Kassite seal (18th-12th centuries BC) from Syria. National Museum of Damascus. Not 100% sure about provenance, so any confirmation would be welcome. But I am 110% sure about the meaning of the symbols we see depicted on this amazing seal...
In the centre we have a male figure, wearing a long skirt and a horned hat (which identifies him as a god). Which god? Well, the same god depicted on this water basin from Assur: Ea/Enki. I talked about it in my post "Basalt water basin from Assur"
Enki is flanked by Apkallus, the holy carp (men) of Enki...I talked about them and what they represent in my post "Apkallu"...In short they are deified giant Mesopotamian carp, these monsters...Which every year, during the annual flood, swim upstream for spawning...Towards Abzu, the source of Tigris and Euphrates...And Enki, who is (in) Abzu...
On the water basing from Assur the water is pouring out of two jars in the sky, which represent rain clouds. On our seal, the water is instead pouring out of the two beaks of the two headed eagle which is depicted flying above the god...Why?
This is climate in Syria.
You can see that in Syria, climatic year is divided into hot, dry and cool, wet half...The end of the dry half and the beginning of the wet half is marked by the arrival of first rains, in Oct/Nov...
Rains arrive exactly when old world vultures start their mating flying routines...
Which from the ground look like "double headed eagle"...Hence water pouring out the the beaks of the double headed eagle...It's an animal calendar marker for the beginning of the vulture mating season and the beginning of the rain season...
Another depiction of this areal eagle dance which brings rain
Eagle dance...
Montenegro 1963AD
Syria, 1800BC
Eagle (vulture) couples dance above the mountains at the beginning of their mating season, which coincides with the beginning of the rain season in Fertile Crescent...I talked about this in my post "Eagle dance"...
This is why the rain (god) was in Mesopotamia originally imagined as huge black eagle, then as an eagle man, then as a man with a pet two headed eagle...I talked about it in many posts, this one "Mysterious creature" is a good starting point...
The water flowing out of the eagle's beaks is followed by two prancing male Ibex goats. Why? Well, the beginning of the rain season in Mesopotamia also coincides with the beginning of the mating season of the Ibex goats which live in the North-Eastern mountains...
Mountains which are Abzu, the source of the two great rivers. Mountains which are Enki who is (in) Abzu...Majority of the water from Tigris and Euphrates comes from the snowmelt from these mountains...
I talked about this in my post "Problem with Abzu" and many other...
Hence mountain goats of (rain) water depicted on the shoulders (slopes) of Enki/Ea/Abzu...Actually some people suggest that this god is actually Assur, and not Enki/Ea...Actually, they are both the same deified source of fresh water, under different names. I talked about this in my post "Assur"...
Some say that this is also Assur...Sure 🙂 Assur, the great imposter...One of many...
Why did so many Mesopotamian "Supreme" gods have an attribute "The Great Mountain"? Cause they all wanted to be Enki...But there is only one Enki, who is (in) Abzu, "place that is a big mountain"...All the others are just imposters...I talked about this in my post "Great imposter"...
"Abzu, place that is a big mountain, princely crown of the heaven and earth. To the lord Nudimmud (Enki), (give) praise!"
Enki/Ea, the god of sweet water standing between two mountains, with trees and flowers...Enki is identifiable by the fact that he is holding two jars from which a water is pouring out, and which are symbols of the source of Tigris and Euphrates...
Super important image...
So water flows through two great rivers from eagle / goat to fish...Here is why:
Goatfish, the sacred animal of Enki, the Sumerian god of fresh water, is a complex animal calendar marker for the wet half of the year in Mesopotamia...Between the mating season of wild goats and the mating season of giant Mesopotamian carps...I talked about this in my post "Goatfish"...
And the water out of Enki/Ea/Abzu/Mountains and flows towards "the tree of life" which in Mesopotamia is a palm tree, which grows out of the jar representing a spring, a well, an irrigation channel...I talked about this in my post "When Utu steps up into heaven"...
A date palm is also a plant calendar marker for Jul/Aug, when Leo (symbol of autumn) kills Taurus (symbol of summer)...cause this is when date harvest starts in Mesopotamia...I talked about this in my post "Lion killing bull under palm tree"...
This is also when the annual Tigris and Euphrates flood ends, and the drought season starts...
So this seal is basically a hydrological calendar for Mesopotamia, where significant dates are depicted using animal and plant calendar markers...
As always, so interesting. Any related thoughts about the biblical book of Jonah, wherein the prophet is sent to Ninevah after being swallowed by a "great fish" (a giant carp?).
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