweh without knowing where he was being led to. The
difference was that Yahweh would not allow His followers to worship other gods. We know throughout
the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, that the children of Abraham struggled to
comply with this expectation from Yahweh.
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Much more could be said, but let’s move on to the social and commercial backgrounds of ancient
Mesopotamia.

Social order in Ancient Mesopotamia:
In the time of Abraham families lived together in communities. Abraham traveled with his father Terah.
He is also seen as having his nephew Lot working with him until the two decided to part ways. Marriage
was important in these societies as well. As was true in many ancient societies, marriage was more often
a contract between families than it was an issue of desire between the man and
woman. We see Abraham use marriage in this way. The goal of marriage was to have
sons to carry on your lineage. Sons were educated, daughters were not. In school,
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students would copy lessons from their teacher. Many of these copied lessons have
been found in various archaeological dig sites. These students would grow up to
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work in a trade, as a merchant, as an administrator, a priest, a scribe, or what we
today call a government employee.

4 John H. Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the
Hebrew Bible, second ed. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group,
2018), 79.
5 John Holmes. Biblical Backgrounds Course Notes.
6 John H. Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament, 80.
7 Voss, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners and Customs, 10.
8 John H. Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament, 112-113.
9 Ibid., 72.
10 Voss, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners and Customs, 17.
11 Penn Museum. About Cuneiform Writing. https://www.penn.museum/games/cuneiform.shtml

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