A toast to Inanna

A small lapis lazuli disc, 2100-1900 BC, Trans-Elamite period, Southeastern Iran. Currently in Louvre...

What does it depict? Some say "a pair of lovers sharing a drink"...I would disagree. Here is why:

One side of the disc depicts a bare chested woman seating on a stool. She wears a skirt with a hatching pattern. Facing her, a kneeling bare chested man wearing a plain skirt who presents her with a cup...

Crescent moon and star above...

The other side of the disc depicts the man, now seating on a stool. Facing him is the same woman, kneeling on the ground and drinking from the same cup...

Star and crescent moon above...

Now what is interesting is that as the star is always above the woman and the crescent moon is always above the man. Which I think identifies these figures as 

Star - (Elamite version of) Inanna

Crescent moon - (Elamite version of) Sin

Another interesting thing is that the man (Sin) gives the cup to the woman (Inanna) and that she then drinks from it...What could that mean?

To figure this out we need to look at the climate in Mesopotamia/Iran and the way crescent moon sets during the year. 

In Mesopotamia/Iran the climatic year is divided into a hot dry half (Apr/May - Oct/Nov) and cool wet half (Oct/Nov - Apr/May)...

During the winter, the ecliptic plane intersects the western horizon at its steepest, most vertical angle at sunset. Because a waxing crescent Moon follows right behind the Sun along this steep line, it sits directly above the Sun. This makes the crescent look like a upright bowl (the "wet moon") that sinks straight down into the horizon...

So basically, in Mesopotamia/Iran, the crescent moon points upwards during the wet season, the season which turns parched, dry wasteland into fertile grazing and farm land. This is why Moon god Sin was so venerated. I talked about this originally in my post "Moon god Nana - Sin"

BTW, Jan/Feb, when the Wet Moon starts approaching it's most vertical position is also the beginning of the snowmelt in the Iranian mountains...And snowmelt is the main contributor to the annual flood of Tigris and Euphrates...

I talk about the Wet Moon and why Moon Gods were so important in places where winter is the rainy part of the year in many of my other posts too...

Inanna was directly linked to land fertility, particularly with cattle, grain, date fertility. I talked about this in my posts "Inanna in Egypt", "Chalcedony stamp", "Rhomb", "Mother of grain", "Sacred marriage on the threshing floor"...and many others...

"Man — despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments — owes his existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains."

So, for (Mother) earth to become fertile and to produce grain and grass/cattle it needs (to drink) water (rain/snow melt). And I think that this is what is symbolically depicted through "the woman (Inanna) drinking from the cup given to her by the man (Sin)"...

I already talked about this symbolism of drinking from a cup in my post "Tulip goddess", in which I give symbolic analysis of this cool seal depicting a seated female figure (goddess? ) drinking out of a goblet - next to a tulip, bronze seal, late 3rd - early 2nd mill BC, (BMAC), Afghanistan. Currently in a Private collection Linenthal, San Francisco. Tulips as calendar markers for snowmelt/flood season in Central Asia... 

And in my post "Lapis lazuli water seal", in which I analyse the scene depicted on this amazing Lapis lazuli seal from the point of view of the local climate and animal calendar markers. The seal was made between 2400BC and 2000BC in Eastern Iran. Currently in the British Museum...

Oh and the fact that the disc we are talking about was made from lapis lazuli (water stone) is another indicator that the scene we are seeing depicted on it is not just a depiction of a couple having few casual drinks...

Tigris and Euphrates annual flood (fed by snowmelt caused by the sun) peaks in Taurus, beginning of summer...

So golden bull's head (sun) with lapis beard (flowing water)  

I talked about this in my posts "Shamash young and old", "When Utu steps up to heaven", "Problems of Abzu", "Butt chewing", "Maran", "Lyres of Ur", "Solar bull"...

So, to conclude, the disc depicts the symbolic drinking of the cup (rain, snowmelt) by Inanna (Earth) filled by Sin (Wet Moon)...

PS: The goddess is probably Proto Anahita who was linked to Isthar/Inanna. Talked about her in my post "Rainbows and peacocks", in which I provide symbolic analysis of this Sassanian dish, 400-600AD, Iran, Currently in Al Thani collection. 

Half way down the post you will see the same Elamite goddess in a skirt with a hatching pattern resembling sheep skin kaunakes holding a rainbow...Proving (at least) 3000 years cultural continuity in Iran...

That's it. To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...

Whore of Babylon

Whore of Babylon on the Seven-Headed Beast, Illustration for Rev. 17:3–8. From the Las Huelgas Apocalypse, ca. 1220

I love this. The Whore of Babylon (aka Sirius, aka Ishtar) riding (in the middle of, in Jul/Aug, in Leo) seven headed beast (seven months of Mesopotamian summer Apr/May - Oct/Nov), just before she starts rising with the sun before dawn (so still invisible in the day, red sky)...

I talked about her in my post "Apocalypse" in which I give full symbolic analysis of the Woman of the Apocalypse, described in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation...

The same girl...

The Woman Clothed with the Sun (aka Sirius rising with sun in Leo, aka Ishtar), an illustration from the Rothschild Canticles, c. 1300

The same girl again...

3rd mill BC Mesopotamian dragon has lion body (Jul/Aug, Leo is the hottest time of the year) and seven snake heads (one for each hot month of Mesopotamian summer, Apr/May-Oct/Nov)...Analysis of this seal dated to 2200 BC can be found in my post "Seven headed dragon"...

The "dragon" (summer) is depicted while his 4th head (4th month, Jul/Aug) is being killed (is in progress). To the left we see "The Lady" standing under a star (Ishtar -  Sirius)...

Why is Ishtar depicted standing next to the seven headed dragon? 

For the same reason she is depicted here standing on a lion. Cause she is deified Sirius, which rises with the sun (morning star) in Leo, Jul/Aug, the hottest time of the year. Which is why she is depicted standing on a lion with the sun above lion's head and is known as "The Lioness of heaven"...

For the same reason she is the one who sits on a lion throne...

I gave complete explanation of why Ishtar is Sirius and not Venus in this article containing full symbolic analysis of the Sumerian poem "Inanna and Šukaletuda"...

I talked about Inanna/Ishtar and why it was Sirius that was her original "morning star" in many of my posts...

You can start here: You know how everyone thinks that Inanna/Ishtar (Morning Star) is Venus and how I think that it was originally Sirius, and only later became Venus?

Well, it seems that Ancient Egyptians preserved the proof of this switch in their myths about Sopdet...

I talked about this in my post "Sirius mother of Venus"...

She of course has many faces and names...

Silver seal from Gonur Tepe, Turkmenistan, late 3rd-early 2nd mill BC. Depicting a winged goddess riding on a lioness...

Who could this be?

Well, of course, a Central Asian version of the "Lioness of heaven", Inanna/Ishtar/Asherah/Artemis.../Sirius in Leo...

I talk about this in my post "Silver seal from Gonur Tepe"

Back to the original Whore of Bablylon painting and why I like it so much. The same "two skies" trick was used here: Does anyone else think that this picture, allegedly showing King John on a stag hunt, looks strange, and may be hiding something in plain sight? No? 

Well I do 🙂 I explain why in my post "King John"...

In short, King John here is symbolic depiction of St John's day, Midsummer day, Summer solstice. 

White horse is a universal solar symbol. On this Celtic coin from Hungary, this is symbolically depicted through "solar rider", an anthropomorphised sun riding a horse. 

I wrote many posts about horse/equid as a solar symbol from Around the world. 

Horse is a solar symbol because horse fertility is governed by sunlight and peaks on Summer solstice. St John (day), Summer solstice is in the middle of the solar horse, going from red sky (increasing sunlight, before summer solstice) to blue sky (decreasing sunlight, after summer solstice)...

John is riding after (towards) a stag, (the symbol of) winter...

Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way...Bronze stag pendant with bell feet, early 1st mill BC, Transcaucasia or Iran. Currently in the Met Museum...

Stag is a symbol of winter because it is through the winter that stags have their full grown antlers. 

I talked about the stag as the symbol of winter in my posts "Winter deer"  and "Deer kills snake" 

What is very interesting is that deer antlers are fully grown in Sep/Oct, right in time for the start of deer mating season and the end of the horse mating season. The old antlers fall off, and the new ones start growing, in Mar/Apr/May right in time for the start of the horse mating season. 

This means that deer and horse are natural animal calendar markers for the opposite halves of the year...Which is why King John on his white horse will (symbolically) never catch the deer... 

So, (never ending) stag hunt..Talked about it in my post "White stag"...

If you are interested in reading more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, which are at the root of all our mythologies, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...

PS: Just came across this amazing painting: The woman clothed with the sun and the seven-headed dragon, c. 1360-70 by Giusto di Giovanni de Menabuoi.

Which is, I think, much better viewed like this...

The Woman clothed with the sun - Sirius rising with the sun in Jul/Aug, the middle, the hottest part of the Mesopotamian summer which lasts seven months...

The Dragon - Nergal, The Destructive Sun (God) Shamash...The God whose seat is in Jul/Aug, the middle, the hottest part of the Mesopotamian summer which lasts seven months...Whose main head is the middle head of the seven headed dragon...

This guy...

Silver seal from Gonur Tepe

Silver seal from Gonur Tepe, Turkmenistan, late 3rd-early 2nd mill BC. Depicting a winged goddess riding on a lioness...

Who could this be?

Well, of course, a Central Asian version of the "Lioness of heaven", Inanna/Ishtar/Asherah/Artemis.../Sirius in Leo...

This seal has a sister: Golden seal with winged goddess standing between the lions, found in ancient Bactria, Turkmenistan, dated 2000 BC.

Here is Inanna/Ishtar, deified Sirius, which rises with the sun (morning star) in Leo, Jul/Aug, the hottest time of the year. Which is why she is depicted standing on a lion with the sun above lion's head and is known as "The Lioness of heaven"...

Inanna/Ishtar, the one who sits on a lion throne...

I talked about Inanna/Ishtar and why it was Sirius that was her original "morning star" in many of my posts...

You can start here: You know how everyone thinks that Inanna/Ishtar (Morning Star) is Venus and how I think that it was originally Sirius, and only later became Venus?

Well, it seems that Ancient Egyptians preserved the proof of this switch in their myths about Sopdet...

I talked about this in my post "Sirius mother of Venus"...

Asherah too was often associated with lions. Here she is, depicted standing between two lions on the 10th c. BC Ta'anakh cult stand...

Between lions has the same meaning as on a lion: in Leo, Jul/Aug. Lion marks the period Jul/Aug, because this is when the main mating season of Eurasian lions starts...

Talked about lion as an animal calendar marker for Jul/Aug in many of my posts...

Interestingly, Asherah was also known as the "lady of the serpent"...

Why would that be?

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)...

Which is why snake is one of the main solar symbols. 

Which is why we have things like this: 4000 years old decorated standing stone depicting Sun god and his favourite pet animals, snakes...

Early Bronze Age Okunev culture which flourished in the Minusinsk Basin on the middle and upper Yenisei, Siberia, Russia, 3rd and 2nd mill BC

I talked about snake as the solar symbol in many of my posts...

More specifically (and importantly), snake is a symbol of sun's heat. And it just so happens that Jul/Aug, Leo, is the hottest time of the year in the northern hemisphere.

Hence, in Mesopotamia, where climate looks like this:

We find Nergal, the deified destructive "burning" sun, was depicted as a lion man or a dude with lion sceptre...

Talked abut Nergal in many of my posts... 

And in Iran, where climate looks like this:

We find Persian kings obsessed with lion hunt. This is because they were reenacting the annual fight between the Rain season (Rain god) and the Dry season (Lion/Dragon) in which the rain god always wins...

The king here is not even depicted killing a lion. He is killing a composite animal calendar marker for dry season, Bull horns (Apr/May), Lion body (Jul/Aug), Scorpion tail (Oct/Nov)...This thing, Angra Mainyu...

I talked about this in my posts "Lion hunt", "The king killing Angra Mainyu" and "Angra Mainyu"...

Anyway, we find the same association between sun (gods) and snakes and lions, in Bronze Age Central Asia. A great example of the use of related animal calendar markers. Bactrian two side seal. Sun god with sun rays emanating from his shoulders (like Shamash/Utu), with snakes, symbols of sun's heat and winged lion, Nergal, symbol of hottest part of the year...

I talked about this in my post "Summer and winter BMAC seals"...

Here are snake and lion used in the same symbolic way in ancient Levant too...

This image is an illustration from "Yahweh and the Origins of Ancient Israel, Insights from the Archaeological Record" by Nissim Amzallag...

You can read full analysis in my post "Mystery seal"...

Of course, Sun (gods) liked playing with snakes and lions in Europe too...

God most high...  

Snake: Apr/May, beginning of the main snake mating season, beginning of summer. 

Lion: Jul/Aug, beginning of the main lion mating season, end of summer.  

And in the middle, summer solstice, sun most high.

I talked about this in my post "You will trample great lion and serpent"...

Anyway...

This is why Asherah is both the snake (sun's heat) and the lions (extreme sun's heat in Jul/Aug) lady...Inanna/Ishtar, the sister of Utu/Shamash.THIS lady (princess) standing under The Star, Sirius in front of the seven snake headed lion dragon:

In Mesopotamia, summer lasted seven (hot) months...Which is why local dragon (dragon = symbol of summer), had seven snake heads (snake = symbols of sun's heat)...Oh, and look, we also have dragon killer(s) and the princess 🙂...

I talked about this seal and another related artefact in my post "Seven headed dragon"...

This is the same Lady standing in front of the same seven headed dragon, much much later...

You can find the full symbolic analysis of the Woman of the Apocalypse, described in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation in my post "Apocalypse"...

Fire breathing dragon (symbol of extreme burning sun's heat of Jul/Aug) is of course just an old (symbol for late summer) snake (symbol of sun's heat). The force that steals and locks away the waters (causes drought)...

I talked about this in my post "Scaring off the dragon"...

In my post "Letnitsa treasure" I talked about this applique from the famous Thracian Letnitsa treasure, dated to the first half of the 4th c. BC, featuring a maiden (princess) with a three snake headed dragon, a common motif from Balkan (and not just Balkan) Slavic fairy tales...

Anyway...

Here is Asherah again, this time depicted as an "Asherah pole" between two lions, standing above the main gate of Mycenae...

I talked about why I believe that this is indeed Asherah in my post "Cup of Nestor"...

While we are in Greece, here she is, the same winged goddess with a lion. This time under the name of Artemis, "a lioness between women"...

Shard of a late 7th c. BC amphora, found on the island of Paros, showing a winged Artemis holding a lion by its tail and ear, surrounding by what looks like sun symbols, swastikas and crosses...The full analysis of this image can be found in my post "Winged Artemis"...

I talk about Artemis in many of my posts...

And again, The Lady of the lions and serpents. An archaic Artemis (Gorgon) dated to around 580 BC, as depicted on a pediment from the temple of Artemis in Corfu, on display at the Archaeological Museum of Corfu...You know extreme sun's heat in Jul/Aug, which turns everything to stone...

And here she is again, this time in Thracia, depicted on a 400–300 BC jug. Found in Rogozen, Bulgaria. We don't know under what name she was known there, most likely Artemis the terrible archer...I talked about this in my post "Artemis Orthia"...

Artemis the terrible archer was just another face of Ishtar the terrible archer. I talked about this in my posts about Apollo the Terrible archer...

And the reason why deified Sirius goddesses are archers is this: In Mesopotamia, Sirius was seen as an arrow and the surrounding stars were seen as a bow...And they were stars of Jun/Jul/Aug...

I already talked about this in my post "The brightest star" about the link between Sirius and Inanna...

So Jul/Aug, the time of the year ruled by Nergal/Apollo, and his twin sister Ishtar/Artemis is the time when Sirius (bow and arrow) rises with the sun...

Remember, Apollo was feared archer too. I talked about this in my post "Apollo the great archer" and "Apollo Sminthius"

But why did Mesopotamians see Sirius as arrow? Remember my post "Invisible archer"? If arrows are shooting down from the night sky, there must be an [invisible] archer shooting them from up there...  

This article was about Orion and Orionids meteorite shower. Orionids shoot down on earth during Sep/Oct/Nov. But there is another meteroite shower that rains light arows down on earth in Jul/Aug. Perseid Meteor shower...

And guess when this meteor shower is most intense? When the most light arrows are being shot down on earth? Right before dawn. You can even see them at dawn, together with Sirius and the sun...Destructive sun of Leo, Nergal, Apollo...

I talked about deified Perseids in many of my posts...

That's it for today. If you are interested in reading more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, which are at the root of all our mythologies, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...

But considering that this are the TLDR times, I don't have much hope too many people will read any of it...At least I had fun researching it and writing it...