Drinking from the Nile

An Ancient Egyptian wall painting depicting a man kneeling under a date palm tree full of ripe fruits, and (seemingly) drinking water (from a river?)...

The tree is Zaghloul, or red dates palm, with fruits with a deep red to burgundy skin – resemble giant red grapes. They are native to Egypt and are synonymous with Egyptian autumn...

The harvest season for Zaghloul dates starts in September...

Just before that, while the date trees are still laden with fruit, Nile flood peaks...

I talk about Nile Flood mythology in many of my posts...

I talk about another tree calendar marker for Nile Flood, Sycamore fig, in my post "Sycamore tree goddess"

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...

Sabean bulls and lions

Copper plaque showing date palm full of dates, growing out of a lion standing on a pedestal. Dedication to the south Arabian moon god Almaqah, Sabaean, 1st c. BC - 2nd c. AD. British Museum. Date palm harvest starts in Leo...Jul/Aug 🙂 More in: https://oldeuropeanculture.blogspot.com/2021/10/lion-killin-bull-under-date-palm.html

I posted this a while ago and came across it yesterday while looking for something and while rereading it I noticed that the plaque was dedicated to the Moon God...

Veneration of the Moon God came to Arabia from Mesopotamia/Iran where Moon God Sin was the most important god of the pantheon. I explained why in my article "Mon good Nana Sin" about this amazing 2294-2270 BC Old Akkadian Cylinder Seal. This is an amazing seal, because it confirms something I suspected for a while, but wasn't 100% sure until now: why was the moon god so important to the people from Ancient Mesopotamia...

In short, for the lazy ones, I postulated that the god Sin was the god of the "Wet moon", upward pointing crescent moon, the moon of the wet, cool, half of the year (rain season) in Mesopotamia, Oct/Nov-Apr/May...

This is symbolically depicted using animal calendar markers on this Neo Babylonian, 625-539BC, blue chalcedony pyramidal stamp seal with a goat-fish with a rhomb before it and a crescent moon above it. I presented the fool symbolic analysis of this seal in my post "Chalcedony seal"...

For the lazy ones, Goatfish, the sacred animal of Enki, is a complex animal calendar marker for the wet season 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"...

Rhomb symbolises the womb of the Mother of Grain (Inanna/Ishtar) which produces food when "the seed of the Sky Father" (rain) fertilises her. I talked about this in my post "Rhomb"...

Rhomb is also a symbol for a date fruit. Date harvest season starts in Jul/Aug, in Leo, when Lion (autumn) kills (ends) Bull (summer) and lasts until Oct/Nov. I first encountered this symbol when I talked about date harvest in my post "Lion killing bull under date palm", but at that time I didn't know what rhomb means...

And Inanna/Ishtar was directly linked to the date palm precisely because the date harvest started in Jul/Aug, Leo...I will explain why later...

The rain season in Saba peaks in Jul/Aug, in Leo...Which was also the time when Sabaeans made pilgrimages to Almaqah's temple in Ma'rib to ask for his blessing of water...

Here is something interesting: Almaqah is commonly considered a moon god, but apparently that is not cool any more, at least according to Britanica:

"Garbini and Pirenne have shown that the bull's head and the vine motif associated with him [Almaqah] may have solar and Dionysiac attributes..."

"...He [Almaqah] was therefore a male counterpart of the sun goddess Shams / Ishtar / Isis, who was also venerated in Saba, but as a tutelary goddess of the royal Egyptian dynasty".

Eeeee???

Istanbul, Museum of the ancient Orient. Relief showing the standard bucrania with stylised greenery between the horns, two dragons and the desired result of the myth and its ritual, that is, the transformation of the sacrificed bull into sprouting vegetation/fertility...

Eeeee??? 

In ancient South Arabia, Almaqah, the moon god, was associated with bulls, which were considered sacred animals. Bulls were offered in sacrifice, and their heads "were linked to Almaqah's worship".

No one of course has any idea why and how...

Now look at this: As I said already, palm tree is a plant calendar marker for Jul/Aug, when Lion (autumn) kills (ends) Bull (summer). 

What is the best way to depict a dead bull? I guess like this: A Roman mosaic featuring a lion with the head of a bull, found on the floor of one of the Terrace Houses at Ephesus, Turkey...

I already talked about the meaning of the bull head in combination with a palm tree in my article "Date beer" about this 3rd millennium BC seal found in the Hurian city of Urkesh located in northeastern Syria..

Now remember Sabaeans made sacrifices to Almaqah in Jul/Aug, in Leo...When rains arrive to Yemen. Rains that make plants grow out of the cut off bull's head...

Oh, and grapes harvest in Yemen starts in Aug...After the bull's head is cut off...

BTW, those dragons depicted on both sides of bull heads. They are not there randomly. Jul/Aug, Leo, is the time of fire breathing dragons...Since (at least) Sumerian times. I talked about this in my post "Seven headed dragon", in which I explained why the dragon depicted on this Tell Asmar seal, dated to 2200 BC, has lion body and 7 snake heads.

For the lazy ones, cause snake is the symbol of sun's heat, there were 7 summer months in Mesopotamian calendar, and the hottest part of summer was Jul/Aug, Leo...

I talk about dragons in various Eurasian mythologies in many of my blog articles...

As for Ishtar (and her twins from Arabia and other parts of Eurasia), she is also associated with lions...I talked about it in my post "Silver seal from Gonur Tepe" in which I talk about this cool Silver seal from Gonur Tepe, Turkmenistan, dated to late 3rd-early 2nd mill BC. Depicting a winged goddess riding on a lioness...

For the lazy ones, Ishtar was the 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"...

I wrote many articles where I explained why "The morning star" is Sirius and "morning star" is Venus and how they are related and how they differ and why Inanna/Ishtar was originally definitely Sirius. You can start with "Sirius the mother of Venus". 

For the lazy ones, 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:

Sopdet, the personification of Sirius, was the consort of Sah, the personification of Orion. And their child was Sopdu, the personification of Venus, "Lord of the East" (Venus as morning star)....

For the Ancient Egyptians, the most important annual event, annual flood, which irrigated the land made it fertile, was linked to lions and lionesses...And Sirius...

I talked about this in my articles "Sphinx" and "Giza lioness" in which I give full symbolic analysis of the Sphinx mythology and its origin as Leo, animal calendar marker for Jul/Aug, the start of the peak of the Nile flood... 

All in all, very interesting...And suddenly few things I looked at before now make a lot more sense. Like this fresco from the house of M. Gavius Rufus in Pompei. The ruling Dionysus with the thyrsus, with Apollo/Helios in corona radiata, Aphrodite and other deities...

With dead bull's head, bucrania, at his feet...When does the grape harvest start in Greece/Italy? In Aug...After the bull's head is cut off...

And this 2nd c. AD Roman mirror of the goddess Diana from Art Institute, Chicago, depicting Diana sitting on a rock before a garlanded altar with a small herm, her quiver nearby...And chained bucrania which everyone seems to ignore cause they have no idea what to make of it...

Diana is Roman version of Artemis, the TWIN sister of Apollo. They are both linked with lions and Leo, Jul/Aug...When Lion of autumn kills the bull of summer. Hence the dead bull's head...

Apollo is directly linked with lions and sun in Leo, Jul/Aug. As a matter of fact Jul/Aug was the month dedicated to Apollo. 

IONIA. Miletos. Circa 340-325 BC. Drachm. 

Front: Laureate head of Apollo. 

Back: Lion with eight-pointed star above

This coin confirms my hypothesis that Apollo was Sun in Leo...Basically, Greek version of Mesopotamian Nergal...

I explain why this is the case in these articles:

1. "Palil". About "Palil" a nickname of Nergal, the terrible, burning, destructive sun of Jul/Aug, Leo...And about the origin of the name Apollo and its meaning...

2. "Lord of the flies". About Nergal and Apollo as "The lords of the flies"...And about Jul/Aug, Leo, being the peak of the fly and fly born diseases season in Northern Hemisphere...

3. "Lions of Delos". About the Lions of Delos, the burning destructive sun in Jul/Aug, Leo, and the fact that both Nergal and Apollo are linked to lions. 

4. "Apollo and dolphins". About Jul/Aug, Leo being the "best time to sail in Eastern Mediterranean", and the link between dolphins and Lions...and Apollo...

5. "Marble throne of Apollo". About snakes (symbols of sun's heat), dragons (symbols of burning sun's heat) and terrible sun gods, Nergal and Apollo who are dragons themselves...

6. "Apollo and Python". About why Python followed Apollo after his birth? Cause snakes are solar animals...According to the Delphian tradition, Apollo was born on the 7th day of the month of Bysios (Jan/Feb)

7. "White raven". About the black and white raven legend which is found in both Nergal and Apollo mythology, Egyptian vultures and the twins that guard the gates of hell. And some other weird stuff...

8. "Threshing floor of Apollo". About the threshing floors as solar observatories/temples, about the threshing floor of Apollo from Delphi, about Jul/Aug, Leo, being the holy month of Apollo, and about solar bonfires...

9. "Apollo the great archer". About why Apollo was the terrible "far shooting" archer...About arrow and bow constellation from Mesopotamia, Ishtar, Sirius, and Jul/Aug, the season of Perseid meteor shower...

10. "Apollo Sminthius". About Apollo his arrows that cause plague and peak infectious diseases season, Jul/Aug

11. "Apollo - Resheph". About how the transformation of Nergal into Apollo went through an an intermediary, Syrian god Resheph...

Artemis, the Greek Ishtar, was also linked with lions and was even called "lioness among women" by Hera. 

Boeotian stele, 7th c. BC, representing a "Potnia Theron", (Sketch) Athens, National Museum. Pic by Julianna Lees. 

I talked about this in my article "Silver seal from Gonur Tepe" and in the articles linked from it...

Anyway, that's it for today. I hope the above Sabaean artefacts now make a bit more sense...

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...

Potnia Theron

Boeotian stele, 7th c. BC, representing a "Potnia Theron", (Sketch) Athens, National Museum. Pic by Julianna Lees. 

Actually, I think that this is Archaic Artemis...Here is why:

First, "Potnia Theron" is depicted with what look like Fallow deer horns. Artemis was linked with deer and particularly with Fallow deer. I talked about the link between Artemis and specifically Fallow deer since Bronze Age in my post "Fallow deer"...

Second, "Potnia Theron" is also depicted standing between two lions. Which symbolically means "in Leo", Jul/Aug...I talked about the link between Artemis and lions in my posts "Artemis Orthia", "Winged Artemis"...

What is interesting is that both Eurasia lion and Fallow deer are animal calendar markers for Jul/Aug. This is because both Eurasia lion and Fallow deer mating seasons start in Jul/Aug...

Jul/Aug, the time of Apollo (the terrible archer) and his TWIN (!) sister (also the terrible archer)...As depicted on this Athenian Red Figure Style Crater made in 450 BC and currently located in Musee du Louvre, Paris...

I talked about Apollo, Artemis and lions (Leo, Jul/Aug) in my post "Silver seal from Gonur Tepe" and in my post "Fallow deer"...

Or maybe...Just maybe...This is Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis with the twins holding on to her waste...

But how would this fit into what I said so far?

According to Delian tradition Apollo was born on the seventh day of the month Thargelion (Jan/Feb), or, according to Delphian tradition, on the seventh day of the month Bysios (May/Jun)... 

But interestingly, for some (weird) reason, Leto gave birth to Apollo either "leaning against" or "clutching" a palm tree...

Why a palm tree? 

Cause date palm tree is another, this time plant, calendar marker for Jul/Aug first appearing in Mesopotamia. Date harvest season starts in Jul/Aug, in Leo, when Lion (autumn) kills (ends) Bull (summer). I gave full symbolic analysis of this seal in my post "Lion killing bull under palm tree"...

I talked about date palm as a plant calendar marker for Jul/Aug in many of my posts...

Very very curious...Did Greeks forget the birth month of Apollo and Artemis? 

Delphic calendar started with the month of Apellaios (Jul/Aug), the month dedicated to Apollo. Why?

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...

Fallow deer

Just came across this interesting paper which states that Fallow deer (both European and Persian) was part of the "Neolithic Package" together with cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs...

This means that Neolithic farmers brought these deer with them when they migrated, like to Mediterranean islands Chios and Rhodes. Interestingly, the deer taken to Neolithic Chios and Rhodes derived not from nearby Anatolia, but from the Balkans...

The paper then goes to say that it was specifically fallow deer, and not just any deer, that was originally associated with the cult of Artemis...

This is explicitly depicted on many artefacts, like this Boeotian red-figure calyx, dated to 450–425 BC, depicting Artemis riding in a chariot pulled by fallow deer does, currently in Louvre...

From the paper: "There is debate about the geographical genesis of the Artemis myth but the possibility she originated in the Balkans is given credence by the density of both fallow deer remains and Artemis-related paraphernalia depicting fallow deer"...

Further on, the paper, citing "Approaches to Artemis in Bronze Age Greece" goes to say that:

"In Late Minoan Crete (c.1550–1100 BCE), Linear B texts mention not only fallow deer but also provide the earliest reference to Artemis (10, 53)"

Hinting that the link between fallow deer and Artemis already existed in Bronze Age Crete...

Possibly this link also existed in Bronze Age Anatolia. 

This Beautiful Hittite, fallow deer shaped vessel, dated to ca. 14th–13th century BC, is currently in the Met Museum.

Along the rim of the vessel is an engraved relief depicting some kind of (religious) scene. 

There is an ongoing discussion about whether the sitting deity depicted on the stag rhyton is a god or a goddess, unfortunately the hieroglyphs above the deity's head does not help the discussion.

The current consensus leans favourably for it being a female. And I agree it is. Here is why:

Is this a dead fallow deer behind the seated deity separated from the seated deity by two spears? A dead fallow deer lying under a stylised date palm tree with a quiver hanging on the wall above it? 

This is why this could be interesting. 

First we need to determine which fallow deer it is, European or Persian. Persian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica) is today only found in Iran and Israel, but it inhabited parts of Anatolia, particularly the southern regions bordering Syria and the Levant, during the Bronze Age. They were widespread in Southwest Asia at that time and co-existed in Anatolia with the European fallow deer (Dama dama), though their distribution was limited by human activity...

Now the mating season of Persian fallow deer is Jul/Aug - Sep/Oct and the mating season of European fallow deer is Sep/Oct...

This would make fallow deer animal calendar marker for autumn, Jul/Aug - Oct/Nov, in Anatolia. I already talked about this in my post "Deer and bee", in which I analysed this Silver tetradrachm of Ephesos, dated to 390–380 BC.   

This coin also depicts a fallow deer lying under a date palm tree...Date palm tree is a plant calendar marker for Jul/Aug first appearing in Mesopotamia. Date harvest season starts in Jul/Aug, in Leo, when Lion (autumn) kills (ends) Bull (summer) and lasts until Oct/Nov. I gave full symbolic analysis of this seal in my post "Lion killing bull under palm tree"...

I talked about date palm as a plant calendar marker in many of my posts...

So fallow deer lying (dead) under a date palm tree is an animal calendar marker for Jul/Aug, Leo...

BTW, Leo (Jul/Aug), originally had nothing to do with stars either. It is the ancient animal calendar marker marking the beginning of the main mating season of the Eurasian lions. 

Talked about lion as an animal calendar marker in many of my posts...

Now fallow deer was directly linked to Artemis from the Minoan times. And Artemis is also linked with bow and arrow and lions...

I talked about this in many of my posts. 

Like my post "Winged Artemis", about this 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...Artemis in Leo, Jul/Aug...

Or my post "Artemis Orthia", about this drawing of an archaic carving of a chariot on ivory plaque from the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Sparta. The chariot is pulled by winged (solar) horses and is driven by a female (goddess?) charioteer. A lion is depicted lying behind the horses...Again, Artemis in Leo, Jul/Aug...

Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo, the destructive sun (dragon) of Jul/Aug, Leo, whose holy month was Jul/Aug and who was also linked to lions...Apollo...The dragon...This dude:

Marble Throne of Apollo, Roman, late 1st c. AD. Currently in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Whoever made this, knew who Apollo really was and wanted to show Apollo in his true shape (serpent, dragon), sitting on his throne. 

I talked about Apollo, the god of the sun in Leo, Jul/Aug, the Greek equivalent of Mesopotamian Nergal, in this series of posts: "Palil", "Lord of the flies", "Lions of Delos", "Apollo and dolphins", "Marble throne of Apollo", "Apollo and Python", "White raven", "Threshing floor of Apollo", "Apollo the great archer", "Apollo Sminthius"

Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo, who was also the terrifying archer of whom it is said: 

"I will remember and not be unmindful of Apollo who shoots afar. As he goes through the house of Zeus, the gods tremble before him and all spring up from their seats when he draws near, as he bends his bright bow..."

Artemis, the feared archer herself, and the girl whom Hera accuses of being "a lioness between women"...Strange...But familiar? At least it should be...Ever heard of the Lioness of heaven? Ishtar? This girl...

I talked about her in my posts "Gisgis relief", "Sirius the mother of Venus", "Apocalypse", "The brightest star", "Inana and Šukaletuda"...

Artemis, who liked showing off by holding two lions, like on this Ancient Greek jug from Louvre, dated to 560-550 BC...

BTW, between two lions means "In Leo"...Oh and do you see how she is flanked by two spear men (two spears)?

The reason why Artemis is standing in Leo, Jul/Aug, is because Artemis is just another name for the ancient Archer Warrior Goddess, Ishtar...Deified Sirius in Leo, Jul/Aug...

For those who will say "Ishtar was the morning star", yes she was, in Leo (Jul/Aug), when Sirius rose in the morning with the sun...Which is why Ishtar stands on a lion (with sun above the lion) and why Ishtar is known as "The Lioness of heaven"...

For those who will still say Ishtar is Venus and not Sirius. This post, "Sirius the mother of Venus", and linked articles might be of interest: 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 mythology. 

Meet Sopdet...

Sopdet, the personification of Sirius, was the consort of Sah, the personification of Orion. And their child was Sopdu, the personification of Venus, "Lord of the East" (Venus as morning star)....

Ta Ta Taaaaaaa!!!!

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...

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...

Now knowing all this might help us determine who is actually sitting goddess depicted on our Hittite rhyton...I think it is most likely some Hittite version of Ishtar/Astarte/Asherah/Artemis...

One other thing. I presume the bird sitting on the hand of the seated deity is a Peregrine falcon. 

Peregrine falcons migrate over Turkey, following mapped bird migration route used by all the birds migrating over Turkey, northwards in Apr/May/June and southwards in Sep/Oct/Nov.

Interesting, right? The deity standing on the stag is also holding a peregrine falcon...

This means that all the animal calendar markers depicted on this image point at Aug/Sep/Oct...So who is sitting pretty in Sep sipping (what?)...

The grape harvest season in Anatolia, Turkey, generally falls in Aug/Sep/Oct...

BTW, do you see the mushroom shaped thingy in front of the seated deity? The main mushroom season in Anatolia and across Turkey is autumn, specifically Sep/Oct/Nov...How interesting...

Now this is climate chart for Çorum province, the old Hittite heartland. The autumn rains arrive in Sep/Oct/Nov...

Interesting, right? Considering that there is a guy pouring water libation in front of the god standing on a stag and holding a peregrine falcon...

To read 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...