Lord of the flies

Beelzebub, the lord of the flies was identified by Jews and Christians with Satan...From בַּעַל (baʿal, "lord, master") + זְבוּב (zvuv, "fly"), appearing in the Hebrew Scriptures as the purported name of a deity worshipped by the Philistines in Ekron...

Wiktionary says this about Beelzebub:

"It's likely this was not the god's actual name and instead was a polemic against the deity, a derogatory term used by Hebrews for an enemy god, possibly by associating the figure with defecation (hence flies)"...

I will in this article like to argue that this was indeed not a name of the Philistine deity, but the deity's attribute...I will also argue that even though we don't know what Philistines called this deity themselves, we know who that deity was: Nergal, the destructive sun...I talked abut him in my post "Winged superhuman hero"...

Nergal was not just "The destructive sun of the late summer early autumn (Jul/Aug)", he was also the god of plague. As the God of Pestilence, Nergal set loose the plague among the peoples. Not a Biblical one...A regular, annual one...

One of his symbols was the fly, the insect that brings pestilence to whole populations...And in Mesopotamia, like everywhere else, the annual peak in the fly population causes the annual peak of infectious diseases that they spread...

And that peak falls in Jul/Aug, in Leo, the seat of Nergal, The Lion Man, the Destructive Sun of the drought season at the end of summer beginning of autumn, the god of death and disease, The Lord of Flies...

Here are some stats for you:

Blow fly and house fly numbers in Mesopotamia peak in Jul/Aug/Sep.

These flies transmit at least 65 diseases to humans, including typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera, poliomyelitis, tularemia...

Typhoid fever in Iraq is a seasonal disease, with the majority of cases occurring starting from Jul...

Dysentery and cholera outbreaks typically follow seasonal increase in water contamination starting from Jul with the peak in Sep...

The reason why these diseases peak in Jul/Aug, Leo, is because this is the time of the year of maximum heat and minimum precipitation...The time of the year when Nergal, The Lion Man, The Destructive Sun, causes droughts and dries up the wells and causes water contamination...

Polio season starts in May, peaks in Jul, Aug, Sep...

Tularemia appears to have a clear seasonal pattern, with most cases occurring in the summer and early autumn months, Jul, Aug, Sep...

All of these diseases spread by ordinary flies...But, don't forget Sandflies. 

Sandfly numbers peak in Jul/Aug...In Iraq, a bite from an infected sand fly transmits Leishmania infantum, the parasite that causes Sandfly fever. Symptoms include fever, rash, diffuse muscle pain, headache, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting...

Malaria Transmission is confined almost exclusively to the northern region of Iraq. The season running from May to October, with the peak in July and August...

And so...Back to our friend Beelzebub, The Lord of Flies of the Philistines...I Levant, the climate is very much the same as in Mesopotamia...And the lifecycle of the flies is the same too...Meaning the sick season in Levant is also Jul/Aug...The time of droughts...

That Beelzebub is indeed the nickname of the Destructive Sun God, who is also the god of plague, diseases, can be seen from the fact that there is an Ugaritic text which depicts Ba'al expelling flies, which are the cause of a person's sickness...

Ba'al being the Rain god, the enemy of the God of Death, Mot, who btw was equated to the sun...So, rain comes, the well water gets clean and safe for drinking again, the sickness season ends...

I talked Baal (Rain) - Mot (Sun) in my articles "The oldest Arabic poem" and "Anat"

BTW, if you are wondering why would people anywhere worship a god of death...Millennia of hardship, suffering, wars, deceases, droughts, deaths, destruction...

Ethnographer interviewing an old peasant woman, Serbia first half of 20th century.

Gran, do you believe in god?

Of course I do my son. Who wouldn't believe in god?

And are you afraid of god, gran?

Of course I am my son. Who wouldn't be afraid of an evil force? 

The same hottest, "driest time of the year = fly population peak = disease peak" correlation exists in Greece...Where we find Apollo, The Sun God, tho was also the God of Plague...And who was, possibly 🙂 derived from Nergal...Check my article "Palil" out for more details...

Greeks tell us that it is the rising of the Dog Star that brings sickness:

Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky

On summer nights, star of stars,

Orion's Dog they call it, brightest

Of all, but an evil portent, bringing heat

And fevers to suffering humanity.

This is the excerpt from Homer's Iliad. When this poem was written, Sirius, the Dog Star, used to rise in Leo, Jul/Aug, during Dog Days, the time of the year ruled by the Destructive Sun, Nergal...Apollo...

Why dog star? Why dog days?

Cause when our mythologies were made out of animal calendar markers, Sirius, the Dog Star rose with the sun in Jul/Aug, the time when mating season of the old primitive dog breeds began...Mythologised dog calendar markers:

Egypt: "Dog days", Mesopotamia: "Tishtrya", India: "The bitch of the gods"

Why Leo?

Cause when our mythologies were made out of animal calendar markers, Asiatic lions mating season started in Jul/Aug and spanned the whole of Autumn (Aug/Sep/Oct)...Which is why autumn starts in Leo (Jul/Aug). I talked about this in my post "Angra Mainyu"...

And why lion is the symbol of autumn...I talked about this in my post "Symbols of seasons"...

Basically, dog and lion are equivalent animal calendar markers, both marking Jul/Aug...The seat of Nergal, the god of death...Who was associated with dogs 🙂 But I will talk about this in one of my future articles...I think this is quite enough for today...

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...

Goddess on a horse

Gold plaque depicting a naked goddess on a horse. According to the Israel Museum page probably Astarte or Anat. Late Canaan period, 13th c. BC, Found in Levant, but made under strong Egyptian influence.

What is the meaning of this image??? And who is the naked goddess?

Have you ever heard of the "Mother-of-Horses"? A goddess found in texts from Bronze Age Ugarit?

Is this goddess standing on a horse the "Mother-of-Horses"?

Well, apparently, we still don't know if she was a goddess or "a symbolic entity representing a human’s concern for their horses"...

Cause the mentions of the "Mother-of-Horses" were apparently found "primarily in incantations against snakebites"...What does horse goddess have to do with snakes?

Well, interestingly both Snakes and Horses are solar animals, Solar symbols...

And so I would here like to propose that the "Mother-of-Horses" was just an epithet...Epithet of whom? Of the alleged Mother of the "Mother-of-Horses": the sun goddess Shapash, female equivalent of the sun god Shamash...

As I explained in many of my posts, snake is a pure solar animal. It is in our world when sun is here (day, hot half of the year) and it is in the underworld when sun is there (night, cold half of the year)...

Snakes are symbol of the sun and the sun's heat. They are also symbols of the beginning of summer, as vipers, the most common Eurasian snakes, start mating in Apr/May, beginning of summer...

So no wonder we find snake linked to the sun over and over again...

Interestingly, the key for understanding the link between snakes and the sun was best preserved in Slavic folklore (remnants of Slavic mythology). I talked about this in my post "Letnitsa treasure"...

What about horses? The natural breeding season of horses typically begins around mid-April and finishes around mid September...It is marked by wild stallion fights for mares...

Apr/May marks the beginning of summer, and so horse was used as an animal calendar marker for the beginning of summer...

I talked about this in my post "Trojan horse", "Unicorn"...

Horses sexual drive is governed by the sun and it peaks on summer solstice...I heard summer solstice was a big thing for sun worshipers...Hence horse twins marking the midsummer...

This is also why we see things like these: Bronze Age "Sun Chariot" pulled by a horse, Denmark 1400 BC...

Or why horses are ridden by sun itself, depicted either as a rider with sun disc with rays instead of the head, or as the sun disc with rays...like on these Celtic coins...

I talked abut this in my post "Hayagriva"...

It is not just horses whose mating season is governed by the sun. It's all the equids...Asiatic wild asses have the same mating season as wild horses, which also starts in Apr/May...At the beginning of summer. I talked about this in my post "Onager"...

BTW Equine gestation period is 11-12 months...Which means that the equine mating season (Apr-Sep) is also the equine birthing season...

And that season corresponds to hot dry half of the year in Middle East and Levant...Apr/May - Oct/Nov...The season dominated by the sun...

And the season which, as I already said above, starts with the mating season of most common snakes in Eurasia, vipers...

Hence the link between equids and snakes...

Remember this article, "Sun god from Tell Brak" about how old the symbolic link between equids and snakes is?

3rd millennium BC cylinder seal imprint found in Tell Brak, Syria, depicting a quadriga pulled by four equids, with a snake flying above it...

So, I guess, if you knew that the sun god(dess), the one that controls the mating season of horses (hence The Mother of Horses) was the one that controls the appearance and disappearance of snakes, you would logically pray to her for protection from snakes...I guess...

But the guys from the Israel Museum, Jerusalem say it's "Astarte or Anat". Well, It is definitely not Anat...Anat is the one that kills Mot (the hot dry season, season of the horse), and helps Baal (the cool wet season) get the throne...I talked about her in my post "Anat"...

She could be Astarte, cause this lady is linked with the grain harvest and storage season, which overlaps with the horse mating season...Levant agricultural calendar...

I talked about her in my post "Sacred marriage on the threshing floor", "Jerusalem of gold" and "Tishtrya"...

Now how can I be certain that the horse on our plaque is an animal calendar marker for the horse mating season? Because of what the goddess standing on the horse is holding in each hand: a papyrus and a lotus flower...

And these are very important plant calendar markers...From Egypt...

The water level of the Nile starts to rise when the papyrus starts flowering (Apr/May/Jun...) and it peaks when lotus starts flowering (Jul/Aug/Sep), during the flood...

I talked about this in my post "Lotus and papyrus" in which I analysed the "decorations" from this bowl whose base is adorned with a lotus flower and the body with a procession of cows, possibly symbols of the goddess Hathor, through a setting of lotus flowers. Egypt, 775-653 BC. 

The flowering seasons of papyrus and lotus demarcate the flood season in Egypt (Apr-Oct), the fertile season...Which is also the fertile season of the horses (Apr-Sep)...

Hence the goddess on the horse holding papyrus and lotus flowers represents period Apr-Sep...

BTW, I just noticed something...The Papyrus - Lotus bunch often depicted on Egyptian wall paintings resembles Ankh, the symbol for Life...

Life made possible in Egypt by the flood waters of the Nile...So Water = Life...

As depicted here: Chains of ankh (life) signs representing water poured over pharaoh Hatshepsut in a purification scene within the red chapel at Karnak...

You might like this article, "An-Ki, Ankh", about the (possible) origin of the Ankh symbol and its name...

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...

Anat

Anat was a Semitic goddess worshipped by the Canaanites & Egyptians during the Bronze and Iron Ages. 

 

Depicted as violent, delighting in war, she was also establisher of peace. She was also portrayed as highly sexual & fertile, but also referred to as virgin & maiden. Fiercely loyal to her brother Baal, she takes revenge against Mot, god of the underworld, for (briefly) taking Baal's life. According to the Ugaritic text, "She seized divine Mot, with a knife she split him...with fire she burnt him; with millstones she ground him; with a sieve she sifted him; on the steppe she abandoned him.."

She was imported into Egypt by the Hyksos rulers. So who was Anat?

According to old poems from the area, Mot was equated to the sun. I talked about this in my post "Oldest Arabic poem"...

This is the climatic year in Levant. You can see that it is divided into two halves: the wet season (Nov-Apr) and the dry season (May-Oct) dominated by the blazing sun...

In ancient Levant, the wet season was the time when Baal/Hadad ruled the world. But every year, in May, Mot would usurps the throne of Baal/Hadad, kill Baal, and turn the world into hell...

Mot had a brother, Yam, the sea god, also enemy of Baal. The seafaring season in Levant (Apr-Sep) corresponds with the dry season, the season ruled by Mot...Also with mating season of horses, which were the symbol of Yam. 

I talked about this in my post "Trojan horse"...

Anat "put an end to Yam, the beloved of El, and to other enemies of Baal including a 7 headed serpent"...

Interesting...

Like this 7 headed serpent (dragon) from Mesopotamia? Which has the body of a lion (Leo is the symbol of the the hottest part of the year)...And seven snake heads (snake is the symbol of the sun's heat, and 7 heads represent 7 months of the Mesopotamian summer)...With Shamash (sun god) sun rays rising from his back?

I talked about this cylinder seal in my post "Seven headed dragon"...

Who's the girl standing under the star, looking at "heroes killing the 4th snake head of the dragon with 7 snake heads"? Well Ishtar/Inanna of course...The warrior goddess standing on a lion...Under a star...Sirius rising with the sun in Leo...

I talked about her in my post "Ninshubur"...

'The yellow ones of Mot' Mot's henchmen who are slain by Baal/Hadad upon his return...Who are these "yellow ones"?

Look at these pictures: 

Summer (May-Oct), ruled by Mot, the time of death in Levant. 

Winter (Nov-Apr), ruled by Baal/Hadad, the time of life in Levant

Anat also kills: Arsh, a monstrous attendant of Yam, the sea god and "the darling of the gods"...Apparently his name means "towards the land"...Who is Arsh? Who does Anat kill? 

I would suggest that Arsh is the deified "etesian winds" season. 

The etesian winds are the prevailing annually recurring summer winds, blowing over large parts of Greece, the Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean. The name derives from the Greek 'etesios', annual. They blow steadily from northern to northwestern directions, bringing cold continental air and clear skies between end of May and beginning of October...

They blow from the north "towards the land" in Levant and Egypt...During the sailing season...When this "monstrous attendant of Yam, the sea god" is killed, the dry season dominated by the sun, Mot, ends too...And Baal/Hadad comes back to power...The storms and rains return...

Anat also kills Atik, the calf of El, and the enemy of Baal/Hadad...

The calving season of wild Eurasian cattle, Aurochs starts in Apr/May...

This period is marked by a bull, calf, cow with calf...Taurus. This is one of the oldest animal calendar markers, which is found all over Eurasia and North Africa. I talked about this in my post "Ram and Bull".. 

Taurus announces the beginning of the hot, dry season, dominated by the sun, Mot and the end of the cool, wet season dominated by rain, Baal/Hadad.

Anat also kills Ishat (Light, Fire) and Zabib (Flame) the Goddesses of fire or flame, the daughters of El, the king of the Gods and servants of Yam/Mot, the enemy of Ba'al, the storm God. Naturally...The fire, flame (heat) of the sun scorches the land and turns it into this: Mot's hell.

I love the fact that Ishat (fire), the goddess of fire and drought, is known as "the bitch of the gods"...In Slavic folklore, the hottest part of the year, end of Jul beginning of Aug, is knows as "kresovi" (fires)...This is also the mating season of the old Canaan dogs...

You know, dog days...When Dog Star, Sirius, rises with the sun...In Leo...Sounds familiar? 

I talked about this in my post "Dog days"...

Anat kills Mot after "seven years of drought"...This is a "poetic" version of "seven months of drought"...This story originates in Mesopotamia, and there, summer, dry season says  "In my working term of duty, which is seven months of the year"...I talked about this in my post "Seven headed dragon"...

Anat finds Mot, and cuts, winnows, and sows him like grain. Have a look at this:

Mesopotamian agricultural calendar. 

Levantine agricultural calendar. 

Mot's reign, dry season, starts with grain harvest, in Apr/May...In the middle of that period, in Leo, Jul/Aug, after harvest, threshing, winnowing, storing...of the grain is all done, Anat arrives...Mot's reign, the dry season, ends with grain sowing, in Oct/Nov...

Which is when Anat kills Mot and Baal rules again...For a while...

And you know what also spans 7 months? The time between the sowing and harvesting of grain. During which time you open 7 sealed grain storage pithos jars...7 seals...

Interestingly, the opening of the 7th seal happens in Aries, the end of the lambing season of wild sheep...So the lamb opens the 7th seal...I talked about this in my post "Seven seals"...

After Anat kills Mot and his goons, Baal/Hadad, the Rain god, ascends back to the throne...

Accompanied by his daughters:

Pidray - daughter of the mist, daughter of light (lightning)...

Tallay - she of dew, daughter of drizzle...

Arsay - she of the earth, daughter of [ample flows]...

Ybrdmy - she/he who serves up water...

How mythological...

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...