Product upload 2: Section 5 (Religion)

Section 5: And he cast his stone....
Religion is a big part of the D&D world, with fake gods provided and free reign for a DM to create his own. A setting based off of a historical Bronze Age society may want to have a pantheon inspired by or relevant to the real pantheons of the Bronze Age. Here, you are mercifully lucky, as the pantheons of several of the most influential kingdoms are well known.

The Mycenaean Greeks were Greeks, and worshiped the same core gods as their classical successors. The fuzzy line between Mycenaean myths and later myths means that you can probably feel free to incorporate as much of it as needed for your campaign. Alternately, you can create a new pantheon of your own choosing and work it in...Mycenaean Greece is old enough and alien enough that a fantasy pantheon won't break suspension of disbelief, especially in a campaign where the names of societies are changed from those they are influenced by (and hopefully that will be all campaigns: keeping the names kills the mystery of the campaign and needlessly confines your artistic license).

The Egyptian religion is a bit more tricky, but again we catch a break. The period of Egyptian history actually thought of as “Egyptian” is almost entirely Bronze Age, and the changes in Egyptian religion are probably not too difficult to understand. You can use the later Egyptian pantheon with familiar figures- Isis, Osiris, Anubis, Horus, etc.,. If you with to create an older atmosphere or the Egyptian pantheon is unappealing to you, consider the older gods of Aten, Amun-Re, and the cult of the Pharoh himself. Saving the Sphinx is a Nova PBS production that includes among other things fascinating information about a truly archaic religious symbol of Egypt, which could be useful if you want to take your campaign in a more primitive direction than the Late Bronze Age.

Canaanite religion had it's own pantheon, with powerful El at the head. You are mostly on your own when it comes to the pre-Israelite religion (though information exists and should not be too difficult to come by). The 1st Millennium BCE saw an amazing change in Canaan: a minor southern storm god, Yahu, was elevated through the ranks as principal god. Over the course of centuries, a battle was fought to elevate Yahu – believed to be now called Yahweh – above even this. The struggle to establish monotheism, a religion of one supreme god above all others, culminated in the conquest of Jerusalem by the ascendent Babylon and the rest, as they say, is history. This information is courtesy of the aforementioned Nova program, the Bible's Buried Secrets, along with other information. A similar struggle would make an excellent campaign backdrop.

Mesopotamia has a pantheon of their own as well, mostly relating to the Epic of Gilgamesh. Sadly, I have no research and no background knowledge of Mesopotamian religion beyond Gilgamesh and you will have to make your own decision about how to integrate such religions into your campaign.

The Hittite empire is trickier still. The King was head of the religion and appointed servant of the gods. I didn't reach this point in the book, but a significant amount of information exists in Life and Society in the Hittite World.

Religion plays a complex role in history. As a cultural binding agent, moral force, and deeply personal relationship with a being or beings beyond this world, it escapes easy definition and can play a nuanced role in your campaign. However, you should decide in advance whether you are going to continue the traditional D&D practice of treating gods as apparently real and active in the world through granting of spells and the like, or, as on Earth, the actions of God or gods will be subject to dispute and questioning.