Land of Many Gods

Lot and Abraham’s family made an immense sacrifice by departing from their home in the ancient city known today as Ur. Only by understanding their native culture can one gain a sense of the great hardship they endured and fully comprehend the ideas presented in this article concerning Genesis 18 & 19. First, becoming familiar with the geography and physical landscape of the region is important as it greatly influenced the culture. History has generally offered Mesopotamia as the name of this land situated amidst modern Iraq and the area generally known as the Persian Gulf. More specifically, Lot’s homeland in southern Mesopotamia is known as Babylon, where the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers meet. Through many centuries, this land and its culture were shaped by three main groups of people known as Sumerian, Assyrian, and Babylonian. The Holy Bible states that Ur was the city of Lot’s residence (Gen. 11:31). Ur was then situated far closer to the gulf than its current remains exhibit, because, due to its location near the highly silting Euphrates river, it has experienced a gradual movement inland over the centuries since circa 2000 B.C.

In its ancient setting, Ur was situated in an ideal location. First, this major capital city had many canals constructed adjoining the Euphrates river basin area and the Persian Gilf waters which enabled great ravel, commerce, communication, and growth. The distribution of the Euphrates through these many canals not only improved travel and trade but also fostered a greatly enhanced ability to sustain agricultural production in the outlying areas of Ur proper. Irrigation from these canals sustained a wide variety of crops. Second, two natural harbors give Ur a strong shipping trade and outside contact with many cultures from around the world. Third, overland trade routes connecting East and West allowed this community to connect with distant inland neighbors. All of these factors resulted in Ur’s dominance and mutlicultural commerce and provided it with optimum growth at many levels. Thus, this preeminent city’s population of some 25,000+ thrived in this location.

In its hey-day Ur was a community of greater technological advancements than many would guess given its ancient epochal setting. Along side their ingenious canal system, they had a great understanding of construction for both home and business. Many of their buildings had running water, and the city had a municipal sewer system rivaling many modern third world cities’ accomplishments of today. Archaeology has shown that many buildings had two stories and were air-conditioned, which offered them comfort and ease in their warm climate. They also built libraries and schools of instruction demonstrating a high esteem towards education. A strong governmental structure also existed. As a result of this high technology and ideal location concerning trade, Ur was not some mere primitive society as many would consider at first glance. The progress and success Lot’s Ur achieved remained unrivaled in other cultures for many centuries to come.

Despite the business acumen and technology of Lot’s society, family and home were a main focus of the culture and society. The record of their high regard for the family unit and its place in their lives has been uncovered in many archaeological finds. Laws concerning marriage, inheritance and other familial considerations have been discovered. For example, under certain situations the common man was allowed to have more than one wife and/or concubine, especially if the first wife was barren. Larger families were considered a blessing, and most sought to attain a large family. The husband was the master and ruler of the family; therefore, everyone, except for other elder fathers, remained subordinate to the commands of the husband/father. Their system of arranged marriage and its many customs, which kept the wealth in the family, would be greatly frowned upon in our modern world. Normally, males married at about age 20, but their new brides were usually significantly younger, ideally near age 15. All men married. Only a severe disability or hardship kept a man from marriage. Their culture was so wrapped up in the fertility cult mindset of reproduction that marriage was a surety. Today’s culture in the West of men still remaining unmarried through their 30’s or 40’s and beyond would have been very out of place in ancient Babylon. However, forming a large family was vital to Lot’s culture and society.

The roles of parents and children in this family oriented society were very different. Most children were weaned from their mother’s breast by age 3, and the mother provided the early teaching and training. Once the sons reached age 8 or 9, the father tutored them in the family work and business outside of the home; meanwhile, the mothers and daughters focused on the homemaking duties. Sons were far more favorably prized than daughters were, as is the case still in many modern cultures of the East today. In Babylon, firstborn sons held a higher status than the other siblings did. In this culture (and in most other Biblical settings), special rights and responsibilities were laid on these firstborn sons when a father died. Firstborn surviving sons were given a double portion of inheritance along with the great responsibility of taking over as head of the family. Fathers held much authority and power over their offspring. Daughters were less valued and far less respected than their male counterparts. Women were the property of the men. Historically, Mesopotamian fathers were known to sell daughters into slavery if timely marriage arrangements could not be fostered within a proper family. Ultimately, daughters were considered possessions, as were women in general.

The traditional family was comprised of the primary husband/father and wife/mother core along with their immediate offspring; next, secondary wives/concubines (and their offspring) were considered to be extended family with very little rights or say in matters of the home. Often, multiple generations of sons and their families lived under the same roof (or adjoining buildings) under the subordinate authority of the head father. Strong bonds connected these core families, along with their extended families, to even more ancestry where many brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, and in-laws had grown into large families of their own. These multi-extended families are often referred to as clans and could number up to several hundred members living within a given clan. These clans were protective of each core and extended family within and relied on one another for a greater enhancement of respect and power in a local community. The larger the clan the greater the wealth and influence.

Interwoven through the above-mentioned historical aspects of the common family, business, and governmental society was the underlying thread that bound all these together; their spiritual belief system. Religion played an integral part in their existence relating to all aspects of family life, trade, and government. Their world epitomized the polytheistic system of faith. They had a god for every way and every aspect of their lives. Many have coined the term “land of a thousand gods” in their description of this culture. In Lot’s Babylonian system, the gods were the same as its forerunner system under Sumer; they simply had different names appointed to the same deities/gods. For instance, The Sumerian fertility goddess Inanna’s equivalent in the Babylonian pantheon was Ishtar, but both served the same function and ritual. Our English equivalent today knows this same goddess as Easter.

Their polytheistic system of many gods was represented by worship of the moon, the rising sun, heaven, mother, the phallus, the womb, eggs, sex, air, fire, wind, light magic, medicine death, rain, thunder, varying wildlife, varying vegetation (especially trees), war, primordial beginnings, the underworld, and etc. Many other unnamed examples existed as well. Icons in the temple, business, and personal homes represented these many gods of worship in the Babylonian system. Their icons came in all shapes and sizes. Some were carried around the neck, some stood erect near the hearth in every home, and some were enshrined in the business altars as the movers and shakers of their day wheeled and dealed around them in the commerce world. Others were toted along on journeys as people hoped for luck during their travels, and yet others were thought to aid in sex and kept near the beds of lovers. Scripture attests to the fact that Lot’s family was not only acquainted with these many votive trinkets but very much into this way of life at one time (Josh. 24:2). To have any part or parcel in the local community, it would have been incumbunt on all residents to abide by the worship of these varying false gods. Not honoring these many gods would have been highly disrespectful and ultimately unhealthy for the offender on many fronts. The very existence of their world demanded honor to the gods.

They believed their great advantage in wealth and progress above that of the surrounding nations was due entirely to their worship practices. The essence of their faith system revolved around the fertility cult. The two greatest cultic feasts were observed in the spring at the vernal equinox and the year end celebration during our corresponding month of late December. In honor to fertility gods, female prostitutes attended temples in order to provide sexual service to patrons. In many communities all women served at least once in their lives as temple whores to provide good luck for their country. Even their female royalty served. Each spring season these courtesans would serve by presenting themselves willingly as human sexual devices of sacrifice to their fertility goddess Ishtar. A paying suitor chose one, and, after their wanton devotion accomplished, they presented the proceeds to the temple priest(ess) and were free to depart. The belief was that this temple harlotry by all women would bring about great bountious harvests in their local farming community. In addition, it was thought each female would be blessed with a highly prized and coveted fertile womb as a result. Their winter rites included an all-inclusive drunken orgiastic ritual, which was ignorantly performed to aid in bringing on another growing season of much needed sunlight and longer days. Often during this winter event, the royalty and higher echelon served the lower class in the community through deviant sexual rites. At the end of the ritual, the orders returned back to norm and each lived according to their previous status. There were numerous fertility rites that were regularly performed through the year, but these were the most popular. Their world completely revolved around these celebrations and anyone not engaging in this way of life would have been shunned and considered anathema in the eyes of the local community.

The people of this culture considered their worship practices and rites, such as those listed above, to be responsible for the dominance and great wealth of their society. Any attempt to convince one in their culture that his mother, daughter, or sister need not whore herself out in the temple to a stranger in honor to god, home, and country would have been met with the same incredulity if one would tell the average person in our world that Christmas and Easter are not Christian. Their world was completely wrapped up in paganism with even human sacrifice having its place amongst the many heinous practices essential for survival of both the common man and royalty in their fertility cult. While Lot’s world was one of wealth and high technology, it was also very base, immoral, spiritually confused, and at variance in the grossest ways compared to the true worship of the Creator God of Lot.