Religion has always been a central part of the human experience. As complex societies began to emerge, so did religion as a way of explaining the world and all that occurs within that world. It was a way to explain the unexplainable. From the time that religion emerged it has been used to justify wars, establish laws, determine politics and state building; the most influential religions of those being Christianity, Islam, Sumerians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Religion is can be a unifying concept like that of the Sumerians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, but is often just as divisive as people attempt to persuade others to their way of believing like the Christians, Catholics, and Muslims. Over time these religions have influenced laws, ethics, and politics, as well as caused wars or united a people. The first religions to appear were polytheistic or the belief in multiple gods/goddesses. Typically each god coincided with a specific aspect of nature. These gods were used to explain flooding and times of peril, as well as times of prosperity. The Sumerian civilization began around 5000 BCE and was one of the first complex civilizations to exhibit signs of a religion" (Mahdavi, 2012). As a polytheistic society they worshipped a god of heaven, air, water, and a mother goddess (Mahdavi, 2012). The Sumerians held several festivals and holidays to honor their gods. They built temples or ziggurats for them which only priests could enter. Because the gods were thought to control all things and only the priests could commune with them, their class became extremely powerful, a theme that would be seen throughout the future (Mahdavi, 2012). While the Sumerians were perhaps the first complex civilization to have a religion, they were not the best known. The Egyptian’s polytheistic beliefs were based upon those of the Sumerians. They likewise believed that the gods controlled all aspects of life. There were a multitude of Egyptians gods such as Set, Ma ’at, Isis, Osiris, Horus, and Ra, all of whom controlled certain aspects of daily life and nature. The Egyptians were the first to see their pharaohs as living gods or gods incarnate and treated them thusly. (Egyptian Religion, 2014). According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Egyptian’s used their religion not only for the gods but also for contacting the dead, rituals of magic, and divination. (Egyptian Religion, 2014) The gods also typically had cities or settlements that worshipped them as their patron god, which is a theme that is seen in later times with both the Greeks and Romans. The Egyptian belief in their gods and their multiple forms would infiltrate their architecture and art. The combination of animal and human form is pervasive within the statues built to Egyptians gods, as well as works of art. The gods of Egypt also played a part in the legal system, as priests would use oracles to decide matters of dispute. (Egyptian Religion, 2014) Egyptian beliefs would begin to influence other religions of its time and beyond. According the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Hebrew Bible was heavily influenced by the Egyptians, as Egypt was a central place for the Jewish people of that time. (2014) The myth of Isis, Osiris, and Horus have characteristics that are seen in the Christian story of the Virgin Mary as well as the Greek story of Dionysus (Egyptian Religion, 2014). The Egyptian’s polytheistic ways influenced many beyond their borders, including the Ancient Greeks and Romans who each had their own polytheistic pantheon. The pantheons may have belonged to two different civilizations but they were remarkable similar in size and depth. For each of the Greek gods and goddess, there is a Roman counterpart. The Greeks had Zeus as the king of Gods, while the Romans had Jupiter and the list can