#levantine gods

[tsalmu]

Phoenician Bowl with encircling Serpent Bernardini Tomb (Palestrina, Italy) c. 700 BCE The National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia Rome, Italy

[teecupangel]

Imagine Altaïr just minding his own business then all of a sudden, he hears one of the recruits go

Altaïr just stops and he's just "????" the entire time while the recruits continue to do their drill.

The Abbas in Trails of series under the cut

[tanadrin]

Back in the naughties, especially in New Atheist circles, you used to see the line a lot that the reason religious people invented the afterlife was because they were scared of dying and they needed a comforting lie to sleep better at night. Incidentally, that's not true; aside from the problem that people in the past generally believed in their religion, and this whole line of reasoning (along with "religion was invented solely to control the masses") assumes a level of cynicism by religious leaders that historically is actually quite rare, we have a pretty good cognitive framework for why human beings tend to come up with a belief in spirits, ghosts, and gods, and why that tends to lead to a belief in an immaterial spirit world and (quite naturally from there) an afterlife.

Research into the cognitive aspect of spiritual beliefs has explored human intuitions about the self include its partability and permeability, which I think I've mentioned here before; our intuitions about ascribing agency to phenomena in our environment, even when no agency is immediately evident (a sort of overly-cautious tripwire for evading predators) and our overactive tendency toward pattern-matching lend themselves naturally to belief in invisible, intelligent agents shaping the world around us. When you combine that natural tendency to believe in such agents, plus intuitions about a self that can include a separate immaterial component, and the ways in which (for example) the feeling of a familiar presence can be triggered by some stray bit of sensory input or a misinterpreted environmental cue, it is very common for societies to develop a belief that the dead continue to exist in some form and continue to act in the world, possibly from some invisible spirit realm, because that is something that people are just straightforwardly experiencing on a day-to-day basis. In that sense, belief in something like a soul and something like an afterlife is more like a belief in rainbows or solar eclipses--sure, people might get the underlying phenomenological explanation for what they're seeing wrong, but they're not speculating, they're doing their best to interpret the actual experience of feeling the presence of dead loved ones and their apparent agency in the world.

That said, in the case of Christianity, we also know historically the framework that motivated the development of specifically Christian doctrines about the afterlife, which emerges from the context of Second Temple Judaism at the turn of the era. Here, the motivation was not one of comfort stemming from fear of death, it was one of morality and the problem of evil. Earlier thinking in the sort of broader Levantine cultural sphere had mostly envisioned the problem of evil as being one related to divine favor and punishment; God or the gods rewarded the righteous and punished the wicked in this life (cf., for instance, all the narratives in the Old Testament where God sends this or that conqueror to punish the people for their sins). Increasing philosophical sophistication, literature grappling with the ways in which the world could be patently unjust (like the Book of Job), and political circumstances like the conquest of Judea by the Romans and the evident lack of divine retribution against these oppressors, all led to dissatisfication in some quarters with that earlier theodicy. IIRC the influence of Greek philosophy and Greek thinking about the afterlife also played a role here.

Transposing the balancing of the moral scales to the afterlife, as some Second Temple-era thinkers did, helped construct what felt like a more intuitively correct theodicy: the wicked still got their comeuppance, even if you didn't get to personally witness it, and the righteous still got their reward. The exact nature of that comeuppance was up for grabs for a long time--there are like three different competing visions of what damnation looks like in the New Testament, and it's not until later that "eternal conscious torment" wins out as the favored position among most Christians. The righteous were always guaranteed salvation; but we know this wasn't a sop to people who were frequently scared of death because the idea that martyrdom guaranteed salvation was so compelling you had Christians begging the Roman authorities to put them to death, and even groups like the Circumcellions who attacked armed soldiers with clubs in the hopes that they could provoke martyrdom-by-cop. And you could paint these guys as fanatical outliers, but again, people in the past generally believed their religions, and we have mountains of writing, art, poetry, and music by Christians over the course of two thousand years where people are worried about a lot of things related to death (did I live a good life? will I go to heaven?) but who do not seem to be philosophically troubled by the question of whether the afterlife actually exists.

And of course the conflict between reflective and intuitive cognition is relevant here; one might reflectively believe in the afterlife, but intuitively recoil from deadly harm. I do not want to suggest that religious belief can trivially overwhelm human instinct to survive. But "the afterlife was invented as a comforting lie" is overly dismissive and flattens a complex phenomenon. It is, in its own way, a comforting lie--the lie that people in the past were all stupid, superstitious rubes, that we are infinitely smarter and more sophisticated than them, that progress will ultimately consign all such supernatural thinking to the dustbin of history. That such thinking is quite deeply rooted in our cognition and we may never be able to dispense with it entirely is very much at odds with a lot of the 2000s era all-religion-is-indoctrination children-are-born-atheist triumphalist cliches.

[bi-numi-aliyani]

Jehovah, Jehovah, Jehovah!... No, actually, it's Yahweh,

A somewhat notable Deity considered by the ancient Israelite people their National God and first attested from the early 9th century BCE.¹

This c. 1518 painting by Raphael is based on a mystical vision of 𒀭Yahweh attributed to the prophet Ezekiel who belonged to a priestly lineage said to be descended from the legendary Joshua. Ezekiel was active during the time the Kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in the early 6th century BCE. (Public domain)

𒀭Yahweh was also apparently worshipped among the Edomites, the Israelites' southern neighbors, based on a reference to “Yahweh of Teman” in an inscription on an early 8th century BCE jar discovered at the site of Kuntillet Ajrud in the Sinai with Teman being a major Edomite clan.¹ It's believed the Ajrud outpost was established by the northern Kingdom of Israel as the region fell into their domain after a botched invasion by the southern Kingdom of Judah. The two kingdoms were also under the influence of the Neo-Assyrian Empire at this time with contemporaneous Assyrian records noting both Judahite and northern Israelite representatives at the capital city of Kalhu (known as Nimrud in modern times).²

Illustrations of the two vessels from Kuntillet Ajrud with translations. It's debated if the 𒀭Bes-type figures on Pithos A are meant to depict 𒀭Yahweh and His Consort 𒀭Asheratah, but it should be noted the righthand figure does not actually have visible genitals as the outdated illustration here shows.³ (Source)

Although 𒀭Yahweh is primarily associated with monotheistic religion nowadays for obvious reasons, historical evidence indicates He was first worshipped in a polytheistic context as the Israelite culture distinguished itself from the Canaanite milieu it emerged from. This can even be seen within the Hebrew Bible; A wonderful example is found in the Book of Habakkuk in the form of an archaic Hebrew poem describing 𒀭Yahweh and His Company including the Plague-God 𒀭Resheph (His Name is usually mistranslated as “plague” in English Bibles) battling sea monsters. Another one of the most noted can be seen in the Book of Deuteronomy and indicates 𒀭Yahweh was probably worshipped as One of the Seventy (symbolically “many”) Sons of 𒀭El:

⁸ When Elyon apportioned the nations, when He divided humankind, He fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the Gods; ⁹ Yahweh's own portion was His people, Jacob His allotted share.

Deuteronomy 32:8–9 (adapted from the New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition, 2021)

𒀭Yahweh very much fits the form of other Storm-Gods worshipped in cultures of the Syro-Palestinian region during the Iron Age. The other most famous example of such a Deity is the Levantine manifestation of 𒀭Ba'al Who is cast as 𒀭Yahweh's greatest Rival in the collection of texts within the Hebrew Bible known as the Deuteronomistic history, although the presence of 𒀭Ba'al's name at Ajrud would suggest this conflict is a later idea. It's even been suggested 𒀭Yahweh was originally associated specifically with destructive elements of weather such as flash floods.⁴ Although there are some respectable academic claims of pre-Israelite attestations of 𒀭Yahweh from the Late Bronze Age, none of these are secure and all of them are very much contested.⁵ The scholar Christian Frevel also fascinatingly proposed in 2021 that 𒀭Yahweh was the tutelary Deity of the Omride clan which came to rule the northern Kingdom of Israel for over a century and established its capital of Samaria.¹

A modern artistic impression of a ritual performed by ancient Israelites at the Temple of 𒀭Yahweh in Jerusalem during the Iron Age. The dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem built by King Solomon (c. 1910) by William Hole. (Public domain)

The emergence of monotheism from traditional Israelite belief is an incredibly convoluted topic that I don't intend to get into the weeds of here. One of the most recognizable milestones therein, though, was the religious reforms of King Josiah of Judah shortly before our dear Ezekiel's time. This saw the absolute consolidation of religious authority in the Temple of 𒀭Yahweh at Jerusalem and even the forced closure of all other cultic sites in Judah. However, there's also direct evidence that 𒀭Yahweh continued to be worshipped among other Gods and Goddesses well after the monotheistic, Jerusalem-centric religion which came to be known as Judaism had entered its Second Temple Period.

Most notably a community of Israelites living on the island of Elephantine at ancient Egypt's southern frontier had a Pantheon in which 𒀭Yahweh was associated with the Goddess 𒀭Anat and another God named 𒀭Bethel.⁶ They even had Priestesses of Yahweh and were apparently on good terms with Jerusalem as indicated by the Aramaic-language texts written in Egyptian Demotic script discovered at Elephantine. An analysis of the narrative of Aaron's Rod in the Book of Numbers has also led to the alluring proposition that worship of the famous 𒀭Asherah as 𒀭Yahweh's Consort may have continued even within the Jerusalemite cult itself during this period.⁷

An altar of incense discovered at the site of ancient Ta'anakh. Although it's dated to the tenth century BCE, predating any secure attestations of 𒀭Yahweh, some researchers believe the top and second-to-bottom registers are intended to symbolize Him with His 𒀭Asherah likewise on the alternating registers. (Source)

There's so many fascinating developments being made in archaeology and the study of history unraveling more about the ancient Israelites and the worship of 𒀭Yahweh before our very eyes. I honestly feel incredibly privileged to be alive just in time to witness such a thing. Although I haven't “worked with” 𒀭Yahweh myself within my primarily Canaanite Pagan practice, I'd be very interested to hear and discuss different perspectives on this fascinating ancient Deity and it'd make me very happy to see what some of you think. Shulmu 𒁲𒈬 and thank you so much for reading!

Another thing

Given what part of the world this all concerns, I feel I would be morally remiss to say nothing of the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people in their homeland and particularly in Gaza. I find this important because earlier today the so-called President of the United States Donald Trump expressed the US's intent to “take over” and ethnically cleanse Gaza at a public event alongside Benjamin Netanyahu, the so-called Prime Minister of Israel. In the face of such great evil, I feel obligated by simple virtue of being a human to state I wholeheartedly support the full liberation of Palestine and an end to the unjust and unlawful occupation with all it has wrought. Arab.org is a website which allows you to support Palestinians via a simple click of a button with no donation necessary along with providing further resources. Free Palestine 🇵🇸

References

Frevel, Christian. “When and from Where Did YHWH Emerge? Some Reflections on Early Yahwism in Israel and Judah.” Entangled Religions 12:2 (March 30, 2021). https://doi.org/10.46586/er.12.2021.8776.

Na’aman, Nadav. “Samaria and Judah in an Early 8th-Century Assyrian Wine List.” Tel Aviv 46:1 (January 2, 2019): pp. 12–20. https://www.academia.edu/43169801.

This was clarified by archaeologist Ze'ev Meshel in communication with Nir Hasson reporting for Haaretz, https://www.facebook.com/share/1JASsUsdcN.

Fleming, Daniel E. “Yahweh among the Baals: Israel and the Storm Gods.” Essay. In Mighty Baal: Essays in Honor of Mark S. Smith, edited by Stephen C. Russel and Esther J. Hamori, pp. 160–74. Harvard Semitic Studies 66. Leiden, Netherlands; Boston, Massachusetts, United States: Brill, 2020.

Pfeiffer, Henrik. “The Origin of YHWH and its Attestation.” Essay. In The Origins of Yahwism, edited by Markus Witte and Jürgen van Oorschot, pp. 115–44. Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift Für Die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 484. Berlin, Germany; Boston, Massachusetts, United States: De Gruyter, 2017.

Cornell, Colin. “Judeans and Goddesses at Elephantine.” Ancient Near East Today 7:11 (November 2019). American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR). https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2019/11/Judeans-and-Goddesses-at-Elephantine.

Eichler, Raanan. “Aaron’s Flowering Staff: A Priestly Asherah?” TheTorah.com, 2019. https://www.thetorah.com/article/aarons-flowering-staff-a-priestly-asherah.

[c-h4nn]

Hi ! I was wondering something that you’ve might’ve already answered but I’m new to your blog, why don’t you ship Mizrak and orlox? As someone who’s middle eastern I’ve always assumed mizrak was some sort of middle eastern Christian that moved to France bc of imperialism. (I assumed he was Palestinian or Lebanese/ any of the Levantine area). I love how you draw orlox and his lover!! Also if you’re not comfortable with this pls don’t respond!

I don't like mizrox for a mix of personal, historical, and canon reasons. I'll break each one down as succinctly as I can below!

I am from a tribe with a long and hostile period of contact with Spanish Catholic conquistadors and settlers. There's a couple hundred years there. Refer to don Juan de Oñate's mission to colonize and convert New Mexico, the Pueblo Revolt, the entirety of the Spanish period of the Navajo Wars, Spanish scorched earth campaigns and slave raids, and Massacre Cave. I am also descended from a Hwéeldi (Long Walk) survivor, as many Diné are. Hwéeldi was a continuation of the Navajo Wars and was meant to fragment, relocate, assimilate, and exterminate my tribe. I am further a grandchild of Catholic residential school survivors. As a result of those schools, no one in my immediate family speaks Diné bizaad or practices our traditions. You can see why I'm not fond of Christianity, especially Catholicism.

The colonization of the U.S. Southwest was an extension of Spain's conquest of Central America. This is what Olrox would have endured. He would have seen these Spanish Catholic conquistadors bring European-born diseases and decimate the Indigenous population. Across the Americas, around 90% of all Indigenous people were killed, owing mostly to disease. He would have seen the collapse of the Aztec empire and Tenōchtitlan, his home, at the hands of Cortés, and how it was looted and buried under a cathedral and Spanish monuments. He would have seen the implementation of the encomienda system, which aimed to convert and subdue the Indigenous peoples, killing thousands upon thousands and crushing Indigenous traditions. Did you know that in the Maya area, due to a libricide enacted by Spanish Catholic priests, only four Maya codices remain? This doesn't even touch on the similar destruction that settler-colonialism and Christianity left on the rest of North America, which Olrox also would have witnessed. I could go on for ages. Nothing could ever, ever summarize how utterly devastating the colonization of the Americas was in the name of God, Gold, and Glory.

And then for Mizrak to spit the same genocidal rhetoric at Olrox that he has undeniably heard for nearly 300 years? When the gears of colonization turn on the dehumanization, eradication, and erasure of Indigenous peoples, for Mizrak to say "You're an animal which lost its soul centuries ago"? For him to blame savagery for the genocide of Olrox's people and the death of his past lover? For the writers and for Mizrak to make Olrox into a villainous seducer (the snake tempting the forbidden fruit) when Indigenous people have long been cruelly stereotyped to be sexually promiscuous and dangerous to Christian purity? For Mizrak to uphold Christianity and preach it in the face of an Indigenous man who lost everything to it, who dared to open up about this haunted past, believing Mizrak to be a good enough man and Christian to understand?

I regrettably don't know enough of Middle Eastern history to contextualize Mizrak's own character better, nor has the show really given the fans much to work with. But regardless of Mizrak's background, he is Christian, and he uses his religion and a colonial perspective against Olrox, who has already been resisting this for centuries. I'm weary of "Olrox can fix him!" or "It's Mizrak's religious trauma! Let them be happy!" or any other variation where Olrox is a tool to help Mizrak reconcile with his sexuality and religion. We get an interesting Indigenous character whose story could easily stand alone, and he instead becomes a platform for the Christian man.

So, I'd much rather think about Olrox and his past lover!

[argumate]

ding-dong-dumbass said: Mouse Hitler implies Mouse Jesus and Mouse Moses and therefore Mouse Levantine God. I’m too sleep drunk to figure out what rodent geopolitics this would have sprung from

Mouse Napoleon... Mouse Cleopatra... Mouse Julius Caesar... Mouse Akhenaten and Mouse Hatshepsut... Mouse Qinshihuangdi... Mouse Zedong...

[hailmaryfullofgrace55675]

“Ashkenazi Jews don’t actually have Levantine genetic ancestry” has been floating around lately among naïve and conspiracy minded anti-Zionists, a problematic claim that undermines actually correct anti-Zionist principles and defense of Palestinian rights. This claim is

absolutely irrelevant, as “blood” originating on the “soil” does not grant anyone any right to an ethnostate on any land. Using area-native ethnicity to justify discrimination and mass killing is bad when it’s Yamato Japanese discriminating against Korean, Mainland Chinese, and Taiwanese minorities in Japan and it’s bad when it’s Celtic-Germanic descent Brits oppressing Celtic-Germanic descent Irish who they’re genetically undifferentiatable from. It was bad when it was Hutus killing Tutsis and it was bad when it was the Khmer Rouge killing Chinese and Vietnamese Cambodians. The actions of the Israeli state in immiserating and slaughtering non-Jewish Palestinians would be equally harmful and wrong if the diaspora had never happened and every Israeli could trace their resident lineage in an unbroken line back to the time of the Second Temple, because it is bad to destroy people’s homes, burn their crops, imprison them, and kill them.

incorrect, at least according to current scientific consensus. Most genetic studies seem to indicate that Ashkenazim are of majority European descent and also have ancestry in the Levant, that is: the Ashkenazi population had some Levantine founders and there’s been significant amounts of intermarriage over the hundreds and hundreds of years of the diaspora into Southern Europe and from there across Central and Eastern Europe.

irrelevant again because even if, through a combination of conversions, adoptions, intermarriage, and adulterous and out of wedlock pairings between Jews and local gentiles, the diasporic European Jewish population had become completely genetically indistinguishable from local gentiles, those Jews would still have been the children of Israel. They still would have learned to read the Torah and celebrate its festivals. They still would have learned, from their families and communities in an unbroken line, to pray “Sh’ma Yisrael, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai echad” (Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one) as the rabbinic sages of Roman Judea observed in the Talmud that they were commanded to do. They still would have spoken languages with Hebrew and Aramaic elements, and they still would have written them with letters recognizable in the Dead Sea Scrolls. They still would have had the same interests, affirmed daily and yearly, in the land that their people left so many hundreds of years ago.

One formulation of the claim is “Israel bans direct to consumer genetic testing because it shows that (Ashkenazi) Jews don’t have Middle Eastern ancestry”. The Israeli government does ban DTC genetic testing as part of a genetic information privacy and nondiscrimination law passed in 2000, before companies like 23andMe existed. DNA testing for ancestry can be interpreted and presented many ways, and the ancestry breakdowns given by DTC GT companies just do not correspond to the question “where, how, and through what migrations did this population originate?”.

Once again, Zionism is not bad because people residing in places their ancestors are not from is bad. That is fine. Zionism is bad because from its beginning the Zionist project has been one of violent dispossession and because that violent dispossession continues in and through this very present moment.

[pinkgy]

Belphegor Theory

Ok, so I might and might have not spent about two hours doing some research about Belphegor because that "Halo" of his has me questioning a lot of things, and this is what I came up with, but extremely summarized.

I'm most definitely no expert on the topics I'm about to talk about, I just dug a bit too deep into the internet and got some interesting things, I would like to know if I'm wrong and I would love to read opinions about this.

I got the information from looooots of sources, and credit to all of them.

So, we know that What in Hell is Bad is heavily inspired by biblical concepts, the Seven Deadly Sins are from Christianity, the Seraphims are mentioned in Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Literature, and pretty much all of the nobles are from the Ars Goetia, and many of them are associated with Christian Demonology.

The game also has many references to other religions and beliefs, but if I were to make a list of all those references, I'd be here writing for days.

Let's dig a bit into who is Belphegor outside the game.

Belphegor is referenced in both Jewish and Christian traditions, he originates from the Moabites, a very ancient tribe that habited the region of Moab, an ancient Levantine kingdom. Belphegor is originally the Moabite god Baal-Peor, who was associated with fertility, sexual power, and orgies, then he was absorbed into Hebrew mythology and later into Christian demonology.

In Christian Demonology, Belphegor is one of the seven princes of hell, and he represents the deadly sin of Sloth. He is also associated with laziness, apathy, and negligence and his name means "Lord of the Opening"

Belphegor is physically described in many ways, a very interesting fact is that in the Dictionnaire Infernal, a book written by Jacques Auguste Simon Collin de Plancy that summed up, is an illustrated version of the demonology, he is described as always having his mouth open, and the hand placement he has in the banner that Prettybusy recently released could be making a reference to that.

(Another interesting fact is that he's said to be hard to conjure because his sacrificial offering is excrement, but I prefer to ignore that)

Belphegor is also referenced in the Kabbalah, which is like a philosophy, or to be more precise, an esoteric method, discipline, and school of thought in Jewish mysticism that deals with the essence of God and the universe (I just copy&pasted this, it's a bit hard to explain, srry)

In the Kabbalah, guess what Belphegor is.

A fallen angel.

To be more precise, he was an angel in the order of the principalities.

Belphegor is known to be an enemy to the sixth sephiroth and the archdemon (or the leader) of the Togarini, they are the demonic counterparts to the angels that rule over the 10 Sephirot of the Tree of Life.

For context, the Sephirot are the ten emanations or attributes of God in Kabbalah.

I also read that some demons under the Togarini are Lilith, Samael, and Thaumiel, but there's very little information about that so I'm not going to use this as a fact.

The reason why he fell from grace is not explicitly mentioned, but it's somewhat implied that it was related to his association with the sixth Sephirah "Beauty" and the fact that he is depicted as a demon who tempts individuals with ingenious inventions, wealth, and discoveries (I also copy&pasted this)

It's also said that he rules over seduction, promiscuous men, and MISOGYNY.

I'm not sure if there are references from the Kabbalah in What in Hell is Bad, but if there were, it would be super interesting, as I said in the beginning, the game has a lot of references from various religions and beliefs, I would love to make a separate post about that just because I may have way too much free time to investigate that.

Or maybe I just spent 2 whole hours writing almost 700 words about a ton shit of things I barely know anything about and creating a theory just because of a black circle above a fictional character's head that it's probably just a horn just like @thrones-of-buer said on a post.

(I still have some doubts about that because it seems like in the new illustration that pb released of him today he has a unicorn horn just like Beelzebub, but I could be wrong)

This is just a theory tho, I'm most likely wrong, but I thought it would be interesting to share this with y'all :D

Sorry if there are any typos, I'm reaaally sleepy right now.

[littlestpersimmon]

some excellent trees for trans men to kiss under:

Fire trees

Bodhi (very auspicious!! very enlightening!!)

Mango trees.. for the south and southeast asians!!

Olive trees for the Mediterranean and Levantine men

Magnolias

Weeping Willow

Frangipani Rubra

Strangler Figs if you're secretly a forest god

Mimosas ♡

[tsalmu]

Stele of Set Sapouna (Baal Zephon) c. 1350 BCE Rash Shamra, Ugarit (modern Syria) Louvre Museum AO13176 A dedicatory stele by Maymi, the royal scribe, and former supervisor of the treasury, identifying the mountain/storm god Baal Zephon (Baalu Sapunu) with the Egyptian deity Set (Sutekh). Found within the temple of Baal-Hadad in Ugarit.

[noctilionoidea]

drop the favorite oc lore noct 🔫👁️👁️

haha what do you mean favourite I love all my children equally!!!!!

anyways Ash

My horrible gremlin girl I love you so much. This is going to be so fucking long but so many details and the big twists are excluded so uh. Yeah it’s fairly convoluted

So in this universe there’s a bunch of stories happening across history, and the idea is that there’s truth to literally all belief systems. Because I like studying ancient religion and shit and I also really love fairytales folklore and cryptids! It’s a huge part of my childhood so it’s the main root of literally all my ocs’ stories. Ash’s story mainly centers around demonology and abrahamic religions as well as Greek, Roman and a pinch of ancient levantine. Let’s just say for now the devil is kinda a good guy??? And the designs for the Greek gods are the same as my general ones, but I want to make it clear as day that they are very much just characters. I have a lot of issues with people blurring the line between character versions and the actual religious figures so I just want to state that. This is also the same universe that Toxaris and Ciara exist in!!! They are 700 to 600 BCE and 2023 CE respectively.

Ash is from a very complicated family history on both sides much of which is spoilers for this project I want to do shit for, but the story starts in 1997, she’s a edgy goth 17 year old in Springfield Massachusetts, she is very loved by her family and knows it but still has classic teenage angst and gets into fights constantly. Shes a loner and only really hangs out with her adopted/god-brother Will who’s literally just her whole world at this point and her stoner friend Matt.

She’s kinda just fucking around through her senior year so that then she can dedicate herself to her tattoo apprenticeship. Then comes Quincy, this sweet socially awkward kid from Appalachian Tennessee who’s come to live with his aunt after his parents died. Ash originally thinks he’s some cute butch, he is not but somehow she’s still kinda into him despite assuming she was gay as shit (she’s a girl with complicated sexuality for today living in the fucking nineties), and they get really close. As friends. So they have a solo hangout. As friends. So they decide to explore some old house from the colonial period that’s rumored to be haunted together. As friends. Quincy’s fairly superstitious but not enough to take it that seriously, Ash fundamentally disbelieves in anything supernatural but wants to do it for the goth cred and thinks it’s fun. She likes spooky things. She may be atheist as fuck and not believe in the existence of souls, but fun is fun!

yea turns out there be ghosts. So these ghosts are shitty fucking puritans, and for some reason they’re specifically targeting Quincy. Ash doesn’t understand why (she’s clearly the less godly one) so she has to try and get him out of there. Eventually she gets so worried for her friend (they’re just friends guys) that she ends up cussing them out and calling them out on their shit, and decides in a moment of adrenaline to set the place on fire. Somehow it ends up pacifying them???

so it turns out supernatural shut is real. Okay. She’s trying to play it off. But she notices a lot of things happening just out of view that’s always accompanied by ringing in her ears. It’s demons and they’re stalking her. Her mom is a professor of religious studies at an unnamed university so she borrows some of her (…) more relevant books. At this point her kinda-ex-but-also-the-feelings-are-still-there girlfriend who left a year ago to pursue a music career returns, but something’s very wrong with her. The demons are also starting to physically attack her and Quincy, yet somehow she is able to fight them back in almost the same way she fights other kids. They’re scared, they don’t know what to do, Ash is kinda caught between trying to save two people she loves romantically (because that this point she’s stating to feel that her feelings for Quincy aren’t exactly platonic) and also figure out why she’s wrapped up in this.

that’s the first arc, immediately afterwards Aphrodite gets involved, even when face to face and having conversations with several deities Ash will consider herself atheist, ash’s dad comes from the linage of Aeneas and that’s only mildly important, Quincy is a changeling, something something antichrist and rebellion in hell, uncle Satan??? Mommy issues happen, the consequences of pulling yourself away from the people you love as a means to protect them, Will goes through religious trauma, she makes more friends that become family because of shared trauma and finding community through the weirdest fucking ties. Will and Matt are totally fucking

Eventually Ash does play a part in Ciara’s story! Shes the cool aunt who shows up sometimes and is deeply protective, She and Morgan have friendly beef, she’s really confused about how Ciara deals with her supernatural bullshit like running errands and not having her world view massively deconstructed, she and Quincy are married and also have a kid they stole from the fairfolk in wales.

Anyways random stuff here- Ash’s dad Snaketongue ( his given name is Joseph) is an atheist (ex Pentecostal from West Virginia) and his philosophy is heavily influenced by his hatred of corporations and the devastation that was his first two and a half decades of life. Ash is very much like him and looks up to him. He lost his leg in a mining accident at 16, loves being a mechanic and is terrified ash will follow in his steps (…). He was involved with motorcycle gangs in his late teens and early twenties and got his tongue split as torture in a fight. He thinks this is cool as shit.

Will moved up to Springfield in his infancy with his mom, who despite loving his father didn’t want Will to grow up like him or be hurt by his lifestyle, and worked with Snaketongue, and they had a really close bond and ended up raising their kids together. Will’s mother ended up dying in a car accident when he was 7, and was legally adopted by Snaketongue and Ellie (not ash’s mom’s real name lmao). He already saw Snaketongue as his dad, but took awhile to consider Ellie a mom since he was still mourning his mom and didn’t want to replace her. This was when Ash became super protective of him. He’s a year younger than her. He is a good Christian boy (…) who genuinely wants to do everything to help others. Unfortunately he joined an evangelical church, which has the rest of the family on edge about how it effects him… it’s won’t end well. He’s very clearly in a relationship with Matt and trying to hide it, however the more deeply his feelings and the worse Matt’s situation gets he starts slipping.

“Ellie” is Ash’s mother, as previously mentions a professor of religious studies, and most of the other stuff is either a spoiler or needs to be worked out a bit more. Lmao

Ash’s full name is Ashley Sahar Bellone, she is 4’10 on a good day and salty as fuck about it, she is a cis intersex woman (complete androgen insensitivity syndrome) and has a lot of issues in her relationship with womanhood both as a result and because of how her behavior and attitude is perceived (she has no problem being seen as boyish androgynous or even full on a boy when crossdressing, but being treated like a failure of a woman hurts her a lot), she’s only ever been attracted to women and David Bowie as Jareth before Quincy. She loves apple pie and mourning doves. Her weapon of choice is a sica, gun, or punching and kicking people

so yea that’s Ash! And the start of her situation. So much is spoilers but I love her a lot

[inspofromancientworld]

Gods of Antiquity: Dying-and-Rising Gods

Death was viewed as a liminal place, a passage from one state of being that could be crossed back over only by those that the gods favored, or by the gods themselves. Death represents the ultimate boundary and to cross it and cross back represents the ultimate power that deities are supposed to have. Dying-and-rising gods occur in many cultures around the world.

By Jeff Dahl - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3248602

Osiris was the Egyptian god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, resurrection, and vegetation. He was depicted with green skin and wrapped legs. He was killed by his brother Set, found by his wife Isis and hidden, then dismembered by Set. Isis finds Osiris' body and puts him back together and resurrects him with a spell long enough to conceive a son, Horus. Because he returned from death to create life, he is strongly tied with the agricultural cycle of regeneration as well as stability and continuity.

By Françoise Foliot - Private collection Wikimédia France, Paris, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83900637

Dumuzid 𒌉𒍣, also known as Dumuzid the Shepherd 𒌉𒍣𒉺𒇻 to the Sumerians, as Adon 𐤀𐤃𐤍 to the Canaanites, was an ancient Mesopotamian and Levantine god associated with shepherds and agriculture. He was the primary consort of Inanna (known as Ishtar later on). He also holds a place on the Sumerian King List before the flood. In his myths, Dumuzid fails to mourn Inanna as she is in the Underworld and she comes up from the Underworld and allows the galla demons to take Dumuzid in her stead. He flees and is later caught an tortured. After a time, Inanna regrets her choice and Dumuzid is released for half the year, during the hot, dry summer while his sister Geshtiananna, goddess of agriculture, fertility, and dream interpretation, takes his place.

By Yair Haklai - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=112468803

Adonis Ἄδωνις began as a mortal who was lover to the Greek goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone. Because of the attraction of the two goddesses, he was considered to be the ideal of male beauty. While out hunting, he was gored by a wild boar and died in Aphrodite's arms, the mingling of his blood and her tears becoming the anemone flower. He was then raised from death after Aphrodite begged Zeus to bring him back to life. He is thought to have derived from Dumuzid through the Canaanite Adon. He was worshiped with the Adonia festival at midsummer when women would plant fast growing plants in shallow dishes and place the seedlings on roofs for the sun to wither them, then mourn the death of Adonis.

By Dennis G. Jarvis - https://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/5157645913/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14741971

Attis Ἄττις was the consort to Cybele for the Greeks and Phrygians originating in Dindymon where he was a vegetation deity. His birth begins with the daemon Agdistis, who was intersexed, having both male and female reproductive organs, was forced to castrate themself, leading to a hemorrhage. From the blood, an almond tree grows. A daughter of the river Sangarius, Nana, takes an almond from the tree into her bosom and becomes pregnant. After his birth, Nana abandons Attis. He's raised by a he-goat and becomes a long-haired beauty, rivaling the gods, causing Cybele (the feminine aspect of Agdistis) to fall in love with him. Upon seeing Cybele in her transcendent power, Attis castrates himself, resulting in his death and violets growing from his blood. Heartbroken, Agdistis begs Zeus to keep Attis' body from decaying. He is resurrected, tying him with the fruiting cycle of plants.

By © Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5828758

Dionysus Διόνυσος (also known as Bacchus Βάκχος) was the Greek god of wine, vegetation, ritual madness, religious ecstacy, and theatre. His exact origin is uncertain, some seeing him as the son of Zeus and Persephone, others saying he is a chthonic aspect of Zeus, or possibly the twice-born son of Zeus and Semele. He was torn apart, as Osiris was, and resurrected by Demeter. This comparison with Osiris was noted even by the ancient Greeks as early as the 5th century BCE, even comparing the secret rites of the two gods. There were also myths that had Dionysus as part of a three part god with Zeus and Hades, with Zeus representing life, Hades death, and Dionysus resurrection and that the three-part god impregnated Persephone to give birth to Dionysus.

Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2069012

Jesus is the Christian god who has many similarities to the above gods, being the offspring of a god giving birth to himself as with Dionysus with Persephone and even with some interpretations of Osiris and Horus, or the many children of Zeus with mortal women. He was later killed and resurrected, as with the long tradition of gods being killed and rising again, going back at least 3000 years before to Dumuzid.

[bi-numi-aliyani]

Shulmu 𒁲𒈬, my friends! I wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten about this place whatsoever. I actually started writing something big, but I got sidetracked with various other things. Again, though, I haven't forgotten and I'm gonna commit to making sure I don't neglect the Shrine! To make up for it, I'd at least like to share some sketches I've made in the meantime :)

First up are some more Deity symbols! The Seal of 𒀭Ashtart-Shala, going on my perspective that West Semitic 𒀭Ashtart and East Semitic 𒀭Shala are the same Goddess, is based on designs associated with the "Storm God's Wife" type in different regions as well as an Ugaritic Astral symbol. I also see it symbolizing something of the Celestial Realm in general, interestingly enough.

The Four-Pointed Star is associated with 𒀭Hadad in ancient times. The “War” variant is based on a metal standard from Ugarit (I'm not sure on what basis it's called a Hittite symbol, perhaps that version comes from Anatolia). There's also a Sun-and-Moon symbol (doesn't it just barely remind you of something very... Catholic?) and the Lightning-Fork, the East Semitic precursor to 𒀭Ba'al's Arzu (Cedar) in Levantine myth and iconography. Both of these are from an Old Babylonian cylinder seal.

With 𒀭Ashirat, there's two Sacred Tree symbols and what looks to have been a fertility motif from Canaanite pendants. There's also a design from a Megiddo cylinder seal (I was thinking of something else when I wrote “Old Syrian”) which I didn't finish drawing and you can even see where I erased some elements which I still mean to redraw so I can finish the thing.

Next are two drawings of 𒀭Milqart! The first one started out in concept as a sort of Seal, but to be honest I just think it turned out an alright drawing if I may say so. The basic design comes from Tyrian coinage, albeit I chose to reinterpret it with more Ancient Near Eastern as opposed to more Hellenic symbolism (no disrespect for Hellenism!). The King of Eternity's bespoke apparel and wings are mostly based on the Assyrian “genies”, although I certainly do not intend to imply any connection with that. His garment also draws from a Phoenician-influenced engraved silver bowl of the Latin culture (which shows Him bodying a fucking gorilla btw). His Crown has horns and a long tassel much like Ba'al's is sometimes portrayed along with some geometric motifs inspired by Atef. I decided to do something geometric with the Celestial symbols as well. He holds His two Attributes representing Life and Death, the Ankh and the Phoenician Fenestrated Axe respectively. Life is symbolically offered up on the Horned Altar inspired by an actual one from the Roman period.

Tyre's founding myth of the Ambrosial Rocks is also portrayed with the Eagle and Snake living together in harmony in the Oil (Olive) Tree which the Rocks wandered around in the midst of the Sea until 𒀭Milqart told them where to settle. I originally decided to put a proto-alphabetic Alef and Bet ;) on the Rocks based on the assertion the term “Ambrosial” is derived from Semitic Amm Beruth meaning “Mother of Wells.” I couldn't find any good evidence for that, but I decided to have them there anyway to symbolize beginning (albeit I realize now they should be in reverse). The Eagle offers 𒀭Milqart a Wreath Crown with the Pillars of the Two Tyres. On the lower register is the myth of 𒀭Milqart's Dog biting a Murex Shell which led Him to discover the precious Tyrian Purple dye and the whole composition is framed by Wreaths.

The Head of Milqart was purely a creative/inspirational outflowing with some slight tweaks made in post.

This next one is something of a personal seal for me. It's mostly based on the 𒀭Ashtart-Shala symbol and this is to ask for protection. The triple-Alef in the midst of the Hexagram represents my chosen Pagan name to that effect. The Name of 𒀭Qadesh-Ashtart-Anat, Who is a “composite” Goddess in my view, is written on the Lunar Crescent and I recycled some of the Tyrian symbolism as well. The two symbols on either side are based on designs of sceptres held by ancient Images of 𒀭El, one representing His House and the other a Solar symbol.

The Head of Ba'al here is in the same category as the Head of Milqart.

Thanks for checking out my work, I really hope you enjoyed it :)

[alchemy-fic]

Bibliography:

Alchemy and the Occult:

Western:

Alchemy Unveiled, Johannes Helmond (Translated into English and Edited by

Gerard Hanswille and Deborah Brumlich); (1963)

Practical Alchemy, A Guide To The Great Work; Brian Cotnoir (2006)

The Black Arts (50th Anniversary Edition); Richard Cavendish (1968)

Alchemy & Mysticism: The Hermetic Cabinet; Alexander Roob (2009)

The Forge and the Crucible: The Origins and Structures of Alchemy (2nd Edition); Mircea Eliade (1962, 1978)

History of Alchemy; M. M. Pattison (1902)

Alchemy (Revised Edition); E. J. Holmyard (1990)

Dictionary of Symbolism, Cultural Icons and the Meanings Behind Them; Hans Biedermann, Translated by James Hulbert (1994)

The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft, and Wicca; Rosemary Ellen Guiley (1989)

The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits; Rosemary Ellen Guiley (1992)

Levantine:

The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book; Raphael Patai (1994)

Ancient Magic and Divination, A Microhistorical Study of the Neo-Assyrian Healer Kiṣir-Aššur; Troels Pank Arbøll (2017)

Fuck Your "Magic" Antisemitism: A Lesser Key To The Appropriation Of Jewish Magic & Mysticism; Ezra Rose (2022)

“His wind is released” - The Emergence of the Ghost Ritual of passage in Mesopotamia; Dina Katz, Leiden (2014)

Cursed Are You! The Phenomenology of Cursing in Cuneiform and Hebrew Texts; Anne Marie Kitz (2014)

Egyptian Magic; E.A. Wallis Budge (1901)

Mesopotamian Planetary Astronomy-Astrology (Cuneiform Monographs); David Brown (2000)

Astrology in Ancient Mesopotamia: The Science of Omens and the Knowledge of the Heavens; Michael Baigent (July 20, 2015)

Ancient Jewish Magic: A History; Gideon Bohak (2008)

PERFORMING DEATH: SOCIAL ANALYSES OF FUNERARY TRADITIONS IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND MEDITERRANEAN; Nicola Laneri, Ellen F. Morris, Glenn M. Schwartz, Robert Chapman, Massimo Cultraro, Meredith S. Chesson, Alessandro Naso, Adam T. Smith, Dina Katz, Seth Richardson, Susan Pollock, Ian Rutherford, John Pollini, John Robb, and James A. Brown (2007)

Mesopotamian Conceptions of Dreams and Dream Rituals; Sally A. L. Butler (1998)

Forerunners to Udug-Hul: Sumerian exorcistic incantations; Markham J. Geller (1985)

Šurpu. A Collection of Sumerian and Akkadian Incantations; Erica Reiner (1958)

Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts; F. A. M. Wiggermann (1992)

The Alchemist's Handbook- Manual for Practical Laboratory Alchemy; Frater Albertus (1960)

Licit Magic: The Life and Letters of al-Ṣāḥib b. ʿAbbād (d. 385/995); Maurice A. Pomerantz (09 Nov 2017)

Further Studies on Mesopotamian Witchcraft Beliefs and Literature; Tzvi Abusch (2002)

The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture; Francesca Rochberg (2004)

Greco-Roman:

Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook; Daniel Ogden (2002)

Far East Asia:

I Ching; Fu Xi (~1000 BCE)

Myths, Legends, Religious Texts And Folktales

Levantine:

The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion; Thorkild Jacobsen (1976)

Persian Myths; Jake Jackson (2022)

Myths of Babylon; Jake Jackson (2018)

The Epic Of Gilgamesh (2nd Edition); Anonymous, Andrew George (????, 2000)

The First Ghost Stories; Dr. Irving Finkel (2021)

On Jewish Folklore; Raphael Patai (1983)

Sumerian Mythology, a Deep Guide Into Sumerian History and Mesopotamian Empire and Myths; Joshua Brown (2021)

Sumerian Mythology, a Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B.C. (Revised Edition); Samuel Noah Kramer (1961)

Sumerian Liturgies; Anonymous, Stephen Langdon (1919)

Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart, Poems of the Sumerian High Priestess Enheduanna; Enheduanna, Betty De Shong Meador (1989)

Ninurta's Journey to Eridu; Daniel Reisman (1971)

A Sumerian Proverb Tablet in Geneva With Some Thoughts on Sumerian Proverb (2006)

Enki's Journey to Nippur: The Journeys of the Gods; Al-Fouadi, Abdul-Hadi A. (1969)

The Arthur of the Welsh: The Arthurian Legend in Medieval Welsh Literature by Rachel Bromwich (1991)

Encyclopedia of American Folklore; Linda S. Watts (2006)

Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion; Joshua Trachtenberg (1939)

Amulets and Talismans; E.A. Wallis Budge (The copy I have was published in 1992 but he died in 1934. Not sure when the original work was created.)

Ashkenazi Herbalism: Rediscovering the Herbal Traditions of Eastern European Jews; Deatra Cohen, Adam Siegel (2021)

Encyclopedia of Catholicism; Frank K. Flinn (2007)

As Through a Veil: Mystical Poetry in Islam; Annemarie Schimmel (1982)

You Will Have Other Goddesses in Addition to Me: Polytheism Among Ancient Israelite Women; Liora Finke (2022)

Gods That Travel: On The Ritual Aspects of Divine Journeys And Processions; Klaus Wagensonner (2014)

NINURTA AND ENKI; A new divine journey of the warrior god to Eridu; Klaus Wagensonner (2013)

Jewish Music in Its Historical Development; Abraham Zevi Idelsohn (1929)

The God Enki in Sumerian Royal Ideology and Mythology; Peeter Espak (2010)

The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic & Mysticism: Second Edition; Geoffrey W. Dennis (2007)

Book of Jewish Knowledge: An Encyclopedia of Judaism and the Jewish People, Covering All Elements of Jewish Life from Biblical Times to the Present (03 May 1948); Nathan Ausubel

Encyclopedia of Judaism (Encyclopedia of World Religions); Sara E. Karesh & Mitchell M. Hurvitz (2006)

Aboriginal Australia: 

Gadi Mirrabooka: Australian Aboriginal Tales from the Dreaming; Pauline E. McLeod, Francis Firebrace Jones, June E. Barker, Helen F. McKay (2001)

The Two Rainbow Serpents Travelling: Mura Track Narratives from the 'Corner Country'; Jeremy Beckett, Luise Hercus (2009)

Mixed or Other:

Egyptian Myths & Tales; Japanese Myths & Tales, Aztec Myths & Tales, Scottish Folk & Fairytales, Viking Folk & Fairytales, Chinese Myths & Tales, Greek Myths & Tales, African Myths & Tales, Native American Myths & Tales, Persian Myths & Tales, Celtic Myths & Tales, Irish Fairy Tales; Anonymous, Flame Tree Publishing

Tales of King Arthur & The Knights Of The Round Table (Le Morte D’Arthur); Thomas Malory

The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore; Patricia Monaghan (2004)

Academic (Science including Psychology)

Stellar Alchemy: The Celestial Origin of Atoms, Michel Cassé, Stephen Lyle (2003)

Aboriginal Suicide Is Different: A Portrait of Life And Self Destruction; Colin Tatz (2005)

Fruit Domestication in the Near East; Shahal Abbo, Avi Gopher & Simcha Lev-Yadun (2015) 

Astronomical Cuneiform Texts: Babylonian Ephemerides of the Seleucid Period for the Motion of the Sun, the Moon, and the Planets (Sources in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, 5); Otto E. Neugebauer (1945)

Studies in the History of Science;  E. A. Speiser; Otto E. Neugebauer; Hermann Ranke; Henry E. Sigerist; Richard H. Shryock; Evarts A. Graham; Edgar A. Singer; Hermann Weyl (Compiled In 2017)

Studies in Civilization;  Alan J. B. Wace; Otto E. Neugebauer; William S. Ferguson (Compiled In 2016)

Astronomy and History: Selected Essays; Otto E. Neugebauer (Compiled In 1983)

The Encyclopedia of the Brain and Brain Disorders; Carol Turkington (2002)

The Encyclopedia of Poisons and Antidotes; Deborah R. Mitchell & Carol Turkington (2010)

The Encyclopedia of Suicide; Glen Evans, Norman L. Farberow, Ph.D. & Kennedy Associates (1988)

Academic (History)

Western:

Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes; Carl Waldman (2006)

Levantine:

Sounds from the Divine: Religious Musical Instruments in the Ancient Near East; Dahlia Shehata (2014)

Gender and Aging in Mesopotamia: The Gilgamesh Epic and Other Ancient Literature; Rivkah Harris (05/12/2003)

House Most High: The Temples of Ancient Mesopotamia; A. R. George (1993)

The Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East; Michael Roaf (1990)

The Meaning of Color in Ancient Mesopotamia; Shiyanthi Thavapalan (2020)

The Loss of Male Sexual Desire in Ancient Mesopotamia; Gioele Zisa (2021)

Materials and Manufacture in Ancient Mesopotamia: The evidence of Archaeology and Art. Metals and metalwork, glazed materials and glass; P. R. S. Moorey (3/1/1985)

Collections; Bendt Alster, Takayoshi Oshima (2006)

Political Agency of Royal Women; Paula Sabloff (2019)

Studies in Sumerian Civilization: Selected Writings Of Miguel Civil; Miguel Civil, edited by Lluís Felu (2017)

A study on the natural heritage and its importance in the Sumerian civilization in southern Iraq; Al-Hussein Nabeel Al-Karkhi, Isam Hussain T. Al-Karkhi (2021)

A Sumerian Riddle Collection; Bendt Alster (1976)

SUMERIAN “CHILD”; Vitali Bartash (2018)

The civilizing of Ea-Enkidu an unusual tablet of the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic; Andrew R George (2007)

Celibacy in the Ancient World: Its Ideal and Practice in Pre-Hellenistic Israel, Mesopotamia, and Greece; Dale Launderville OSB (07/01/2010)

House and Household Economies in 3rd Millennium B.C.E. Syro-Mesopotamia; Federico Buccellati ,Tobias Helms & Alexander Tamm (2014)

The Harps That Once… Sumerian Poetry In Translation; Thorkild Jacobsen (1987)

The Divine Origin Of The Craft Of The Herbalist; Sir E. A. Wallis Budge (1928)

Disease in Babylonia; Edited by Irving Finkel and Markham (Mark) Geller (2007)

Royal Statuary of Early Dynastic Mesopotamia; Gianni Marchesi and Nicolo Marchetti (2011)

Myths of Enki, The Crafty God; Samuel Noah Kramer, John Maier (1989)

Household and State in Upper Mesopotamia; Patricia Wattenmaker (July 17, 1998)

Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium; Albert Kirk Grayson (1987)

Gudea's Temple Building: The Representation of an Early Mesopotamian Ruler in Text and Image (Cuneiform Monographs); Claudia E. Suter (January 1, 2000)

Reading Sumerian Poetry (Athlone Publications in Egyptology & Ancient Near Eastern Studies); Jeremy Black (2001)

Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia; Stephen Bertman (2002)

Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East; Amanda H. Podany (2022)

History Begins at Sumer: Thirty-Nine Firsts in Recorded History; Samuel Noah Kramer (1981)

A History of the Animal World in the Ancient Near East; Edited by Billie Jean Collins (2002)

The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character; Samuel Noah Kramer (1963)

The Ancient Near East in Transregional Perspective: Material Culture and Exchange Between Mesopotamia, the Levant and Lower Egypt from 5800 to 5200 ... Sudan and the Levant; Katharina Streit (11/10/2020)

Colonialism and Christianity in Mandate Palestine; Laura Robson (September 1, 2011)

Poetic Astronomy in the Ancient Near East The Reflexes of Celestial Science in Ancient Mesopotamian, Ugaritic, and Israelite Narrative; Jeffrey L. Cooley (2013)

Hasidism, Haskalah, Zionism: Chapters in Literary Politics (Jewish Culture and Contexts); Hannan Hever (October 17, 2023)

Mourning in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible; Xuan Huong Thi Pham (1999)

Medieval Hebrew Poetry in Muslim Egypt; Joachim J.M.S. Yeshaya (2011)

The Land that I Will Show You: Essays on the History and Archaeology of the Ancient Near East in Honor of J. Maxwell Miller; J. Andrew Dearman & M. Patrick Graham (January 9, 2002)

Jerusalem in Ancient History and Tradition; Thomas L. Thompson (2003)

Prisons in Ancient Mesopotamia, Confinement and Control until the First Fall of Babylon; Dr. J. Nicholas Reid (2022)

Prophets Male and Female: Gender and Prophecy in the Hebrew Bible, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Ancient Near East; Jonathan Stökl & Corrine L. Carvalho (2013)

The Calm before the Storm- Selected writings of Itamar Singer on the late Bronze Age in Anatolia and the Levant; Itamar Singer (2012)

"Holiness" and "purity" in Mesopotamia;  E. Jan Wilson (1994)

The Material Culture of the Northern Sea Peoples in Israel; Ephraim Stern (2013)

Family and Household Religion in Ancient Israel and the Levant; Rainer Albertz and Rüdiger Schmitt (2012)

Scribal Education in Ancient Israel: The Old Hebrew Epigraphic Evidence; Christopher A. Rollston (11/2006)

Neanderthals in the Levant- Behavioural Organization and the Beginnings of Human Modernity; Donald O. Henry (10/2003)

Suddenly, the Sight of War- Violence and Nationalism in Hebrew Poetry in the 1940s; Hannan Hever (2016)

Gender and Law in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East; Victor H. Matthews, Victor H. Matthews, Bernard M. Levinson, Tikva Frymer-Kensky (1998)

The concept of fate in ancient Mesopotamia of the 1st millennium: Toward an understanding of 'simtu'; Jack N. Lawson (1992)

The Myth of the Jewish Race; Raphael Patai, Jennifer Patai Wing (01/01/1975)

The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, 950-1492; Peter Cole (01/22/2007)

Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions; Raphael Patai (2013)

Hebrew Myths; Robert Graves and Raphael Patai (2005) 

Vast as the Sea - Hebrew Poetry and the Human Condition; Samuel Hildebrandt (12/05/2023)

Sex & Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature; Gwendolyn Leick (1994)

Far East Asian:

Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations; Charles Higham (2004)

Aboriginal Australia:

Aboriginal Peoples: Fact and Fiction; Pierre Lepage, Maryse Alcindor, Jan Jordon (2009)

Visions from the Past: The Archaeology of Australian Aboriginal Art; M.J. Morwood, Douglas Hobbs, D.R. Hobbs (2002)

Mixed or Other:

Early Civilizations of the Old World: The Formative Histories of Egypt, The Levant, Mesopotamia, India and China; Charles Keith Maisels (May 20, 2001)

20,000 Years of Fashion: The History of Costume and Personal Adornment; Francois Boucher (1967)

Black Morocco: A History of Slavery, Race, and Islam; Chouki El Hamel (2012)

The Birth of Science: Ancient Times to 1699; Ray Spangenburg & Diane Kit Moser (2004)

The Architecture of Castles: A Visual Guide; Reginald Allen Brown (1984)

Encyclopedia of War Crimes and Genocide; Leslie Alan Horvitz and Christopher Catherwood (2006)

Linguistic

Cuneiform; Irving Finkel, Jonathan Taylor (2015)

An Introduction to the Grammar of Sumerian; Gábor Zólyomi (2017)

Learn to Read Ancient Sumerian: An Introduction for Complete Beginners; Joshua Aaron Bowen, Megan Lewis (2020) Learn to Read Ancient Sumerian: An Introduction for Complete Beginners, Volume 2; Joshua Aaron Bowen, Megan Lewis (2023)

The Sur₉-Priest, the Instrument giš Al-gar-sur₉, and the Forms and Uses of a Rare Sign; Niek C. (1997/1998)

Sumerian Grammar (Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section One, the Near [And] Mi) (English and Sumerian Edition); Dietz Otto Edzard (2003)

A Late Old Babylonian Proto-Kagal / Nigga Text and the Nature of the Acrographic Lexical Series; Niek VELDHUIS -Groningen (1998)

Learning To Pray In A Dead Language, Education And Invocation in Ancient Sumerian; Joshua Bowen (2020)

Aboriginal Sign Languages of The Americas and Australia: Volume 1; North America Classic Comparative Perspectives; Garrick Mallery (auth.), D. Jean Umiker-Sebeok, Thomas A. Sebeok (eds.) (1978)

 The Literature of Ancient Sumer; Jeremy Black, Graham Cunningham, Eleanor Robson, Gabor Zolyomi (2004)

Sumerian Lexicon: A Dictionary Guide to the Ancient Sumerian Language; John Alan Halloran (2006)

A Sumerian Chrestomathy; Konrad Volk (1911)

Online Articles, Dictionaries And Other Resources:

https://nationalclothing.org/middle-east/305-traditional-clothing-of-mesopotamia-what-did-it-look-like.html 

https://www.getty.edu/news/meet-the-mesopotamian-demons/ 

https://factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub363/ 

https://ehistory.osu.edu/articles/marriage-ancient-mesopotamia-and-babylonia 

https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section5/tr561.htm 

http://psd.museum.upenn.edu/nepsd-frame.html 

https://www.britannica.com/place/Africa/Trade 

https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2185/festivals-in-ancient-mesopotamia/

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/well/family/cutting-out-the-bris.html 

http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/nannasuen/ 

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-idea-imprisonment-prisoners-earliest-texts.html 

http://www.mathematicsmagazine.com/Articles/TheSumerianMathematicalSystem.php 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ooHEYR30oNCdI4Xxop9qBjKQGnqTPwLHQzT8cvv5oxA/edit Sumerian Grammar Made Easy! (2022 Edition)

Historians, linguists, etc:

https://sumerianlanguage.tumblr.com/ aka http://www.jamesbarrettmorison.com/sumerian.html

https://sumerianshakespeare.com/

https://www.youtube.com/c/DigitalHammurabi aka https://www.digitalhammurabi.com/

https://twitter.com/digi_hammurabi and https://twitter.com/DJHammurabi1 

Podcasts and online-exclusive documentaries, video essays, etc

8. The Sumerians - Fall of the First Cities (2020)

13. The Assyrians - Empire of Iron (2021)

The Complete and Concise History of the Sumerians and Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia (7000-2000 BC) (2021)

The Royal Death Pits of Ur (2022)

Gilgamesh and the Flood (2021)

The Birth of Civilisation - Rise of Uruk (6500 BC to 3200 BC) (2021)

The Earliest Creation Myths - Mythillogical (2022)

Enuma Elish | The Babylonian Epic of Creation | Complete Audiobook | With Commentary (2020)

 Eridu Genesis | The Sumerian Epic of Creation (2021)

 Irving Finkel | The Ark Before Noah: A Great Adventure (2016)

Cracking Ancient Codes: Cuneiform Writing - with Irving Finkel (2019)

Ancient Demons with Irving Finkel I Curator's Corner S3 Ep7 #CuratorsCorner (2018)

 How to perform necromancy with Irving Finkel (2017)

 Mesopotamian ghostbusting with Irving Finkel I Curator's Corner + #CuratorsCorner (2018)

Video Games

Sonic The Hedgehog Encyclospeedia; Ian Flynn (2021)

Direct Inspiration

The Golden Compass (1995), The Subtle Knife (1997); The Amber Spyglass (2000); Philip Pullman

The Last Unicorn; Peter S. Beagle (1968)

The 13 and ½ Lives Of Captain Bluebear: A Novel; Walter Moers (1999)

Allerleirauh; Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (1812)

The Epic of Beowulf; Anonymous (c. 700–1000 AD)

The Writing In The Stone; Irving Finkel (October 10, 2017)

[yourlocalaphrodisian]

Hi, it's me again.

Missed me? I know I've missed y'all <3 This has been a LOOOOONGGGG three years LMAO. Last I was here I was still a kid, but now I am, surprising even myself, an adult. Yes, ya boi is 18 as of September 24th.

But this isn't a personal blog, so I'd lay off on the personal stuff except for that I've had a shit ton of ups and downs in these three years and a lot has changed... Including my faith.

Religion, to me, has been a constant in life. From birth to this very day, I seek religion. I was born Muslim, grew up Muslim, but then fell away from Islam. That much I'm sure my old followers know. I leaned back on Hellenic Polytheism when Islam became inhospitable. I leaned back on what to me was the most important thing in life: Love. And that Love was Mother Aphrodite.

Love holds the world together. Humans are communal creatures. Love is at the centre of our existence, our society and our civilization. From Prometheus, from Adam, from Manu and from the first modern homo erectus — Humanity has relied on love. Love for oneself, which manifests as survival instinct. Love for one's family, which manifests as protectiveness. Love for one's neighbours, which manifests as community. And even Love for one's enemy, which manifests as diplomacy. Love is a great power. I might even go as far as to say Love is the only power.

Perhaps it was my monotheistic upbringing which made my praxis so centric on Aphrodite, and I acknowledge that many may have not shared that henotheistic view, of a supremacy over all other divine beings. Perhaps it was my reason, of my then childish brain, which made me put Aphrodite on a pedestal above all.

I still exalt Her greatness, and I miss her dearly.

No, I have not practiced in these three years. However, I have never felt safer going out of a religion than I have with with faith. I must give it that credit. So what pushed me away?

I'd promised I wouldn't turn this vent-y, but here I am, laying my heart bare to you all. But alas, this is a temple of Love, is it not? Hearts are to be laid bare.

I'd considered reason, I'd considered need. I rationed with all I had, tried to reason with myself the existence of a divine being. Perhaps it is my idea of divinity as a personal force rather than a universal one which drove me away. I am not immune to bias, alas.

But reason was often at war with me. I needed divinity, I needed religion. I needed a crutch to lean back on, to lay my problems at the feet of in sacrifice. I needed a God. Allah didn't fulfill that role, so I sought the old gods.

Old Gods of a nation which isn't mine. I'm Bengali, that much you must know. This feeling wasn't there when I first practiced, but as I've grown into a bigger age, though still relatively measly at 18, I felt the rift between me and the gods grow. I prayed to them in Greek or English, which always felt a bit odd on my Bengali tongue. I know, the Gods don't care about the language you use. But, again, it is my own bias acting against me.

So where do I stand now?

Nowhere. I wish I could say I've achieved anything, but really I've got nothing very fruitful out of these three years. I'm still me, but, I don't intend to come off as boastful, more mature, more introspective, more... Indifferent. I've grown into a rather nonchalant person. Nothing bothers me, or at least I don't think too much about it to let it bother me.

Another way to put it would be I've turned shallow. The differences of blood and bone faze me. It is a bit cruel to say this, and I do not intend any offence to anyone, but I cannot bring myself to pray to a white man's god.

Aphrodite isn't a white goddess. She originated in the Levant, and in my practice she retained her Levantine aspects. However, even so, it's become harder for me to connect. It's been painful, but I do, in some corner of my mind, believe that the Mother has given her baby Dove the chance to fly on his own.

So, do I believe in Aphrodite?

It's... Complicated. Currently I don't practice any religion, though you could call my beliefs Hindu to some degree. So I do not engage in worship, nor do I call myself religious. But do I believe in Aphrodite? Yes. A thousand times yes. I'd be a fool not to believe in her. I'd be stupid not to believe in Love. Cheesy as it sounds, you'd know what I mean if you read the ramble on Love earlier in this post.

So, will I continue to post, now that I've finally decided to pay Tumblr a visit? I'm not sure, to be fairly honest. We'll see what the Gods have in mind, but the chances are... I won't. Or at least, I don't think I'll be posting theological or votive posts. So while I don't want to call it a goodbye, I also don't want to potentially lie and say I'll be consistent. I genuinely do love this community, and I've made good friends from it. So what I can say is — I'll be here. If you need me, I'll be here. As a friend, as a listening ear. I'm still around, and life will be well.

So, in short. I've missed you all, and I continue to miss you. I've been absent, I can't promise to be present, but I'll be here as a roadside hermit of sorts.

Khairete <3

In other news, FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸 FREE SYRIA 🇸🇾 FREE SUDAN 🇸🇩 and may all revolutions be in the people's favour, gods willing <3

[irhabiya]

God free me from the shackles of levantine men