The ancient religions that have been described in this week's lesson originate from vastly different areas of the world. But in spite of this there are distinct similarities. One thing that all of these religions have in common is the idea of sacrifice, whether it be the sacrifice of personal belongings or the sacrifice of animals, or in some cases, humans. Something must be given up in order to please the higher power, so one can have a more peaceful existence. All of these religions stress obedience, whether it be to multiple gods, in the case of the Greeks and the Romans, or to one God, as in the case of Judaism. Even in the case of Buddhism and Confucianism, which had no deity, a level of obedience was expected of its followers. The rise of the majority of these religions coincided with the rise of their respective empires. As the Greek empire grew, Greek religious practices spread as well. The same can be said for the Romans, Confucianism, Egypt, Confucianism, Chavin and Olmec. But, there are some distinct differences. My conclusion is that each religion was in some way in tune with the surroundings and the environment of the civilization. It can also be said that whether or not the civilization was in constant state of war or in perpetual peace had an impact on certain religious practices. For example, the Greek religion stemmed from a people who were quite often at war. I believe this ties directly to how they viewed their Gods. Jews have suffered long throughout time, and some of their teachings focus on long suffering.