Human-Bull hybrid

Human-Bull hybrid, Deity or a Priest wearing a bull skin and horns. I think animal calendar markers can help us figure out who is depicted on this Indus Valley civilisation seal from Mohenjo-Daro, dated to 2600-1900BC, now in National Museum of Karachi (inv NMP 50,214)...

I will propose that this is either Proto Shiva, or one of his priests...And here I why I think so...

Shiva's Vahana (vehicle) is a bull...

But why is Shiva riding on a bull? 

To find answer to this question, we have to look at the climate in India. 

Indian climatic year is shaped by the monsoon winds...

It is the summer monsoon winds, which blow from Apr/May to Oct/Nov that bring moisture from the sea, and cause monsoon rains, which fall from Jun to Sep...For instance, here is the annual climatic chart for Varanasi...

These monsoon rains are the main source of water in Indian rivers...For instance, this is the annual water flow chart of the river Ganga, at Varanasi...

Interestingly 🙂 river Ganga is said to come out of the top of the head of Shiva...Shiva, whose symbol is lingam, penis...So out of the top of which head exactly?  🙂 The upper one or lower one? Oh, Look! Ganga is pouring out of Shiva's head on top of a lingam...So symbolic...

Now even more interestingly 🙂 , this divine ejaculation (spike in water flow) of the river Ganga starts in June...The middle of summer: Apr/May, May/Jun, Jun/Jul...Summer, whose symbol is Bull...Summer which starts in Taurus...I talked about it in my post "Symbols of the seasons"... 

Why is this part of the year marked by a bull? Because Apr/May is when Eurasian wild cattle, Aurochs, started calving...Hence bull/cow and calf symbolism we find everywhere linked to summer...And water...

Like in Mesopotamia...I talked about this in my post "Shamash young and old"...

And Egypt...I talked about this in my post "Cow and calf ivory"...

And Iran...I talked about this in my post "Elamite water bull"...

And Levant...I talked about this in my post "Mystery seal"...

And India...I talked about this in several of my posts, starting with my post "Kharif and Rabi season"

Kharif (wet) season (May to November)

Rabi (dry) season (November to May)

Based on the data about Zebu cattle, I would postulate that the wild Indian cattle, Indian aurochs, the ancestors of the Indian Zebu cattle, probably had earlier mating season, which started at the beginning of summer, and peaked in Jun, at the beginning of the monsoon season...

So in India, bulls ejaculated their semen when monsoon rain (heavenly semen) started to fall and gather into swelling rivers...Hence Shiva, whose symbol is a lingam, penis, riding on a bull with Ganga pouring out of his head...

I talked about this first in my post about Ardhanarishvara where I explain the meaning of the union of Shiva and Parvati (peak of the monsoon season Jul/Aug) and their Vahanas (bull=summer=May/Jun/Jul, lion=autumn=Aug/Sep/Oct). I talked about this in my post "Ardhanarishvara"...

And in my post "Modesty" about Lajja Gauri. Lord Shiva and Lady Parvati were having sex. Just when they were reaching their orgasms, they were interrupted by other Gods...Parvati picked a lotus and covered her face. And this is why she is called "Modesty"... 

And in my post "Fig with bulls" about this Indus Valley civilisation seal depicting (the) tree (of life), flanked by two bulls, neatly arranged in such a way as to shape Shiva's trident... 

You know, bulls, rain, tree of life...

BTW the tree is The Sacred Fig... 

And so I would suggest that before Shiva became Shiva, God riding on a bull, Shiva was deified bull, and then anthropomorphised deified bull...

And his priests probably danced around every Apr/May, just before the beginning of the rain season dressed in bull skins with bull horns on their heads, pretending to be holy bulls of rain...

We have exactly the same behaviour in Arizona. Different horns though...Different climate, different (deified) horned animals, different horns...

Alósaka/Muyingwa were two aspects of The Corn God of the Hopi pantheon: The God of Germination and The God of Growth (of corn). To understand why The Corn God was depicted with wild sheep horns, you need to look at animal calendar markers...I talked about this in my post "Alosaka"...

And in Europe...Article "Goat in European culture" about Ibex goat as an animal calendar marker imbedded in in European cultures and mythologies...Again, different climate, different (deified) horned animals, different horns... 

And in Iran, where rains arrive when wild Ibex goats begin to mate, in Oct/Nov...This is why Ibex was venerated in Iran, and this is why it is in Iran that we find the first Goat man...The earliest transition from Goat of rain to God of rain...I talked about this in my post "Goat petroglyphs from Iran"...

What is very interesting is that animal calendar markers prove that Hindu culture is indigenous culture of India, dating back all the way to Indus Valley civilisation. It developed around local climate, animals and agriculture...And only makes sense if viewed as such...

Of course Hinduism contains various imported bits too, but the core, the oldest part, is indigenous...

You can find all the posts talking about animal calendar markers hidden in Indian mythology if you run this query on my blog...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…then check the rest of the blog posts related to animal calendar markers I still didn't add to this page, and finally check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am 9 months behind now...

PS: I want to thank Gabriella Brusa-Zappellini for drawing my attention to this stamp...