62 Early World Civilizations: Supplemental Guide 3A | The Religion of Babylon
Presenting the Read-Aloud 15 minutes
The Religion of Babylon
Show image 3A-3: Palace and temple
One day, Warad and his older son, Amur, were walking in the
vast city of Babylon. Amur said, “I guess Babylon is the greatest
city in all the world, Father. Just look at the palace of King
Hammurabi! 1 I don’t suppose any other king has a palace as
grand as this one. And although the city is busy and noisy and
dirty, our temples,^2 where the priests feed, clothe, and pray to
the gods and goddesses for us, are calm and beautiful!” 3
“Yes, my son,” replied Warad, “the temples are very beautiful.
And the priests in charge of our religion make sure the temples
stay that way. 4 After all, we want our gods and goddesses to be
happy. 5 Why, if the sun god grew angry with us, he might not
come up in the sky tomorrow.”
“Well that certainly would not be good,” Amur said. “Then we
could not grow food, or see each other clearly.”
“And thank goodness for Marduk, the god of our city.” Warad
said. “He protects us and makes sure that we live well. In return,
we must be sure to praise him and give him thanks for all he does
for us. Let us go and visit the temple of Marduk.” 6
Show image 3A-4: Amur and Warad looking at ziggurat
Amur happily agreed to go to the temple of Marduk, for it was
one of his favorite parts of the city. Even from a distance, they
could see the lofty ziggurat, rising up many feet into the air. 7 Its
wide steps climbed up and up to the small temple on top. Only the
king and the priests of Marduk were allowed to go up there, but
anyone could visit the base of the tower.
“Remember, my son,” Warad said, “there are many gods and
goddesses besides Marduk that we must give thanks to.”1 [Point to the palace in the
foreground.]
2 [Point to the temple at the
top of the tall pyramid in the
background.]
3 Temples were built to honor the
gods and goddesses; priests were
leaders who lived in the temples.
[Remind students that gods were
male, and goddesses were female.]
4 Religion is a set of beliefs. For
some, these beliefs help make
sense of their world and how to
live in it.
5 [Remind students that the
Mesopotamians were polytheistic,
meaning they believed in many
gods.]
6 The Mesopotamians had diff erent
temples to honor the diff erent
gods and goddesses in which they
believed.
7 [Point to the ziggurat in the
picture. Have students repeat the
word ziggurat and ask them to
describe the ziggurat. Make sure
students understand that the
ziggurat is the entire tall pyramid-
shaped structure and that the
temple is the part at the top.]