Early Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia

Early Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia We can only speculate about early religion. When the ancient cave painters drew animals on the walls of their caves, this may have been part of a belief in the magic of animism. By painting the animal, the animal would appear; by painting it speared, success in the hunt might be guaranteed. Neanderthals buried their dead with objects, presumably so they could be used in the afterlife. By the time mankind was banding together in cities or city-states, structures for the gods- like temples- dominated the landscape. Four Creator Gods Ancient Mesopotamians attributed the forces of nature to the workings of divine forces. Since there are many forces of nature, so there were many gods and goddesses, including four creator gods. These four creator gods, unlike the Judaeo-Christian concept of God, were NOT there from the beginning. The forces of Taimat and Abzu, who had emerged from a primordial chaos of water, created them. This isnt unique to Mesopotamia; the ancient Greek creation story also tells of primordial beings who emerged from Chaos. The highest of the four creator gods was the sky-god An, the over-arching bowl of heaven.Next came Enlil who could either produce raging storms or act to help man.Nin-khursag was the earth goddess.The fourth god was Enki, the water god and patron of wisdom. These four Mesopotamian gods did not act alone, but consulted with an assembly of 50, which is called the Annunaki. Innumerable spirits and demons shared the world with the Annunaki.​ How the Gods Helped Mankind The gods bound people together in their social groups and were believed to have provided what they needed to survive. The Sumerians developed stories and festivals to explain and harness help for their physical environment. Once a year came the new year and with it, the Sumerians thought the gods decided what would happen to mankind for the coming year. Priests Otherwise, the gods and goddesses were more concerned with their own feasting, drinking, fighting, and arguing. But they could be prevailed upon to help on occasion if ceremonies were performed to their liking. The priests were responsible for the sacrifices and rituals that were essential for the help of the gods. In addition, property belonged to the gods, so priests administered it. This made the priests valuable and important figures in their communities. And so, the priestly class developed.

5 Simple Ways to Stay Productive and Reach Success

5 Simple Ways to Stay Productive and Reach Success When things go wrong, or just aren’t moving forward the way we’d like, it’s easy to point fingers. That guy didn’t do what he was supposed to. I was waiting for her to go first. I just didn’t have time. Yet in most cases, the obstacle to our success is pretty clear-cut: it’s us. Here are five ways to  stay productive and succeed.1.  Tackle Your Work ImmediatelyProcrastinating is so easy- it can be hidden under the guise of â€Å"prioritizing.† Human nature being what it is, tasks put off for â€Å"later† will always be theoretical, just out of the reach of the to-do list. Going ahead and doing something, even if it’s not terribly convenient or enjoyable, brings it back to being a tangible achievement. Think how satisfying it’ll be to check it off.2.  Embrace The Possibility of FailureSure, you might fail. Guess what? If you do, the world doesn’t stop. Don’t let your fear of failure or your intim idation dictate your next move, because you will absolutely miss growth and opportunities if you can’t even get started.3. Own  Your IdeasYou had the great idea to begin with, so steer it confidently as you bring it to life. You bring skills and a unique perspective to the table- so even if others are having trouble sharing your vision, that doesn’t mean stop. It means keep moving, adapt if necessary, and know that your instincts are valid. It’s okay to be confident in your abilities.4. Turn Fault Into an OpportunityAnalysis is good, finger-pointing is not. Figuring out how things went wrong should be part of any development process, but find ways to make that a constructive session. Ask how things can be fixed and what specifically you or a colleague can do to improve the result moving forward.5.  Continue Learningâ€Å"I didn’t know† isn’t an excuse†¦it’s a cop-out. If you don’t actively learn from everything going a round you, don’t be surprised if you’re suddenly feeling left behind as others around you grow and change and move forward. Similarly, learning from the past can keep you from making mistakes over and over or getting disappointing results†¦again.The good news is that if you’re blocking your own success, you can also be the hero for removing that obstacle. No super-strength necessary, just a willingness to keep your head up and be proactive.Read More at Lifehack

Riddley Walker and Enders Game Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Riddley Walker and Enders Game - Essay Example Locke. A name that was so credential to the population of the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 1600's. Locke was a great man who did many things for his country. "Locke is remembered today largely as a politic philosopher. He preached the doctrine that man naturally possesses certain large rights, the chief being life, liberty, and property." (pg.278, History at an Estranged Glance, by McCracken Phil & Dover, Ben, Your Momma Books LTD., Kandahar, Afghanistan, 2001) Locke influenced not only the people of his time, but many political thinkers in the years to come. "The American Declaration of Independence, clearly reflects Locke's teachings." (pg.278, McCracken & Dover) As well as a political thinker, Locke was also a teacher, preacher, scientist, physician, and confidential secretary to many important people of that time-frame. All in all, a very important individual in history who presented many valid points. Peter Wiggins may only be a young boy, but inside his mind is a vastly complex series of thoughts and ideas, limited to few people on the earth. "There are maybe two or three thousand people in the world as smart as us, little sister. Most of them are making a living somewhere. Teaching, the poor bastards, or doing research. Precious few of them are actually in positions of power." (pg.129, Ender's Game, by Card, Orson S., Tom Doherty and Associates Inc., New York, N.Y., 1991) Peter is an extremely persuasive person, and this is a substantial characteristic of his, which comes to play when some of his valid points are discussed and debated over in the international forum. "Peter was a master of flattery, and all of his teachers bought it." (pg.124, Card) Another characteristic which helps Peter along the way is his outstanding self control. Peter doesn't let his emotions get involved in his forum writings, therefore, making it more credible to others on the net, that he is an adult, not a child. "Peter was not insane, not in the sense that he wasn't in control of himself. He was in better control of himself than anyone she (Valentine) knew. Peter could delay any desire as long as he needed to; he could conceal any emotion" (pg.125, Card) Peter is, in fact, a child genius. Demosthenes, was a Greek orator who was born in Athens in 384 BC. He was an extremely accomplished public speaker in his time, probably one of the best ever in his country of Greece. "Demosthenes was the greatest Athenian orator." (pg.701, McCracken & Dover) Demosthenes' brilliant and controversial speeches did many things good and bad. His declamations often consisted of harsh words towards Philip II of Macedon, and the Macedon people, who were at the time, invading Greece's gold mines, and blocking off their grain routes. Often in his addresses, he would try to persuade the people of Athens to make a stand against the Macedons. " Throughout the 340's, Demosthenes continued his efforts to persuade the Athenians to take a strong stand against the Macedons. He continued to stir up opposition to what he regarded as Macedonian infringement of Greek liberty" (pg.701, McCracken & Dover) Many of Demosthenes' clever speeches, such as the Philippics, have been preserved, and are still debate d over today by scholars, and modern day philosophers. Valentine Wiggins, although a young girl, has

Week 5 Q 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Week 5 Q 2 - Assignment Example A normal curve shows that over a period of time, long term bonds will yield higher returns than shorter duration bonds because of the reduction of risks over a greater period of time (Bhole, 2009). An inverted yield curve shows that short term bonds will perform better than long term bonds and in most cases this is an indication of a coming recession. When the yield curve is flat it implies that there is a close relationship between the various returns over short and long term periods of time and usually shows that the economy of a given country is undergoing some sort of transition. It is therefore correct to say that an increase in the angle of the slope is directly proportional to an increase in the difference between the long and short term interest rates of the bonds. Below is an image showing a normal yield curve. The yield curve for the economy is a normal yield curve shows that long term investment s will most likely yield a higher return than short term investments over a period of time. Currently, the interest rates are very low and this is a bad situation for possible investors. The bank of England decided to hold its interest rate at 0.5 % given that they are not expected to change positively until sometime next year. However, there is anticipation that the economy will perform well in future particularly due to an anticipated increase in industrial production over the next few years (Dawe, 2009). This shows that in the future the interest rates are likely to increase. However, presently, the interest rates are very low due to the various factors in the economy. One of these is unemployment which is at above 7% and has been recorded at a high of 7.3%. The inflation rate has also slowed down to a low of 1.7% and this is the lowest that it has ever been since the year 2009. The interest rates are a major determinant of the direction in which our economy is headed. When the interest

Quantitative Marketing. Data Driven Marketing Term Paper

Quantitative Marketing. Data Driven Marketing - Term Paper Example Part ii One of the main concern that arises from this study is the fact that the sample is quite small considerate the size of the market that is being investigated. Given that the service bend sold is a product that can be sold to all people across the United States, taking a sample of only one thousand people may not have provided a reliable sample to represent the whole population that that is the target market. The other issue that arises from the survey is that it was not targeted at a particular market segment. In this regard, the results are not entirely reliable because some of the respondents may not have answered the questions with openness. To be more effective, the survey should have tried to narrow done to a specific segment of the market. This should have been done by identifying which segment of the market, depending on gender, age, or social class that the subscription would be most relevant to. This, combined with a bigger survey sample would have given a more reliab le result. Such a survey can be very subjective if the sample is not big enough and if the sample is not chosen correctly. This is specialized product and therefore doing a shopping mall survey is not the best way to get the relevant information regarding the market for the product because the sample was most likely contaminated by questioning the wrong cohort of respondents. The other issue with the study is that the demonstration that was given to the respondents was not enough and this could mean that they did not have enough time to process the product and make an informed decision. By this virtue, there is a high possibility that most of the customers answered the questions based on gut feeling. For instance, because they did not have enough time to understand the products, they were only concerned about the cost as opposed to understanding the products and then judging the cost based in value the product it is giving them compared to the cost. Phase II Given the elasticity of demand as shown, it would be better to decrease the price of the subscription to increase the rates of subscription. This would mean that the company would need to lower the rates of subscription to the lowest rate possible to increase the revenues through increased subscriptions. There is one special thing about the said product. Since this product is a content product which means that it will be affected by the Metcalfe law of networks which indicates that the usability or relevance of a network increases with the number of network users. For instance, in this case, the more the number of network users, the more useful the network will be and the more it will be able to attract even more subscribers thus increasing the revenues. As the number of subscribers increase, the company will be able to reduce the subscription rates and still make enough profits. The above recommendation is subject to whether or not the demand will continue to be elastic to the maximum or the elasticity of the demand will stop at certain point. If the demand is not as elastic as it is thought to be, it may mean that the recommendation will not be right and that a better pricing strategy would need to be looked at. At the same time, it is important to note that the there will be other factors that may arise as time goes by. For instance, if a similar product comes into the market, the competition will bring new challenges to the market. In this kind of a scenario, it

Intelligent Systems Assignment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Intelligent Systems Assignment - Coursework Example The neural networks aid in the relationship of parameters of the tumor with the profile of temperature over the breast model. There is a comparison of the obtained relationship to the one obtained by an element software (Bradbury 2007). There is a possibility of determining the parameters of the cancer with a five and ten percent random noise. With ten percent noise, the estimation accuracy deteriorates for tumors which are deep-seated. INTRODUCTION Breast cancer in women is common making it an international concern. Every year about two hundred thousand new cases are reported. There is estimation that more than one million women are not aware that they have the cancer (Bradbury 2007). Infrared imaging is one of the conventional ways that were used in the detection of the cancer. Abnormal skin temperatures may be used as an indication of benign tumors and cancer. The objective of the neural networks is to develop a methodology to be used in the estimation of different parameters of t he cancerous tumor (Kings 1996). The report relate to breast cancer and the different neural networks used in the methodology estimation. Demonstration of the methodology is done by the use of a simple model, in the illustration of the details and the involved procedures. Various conditions of the cancerous tumor were used to illustrate the neural networks generality (Millburn 2000). The diagnosis of breast cancer is a significant medical problem in the real world. An important class of medical science problems involves the disease diagnosis. This is based on various performed tests upon the patient (Rockville 2008). When there is an involvement of several tests, the final diagnosis may be obtained in a difficult manner, even for experts in the medical field. This has given an increase, over a few most recent decades, to diagnostic computerized tools (Hill 2012). This are intended to help the physician in reaching a sensible conclusion out of data confusion. Much research has been d one on medical diagnosis of the cancer. A learning algorithm combines annealing logarithmic simulated with perceptron algorithm and an accuracy of almost one hundred percent is reported (Hagan 1996). Breast cancer is commonest cancer type in women. Men can also get breast cancer, but this accounts for a much lesser percentage of all diagnosed cases of breast cancer (Hill 2012). Atleast one in every eight women develops cancer once in her lifetime, that is, if they live upto the age of eighty five. More than a half of women diagnosed with breast cancer are fifty years and older. The majority of the rest are between thirty nine and forty years of age. Breast cancer can easily be treated if detected at an early stage (Hagan 1996). It can be treated successfully before it spreads out all over the body. Nine out of ten women diagnosed with cancer, live a minimum of an extra five years if their cancer is detected early enough. Once the cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it becomes difficult to completely treat it (Rockville 2008). The disease can be controlled using certain method of treatment if it has already spread to other parts of the body. Initially, breast cancer develops in the breast tissue, in the milk ducts and in the glands (Hunt 2008). This cancer type is still considered breast cancer, even if its discovery comes after

Module 2 Case Assignment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Module 2 Case Assignment - Coursework Example This paper examines the strategic analysis of Kraft Foods Group using Porter’s five forces and PEST to examine the company’s external environment. Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE:KFT) corporation specializes in marketing and manufacturing of food products such as the snacks, cheese, beverages, convenient meals and among various types of the packaged grocery products. The company has its branches in approximately more than 155 countries worldwide. Its three main segments include; Kraft Foods Europe, Kraft Foods North America, and Kraft Foods Developing Markets. Kraft Foods Inc. is the second largest foods and Beverages Company in the globe after Nestle. Its brands includes: Nabisco, Oreo, and LU biscuits; Cadbury and Milka chocolates; Jacob and Maxwell house coffees, Trident gum; Philadelphia cream cheese; Oscar Meyer meats; Kraft cheeses. The PESTEL analysis is a sort of analysis that looks at the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal environments of the country with particular reference to a certain company (â€Å"PEST Analysis†, 2009). PESTEL analysis is presented below: The political environment favors the development and growth of the Kraft Foods Inc. This is due to the fact that the company has long been involved in the various community based and political initiatives. Some of this includes: supporting of the candidates that comprehends and appreciates the public policies that greatly impacts on the business, brands and the employees (Carnegie Research Inc., 2009). Additionally, the company Kraft Foods has started the political action committee called the Kraftpac that is aimed at making funding to the U.S. Federal, candidates, committees, and the state political parties. In strengthening its political base, the company also takes reasonable steps in making corporate contributions to the political parties, committees, and among others. Its key consideration for the