Thread: "In the beginning, Agni burned all things, but at the insistence of Shiva, Brahma withdrew Agni, and instead created Yama, the god of death" from: "Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World, Volume 1" By Gaṅgā Rām Garg...
Very interesting...Because of this: Nergal, the Mesopotamian god of death, who "represented the high summer sun which scorched the earth...which hindered crop production"...
In Mesopotamia, Nergal is associated with lions (is actually depicted as a lion). Why? Because in Mesopotamia, Jul/Aug, Leo, is the hottest and driest part of the year. The time of drought. The time of death...
Why Leo? Cause the end of Jul, beginning of Aug marks the beginning of the Eurasian lions main mating season...
But in Indian subcontinent, Leo is the peak of Monsoon season...The wettest time of the year...
The climate in Leo in India is the opposite to the climate in Leo in Mesopotamia...Which is why lion is a negative symbol in Mesopotamia and a positive symbol in India...
So when is the hottest and driest time of the year in India? As you can see on the previous chart, the temperatures start rising during Jan/Feb, beginning of spring, and peak during Apr/May, the end of spring...This is also when we have minimum precipitation...
And the hottest/driest time of the hot and dry season, the time of drought, the time of death, is during Aries...Which is why, I think, Agni rides on a ram...
This is the time of the burning sun, sun's fire, Agni, "which destroys all things"...Remember, in Hindu mythology, Agni (fire) was believed to have three manifestations: Sun, Lightning, Fire...Which is why he had three heads...
So, Agni, in his "burning sun" form, gets replaced by Yama, the god of death, who is in the Rigveda, the son of Surya, the Sun God...Now that makes sense I think...🙂And Yama is also closely associated with Agni, who is both Yama's friend and priest...That too now makes sense...
All very interesting...BTW, Aries this is when Slavs celebrate Jarilo, Sun god whose name means Brightly burning one...I wrote about Jarilo in this thread
Jarilo, the dragon (symbol of the destructive sun's heat)...Like this Mesopotamian dragon, with 7 snake heads...Snake, symbol of sun's heat, one for each summer hot dry summer month...
Thread: I just came across this amazing object. I will give first the official description and interpretation...Then I will give my own...You can decide yourself which is better...
A Sumerian or Elamite Copper Bowl. Early 3rd Millennium B.C.E., H. 9.2 cm., D. 16.2 cm.
Official description:
"The cup was made from arsenic bronze and was cast in a mold. The relief animals could have been made separately and soldered onto the surface of the cup"
"The decoration is organized in two stacked friezes of animals going [in opposite directions]: the upper register is composed of three bulls separated by lions, while the lower register contains two ibexes alternating with spotted panthers [leopards]"
Thread: Fragment of a vessel with wheat stalks and a procession of bulls in relief, Late Uruk–Jemdet Nasr, 3300–2900 BC, Southern Mesopotamia. Why bulls and grain? metmuseum.org/art/collection…
Sumerian limestone bull cup with wheat stalks. Late Uruk–Jemdet Nasr, 3100–2900 BC, Southern Mesopotamia. Why bulls and grain? christies.com/lot/lot-a-sume…
Steatite bowl with bulls in relief (5 cm. high). Found in a house of much later (Persian) times; dated stylistically to the Jemdet-Nasr period, 3100–2900 BC, Southern Mesopotamia. Why bulls and grain? classics.unc.edu
Thread: Something quick between two football games 🙂 "Hestia, you who tend the holy house of the lord Apollo...come now into this house...having one mind with Zeus the all-wise..." Homeric Hymn To Hestia (perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?do…)
What does this mean?
Maybe the same thing as this: In Hindu mythology, Agni (fire) was believed to have three manifestations: Sun, Lightning, Fire...Which is why he had three heads...
Official description: Man in a chariot driving four horses; before him seven human heads and two birds; one other bird is above the two horses
Hmmm...
Quadriga in 2nd millennium BC Mesopotamia... Interesting...A man? Or a God? Like Sun god? They love horse drawn chariots...Why 7 human heads? Maybe 7 months of Mesopotamia summer? Why birds? Maybe cause migratory birds announce the arrival and departure of summer and Sun god?
Check this thread for lots more details about dudes riding in chariots pulled by pile of horses...And the link between horses and sun (god)
Thread: One of the 4000-year-old well-preserved wagons unearthed in the Lchashen village in the vicinity of Lake Sevan. Made of oak, they are the oldest found wagons in the world. Now on display at the History Museum of Armenia...
The wheeled carts were most likely invented in Europe. This is the oldest wheel in the world was found in a marsh Slovenia and is thought to be 5,150 years old...
That this was a cart wheel can be seen from the earliest depiction of a wheeled vehicle, which was also found in Europe. 5,500 years old, it was found on a Funnelbeaker culture ceramic vase from a large Neolithic settlement in Bronocice, 50 km north-east of Kraków, Poland...
Thread: A Phrygian type, late Byzantine helmet, found 3 years ago in Northern Serbia...
This is what the helmet most likely looked like when it was in use...
And here is a depiction of Byzantine soldiers wearing this type of helmet, from the 12 century incensory, most likely made in Constantinople and currently in St Mark’s Cathedral, Venice, Italy...