Why So Many Gods?

 Mycenae was a location in Greece.  In fact, it was the location of the first Greeks. That was about 3000 BC.

The civilization in Mycenae was so religious.  They worshipped whom they thought were powerful, or fearful, or mysterious. They worshipped:-

ZEUS, the king of the gods.

POSEIDON, the god of the sea.

ATHENA, the goddess of wisdom.

APOLLO also known as PAIAN, the god of light, healing, music, and poetry.

HERMES, the messenger of gods.

ARTEMIS, the goddess of hunting.

HERA, Zeus' consort.

MAKA, the goddess associated with animals.

POTNIA, the goddess associated with agriculture.

DEMETER and PERSEPHONE, goddesses of food, grain and agriculture.

Wow, where did all these gods and goddesses come from!  The ancient Greeks had so many gods to serve! 

Abraham who served only ONE God, would have rolled his eyes in disbelief!

 

How Tall Is The Tower To Heaven?

Gen 11:4  "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name;  lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." 

That happened after the Noah's family flourished after the flood.  Probably around 2000 BC.

There were many other civilizations in that Middle Eastern region then.  There was Ur, between Babylon and the Persian Gulf.

The Ziggurat of Ur was built around 2000 BC by King Ur-Nammu.  This was not the only ziggurat in that region, there were other ziggurats besides this.  Seeing ziggurats around them, no wonder Noah's Israelite community wanted to build a 'Tower' too.  No need to consult God or to ask permission.  (By the way, 'tall tower to reach into heaven' does not literally mean so high as to reach heaven.  It simply means a very tall tower.)

This attitude is common in all humans - do what we think is right - just do it !

But God has His own plan.

(Note:  The best-preserved ziggurat is at Ur (Iraq). The largest ziggurat is at Choghā Zanbīl (Iran).  Another ziggurat, apparently of great antiquity, is located at Tepe Sialk (Iran). The legendary Tower of Babel has been popularly associated with the ziggurat of the great temple of Marduk (Babylon).