Echoes of Ancient Myths and Rituals in Contemporary Abrahamic Religions

Abstract

This paper presents some of the mythology of millennia-old ancient civilizations and the rituals which accompanied these myths before exploring the significant and essential resemblance to the beliefs of contemporary Abrahamic religions. One difference is that the latter have been granted a sense of sanctity, presented as uncorrupted and incorruptible and as divinely ordained beliefs which are entirely unrelated to their “pagan” precedents. The author explores this broader truth by investigating the similarities between the three Abrahamic faiths and a set of classical civilizations: the Mesopotamian, Ancient Greek, Roman, Persian, Chinese, Indian and Ancient Egyptian. Specifically, the author concentrates on a select group of rituals and myths which exist across this spectrum of belief systems: the Creation myth, the Great Flood, the Adam and Eve myth, circumambulation/ veneration, purification, and the offering of sacrifices and atonements.