Was it actually a Hyena in this early Sumerian Proverb?

Well, that’s a shame, had hoped someone else may have found the topic interesting too…

So anyhoo, returning to the subject of the Labrys / Labrinth etc. “Dumuzi’s” peculiar –

“Turn my hands into snake's hands and turn my feet into snake's feet..."

- statement and wondering whether there may be some correlation within the context of Inanna’s metaphorical ‘boat of heaven’? While researching the ‘double axe’ and its wonderful myriad symbolism, there came a point where my pattern seeking mind started to find some interesting (at least to me) perceived correspondences.

In retrospect, also making Laura’s word play from this session notable.

Q: …The other thing I noticed about the word 'Isis' is that it can be slightly altered to make 'I Zeus.'

Finding it then quite the illuminating conjunction of ‘Zeus’ with the hourglass figure of the ‘Goddess’

In Greek mythology, the Labrys (also called Pelekys) appears as an ancient symbol linked with the Thunder God, Zeus who used the axe to invoke storms

Considering the geographical Minoan civilisations predating of Ancient Greece anyway… plus the ‘invoking’ of storms concept, theoretically, also seemed a feasible relationship between inclement weather and an asterism that continues to dominate the Northern winter sky.

Thus, the Zeus / Isis dichotomy (as related to ‘the axe’) then seemed compelling via the common thread of ‘Orion’, via ‘Osiris’, and once more ‘Inanna’.

Isis began as Aset or Eset, a minor deity, the wife and sister of Osiris, and mother of

Horus…while Aset was married to the hero Osiris, Nephthys, her twin,

was married to his counterpart, Set. This duality of roles and characteristics can be seen

in Jesus and Satan, but integral in one form in Inanna, Ishtar.

The Lamentation of Isis and Nephthys” text then standing out as but one of many examples where the celestial “who’s who in the zoo” appeared to not only be heavily derived from the ‘Inanna / Ereshkigal’ duality but also overtly tied to the rising and setting of the ‘Hunter’?

The below translation being from R. O Faulkner's work (on the Berlin Papyrus 3008), where among other things we find the ‘sister-goddesses’ calling ‘Osiris’ to re-join the living –

…You rise for us like Ra every day,

You shine for us like Atum,

Gods and men live by your sight.

As you rise for us you light the Two Lands,

Lightland is filled with your presence;

Gods and men look to you,

No evil befalls them when you shine.

As you cross the sky your foes are not,

I am your guard every day!

You come to us as child in moon and sun,

We cease not to behold you!

Your sacred image, Orion in heaven,

Rises and sets every day

A Sumerian influence then feeling rather overwhelming and perhaps highlighting further pieces (pardon the pun) that could be connected -Egyptian Abydos as one example;

1617174686884.png

Home to the Great Osiris temple as well as the Osireion;

Abydoss has revealed itself to be one of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt. It is the site of the pre-dynastic royal graveyard, which has revealed some interesting links with Sumeria; and of the Osireion, an enigmatic underground chamber connected to the Nile,
The Osireion is associated with Osiris, and the Valley temple to Isis, his consort, sister and mother. The Ghiza pyramids are cardinally orientated (equinoxially), while the great temples in the south of Egypt such as Karnack, Denderra and The Temple of Seti (Osireion), are orientated to the solstices. The symbolic act of unification was not only concerned with the physical boundaries of Egypt, but also the solar year.

Where again the Egypto – Sumerian correspondence contained an Osiris:Labyrinth correlation;

Strabo, who visited the Osireion in the first century BC, said that it was constructed by Ismandes, or Mandes (Amenemhet III), the same builder as the Labyrinth at Hawara...

The Osireions ‘connection’ to the river Nile was also about to get interesting (in a celestial sense) but before I start wandering… to get back to ‘Dumuzi’s’ peculiar ‘snake hands / feet’ statement. Originally within the celestial ‘Labrinth’ theory, that the asterism of the ‘snake bearer’ possessed not only an overt hand / snake relationship but also proximity to a ‘Bull’ (the now obsolete Taurus Poniatovii) and thus conceivably a ‘Minotaur’, had gotten me thinking about ‘crosses’, of all things – which I’ll come back to;


1617174863639.png


Though unfortunately, I was unable to find a way to hang the serpent / foot thing on Ophiuchus…

On the other hand, during my ramblings ‘Cadmus’ (the first Greek hero and, alongside Perseus and Bellerophon, the greatest hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles…) had become a rather interesting figure after finding that some commentators overlaid the two characters due to the snake thing. And with the echo of Inanna / Ereshkigal, Persephone / Kore etc. contained in the myth of Cadmus’ ‘sister’ Europa, abducted by Zeus in the form of a bull and taken to Crete - where she gave ‘birth’ to Rhadamanthus, Sarpedon and Minos - added to the fact that he possessed plenty of other ‘serpent’ cred;

Cadmus was deeply troubled by the ill-fortune which clung to him as a result of his having killed the sacred dragon, and one day he remarked that if the gods were so enamoured of the life of a serpent, he might as well wish that life for himself. Immediately he began to grow scales and change in form. Harmonia, seeing the transformation, thereupon begged the gods to share her husband's fate, which they granted (Hyginus).

In another telling of the story, the bodies of Cadmus and his wife were changed after their deaths; the serpents watched their tomb while their souls were translated to the fields. In Euripides' The Bacchae, Cadmus is given a prophecy by Dionysus whereby both he and his wife will be turned into snakes for a period before eventually being brought to live among the blessed.

Prompted one of ‘his’ images to really get the gears whirling;

1617175022385.png

As it had happened to strongly remind me of another anthropomorphised asterism;


1617175067806.png

And as touched on elsewhere, by this stage the ‘god with the upraised arm’ had become quite the familiar motif – ‘Cadmus’ another that coincidentally fit the bill;


1617175142551.png

Thus making ‘his’ peculiar appellation intriguing;

The etymology of Cadmus' name remains uncertain. Possible connected words include the Semitic triliteral root qdm (Ugaritic) signifies "east", in Arabic, words derived from the root "qdm" include the verb “qdm” meaning “to come” as well as words meaning "primeval" and "forth" as well as "foot", (in Hebrew, qedem means "east","front" and "ancient"(primeval); the verb qadam (Syriac) means "to be in front"), and the Greek kekasmai (<*kekadmai) "to shine” Therefore, the complete meaning of the name might be: "He who excels" or "from the east"

Primarily due to the coincidence that with one of the roots possibly ‘foot’:

In the case of Orion, the star that's connected to Osiris is a little bit surprising, because it's not a star in the famous belt, or the star at the head, it's not even the largest star in that region, which we know by the name Betelgeuse. The star related to Osiris is actually the left foot of the constellation, also known as the 'toe star' and the star we know by the name "Rigel'.

In the pyramid texts (discovered in the 1880s), which are some of the oldest known texts in the history of humanity, there's a description that the human being must approach the sky 'on the toes'…:

'Thou must approach the sky on thy toes as the Toe-Star'

Rigel is interesting when the constellation Orion is rising in the East, which happens for us in the Fall, because it shows up before the bright star Sirius.

And that the name ‘Rigel’ is said to derive from the Arabic الرجل (al-Rijl) meaning "foot", led me pick up a planisphere and face North…

1617175232157.png

Belatedly recognising that while I had long related the asterism to the Summer Solstice, ‘Orions’ re-appearance in the night sky also turned out to be a leading indicator of the coming of Spring (Southern Hemisphere). And that if one was paying attention to the timing of the whole ‘hourglass’ rising above the horizon (around midnight) it also marks the equinox. As does its descent / disappearance, at the same hour, accurately herald the coming of Autumn!

Whereby the oriental flavour of “Cadmus’” other uncertain etymologies - struck as uncanny:

The term "Orient" derives from the Latin word oriens meaning "east" (lit. "rising" < orior " rise"). The use of the word for "rising" to refer to the east (where the sun rises) has analogs from many languages: compare the terms "Levant" (< French levant "rising"), "Vostok" Russian: Восток (< Russian voskhod Russian: восход "sunrise"), "Anatolia" (< Greek anatole), "mizrahi" in Hebrew ("zriha" meaning sunrise), "sharq" Arabic: شرق‎ (< Arabic yashriq يشرق "rise", shurūq Arabic: شروق‎ "rising")

Much like ‘Orion’ as it so happens…

…speculatively from Akkadian (Uru-anna, heaven's light), though without any firm evidence.

Orien means ‘the rising dawn/ sun’, ‘the east

To move, set in motion, to be, exist. Linked to the Latin orient which is the present participle of oriri to rise; akin to Sanskrit ṛṇoti he moves, arises, Greek ornynai to rouse…

Within the ‘Labyrinth’ theory, then also making the trio of Levant, Anatolia and Akkad (as related to ancient Sumer) stand right out;

The Akkadian Empire (/əˈkeɪdiən/) was the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia, after the long-lived civilization of Sumer. It was centered in the city of Akkad /ˈækæd and its surrounding region. The empire united Akkadian (Assyrian and Babylonian) and Sumerian speakers under one rule. The Akkadian Empire exercised influence across Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Anatolia…

As related to the odd ‘serpent / foot’ relationship anyway…because it then looked like we may have had a contender?

1617175642879.png

As touched on here, having learnt that some cultures viewed the sinuous figure of Eridanus not only as ‘river’ but also as serpent!

Making me wonder then if the Labrys WAS to be correlated with Labyrinth and thus Taurus with the ‘Minotaur’, than it seemed rather curious where the snake/hands/feet ‘thread’ had ended up...

…There is much in the Euphratean records alluding to a stellar stream that may be our Eridanus, — possibly the Milky Way, another sky river; yet it is to the former that the passage translated by Fox Talbot possibly refers:

“Like the stars of heaven he shall shine; like the River of Night he shall flow”

and its title has been derived from the Akkadian Aria-dan, the Strong River.

…Eridanus has be associated with the Nile River and Euphrates since ancient times. It has also been associated with the Tigris, Sumerian Strong River (also known as Ariadan).

Ar is the “light” in star and the Egyptian aur (brilliance). Ar begins words meaning ancient: archaic, archaeology and legendary first ancestors, such as Arcadians, Arioi (Medes), Argonauts, and Aryans. Ar also begins holy places like Aralllu, Ariadan (Eridanus), Arionrhod, Eridu, Erin, Ur, Uruk, and so on. The oldest part of Rome, where the most ancient sacrifices were made, was the Argea. Ar begins arch, ark, arthro (join)…

Ariadne?

And back around once more to ‘Cadmus’ - Inanna, Ishtar, Isis and so on…

Some ancient sources assert that in the territory of Sidon the temple of Astarte was sacred to Europa. According to an old Cretan story, Europa was a Phoenician princess whom Zeus, having transformed himself into a white bull, abducted, and carried to Crete.

Some scholars claim that the cult of the Minoan snake goddess who is identified with Ariadne (the "utterly pure") was similar to the cult of Astarte.

At which point a quote attributed to, the aptly named, Lucian brought to mind something the ‘C’s had said that had niggled and niggle and niggled for years…

Q: …Essentially, I would like to understand the symbology of the Rose affixed to the Cross. It seems to me that the imagery of Jesus nailed to the Cross is actually the Rose affixed to the Cross. How does Jesus relate to the Rose?

A: No, it is from the Rose arose the Cross.

Q: Oh.... I see...

A: Said the blind man.

A ‘rose’, for mine, perceived as the ultimate feminine metaphor:

The rose is the vulva, the cup the womb. The rose and cup confound the morality of the cross and the rod. The cross is a symbol of death that implies life. The rose is a symbol of life that implies death…

And with the ‘C’s witty ‘blind man’ reference, had also long wondered if that was an ‘Orion’ in-joke?

Where Lucian’s illuminating “Sigma versus Tau” dialogue came in:

Men weep, and bewail their lot, and curse Cadmus with many curses for introducing Tau into the family of letters; they say it was his body that tyrants took for a model, his shape that they imitated, when they set up structures on which men are crucified. Stauros (cross) the vile engine is called, and it derives its vile name from him. Now, with all these crimes upon him, does he not deserve death, nay, many deaths? For my part I know none bad enough but that supplied by his own shape — that shape which he gave to the gibbet named stauros after him by men.

Hmmm…

1617175853714.png

Because had also that discovered that, depending on who you read, some commentators attribute the origin of not only the Greek letter Tau, but also Theta (in its archaic form) to the ancient goddess symbol of the ‘double-axe’ - funnily enough, BOTH crosses…

“In Old Hebrew and Phoenician the letter tet ‘⊕’, also known as the ‘compass’, is part of all early alphabets, including Mayan, Chinese, Linear A & B, Etruscan, and the Indus Valley scripts. It also appears on early rock paintings all over the world. The tet became the Greek theta, originally written ⊕ (now θ). Theta is the first letter of god: theos…

the serpent was the name and symbol of the Phoenician letter Tet [⊗]…

This form of Theta conceivably also a stylised combination of the double-axe both rising and setting?

In ancient times, Tau was used as a symbol for life or resurrection, whereas the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet, theta, was considered the symbol of death.

According to Porphyry of Tyros, the Egyptians used an X within a circle as a symbol of the soul…

And so on…

1617175893464.png
Leading to other curiosities to rumble around my cluttered brain...

Q: (L) Why is it called Christianity? Isn't Christianity strictly related to Christianity as we know it?

A: Oh no! The word was co-opted and everything you know of as Christianity is distorted. For example, the earliest "Christ" was a woman.

But anyway, that's about it for the moment because now I'm back to wondering about Gobekli Tepe's curiously twinned Tau shaped 'hunters' in light of the 26000 year precession of the equinoxes...seeing as I figure 'Orion' would have been approximately 180 degrees out of phase around about then?

Göbekli Tepe is an archaeological site in southeastern Turkey. It’s around 13,000 years old, which means that it existed right around the time of the Neolithic Revolution—the time period in which people went from living in small tribes of hunter-gatherers to (comparatively) large agricultural villages.

Cheers

J
 
Once you have done the heavy lifting research, the topic becomes irrelevant. Read the books I suggested for some hard data. Otherwise, this is the result:

1995\95-11-11.
A: Lord of Serpent promises its followers infinite power
which they must seek infinite knowledge to gain, for which
they pledge allegiance infinitely for which they possess
for all eternity, so long as they find infinite wisdom,
for which they search for all infinity.
Q: (L) Well, that is a round robin... a circle you can't get
out of!
A: And therein you have the deception! Remember, those who
seek to serve self with supreme power, are doomed only to
serve others who seek to serve self, and can only see that
which they want to see.
 
Once you have done the heavy lifting research, the topic becomes irrelevant. Read the books I suggested for some hard data. Otherwise, this is the result:

1995\95-11-11.
A: Lord of Serpent promises its followers infinite power
which they must seek infinite knowledge to gain, for which
they pledge allegiance infinitely for which they possess
for all eternity, so long as they find infinite wisdom,
for which they search for all infinity.
Q: (L) Well, that is a round robin... a circle you can't get
out of!
A: And therein you have the deception! Remember, those who
seek to serve self with supreme power, are doomed only to
serve others who seek to serve self, and can only see that
which they want to see.
Thanks for the feedback Laura :hug2:
 
Thanks for the feedback Laura :hug2:

I know it is hard to trust about such things, but believe me, I went through all the stages of hoping, believing, trying to confirm or falsify, and what I was driven by this to do was RESEARCH. I wanted to know everything about the topic that was possible to know from all sides. I wanted to know the arguments, the data, the evidence. And the major portion of that is in the books I suggested, and JimDuyer is completely wrong in his assessments of those books and only displays his ignorance on the topic.

I have neither the time nor the energy to reproduce the material in those books here on the forum, in piecemeal fashion, in order to overturn his claims and arguments, and the best thing to do is to actually read them, all of them, and maybe a few other tomes on the topic besides, in order to satisfy oneself that what I have said is the truth. I did the reading, the research, compared the data, the evidence, the arguments, and thus, my conclusions and statements.
 
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