Dog rider

Goddess Isis, "who was connected with water", riding on a dog and holding a sistrum, from the Iseum temple from Savaria, Pannonia Provincia (Hungary).

The dog is Sotis, Sirius star constellation. 

During New Kingdom period Isis took attributes of the Goddess Hathor, the Holy Cow...

One of them being sistrum which was sacred to Hathor...

Sistrum was a sacred instrument whose handle was shaped like a papyrus flower with Hathor's head...

Papyrus was sacred to Hathor...Because the flowering of papyrus announces the beginning of the annual Nile flood. I talked about this in my post "Holy cow":

Shaking of sistrum was supposed to resemble sound of the papyrus flowers shaken by the arriving Hathor (Flood)...

BTW, the reason why Hathor, the Holy Cow is depicted emerging from flowering papyrus, is because wild cattle calving season starts in Apr/May, right when papyrus start to flower...I talked about this in my posts "Lotus and papyrus", "Cow and calf ivory" and "Goddess on a horse"...

The link between papyrus and sistrum was pretty explicitly depicted on this chalice depicting a sistrum with Hathor's head on top of a papyrus flower handle and more papyrus flowers growing out it. 1070–712 BC. Currently in the Met Museum... 

And on this wall painting, from the KV1 tomb of the Twentieth Dynasty pharaoh Ramesses VII, depicting a sistrum with papyrus flowers growing out of it...

So Isis, "who was connected with waters" is carrying sistrum, sacred to Hathor, "who was linked to the Nile Flood"... But why is Isis riding on a dog? Cause the annual Nile flood peaks during Dog Days, end of Jul, beginning of Aug, when Sirius, Dog Star rises with the sun...

Why is the week around the end of Jul, beginning of Aug called Dog days? Why is Sirius called Dog Star? Cause natural old dog breeds mating season starts at the beginning of Aug...I talked about this in my post "Dog days"...

So Isis, "associated with waters" holding sistrum and riding on a dog...

BTW, did you know that Ishat (fire), the Canaanite goddess of fire and drought, was known as "the bitch of the gods"...Jul/Aug, the "Dog days" is the hottest and driest time of the year in Canaan...Same dog symbol, different hydrology, different meaning of the symbol...I talked about this in my post "Anat"...

Now interestingly, in Zoroastrianism, the Dog Star or Sirius, which is known as "Tishtrya", is also the Yazata (Divinity) of rainfall/fertility...Very strange considering that Jul/Aug is hottest and driest part of the year in Persia too...Well...I talked about this in my post "Tishtrya"...

This linking between Sirius and rain season is much better suited to India, where Jul/Aug, Dog Days, is he peak of the Monsoon Rain Season...No wonder then that in Indian mythology we find "Bitch of the gods" linked to water...I talked about this in my post "The bitch of the gods"...

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...

Cypriot stamp seal with cow and calf

Conoid stamp seal, Late Cypriot III. Cyprus (?), ca. 13th–12th c. BC. Currently in the Met Museum. Official description: lions (?) attacking a cow suckling a calf...Actually, this is a complex animal calendar marker, marking the beginning of August...

First, cow suckling its calf...It is a symbol for Apr/May, the time when wild Eurasian cattle start to calve...

I talked about this in my posts "Cow and calf ivory", "Foundation peg of the goddess Nanshe" and many others...

Apr/May is also the time when the wild cows began to lactate...I talked about this in my post "Dairy farming seal", about this 3200-3000 BC. Late Uruk-Jemdet Nasr period seal

This is also the time when the grain harvest starts in Middle East, Levant...And Cyprus...I talked about this in my posts "Bulls and grain bowls", "Hesiod on grain"...and many others...

So an important calendar marker indeed...Which we today know as Taurus, Bull, but which I always thought should have been a cow and a calf...I talked about Taurus and why this part of the year is marked by a bull in my post "Ram and bull"

Now summer (May, Jun, Jul) starts with calving of wild Eurasian cattle, and ends with mating of wild Eurasian cattle...Which is why bull has been the symbol of summer all over Eurasia and North Africa since at least Neolithic. I talked about this in my post "Symbols of the seasons"...

Autumn (Aug, Sep, Oct), starts in Leo, animal calendar marker which marks Jul/Aug, the time when the main mating season of Eurasian lions begins...

Lion mating season spans the whole of autumn, which is why lion has been the symbol of autumn all over Eurasia and North Africa since at least Neolithic...

Summer ends at the end of Jul, and autumn begins at the beginning of Aug. Symbolically, lion (autumn) kills bull (summer)...Usually depicted as a lion chewing on the butt of a bull...

Or in the case of this Cypriot seal, lion jumping on  the back of the cow suckling its calf...

I talked about lion killing bull symbol in my post "Under blazing Sun - Sirus"...

And in my post "Winged superhuman hero (Nergal)"

And in my post "Lion killing bull under date palm"

Do you see how there is a dog standing under the palm tree? Why? For the same reason the animal "attacking" the cow from the front on the Cypriot seal definitely isn't a lion...I think that it could be a dog...Viewed from the top...Why? 

Because mating season of the oldest domesticated dog breeds, begins during dog days, end of Jul beginning of Aug...

When our mythologies were made out of animal calendar markers, Sirius, the Dog Star rose with the sun during dog days...

This has been preserved in mythologies from Egypt, I talked about this in my post "Dog days", Mesopotamia, I talked about this in my post "Tishtrya", India, I talked about this in my post "The bitch of the gods", Levant, I talked about this in my post "Anat"...

So both lion and dog (both animal calendar markers for the beginning of autumn) attack  bull (animal calendar marker for summer) at the same time, now, beginning of August...

What about the fish? If this is Cypriot seal, then I would propose that the fish is Tuna...Whose mating season in Mediterranean sea peaks in Jul/Aug which is also the beginning of the main Tuna fishing season in the Mediterranean sea... I talked about this in my post "Tuna coin from Akanthos"...

But maybe I am wrong...You never know with these ancient artifacts...Maybe I am just reading too much into it all...

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...

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...

Lion killing bull under a date palm

Here's an interesting cylinder seal impression, about which I only know that it is from the first half of the first millennium BC and that it is currently in Louvre. I presume that it is from Mesopotamia...

The official description is "lion attacking bull"...That's it...That's it? Of course not...This is another complex animal calendar marker. This one telling people when to harvest dates...That's a date palm full of fruit on the right...

Late July and early August is date harvesting season in Iraq, when within the span of a few weeks the desert sun turns hard green spheres into tender, golden brown fruit prized for its sweetness...

So what's with the bull and lion? 

Well....

Bull is the most common animal symbol for summer (May,Jun,Jul)...

This is because Apr/May, Taurus, the beginning of summer, is also the beginning of the calving of the wild Eurasian cattle. I talked about this in many posts...

Like "Green pastures" about this plaque from Tel Asmar...

Or like "Butt chewing", about this plaque from the first dynasty of Ur...

Lion is also the most common animal symbol of autumn (Aug/Sep/Oct)... 

This is because, Jul/Aug, Leo, the beginning of autumn, is also the beginning of the mating season of Eurasian lion. I talked about this in many posts... 

Like "Canals", about the hottest and driest part of the year in Mesopotamia, Jul/Aug, Leo, when canals are repaired...See the sun god Shamash, standing in an empty canal, river bed, holding reed cutting knife, between two reed bundles topped by lions. Between lions means "in Leo"...

Like my post "Winged superhuman hero", about Nergal, the destructive sun of Jul/Aug, who was depicted as a lion, winged lion, lion dragon...

You can read more about symbols of the seasons in my post 🙂  "Symbols of the seasons"

Anyway, back to our seal with the palm...

So the end of summer and the beginning of autumn can be symbolically depicted with a lion (autumn) killing (ending) bull (summer)...Which is what we see to the left of the palm tree...Oh, "coincidentally", that is exactly when you harvest dates in Mesopotamia...

Here is another cylinder seal impression, Elamite (Iran), ca. 11th–9th century BC. This one is from the met Museum, and its description is even better: "Cylinder seal with monster" Disappointed face Of course this is a lion, marking date harvest time. 

I talked about this in my post  🙂  "Cylinder seal with monster"...

But what about the dog? Is that just a random detail? Have you ever wondered why was Sirius called "The Dog star"? And why were the hottest days of the year, at the end of summer, beginning of autumn (yup, middle of Leo, date harvest) called "Dog days"?

Because mating season of the oldest domesticated dog breeds, begins during dog days, end of Jul beginning of Aug...Right when you are supposed to get your butt up that date palm and start picking...

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

Sooooo...Complex calendar marker telling people when to pick dates. Eeeeeeee!!! What about the imp on the other side of the palm tree?!? I have no idea what that thing is...There has to be some mystery left in the world, right?

My question is: hasn't anyone before looked at this seal and wondered: why are all these thing depicted together? Is there any reason for that, any method behind the madness?

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...