Thus the most important and intrinsic part of the Tennow has been to offer devout prayers to the deities of Heaven and Earth as the highest officiator in Japan. We can see many shrines all over the nation that dedicate ancestral deities of the Tennow, for example, Amaterasu-oomikami, Susanow-no-mikoto, Tukiyomi-no-mikoto, Izanagi-no-mikoto and so on.
Although deities of Sumer were rather world-minded and less sublime but bestowed sprit of the law on people, both of ancient Sumerians and Japanese considered that deities were related to good governments, fertility of agricultural products and wholesome orders of their societies. Thus, both of them dedicated something precious, or made offerings to their shrines and prayed to enjoy grace of deities.
Concerning the feature of Sumerian deities, Samuel Noah Kramer points out that the Sumerians cherished goodness and truth, law and order, justice and freedom, righteousness and straightforwardness, mercy and compassion[i], notwithstanding in ancient times. These moral qualities and ethical values would have been bestowed on the Sumerians by the deities, they believed. In this sense, the law of the Sumer was a kind of a sacred law.
[i] Samuel Noah Kramer, History Begins at Sumer, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1981, pp. 101.
It is meaningful that deities of Japan, especially Amataresu-oomikami, were not depicted as omnipotent as God of monotheism in Bibles be. Her influence on conscience of people seems to be similar to Jesus Christ who has saved people by scarifying himself on a cross. We can find a common motif, death and resurrection, between Japanese Myth and the New Testament rather than that of Sumer, in a sense of awaking to the inner voice necessary for outgrowing savagery.
As compared with goddesses of Sumer, it would seem that Amaterasu-oomikami in the Japanese myth has so composed personality as to interpret violent behaviors of Susanow-no-mikoto favorably and then to conceal herself in the cave instead of subverting him cruelly. Her virtues indicated in this story has exerted good effect on the Japanese and occurred to us some conscience for humanity, even though her attitude was rather timid and naive. For the Japanese, however, Amaterasu-oomikami has been a more ideal and innocent goddess, probably, by far than those of Sumer who showed activity.
Deities of Sumer, which was the oldest federal ancient empire located in the Middle East 4800 years ago, were regarded as those who would protect Sumerians against disasters and bring them bumper harvest ever year as well as the ancestral deities of the Tennow. Sumerians, who built some city-states alongside the Tigris and the Euphrates, also fervently prayed their deities, for example, An, Enlil, Ninhursag, Enki, Innana, for peace and order of their nations in their shrines.
Although Japanese has tied good governments and public peace with the ancestral deities of the Tennow, the Tennow has been inclined not to rule the nation and people as a secular person of power directly, but to reign them indirectly as a sacred officiator except times of some national crises and internal disturbances.
Judging from above-mentioned cases in the Myth, Japanese has revered the Tennow, because they has believed that the ancestors of the Tennow were deities who endowed people with peace and order, and that they would protect people against disasters and bring them bumper harvest even the present. Good governments have associated with the myth and faith through these ancestral deities of the Tennow since the ancient times.
Another case in the myth which suggests Japanese has ever respected good government is the motif of “Ama-no-iwato,” where Amaterasu-oomikami, the sun goddess, concealed herself in the cave with lamenting the wreak havoc on the Takama-no-hara by Susanow-no-mikoto. In this scene, deities and people grieved at the dark where any evil and vice were prevailing all over the world.
Considering from a political point of view, both of ancient Japanese and Sumerians seems to have had common sense that their nations ought to be governed righteously. For example, the reason why Susanow-no-mikoto, a cry-boy deity, was expelled from the Takama-no-hara was that he failed to endow people living in the nation with well-being and prosperity. On the contrary, Susanou-no-mikoto came to be revered by people later, because he succeeded to govern the Izumo-no-kuni well.
