Milne

Breana Milne

Ancient World History

Thomson
17 November 2016

Portfolio Reflection
Over the semester I learned a lot about different civilizations of
the ancient world and their beliefs, customs, and ways of life. There are
many different themes that influenced the ancient people in they way
they lived and behaved. Examples of these themes would be:
technology, politics, laws/ethics, art/science, economy, education,
military, and religion. Although each and every ideal previously listed
was very important in how a civilization is run and survives, but one in
particular had the greatest impact on how people contributed toward
society and that would be religion. Going through each module I saw
civilizations and empires that varied in such that some were strong,
powerful, and long lasting while others were weak and easily
conquered or extinguished. Through all triumphs, successes, and
defeats, every group of people I read about had some sort of religion.
Almost all ancient people believed in something (or some things)
greater than themselves. This belief and faith in a God or gods made

1 Without the morals and ethics taught and practiced by religious

people the world would be full with savages who believe in nothing but
looking out for themselves which is no healthy way to live.
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people behave differently because most religions have a code of ethics

that an individual will be rewarded or following or punished for
disobeying. In the chapter on the Greeks, the Ancient History
Encyclopedia stated that, Whilst the individual may have made up
their own mind on the degree of their religious belief and some may
have been completely skeptical, certain fundamentals must have been
sufficiently widespread in order for Greek government and society to
function: the gods existed, they could influence human affairs, and
they welcomed and responded to acts of piety and worship.

In

Christianity, people believe that if they Gods teachings then they will
go to hell after death. If they do as God wishes and do good onto
others and follow the word of God then they will go to the promised
land of heaven when they die.
Buddhism is based off of the story of the original Buddha
Siddhartha Guatama. The Chakra Healing page we were given on
Buddhism tells how Buddha literally means the "Awakened" or
"Enlightened One". The author says, Siddhartha observed the
suffering in the world and set out to find an antidote. Through
meditation and analysis, he attained an enlightened state of being that
marked the end of attachments (and therefore suffering), and
ultimately, upon his death, release from the cycle of rebirth
(samsara). Buddhists follow The Four Noble Truths, which provide a
basic guide for how to live in the world. This clearly influenced their

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society substantially. If all of the believers were following the same

guide on to live their lives that would make for a rather smooth running
civilization because people would be genuinely good to one another.
Unfortunately, peace and agreement are not usually the case in
religion. There are often disagreements in ideas of religion and there
are changes made and new branches of that religion created. It has
been seen all throughout history that large masses of people will be
taught the same things about a religion and they agree on most ideals
and traditional beliefs, but there are areas with large amounts of
disagreement that lead to people starting a different practice than
what they were originally taught. Christianity and Buddhism are both
good examples of split religions. Christianity has many branches split
off of the idea of God and Jesus Christ such as Roman Catholic, Baptist,
Lutheran, Protestant, etc. Buddhism has the Theravada, the Mahayana,
and the Vajrayanaas.
Just like all aspects in society, religion had its downfalls. There
were

religious

disagreements,

war,

public

shame,

and

general

intolerance but that also proves how it influenced societies. Some

empires would exile or execute people who did not share their same
beliefs. Although on a positive note, religion also brought people
together in a very powerful and spiritual way and that makes a
civilization strong as well. Criteria such as education, technology, and
military are extremely important in a civilization and must be efficient

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and organized in order to spread and survive but when all is wrong or
even well with all listed above people turn to religion to make life
decisions and be the person they wish to be and that is the most
influential of all.

Bibliography
1. Cartwright, Mark. Greek Religion. Ancient History Encyclopedia.
N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2016. This source gave me knowledge
about Greek religion and their gods, goddesses, and myths.
2. "Library." Buddhism Origins, Buddhism History, Buddhism
Beliefs. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2016. This source gave me a look
at the origin of Buddhism and Buddhist beliefs.