Could Aurignacian, Gravettian, and Magdalenian cultures’ art from 40,000 to 12,000 years ago relate to Later Goddess/God and Bull cults?

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

ref, ref, ref, ref

In my prehistory art in this blog, I offer my speculations relating to art with possible religious/supernatural thinking which I think are loose, justified, or reasoned speculations/conjectures.

“My thinking on the Aurignacian and Gravettian art relates to Later Goddess and the Bull cults like Catal Huyuk is me wondering if they have a 30,000-year belief connection so it may be loose speculations/conjectures.”

My thoughts on speculations/conjectures:

Unreasoned speculations/conjectures

Wild speculations/conjectures

Loose speculations/conjectures

Justified speculations/conjectures

Reasoned speculations/conjectures

Sound/proven speculations/conjectures

Aurignacian

“The Aurignacian (/ɔːrɪɡˈneɪʃən/) is an archaeological industry of the Upper Paleolithic associated with European early modern humans (EEMH) lasting from 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic developed in Europe sometime after the Levant, where the Emiran period and the Ahmarian period form the first periods of the Upper Paleolithic, corresponding to the first stages of the expansion of Homo sapiens out of Africa. They then migrated to Europe and created the first European culture of modern humans, the Aurignacian.” ref

“One of the oldest examples of figurative art, the Venus of Hohle Fels, comes from the Aurignacian or Proto-Gravettian and is dated to between 40,000 and 35,000 years ago (though now earlier figurative art may be known, see Lubang Jeriji Saléh). It was discovered in September 2008 in a cave at Schelklingen in Baden-Württemberg in western Germany. The German Lion-man figure is given a similar date range. The Bacho Kiro site in Bulgaria is one of the earliest known Aurignacian burials.” ref

A “Levantine Aurignacian” culture is known from the Levant, with a type of blade technology very similar to the European Aurignacian, following chronologically the Emiran and Early Ahmarian in the same area of the Near East, and also closely related to them. The Levantine Aurignacian may have preceded European Aurignacian, but there is a possibility that the Levantine Aurignacian was rather the result of reverse influence from the European Aurignacian: this remains unsettled.” ref

“Aurignacian figurines have been found depicting faunal representations of the time period associated with now-extinct mammals, including mammoths, rhinoceros, and tarpan, along with anthropomorphized depictions that may be interpreted as some of the earliest evidence of religion. Many 35,000-year-old animal figurines were discovered in the Vogelherd Cave in Germany. One of the horses, amongst six tiny mammoth and horse ivory figures, found previously at Vogelherd, was sculpted as skillfully as any piece found throughout the Upper Paleolithic. The production of ivory beads for body ornamentation was also important during the Aurignacian. The famous paintings in Chauvet cave date from this period.” ref

Gravettian

“The Gravettian was an archaeological industry of the European Upper Paleolithic that succeeded the Aurignacian circa 33,000 years ago. It is archaeologically the last European culture many consider unified, and had mostly disappeared by c. 22,000 years ago, close to the Last Glacial Maximum, although some elements lasted until c. 17,000 years ago. In Spain and France, it was succeeded by the Solutrean, and developed into or continued as the Epigravettian in Italy, the Balkans, Ukraine, and Russia. The Gravettian culture is known for Venus figurines, which were typically carved from either ivory or limestone. The culture was first identified at the site of La Gravette in the southwestern French department of Dordogne.” ref

“The Gravettians were hunter-gatherers who lived in a bitterly cold period of European prehistory, and the Gravettian lifestyle was shaped by the climate. Pleniglacial environmental changes forced them to adapt. West and Central Europe were extremely cold during this period. Archaeologists usually describe two regional variants: the western Gravettian, known mainly from cave sites in France, Spain, and Britain, and the eastern Gravettian in Central Europe and Russia. The eastern Gravettians, which include the Pavlovian culture, were specialized mammoth hunters, whose remains are usually found not in caves but in open-air sites.” ref

Epigravettian

“The Epigravettian (Greek: epi “above, on top of,” and Gravettian) was one of the last archaeological industries and cultures of the European Upper Paleolithic. It emerged after the Last Glacial Maximum around ~21,000 years ago and is considered to be a cultural derivative of the Gravettian culture. Initially named Tardigravettian (Late Gravettian) in 1964 by Georges Laplace in reference to several lithic industries found in Italy, it was later renamed in order to better emphasize its independent character. Three subphases, the Early Epigravettian (20,000 to 16,000 years ago), the Evolved Epigravettian (16,000 to 14,000 years ago), and the Final Epigravettian (14,000 to 8,000 years ago), have been established, that were further subdivided and reclassified. The Epigravettian is the last stage of the Upper Paleolithic succeeded by Mesolithic cultures after 10,000 years ago.” ref

Magdalenian

“The Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; French: Magdalénien) are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. It is named after the type site of La Madeleine, a rock shelter located in the Vézère valley, commune of Tursac, in France’s Dordogne department. The Magdalenian epoch is associated with reindeer hunters, although Magdalenian sites contain extensive evidence for the hunting of red deer, horses, and other large mammals present in Europe toward the end of the last glacial period. The culture was geographically widespread, and later Magdalenian sites stretched from Portugal in the west to Poland in the east, and as far north as France, the Channel Islands, England, and Wales. It is the third epoch of Gabriel de Mortillet’s cave chronology system, corresponding roughly to the Late Pleistocene. Besides La Madeleine, the chief stations of the epoch are Les Eyzies, Laugerie-Basse, and Gorges d’Enfer in the Dordogne; Grotte du Placard in Charente and others in south-west France.” ref

“Bones, reindeer antlers, and animal teeth display crude pictures carved or etched on them of seals, fish, reindeer, mammoths, and other creatures. The best of Magdalenian artworks are a mammoth engraved on a fragment of its own ivory; a dagger of reindeer antler, with a handle in form of a reindeer; a cave-bear cut on a flat piece of schist; a seal on a bear’s tooth; a fish drawn on a reindeer antler; and a complete picture, also on reindeer antler, showing horses, an aurochs, trees, and a snake biting a man’s leg. The man is naked, which, together with the snake, suggests a warm climate in spite of the presence of the reindeer. In the Tuc d’Audoubert cave, an 18-inch clay statue of two bison sculpted in relief was discovered in the deepest room, now known as the Room of the Bisons. Examples of Magdalenian portable art include batons, figurines, and intricately engraved projectile points, as well as items of personal adornment including sea shells, and perforated carnivore teeth (presumably necklaces), and fossils. Cave sites such as Lascaux contain the best-known examples of Magdalenian cave art. The site of Altamira in Spain, with its extensive and varied forms of Magdalenian mobiliary art has been suggested to be an agglomeration site where groups of Magdalenian hunter-gatherers congregated.” ref

A carving is associated with the Gravettian Upper Paleolithic culture approximately 25,000 years old, may relate to Later Goddess and the Bull cults like Catal Huyuk “first religious designed city”around 10,000 years ago. The Venus of Laussel is an 18.11-inch-high limestone bas-relief of a nude woman. It is painted with red ochre and was carved into the limestone of a rock shelter (Abri de Laussel) in the commune of Marquay, in the Dordogne department of south-western France. The figure holds a bison horn, or possibly a cornucopia, in one hand, which has thirteen notches.Alexander Marshack said about the Venus of Laussel that “One cannot conjecture on the basis of one engraved sequence any meaning to the marks, but that the unusually clean horn was notated with storied marks is clear.” She has her hand on her abdomen (or womb), with large breasts and vulva. There is a “Y” on her thigh and her faceless head is turned toward the horn.  It was carved into large block of limestone in a rock shelter (abri de Laussel) at the commune of Marquay in the Dordogne department of south-western France. The limestone block fell off the wall of the shelter. It was brought to the Musée d’Aquitaine in Bordeaux, France. ref

Bulls in Indo-European mythology

Sacred bull

Numerous peoples throughout the world have at one point in time-honored bulls as sacred. In Sumerian mythology, Marduk is the “bull of Utu“. In Hinduism, Shiva‘s steed is Nandi, the Bull. The sacred bull survives in the constellation Taurus. The bull, whether lunar as in Mesopotamia or solar as in India. Taurus (Latin for “the Bull”) is one of the constellations of the zodiac, which means it is crossed by the plane of the ecliptic. Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere‘s winter sky. It is one of the oldest constellations, dating back to at least the Early Bronze Age when it marked the location of the Sun during the spring equinox. Its importance to the agricultural calendar influenced various bull figures in the mythologies of Ancient Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. ref

The Goddess and the Bull, Catalhoyuk by Michael Balter | New Scientist

(Amazon.com: “The Goddess and the Bull”)

ÇATALHÖYÜK on the Anatolian plateau in Turkey is a truly rare archaeological site has hundreds of structures, astounding art and a precociously early Stone Age date of 7000 BCE. The paintings, sculptures, burials, and artifacts uncovered here are Neolithic wonders that have thrown a spotlight on the origins of civilization. In The Goddess and the Bull Michael Balter takes us on an intimate and revealing journey through 9000 years of cultural evolution. ref

Catal Huyuk “first religious designed city” and a “city of equality”

Men and women held equal status in the ancient city of

Catalhoyuk (around 10,000 to 5,000 years ago)

Çatalhöyük was a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500  to 5700 BCE, and flourished around 7000 BCE. Çatalhöyük is located overlooking the Konya Plain, southeast of the present-day city of Konya (ancient Iconium) in Turkey, approximately 140 km (87 mi) from the twin-coned volcano of Mount Hasan. The eastern settlement forms a mound which would have risen about 20 m (66 ft) above the plain at the time of the latest Neolithic occupation. There is also a smaller settlement mound to the west and a Byzantine settlement a few hundred meters to the east. The prehistoric mound settlements were abandoned before the Bronze Age. A channel of the Çarşamba river once flowed between the two mounds, and the settlement was built on alluvial clay which may have been favourable for early agriculture.

What Happened to Turkey’s Ancient Utopia? | DiscoverMagazine.com

Yes, Çatalhöyük was a place of relative gender equality, where men and women held equal status.

Overlooking the Konya Plain in Turkey lies the remarkable and unique ancient city of Çatalhöyük, the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date. At a time when most of the world’s people were nomadic hunter-gatherers, Çatalhöyük was a bustling town of as many as 10,000 people. According to a 2014 report in Hurriyet Daily News , archaeologists have now gained new insights into the ancient city as further excavation work has revealed that Çatalhöyük was a place of gender equality, where men and women held equal status. Çatalhöyük, which means ‘forked mound’ and refers to the site’s east and west mounds, features a unique and peculiar street-less settlement of houses clustered together in a honeycomb-like maze with most accessed by holes in the ceiling, which also served as the only source of ventilation into the house. The rooftops were effectively streets and may have formed plazas where many daily activities may have taken place. The homes had plaster interiors and each main room served for cooking and daily activities.

The world’s first farmers were surprisingly diverse | Science 

* “paganist” Believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects and these objects can be used by special persons or in special rituals can connect to spirit-filled life and/or afterlife who are guided/supported by a goddess/god or goddesses/gods (you are a hidden paganist/Paganism: an approximately 12,000-year-old belief system) And Gobekli Tepe: “first human made temple” as well as Catal Huyuk “first religious designed city” are both evidence of some kind of early paganism.

At Çatalhöyük in Turkey, it appears that people did not live in families. Instead, the society seems to have been organized completely differently. Many buildings are built so close together that people had to get in through the roof. Its inhabitants farmed crops and domesticated animals, and experimented with painting and sculpture. They also buried their dead beneath the floors of the houses, suggesting that people were buried where they lived. Because Çatalhöyük is made up solely of small houses, Pilloud expected it to be organized rather like a modern village, with “small nuclear families living together and defining the community”, she says. So people buried together should have been more closely related than people from different houses. It does not appear that individuals that were buried together were closely related to each other,” she says. “Çatalhöyük was likely not centered around nuclear families.” More recent burial sites have tended to show strong familial patterns, but no other Stone Age site has been analyzed in this way, so there’s no way to know if Çatalhöyük is typical of the time. Çatalhöyük developed its odd social structure as the people began settling down and farming, rather than hunting and gathering. “It makes a lot of sense to shift to a community-centered society with the adoption of agriculture,” she says. One hypothesis holds that people living in close quarters all year round and working together to produce the food needed to create a strong community, rather than only cooperating with relatives. Another explanation might be that earlier hunter-gatherer societies were also less family-centric than we thought. There is some evidence that modern hunter-gatherer societies are extremely fluid, with both males and females regularly leaving the group they were born in. That means many individuals within each group are completely unrelated (Science, vol 331, p 1286). Çatalhöyük society looks remarkably similar, Hill says. “This might imply that such patterns are ancient, common, and persisted even in the early transition from foraging to farming.” ref

Totemism and Shamanism Dispersal Theory

To me, totemism seems to have fully developed in Europe (likely western) but could have further developed pre-totemism from Africa, such as seen in the Stone Snake of South Africa: “first human worship” 70,000 years ago. Thus, I am also not sure that the European Totemists could just have been ones that had left Africa or was formed when we interacted with Neandertals in the middle east then splitting from there as early totemists but or the northern peoples caring Desonivin DNA could have come from the north with my proposed Europe Totemism as it seems Totemism hit Indonesia around 30,000 ago or so and possibly then spread to Papua New Guinea and presumably Australia.

I hypothesize that both Totemism and Shamanism Disperse somewhat together as a complementary set of varied beliefs as either one of two main persuasions, totemistic-(female leaning, to me, more geared to “Group-totemism” Acephalous/Gynocentrism–Egalitarian–Equalitarian/Matrilineal–Matriarchy)-shamanism and/or shamanistic-(male leaning, to me, more geared to “Individual-Clan-totemism” Acephalous/Hierarchical–Heterarchy–Homoarchy/Patrilineal–Patriarchy)-Totemism which this must be thought of as only in a general kind of way, rather than only one-type each or that both where varied. I think, likely both held diversity almost from the beginning, so they latter becoming even more diverse through tome also seems logical, which after that became more area stylized or splitting of the two. Such as, a possibility that true totemism as I think fully developed in Europe, not Africa: approximately 50,000-year-old belief system and that Shamanism: an approximately 30,000-year-old belief system by way of Siberia only to later find its way I think through Turkey to the Middle East maybe by around 12,000 years ago, referenced in the shaman burial of that time than out from there to Africa by way of Neolithic farmers from western Eurasia who, about 8,000 years ago, brought agriculture to Europe then began to return to Africa aided by DNA info from a 4,500-year-old hunter-gatherer, known as Mota man, were found in a cave. ref And at least by 3,000 years ago this southern migrations had spread to Africa, as it was by 3,000 years ago Europen DNA took that long to get to southern Africa through  “The widespread use of iron weapons which replaced bronze weapons rapidly disseminated throughout the Near East (North Africa, southwest Asia) by around 3,000 years ago.” ref As well as where both Early Shamanism around 30,000 to 20,000 years ago: Sungar (Russia) and Dolni Vestonice (Czech Republic) taken along with European totemism by way of Siberia through Austronesians migrations) all the way to Aboriginal Religion.

• Description of Matriarchy – Matriarchy.Info
• Matriarchy in China: mothers, queens, goddesses and shamans
• Medicine in Matriarchal Society
• Matriarchal Studies – Anthropology – Oxford Bibliographies
• Matriarchy | Rain Queens: Female leadership traditions of Africa
• China’s Last but one matriarchy: The Jino of Yunnan
• Matriarchal: Pre-Islam Arab cultures in Arabic Peninsula?
• List of matrilineal or matrilocal societies
• Shamans of the 20th Century
• 6 Modern Societies Where Women Rule 
• 5 Latin American Matriarchal Societies You Never Knew About
• Setting the record straight: Matrilineal does not equal matriarchal
• Heterarchy and the Analysis of Complex Societies 
• Gynocentrism & Matriarchal Societies
• Matrilineal society

Group totemism was traditionally common among peoples in Africa, India, Oceania (especially in Melanesia), North America, and parts of South America. These peoples include, among others, the Australian Aborigines, the African Pygmies, and various Native American peoples—most notably the Northwest Coast Indians (predominantly fishermen), California Indians, and Northeast Indians. Moreover, group totemism is represented in a distinctive form among the Ugrians and west Siberians (hunters and fishermen who also breed reindeer) as well as among tribes of herdsmen in North and Central Asia. ref

Group/Clan Totemism a clan is a group claiming common descent in the male or female line. They share a common relationship with 1 or more natural phenomena. For the members of this unit, the clan, the totem is a symbol of membership of the unit. It is recognised for the members of this clan and those of other clans. This totem has strong territorial and mythological ties associated with it, and it is believed that it can warn them of approaching danger. Some distinguish between matrilineal social clan totemism and patrilineal clan totemism. Matrilineal clan totemism is widespread throughout eastern Australia – Queensland, New South Wales, western Victoria and eastern South Australia. There is also a small area in the southwest of Western Australia. The genera translation of the word for this totem is ‘flesh’ or ‘meat’ – the person is ‘of one flesh’ with his totem. The totems connected with matrilineal phratries of western Arnhem Land are not the center of cult life, and the members of the phratry don’t have a special attitude towards it. The totems of the matrilineal social clans are the center of cult life. An example among the Dieri is the mardu. It is really an avunculineal (of the mother’s brother’s line) cult totem. Patrilineal clan cult totemism, bindara, is also found in this tribe. Patrilineal clan totemism was present in parts of Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Cape York, coastal areas of New South Wales and Queensland, central Victoria, along the lower Murray and the Coorong district and among the Lake Eyre groups. The best example was among the Jaraldi, Dangani, etc. and northeastern Arnhem Land. In eastern Arnhem Land a combination of aspects, including non-totemic, were associated with the clan. A clan has several totemic cults, and these can be associated with more than one linguistic group. In central Australia totemic combinations were apparent but less strongly so. ref

Individual totemism is widely disseminated. It is found not only among tribes of hunters and harvesters but also among farmers and herdsmen. Individual totemism is especially emphasized among the Australian Aborigines and the American Indians. Studies of shamanism indicate that individual totemism may have predated group totemism, as a group’s protective spirits were sometimes derived from the totems of specific individuals. To some extent, there also exists a tendency to pass on an individual totem as hereditary or to make taboo the entire species of animal to which the individual totem belongs. ref

Shamanism: an approximately 30,000-year-old belief system

37,000 years ago at the site of Kostenki 14 (also known as Markina Gora) in western Russia, genome of a man who was buried there shows, that once modern humans had dispersed out of Africa and into Eurasia, they separated at least sometime before 37,000-years ago into at least three populations, whose descendants would develop the unique features that reflect the core of the diversity of non-African modern humans. Moreover, after then, despite major climatic fluctuations, one of these groups – Palaeolithic Europeans – persisted as a population, ebbing and flowing by moments of contraction and expansion, but persisting intertwined until the arrival of farmers from the Middle East in the last 8,000 years, with whom they mixed extensively. The Kostyonki-Borshchyovo archaeological complex is an extended Upper Paleolithic (Aurignacian to Gravettian) site. The Kostenki burial and other ancient genomes show that for 30,000-years there was a single meta-population in Europe, consisting of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer groups that split up, mixed, dispersed and changed. Only when farmers from the Near East arrived approximately 8,000 years ago, did the structure of the European population change significantly. DNA from a male hunter-gatherer from Kostenki-12 date to around 30,000 years ago and died aged 20–25. His maternal lineage was found to be mtDNA haplogroup U2. He was buried in an oval pit in a crouched position and covered with red ochre. Kostenki 12 was later found to belong to the patrilineal Y-DNA haplogroup C1* (C-F3393). A male from Kostenki-14 (Markina Gora), who lived approximately 35–40,000 BP, was also found to belong to mtDNA haplogroup U2. His Y-DNA haplogroup was C1b* (C-F1370). The Kostenki-14 genome represents early evidence for the separation of Western Eurasian and East Asian lineages. It was found to have a close relationship to both “Mal’ta boy” (24 ka) of central Siberia (Ancient North Eurasian) and to the later Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of Europe and western Siberia, as well as with a basal population ancestral to Early European Farmers, but not to East Asians. ref, ref

31,000 – 20,000 years ago Oldest Shaman was Female, Buried with the Oldest Portrait Carving

“Gravettian Cultures” (to me, connects to the birth of Shamanism)

Around, Dates: 33,000 to 21,000 BP

The Gravettian was an archaeological industry of the European Upper Paleolithic that succeeded the Aurignacian circa 33,000 years ago. They seem to dissipate or make transfer changes from 22,000 years ago, close to the Last Glacial Maximum, although some elements lasted until around 17,000 years ago. At this point, it was generally replaced abruptly by the Solutrean in France and Spain, and developed into or continued as the Epigravettian in Italy, the Balkans, Ukraine, and Russia. They are known for their Venus figurines, which were typically made as either ivory or limestone carvings. The Gravettian culture was first identified at the site of La Gravette in Southwestern France. The Gravettians were hunter-gatherers who lived in a bitterly cold period of European prehistory, and Gravettian lifestyle was shaped by the climate. Pleniglacial environmental changes forced them to adapt. West and Central Europe were extremely cold during this period. Archaeologists usually describe two regional variants: the western Gravettian, known mainly from cave sites in France, Spain and Britain, and the eastern Gravettian in Central Europe and Russia. The eastern Gravettians, which include the Pavlovian culture, were specialized mammoth hunters, whose remains are usually found not in caves but in open air sites. Gravettian culture thrived on their ability to hunt animals. They utilized a variety of tools and hunting strategies. Compared to theorized hunting techniques of Neanderthals and earlier human groups, Gravettian hunting culture appears much more mobile and complex. They lived in caves or semi-subterranean or rounded dwellings which were typically arranged in small “villages”. Gravettians are thought to have been innovative in the development of tools such as blunted black knives, tanged arrowheads , and boomerangs. Other innovations include the use of woven nets and stone-lamps.^[9] Blades and bladelets were used to make decorations and bone tools from animal remains. Sites including CPM II, CPM III, Casal de Felipe, and Fonte Santa (all in Spain) have evidence the use of blade and bladelet technology during the period. The objects were often made of quartz and rock crystals, and varied in terms of platforms, abrasions, endscrapers and burins. They were formed by hammering bones and rocks together until they formed sharp shards, in a process known as lithic reduction. The blades were used to skin animals or sharpen sticks. ref

30,000 Years Ago – (Eurasia), found evidence that the earliest human burial practices varied widely, with some graves are ornate while the vast majority were fairly plain but it seems to be a more common ritual showing the further solidification of ritualizing was blooming. Overall, between 35,000 years ago and 10,000 years ago there is a wide variation in human burial customs. 1

29,000 – 25,000 years ago– (Eurasia), the Pavlovian is an Upper Paleolithic culture, a variant of the Gravettian, that existed in the region of Moravia, northern Austria and southern Poland around 29,000 – 25,000 years BP. The culture used sophisticated stone age technology to survive in the tundra on the fringe of the ice sheets around the Last Glacial Maximum. Its economy was principally based on the hunting of mammoth herds for meat, fat fuel, hides for tents and large bones and tusks for building winter shelters. Its name is derived from the village of Pavlov, in the Pavlov Hills, next to Dolní Věstonice in southern Moravia. The site was excavated in 1952 by the Czechoslovakian archaeologist Bohuslav Klima. Another important Pavlovian site is Předmostí, now part of the town of Přerov. Excavation has yielded flint implements, polished and drilled stone artifacts, bone spearheads, needles, digging tools, flutes, bone ornaments, drilled animal teeth, and seashells. Art or religious finds are bone carvings and figurines of humans and animals made of mammoth tusk, stone, and fired clay. Textile impression made into wet clay give the oldest proof of the existence of weaving by humans. ref

27,000 Years Ago – (Eurasia), Gravettian culture extends across a large geographic region but is relatively homogeneous until about 27,000 years ago. They developed burial rites, which included the inclusion of simple, purpose-built, offerings and or personal ornaments owned by the deceased, placed within the grave or tomb. Surviving Gravettian art includes numerous cave paintings and small, portable Venus figurines made from clay or ivory, as well as jewelry objects. The fertility deities mostly date from the early period, and consist of over 100 known surviving examples. They conform to a very specific physical type of large breasts, broad hips, and prominent posteriors. The statuettes tend to lack facial details, with limbs that are often broken off. During the ppost-glacialperiod, evidence of the culture begins to disappear from northern Europe but was continued in areas around the Mediterranean. ref

27,000 Years Ago – (Austria), Krems-Wachtberg in Lower Austria, Two separate pits, one containing the remains of two infants  and the other of a single baby, were discovered at the same Stone Age camp. Infants may have been considered equal members of prehistoric society, according to an analysis of burial pits, as Both graves were decorated with beads and covered in red ochre, a pigment commonly used by prehistoric peoples as a grave offering when they buried adults. ref

12,707–12,556-year-old child remains at a burial site in North America. Anzick-1 is the name given to the remains of Paleo-Indian male infant found in western Montana, remains revealed Siberian ancestry and a close genetic relationship to modern Native Americans, including those of Central and South America. These findings support the hypothesis that modern Native Americans are descended from Asian populations who crossed Beringia between 32,000 and 18,000 years ago. buried under numerous tools: 100 stone tools and 15 remnants of tools made of bone. The site contained hundreds of stone projectile points, blades, and bifaces, as well as the remains of two juveniles. Some of the artifacts were covered in red ocher. The stone points were identified as part of the Clovis Complex because of their distinct shape and size. ref

11,500-year-old child remains of a six-week-old baby girl in a burial pit in central Alaska whos DNA indicated there was just a single wave of migration into the Americas across a land bridge, now submerged, that spanned the Bering Strait and connected Siberia to Alaska during the Ice Age. The girl was found alongside remains of an even-younger female infant, possibly a first cousin, whose genome the researchers could not sequence. Both were covered in red ochre and next to decorated antler rods. ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Aurignacian Culture

Gravettian Culture

Magdalenian Culture

Kebaran culture

U6 related Culture Haplogroup U6 (Back migration to Africa of U6: 30,000 years ago) 

Iberomaurusian Culture

Ust’-Ishim man

Basal Eurasian

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Chauvet cave

“The Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave in the Ardèche department of southeastern France is a cave that contains some of the best-preserved figurative cave paintings in the world, as well as other evidence of Upper Paleolithic life. It is located near the commune of Vallon-Pont-d’Arc on a limestone cliff above the former bed of the river Ardèche, in the Gorges de l’Ardèche. The dates have been a matter of dispute but a study published in 2012 supports placing the art in the Aurignacian period, approximately 32,000–30,000 years ago. A study published in 2016 using additional 88 radiocarbon dates showed two periods of habitation, one from 37,000 to 33,500 years ago and the second from 31,000 to 28,000 years ago, with most of the black drawings dating to the earlier period.” ref

“Hundreds of animal paintings have been cataloged, depicting at least 13 different species, including some rarely or never found in other ice age paintings. Rather than depicting only the familiar herbivores that predominate in Paleolithic cave art, i.e. horses, aurochs, mammoths, etc., the walls of the Chauvet Cave feature many predatory animals, e.g., cave lions, leopards, bears, and cave hyenas. There are also paintings of rhinoceroses. Typical of most cave art, there are no paintings of complete human figures, although there is one partial “Venus” figure composed of what appears to be a vulva attached to an incomplete pair of legs. Above the Venus, and in contact with it, is a bison head, which has led some to describe the composite drawing as a Minotaur. There are a few panels of red ochre hand prints and hand stencils made by blowing pigment over hands pressed against the cave surface. Abstract markings—lines and dots—are found throughout the cave. There are also two unidentifiable images that have a vaguely butterfly or avian shape to them. This combination of subjects has led some students of prehistoric art and cultures to believe that there was a ritual, shamanic, or magical aspect to these paintings.” ref

“One drawing, later overlaid with a sketch of a deer, is reminiscent of a volcano spewing lava, similar to the regional volcanoes that were active at the time. If confirmed, this would represent the earliest known drawing of a volcanic eruption. The artists who produced these paintings used techniques rarely found in other cave art. Many of the paintings appear to have been made only after the walls were scraped clear of debris and concretions, leaving a smoother and noticeably lighter area upon which the artists worked. Similarly, a three-dimensional quality and the suggestion of movement are achieved by incising or etching around the outlines of certain figures. The art is also exceptional for its time for including “scenes”, e.g., animals interacting with each other; a pair of woolly rhinoceroses, for example, are seen butting horns in an apparent contest for territory or mating rights.” ref

Aurignacian burials (around 37,000-30,000 years ago) belong to the early phase of this period in Europe. Examples have been excavated at Cave of Cavillon, Liguria – a burial wearing a cap of netted whelk shells with a border of deer’s teeth, red ochre around the face, and a bone awl at the side. ref

Aurignacian in the Zagros region dates back to about 35,500 years ago at Yafteh Cave, Lorestan, Iran. ref 

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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I personally think there is a goddess and not enough evidence to support a male god at Çatalhöyük but if there was both a male and female god and goddess then I know the kind of gods they were like Proto-Indo-European mythology.

To me, the “male god” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 7,000 years ago, whereas the now favored monotheism “male god” is more like 4,000 years ago or so. To me, the “female goddess” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 11,000-10,000 years ago or so, losing the majority of its once prominence around 2,000 years ago due largely to the now favored monotheism “male god” that grow in prominence after 4,000 years ago or so.

Mesopotamian Deities and Bull Horns

Mesopotamian Gods and the Bull

“Abstract: In Mesopotamia, gods were associated with the bull from at least the Early Dynastic Period until the Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean Period. This relationship took on many forms? the bull could serve as the god’s divine animal, the god could be likened to the bull, or he could actually take on the form of the beast. In this paper, the various gods identified with or related to the bull will be identified and studied in order to identify which specific types of gods were most commonly and especially associated with the bull. The relationships between the gods and the bull are evident in textual as well as iconographic sources, although fewer instances of this connection are found in iconography. Examples of the portrayal of the association between the various gods and the bull in texts and iconography can be compared and contrasted in order to reveal differences and similarities in these portrayals.” ref

“The bull was associated with a variety of Mesopotamian gods. More than one god was associated with the bull, which, as Ornan (2001, p. 25) points out, does not contradict ancient Near Eastern religious concepts, as polytheistic theology conceived the world as being simultaneously governed by several divine entities. These entities could govern the same or similar spheres and could be associated with the same objects and attributes. If the bull was associated with more than one god, it must be because the characteristics of the bull could be compared and likened to those of the different gods. In this regard, Watanabe (2002, p. 89-106) identifies a number of ways in which the bull was used in divine contexts: the bull could be used to express warlike qualities associated with a god, to express aspects of the storm, and to express various types of fertility, be that agricultural or sexual. There was though considerable overlap between these, with, for example, the storm also expressing both martial and fertility aspects. The bull could, therefore, broadly be associated with power, authority, and strength, and with fertility.” ref

“The bull could also be both a symbol and an attribute of a god ( Seidl 2011-13, p. 180). Gods could be associated with bulls in three ways: They could be represented as a bull, in other words taking the physical form of a bull, or they could be represented like a bull, taking on or embodying certain characteristics associated with the bull, or they could be represented as having some relationship with cattle. By looking at the different gods which are symbolized by and associated with the bull and analyzing how these relationships were manifested in both textual and visual sources, greater understanding may follow. This will be done in order to determine whether there is consistency in the manner in which the gods are associated with the bull. This will entail both looking at how the bull and the individual gods were associated and with which aspects of the bull these gods were identified.” ref

Cattle Gods

“The most obvious gods to be associated with the bull are Cattle Gods. Laar and Akkan were cattle gods in Sumerian mythology, but there do not appear to be iconographic depictions of either god. According to a debate poem ¹relayed by Kramer (1972, p. 52), Lahar, the cattle god, and his sister Anan, the grain goddess, were created so that the Anunnaki would have food and clothing. Laar and A’nan descend to earth and begin arguing, each one proclaiming the advantages of their gifts and belittling those of the other. Enki and Enlil intervene and declare Anan to be the winner. There is, however, uncertainty over the identity of Lahar in this narrative. For example, Leick (1998, p. 109) identifies Lahar as a cattle goddess rather than a god, while according to Lambert (1980-1983, p. 431) this deity is a “god of flocks.” Black, Cunningham, Robson, and Zólyomi (2006, p.227) and Middleton (2005, p. 156-157) further both identify Lahar as female and as the personification of Sheep, rather than associated with cattle. Whatever the gender identity of Lahar in the debate poem, in the Theogony of Dunnu, Lahar is the son of Akkan and, therefore, male. The Theogony of Dunnu describes both the founding of the town Dunnu and the genealogy of its deities. In this narrative, Lahar kills his father and marries his mother, and in turn, is killed by his son. Neither the strength and power nor the fertility of the bull, therefore, seem to be associated with Lahar in these texts, although as a deity of the herds or flocks, he may be associated with fertility.” ref

“Akkan, Lahar’s father, also appears to have been a Sumerian cattle god and was also known as Sumuqan ( Wiggermann 2011-13, p. 308). As with Lahar, his sphere of influence is not entirely certain. Lines 94-95 of a ?ir-namursa?a to Ninsiana for Iddin-Dagan (Iddin-Dagan A)(ETCSL 2.5.3.1), mentions the numerous beasts of Akkan, the creatures of the plain, the four-legged animals, suggesting that this god was not only associated with cattle, but also with other quadrupeds. In this regard, he is also referred to as “the lord of donkeys” in line 41 of a ir-namub to Ninurta (Ninurta G) (ETCSL 4.27.07). In the Theogony of Dunnu Akkan marries his mother, Earth, and kills his father, Hain, perhaps to be identified as Heaven ( Lambert 2013:387), and later marries his sister, Sea, and is killed by his son Lahar. In line 33 of a Dedication of a statue to I me-Dagan (I me-Dagan S, line 33) (ETCSL 2.5.4.19), Akkan is mentioned with Enki, Ikur, and Ezina as “the lords of abundance.” He, therefore, appears to be associated with fertility, and it is this aspect of the bull with which he is associated if he is a cattle god.” ref

“Ningublaga, the son of the moon god Nanna, was also a cattle god ( Cavigneaux and Krebernik 1998-2001, p. 374). In An adab to Ningublaga for Iddin-Dagan (Iddin-Dagan c) (ETCSL 2.5.3.3 ⁷) he is repeatedly referred to by his epithet “vigorous wild bull.” This adab praises his power, as, for example, in lines 16-17, Vigorous wild bull, you flatten those mountains and turn them over to ghostly winds. You make their young warriors submit, no longer able to enter into battle.? Therefore, although cattle gods were more commonly associated with fertility, the bull’s strength and power are emphasized in the poems in which Ningublaga is identified with the bull.” ref

Dumuzi

“Dumuzi was the husband of Inanna, and can be linked to the cattle gods through his role as a shepherd, being associated with and caring for domesticated animals. Although never depicted as a bull in the visual repertoire, he is associated with the bull in a variety of ways in the textual sources. For example, his name is often preceded by the epithet “Wild Bull” which was a Sumerian metaphor for ?shepherd? ( Sefati, 1998, p. 76). In this regard, according to Jacobsen (1976, p.44), the title “shepherd” probably originally meant “cowherd.” This appears to be the case in texts like a Song of Inanna and Dumuzi (Dumuzid-Inana V) (ETCSL 4.08.22), in which Inanna ?goes to the shepherd in the sheepfold, goes to Dumuzid in the cattle-pen?. This relationship between “Wild Bull” and “shepherd” can be seen in The Wild Bull Who Has Lain Down, which recounts Dumuzi’s death,

“The wild bull who has lain down, lives no more,
the wild bull who has lain down,
lives no more,
Dumuzi, the wild bull, who has lain down,
lives no more,
…the chief shepherd, lives no more,
the wild bull who has lain down, lives no more…” Source: ( Jacobsen, 1976, p. 53).” ref

“A number of poems and songs recount the love and marriage of Inanna and Dumuzi. These are often expressed in pastoral terms, and Dumuzi is often likened to a wild bull. In these texts, it is Dumuzi’s virility that is compared to that of a bull. In The Marriage of Inanna and Dumuzi, Inanna tells how “I bathed for the wild bull, I bathed for the shepherd Dumuzi” ( Wolkenstein & Kramer 1983, p. 44). Similarly, in lines 8-9 of Segment B of a balbale to Inana (Dumuzid-Inana P) (ETCSL 4.08.16), Inanna describes how “My bridegroom rejoices beside me, the {wild bul}{( 1 ms. has instead:) lord} Dumuzid rejoices beside me.” In lines 20-21 of Segment C of the same balbale, another aspect Dumuzi’s role as pastoral god is represented. In these lines, Inanna sings, “Wild bull Dumuzid, make the milk yellow for me, and I will drink the milk with you, my bridegroom!” According to Wiggermann (2010, p. 328), “shepherd” and “lover” are Dumuzi’s defining characteristics in the texts.” These both refer to aspects of fertility and abundance and can be associated with Dumuzi also through his epithet Wild Bull.” ref

The Storm Gods

“The Storm God, identified in the visual repertoire by the forked lightning he holds, was also associated with the bull in both texts and images. According to Watanabe (2002, p. 92, 97-98), the Akkadian words for the noise of thunder and the bellowing of a bull are the same, thereby linking the god associated with the storm and the bull. This god was known as Ikur in Sumerian and as Adad in Akkadian. Storm clouds were referred to as Adad’s “bull-calves” ( Black & Green, 1992, p. 111). According to Bienkowski and Millard (2000, p.2), Ikur’s animal was the lion-dragon, while Adad’s was the bull. Schwemer (2001, p. 124-126) demonstrates that the association of the Storm God with the bull is not originally Sumerian, but rather that it is first encountered during the Akkadian Period, and becomes popular during the Old Babylonian Period. While usually associated with the lion, Ikur is described in one text as “the great ox who is radiant, the lord who mounts the storm, who mounts a great lion, producing grain? ( Leick, 1998, p. 95).” ref

“Ikur had certain similarities with the agricultural and rain god Ninurta: they were both represented as warrior gods who drove their chariots across the sky ( Jacobsen, 1976, p. 135). Green (2003, p.23) argues that during the Ur III period, Ninurta was associated with the lion, while Adad was associated with the bull. Ninurta, though is associated with the bull in Sumerian texts. For example, in line 32 of Ninurta’s exploits: air-sud to Ninurta (ETCSL 1.6.2), he is compared to a bull, “[m]y hero, you are like a bull.” In other texts, he is not only likened to the bull, but his epithets associate him with the bull, for example, in air-gida to Ninurta (Ninurta A) (ETCSL 4.27.01) “Ninurta, the fierce bull.” In these texts, the association between Ninurta and the bull may reflect the god’s role as a Storm God with his fertilizing rains, but it appears more likely that it is the strength and power of the bull with which Ninurta is associated. This is also made evident in lines 1-4 of atigi to Ninurta for u-Suen (u-Suen D) (ETCSL 2.4.4.4), in which Ninurta is associated with both the lion and the bull,

“Ancient warrior, greatly respected and forceful, with the strength of a full-grown lion! Ninurta, “flood, a great lion, a fierce opponent in battle! Mighty one, who ?? the enemy peoples, destroyer of cities, who turns the settlements into dust! Ninurta, great wild bull, a battering ram who, great walls!” ref

“In this regard, Green (2003, p.23) argues that Storm Gods were associated with lions when their power, authority and strength were meant to be shown, while they were associated with bulls when the focus was on their fertility. While this may generally be the case, in the above tigi it is clear that Ninurta’s power is being praised when he is associated with both the bull and the lion. Furthermore, Enlil, who has aspects of a Storm God, is compared to a bull in line 3 of The Curse of Agade (ETCSL 2.1.5), which states that he (Enlil) “had slaughtered the house of the land of Unug in the dust as if it were a mighty bull.” In this case, it is Enlil’s personification of the force and violence of the storm which are compared to a great bull. In comparison, in the Debate between Summer and Winter (ETCSL 5.3.3), Enlil copulates with the mountains to produce Summer and Winter, and [a]s Enlil copulated with the earth, there was a roar like a bull’s (lines 13-14). Jacobsen (1976, p. 104) understands this to mean that Enlil, in the form of a huge bull, copulates with Ninhursag. Therefore, when Enlil is presented as a bull, it is both his fertility and his force that are emphasized. It appears then that in texts, the bull represented the Storm God’s aspect of fertility as well as his divine strength and power.” ref

“The association between the bull and the Storm God is first attested in the visual repertoire during the Old Babylonian period when forked lightning, symbolizing the god, rested on the back of the beast. The bull could be either standing or recumbent. On the fourth register of the kudurru of the Kassite ruler Meli-Shipak II, now housed in the Louvre (Sb 22), Adad is symbolized by two-forked lightning, which stands on a platform on the back of a bull ( figure 1). In examples such as this, the bull and the symbol of the god are represented, although the Storm God himself is not. In other examples, the bull supported the Storm God himself. Occasionally he is shown standing with one foot resting on the back of a small bull, but more commonly, the Storm God is depicted standing on the bull. For example, on the Stele of Adad from the Temple of Itar at Arslan Tash, now housed in the Louvre (AO13092) ( figure 2), Adad is depicted holding three-forked lightning in either hand and standing in the smiting pose on the back of a bull. The Stele of Esarhaddon from Zincirli, and now in the Vorderasiatische Museum (VA 2708), depicts the Esarhaddon with a rope that is threaded through the lips of two vanquished kings. Above these kings are representations of symbols of the gods. As on the Stele of Adad, on the Esarhaddon Stele, Adad is shown as a god holding three-forked lightning and standing on a bull.” ref

“As well as being depicted with the Storm God or with the forked lightning of the Storm God, the bull sometimes stood as an expression of Adad, and was used to represent the god. Under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, the city of Babylon was rebuilt. The famous Processional Street and the Itar Gate, through which it passed, were lined with glazed blue bricks decorated with golden reliefs of animals sacred to the gods. The lion, Itar’s sacred animal, interestingly does not decorate the Itar Gate but is found instead on the Processional Way. The walls of the Itar Gate have alternating rows of dragons, which were sacred to Marduk, the god of the state and city, and bulls, which were symbolic of Adad ( figure 3). The gateway had bronze-plated cedar doors and bronze statues of bulls and dragons ( Kunze, Jakob-Rost, Klengel-Brandt, Marzahn & Warkte, 1995, p. 50). The bull was therefore associated with the Storm God in three ways in the visual repertoire. The bull could either be depicted with forked lightning, the symbol of the Storm God, on its back, or it could be depicted with the Storm God on its back, or the bull could represent the Storm God, although in this case the bull should not be considered as being the Storm God.” ref

 The Moon God

“Inscriptions from the Old Babylonian Period inform us that the crescent moon was identified with the Moon God Sin ( Black & Green, 1992, p. 54). The horns of the bull came to signify the crescent of the moon, which lies almost horizontally, like the horns of the bull, in the skies of Mesopotamia ( Black et al,2006, p. 145 ). The bull, the crescent moon, and the Moon God, therefore, became associated with each other. In Sumerian, the Moon God was known as Nanna, Suen, or sometimes as Nanna-Suen. In Akkadian he was called Sin. His epithets included aimbabbar, which means “the luminous,” referring to the bright moon, amar, which means “calf,” and amar-ban3-da den-lil-a, which means “young calf of Enlil” (Leick, 1998, p. 126). Not only was this god likened to a bull calf, but in literary works, he was commonly portrayed as one ( Black et al,2006, p.145). A hymn to Sin begins, “Proud bull calf with thick horns and perfect proportions, with a lapis beard, full of virility and abundance” ( Cashford, 2003, p. 104). This hymn associates the Moon God with fertility, but also reveals the reason why the Moon God was associated with the bull ? the shape of the bull’s horns reflected the shape of the crescent moon. This relationship is highlighted in other texts which explicitly associate the horns and the light of the Moon God, such as line 13 of a hymn to Suen for Ibbi-Suen (Ibbi-Suen E) (ETCSL 2.4.5.5), which describes “with shining horns, the light of heaven, youthful Suen.” ref

“Associated with cattle herds, and with agricultural fertility in general, Nanna was also worshipped as the patron deity of herdsmen ( Rice 1998, p. 92). According to Jacobsen (1976, p. 124), he was originally envisaged as a bull, but in time his human form came to dominate, and he became the “cowherd”. This is reflected in various texts, such as the opening passage of a balbale to Nanna (Nanna A)(ETCSL 4.13.01), which praises the god as a herdsman taking care of his cows. This role is further explored in The herds of Nanna (Nanna F) (ETCSL 4.13.06).” ref

The bull is also associated with the Moon God in the visual repertoire, particularly through the crescent. The crescent standard was associated with the Moon God from the Early Dynastic Period, and is perhaps best known as the standard of Sin of Harran. During the Early Dynastic Period, a cylinder seal depicts a crescent standard which is supported by a stand with feet in the form of hoofs (NBC 2589), directly associating this standard with cattle. The earliest known example of the crescent standard comes not from Mesopotamia, but from Chogha Mish on a seal impression in which the crescent standard is held by a figure who is seated in a boat behind a larger figure who is seated on a bull. This larger figure may represent the Moon God, both because of the crescent standard and the bull with which he is associated. However, because this seal impression is Proto-Elamite, from ancient Iran, and not from Mesopotamia, it appears that the association of the Moon God both with the crescent standard and with the bull may originate outside of Mesopotamia.” ref

The Moon God is associated with the bull not only through the crescent standard, but also with the crescent. On an Early Dynastic whitestone plaque found in the Inanna Temple at Nippur (7N415) a crescent moon is found just above the depiction of the bull ( figure 4), demonstrating that there was already a connection between the bull and the moon at this period. Two bulls? heads from a copper frieze which decorated the Early Dynastic Temple of Ninhursag at Ubaid in southern modern-day Iraq (BM 118015) displayed a crescent on their foreheads ( figure 5), further identifying them with the moon, and by extension, with the Moon God. The crescent moon, the bull, and the Moon God were then already associated with each other as early as the Early Dynastic Period.” ref

“A wall painting from Room 132 of the Palace at Mari shows an enormous black bull behind the Moon God, identifiable by the crescent on the top of his headdress, who is seated on a throne ( figure 6) ( Matthews, 1997, p. 149). The bull and Moon God are a scale pattern that symbolizes the mountains, which, according to Ornan (2001, p.12), “in Mesopotamian iconography implies a heavenly setting.” According to Bernett and Keel (1999, p.35) the black bull may embody the night time mountains. What is clear is that the bull is associated with the Moon God.” ref

“Baked clay plaques have been found with depictions of two crossed bulls (Israel Museum 99.81.10) ( figure 7). Between the bulls is a crescent mounted on a conical base. That the crescent symbolizes the Moon God is supported by cylinder seals depicting a god who is holding a crescent on a pole, and is standing on two crossed bulls. One such cylinder seal, from the Old Babylonian Period, depicts the Moon God standing on two recumbent bulls as well as the Storm God standing on one bull ( figure 8). The bull, therefore, must have been recognized to be representative of both gods ( Ornan, 2001, p. 15).” ref

“Two stamp seals from the eighth or seventh century, one from Nineveh ( figure 9) and one of unknown provenance ( figure 10), depict a bull and a crescent on a pole, representing the Moon God. The crescent on the pole appears to stand on the bull’s back, much like the lightning which was symbolic of the Storm God ( Ornan, 2001, pp. 19-21).” ref

Other Important Mesopotamian Gods Associated with the Bull

“While the Cattle, Storm, and Moon gods were the most important gods which were associated with the bull, they were not the only ones. The bull was identified not only with the Moon God but also with the Sun God, Utu in Sumerian, and “ama” in Akkadian. It was only during the Neo-Assyrian Period that the Sun God was associated with the bull in the visual repertoire when he is depicted standing on a bull ( Kurmangaliev 2009-2011, p. 62). More commonly, he was associated with the hybrid bull-man, the gudalim, or “Bison-Bull,” which represented the distant lands to which he traveled ( Green, 1995, p. 1867). According to Krebernik (2009-2011, p. 604)the relationship between the Sun God and the bull-man may be linked to the association of the god with the wild bulls in an Early Dynastic hymn.” ref

“This association of the Sun God with the bull is also found in other texts. In line 7 of an adab to Utu for ulgi (ulgi Q) (ETCSL 2.4.2.17), Utu is described as “[t]he great wild bull, youthful Utu, who like a torch illuminates the Land from the holy heavens?. In the Gilgame” epic “ama” is depicted as a bull. In Tablet IV of the Gilgame epic, Enkidu explains a dream of Gilgame’s,

“The [god,] my friend, we are going against, he’s not the wild bull, he’s different altogether. The wild bull you saw was shining “ama,” he will grasp our hands in time of peril” Source: ( George, 2003, p. 37).” ref 

“In lines 374-375 of Enki and the World Order (ETCSL 1.1.3), Utu is described as “the hero, the bull who comes of the forest, bellowing truculently, the youth Utu, the bull standing triumphantly, audaciously, majestically.” This suggests that it was the fearsome power of the bull with which the Sun God was associated.” ref

“Enki was one of the highest gods of the Sumerian pantheon. His name meant “Lord Earth,” and he was associated with water, particularly the sweet water of the Apsu. Because of this association, Enki was also linked to fertility ( Leick, 1998, p. 40). Although not generally or consistently associated with the bull, there are examples of such an association. In line 13 of an adab to Enki for I me-Dagan (I me-Dagan D) (ETCSL 2.5.4.04), Enki is called “Nudimmud, great bull of the Abzu,” and in line 17 of The Lament for Ur (ETCSL 2.2.2), Enki is called the “wild bull of Eridug.” The fertility aspect of the bull associated with Enki is demonstrated in lines 252-254 of Enki and the World Order (ETCSL 1.1.3), “he stood up full of lust like a rampant bull, lifted his penis, ejaculated and filled the Tigris with flowing water.” The god is also found in association with bulls on cylinder seals. The Akkadian greenstone cylinder seal of Adda (BM 89115) contains a depiction of Ea, the Akkadian equivalent of Enki, with his foot upon a bull.” ref

“An/Anu was the sky god and “the father and ancestor of all the gods” ( Jacobsen, 1976, p. 95), making him one of the most important gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon. He was called “Fecund Bull,” a reference to the fertility of the sky as the source of rain ( Leick, 1998, p. 6). In line 2 of Enki and the World Order (ETCSL 1.1.3), Enki, An’s son, is described “engendered by a bull, begotten by a bull.” These references suggest that it was the aspect of fertility of the bull with which An/Anu was associated when he was likened to a bull.” ref

“In line 3 of Pabilsa’s journey to Nibru (ETCSL 1.7.8), the titular god, who was the city deity of Larak, is described as “Pabilsa,” the wild bull with brindled thighs, whose house is noble!” In lines 13-15 of the same narrative, Pabilsa” is described as being “like a scorpion rising up from among the thorns, he is a fearsome scorpion; like a wolf rising up from his lair, he is likely to growl; like a lion rising up in the pathway, he is likely to beat,” and in line 30 he is called “Warrior Pabilsa”. Here the god’s martial aspects are exemplified, and his awesome power and strength are described, and it appears then that his association with the bull may reflect a similar idea.” ref

Conclusion to Mesopotamian Gods and the Bull

“A variety of Mesopotamian gods were therefore associated with the bull, and particularly associated with aspects of fertility and power associated with the bull. This was done primarily through textual evidence, and particularly through the use of epithets identifying a certain god with the bull. Of the gods associated with the bull, the Moon God is unique in that it appears that the relationship between the bull and this god is primarily through the physical comparison between the crescent moon and the shape of the horns of the bull, and not through the fertility or power associated with the bull. This is evident both in the textual and visual evidence. One hymn, though, does associate the Moon God with fertility, and he was the patron deity of herdsmen. Indeed, his role as a herdsman and his taking care of his own cattle is explored in numerous works.” ref

“Similar to the Moon God in his role as the patron deity of herdsmen, the Cattle Gods, Ningublaga, Laar, and Akkan, if the latter two are indeed Cattle Gods, can also be associated with herds. In their role as Cattle Gods, they could logically be linked to fertility. However, only Akkan is explicitly associated with fertility in texts, and when Ningublaga is identified with the bull, it is the bull’s strength and power which are emphasized and not its fertility. In contrast, Dumuzi, who can be linked to the Cattle Gods through his role as a shepherd, is associated with the fertility of the bull, and not with its strength.” ref

“The Storm God appears to be primarily associated with the power of the bull, identifiable with the thundering storm and the bellowing of the bull. The fertility associated with the bull does not appear to be explicitly manifested in the Storm God, although this may have been implied through the fertilizing rains associated with the storm. The Storm God is also the only god who is consistently associated with the bull in the visual repertoire. This was achieved in three ways: forked lightning, the symbol of the Storm God, could be mounted on the back of the bull, the Storm God himself could stand on the back of the bull, or the bull could be symbolic or representative of the bull. The Storm God, though is not depicted as the bull.” ref

“Other gods were also associated with the bull. For example, the Sun God was depicted in the visual repertoire as standing on the back of the bull, much like the Storm God. In texts, it appears that it is the power of the bull with which the Sun God is associated. The same is true for Pabilsa, it is his martial aspects that are emphasized, linking him to the strength and power of the bull. On the other hand, both Enki and An appear to be associated with the fertility of the bull. This is particularly obvious of Enki in Enki and the World Order, where this god ejaculates into the Tigris River.” ref

“None of these gods, though are depicted in the form of the bull, unless Jacobsen?s (1976, p. 104)understanding of the Debate between Summer and Winter in which Enlil, as a bull, copulates with Ninhursag. It is more likely though, that Enlil is represented as being like a bull, and in manifesting the fertility of the bull, in this passage. In the Epic of Gilgame where “ama” is represented in the form of a bull, it is in a dream relayed by Gilgame to Enkidu, and Enkidu needs to interpret the bull to represent the Sun God. The Sun God is not routinely depicted as a bull. Therefore gods were represented like the bull, and as being associated with herds, but not in the form of the bull.” ref

“The association between the bull and Mesopotamian gods is compelling, but the manner in which individual gods are associated with fertility or strength of the bull are not consistent. For example, the Cattle Gods could logically have been thought to be linked with the fertility of the bull, but instead, Ningublaga is associated with the brute strength of the bull. The Storm Gods, through devastating storms, were associated with the forceful power of the bull, but not with the fertilizing rains which accompany the storm. However, all the gods are associated with either fertility or with power and authority through the bull.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Low Gods “Earth” or Tutelary deity and High Gods “Sky” or Supreme deity

“An Earth goddess is a deification of the Earth. Earth goddesses are often associated with the “chthonic” deities of the underworld. Ki and Ninhursag are Mesopotamian earth goddesses. In Greek mythology, the Earth is personified as Gaia, corresponding to Roman Terra, Indic Prithvi/Bhūmi, etc. traced to an “Earth Mother” complementary to the “Sky Father” in Proto-Indo-European religion. Egyptian mythology exceptionally has a sky goddess and an Earth god.” ref

“A mother goddess is a goddess who represents or is a personification of nature, motherhood, fertility, creation, destruction or who embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother. In some religious traditions or movements, Heavenly Mother (also referred to as Mother in Heaven or Sky Mother) is the wife or feminine counterpart of the Sky father or God the Father.” ref

“Any masculine sky god is often also king of the gods, taking the position of patriarch within a pantheon. Such king gods are collectively categorized as “sky father” deities, with a polarity between sky and earth often being expressed by pairing a “sky father” god with an “earth mother” goddess (pairings of a sky mother with an earth father are less frequent). A main sky goddess is often the queen of the gods and may be an air/sky goddess in her own right, though she usually has other functions as well with “sky” not being her main. In antiquity, several sky goddesses in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Near East were called Queen of Heaven. Neopagans often apply it with impunity to sky goddesses from other regions who were never associated with the term historically. The sky often has important religious significance. Many religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, have deities associated with the sky.” ref

“In comparative mythology, sky father is a term for a recurring concept in polytheistic religions of a sky god who is addressed as a “father”, often the father of a pantheon and is often either a reigning or former King of the Gods. The concept of “sky father” may also be taken to include Sun gods with similar characteristics, such as Ra. The concept is complementary to an “earth mother“. “Sky Father” is a direct translation of the Vedic Dyaus Pita, etymologically descended from the same Proto-Indo-European deity name as the Greek Zeûs Pater and Roman Jupiter and Germanic Týr, Tir or Tiwaz, all of which are reflexes of the same Proto-Indo-European deity’s name, *Dyēus Ph₂tḗr. While there are numerous parallels adduced from outside of Indo-European mythology, there are exceptions (e.g. In Egyptian mythology, Nut is the sky mother and Geb is the earth father).” ref

Tutelary deity

“A tutelary (also tutelar) is a deity or spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of “tutelary” expresses the concept of safety and thus of guardianship. In late Greek and Roman religion, one type of tutelary deity, the genius, functions as the personal deity or daimon of an individual from birth to death. Another form of personal tutelary spirit is the familiar spirit of European folklore.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) in Korean shamanism, jangseung and sotdae were placed at the edge of villages to frighten off demons. They were also worshiped as deities. Seonangshin is the patron deity of the village in Korean tradition and was believed to embody the Seonangdang. In Philippine animism, Diwata or Lambana are deities or spirits that inhabit sacred places like mountains and mounds and serve as guardians. Such as: Maria Makiling is the deity who guards Mt. Makiling and Maria Cacao and Maria Sinukuan. In Shinto, the spirits, or kami, which give life to human bodies come from nature and return to it after death. Ancestors are therefore themselves tutelaries to be worshiped. And similarly, Native American beliefs such as Tonás, tutelary animal spirit among the Zapotec and Totems, familial or clan spirits among the Ojibwe, can be animals.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) in Austronesian beliefs such as: Atua (gods and spirits of the Polynesian peoples such as the Māori or the Hawaiians), Hanitu (Bunun of Taiwan‘s term for spirit), Hyang (Kawi, Sundanese, Javanese, and Balinese Supreme Being, in ancient Java and Bali mythology and this spiritual entity, can be either divine or ancestral), Kaitiaki (New Zealand Māori term used for the concept of guardianship, for the sky, the sea, and the land), Kawas (mythology) (divided into 6 groups: gods, ancestors, souls of the living, spirits of living things, spirits of lifeless objects, and ghosts), Tiki (Māori mythology, Tiki is the first man created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne and represents deified ancestors found in most Polynesian cultures). ” ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref

Mesopotamian Tutelary Deities can be seen as ones related to City-States 

“Historical city-states included Sumerian cities such as Uruk and Ur; Ancient Egyptian city-states, such as Thebes and Memphis; the Phoenician cities (such as Tyre and Sidon); the five Philistine city-states; the Berber city-states of the Garamantes; the city-states of ancient Greece (the poleis such as Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and Corinth); the Roman Republic (which grew from a city-state into a vast empire); the Italian city-states from the Middle Ages to the early modern period, such as Florence, Siena, Ferrara, Milan (which as they grew in power began to dominate neighboring cities) and Genoa and Venice, which became powerful thalassocracies; the Mayan and other cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica (including cities such as Chichen Itza, Tikal, Copán and Monte Albán); the central Asian cities along the Silk Road; the city-states of the Swahili coast; Ragusa; states of the medieval Russian lands such as Novgorod and Pskov; and many others.” ref

“The Uruk period (ca. 4000 to 3100 BCE; also known as Protoliterate period) of Mesopotamia, named after the Sumerian city of Uruk, this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia and the Sumerian civilization. City-States like Uruk and others had a patron tutelary City Deity along with a Priest-King.” ref

“Chinese folk religion, both past, and present, includes myriad tutelary deities. Exceptional individuals, highly cultivated sages, and prominent ancestors can be deified and honored after death. Lord Guan is the patron of military personnel and police, while Mazu is the patron of fishermen and sailors. Such as Tu Di Gong (Earth Deity) is the tutelary deity of a locality, and each individual locality has its own Earth Deity and Cheng Huang Gong (City God) is the guardian deity of an individual city, worshipped by local officials and locals since imperial times.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) in Hinduism, personal tutelary deities are known as ishta-devata, while family tutelary deities are known as Kuladevata. Gramadevata are guardian deities of villages. Devas can also be seen as tutelary. Shiva is the patron of yogis and renunciants. City goddesses include: Mumbadevi (Mumbai), Sachchika (Osian); Kuladevis include: Ambika (Porwad), and Mahalakshmi. In NorthEast India Meitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism) of Manipur, there are various types of tutelary deities, among which Lam Lais are the most predominant ones. Tibetan Buddhism has Yidam as a tutelary deity. Dakini is the patron of those who seek knowledge.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) The Greeks also thought deities guarded specific places: for instance, Athena was the patron goddess of the city of Athens. Socrates spoke of hearing the voice of his personal spirit or daimonion:

You have often heard me speak of an oracle or sign which comes to me … . This sign I have had ever since I was a child. The sign is a voice which comes to me and always forbids me to do something which I am going to do, but never commands me to do anything, and this is what stands in the way of my being a politician.” ref

“Tutelary deities who guard and preserve a place or a person are fundamental to ancient Roman religion. The tutelary deity of a man was his Genius, that of a woman her Juno. In the Imperial era, the Genius of the Emperor was a focus of Imperial cult. An emperor might also adopt a major deity as his personal patron or tutelary, as Augustus did Apollo. Precedents for claiming the personal protection of a deity were established in the Republican era, when for instance the Roman dictator Sulla advertised the goddess Victory as his tutelary by holding public games (ludi) in her honor.” ref

“Each town or city had one or more tutelary deities, whose protection was considered particularly vital in time of war and siege. Rome itself was protected by a goddess whose name was to be kept ritually secret on pain of death (for a supposed case, see Quintus Valerius Soranus). The Capitoline Triad of Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva were also tutelaries of Rome. The Italic towns had their own tutelary deities. Juno often had this function, as at the Latin town of Lanuvium and the Etruscan city of Veii, and was often housed in an especially grand temple on the arx (citadel) or other prominent or central location. The tutelary deity of Praeneste was Fortuna, whose oracle was renowned.” ref

“The Roman ritual of evocatio was premised on the belief that a town could be made vulnerable to military defeat if the power of its tutelary deity were diverted outside the city, perhaps by the offer of superior cult at Rome. The depiction of some goddesses such as the Magna Mater (Great Mother, or Cybele) as “tower-crowned” represents their capacity to preserve the city. A town in the provinces might adopt a deity from within the Roman religious sphere to serve as its guardian, or syncretize its own tutelary with such; for instance, a community within the civitas of the Remi in Gaul adopted Apollo as its tutelary, and at the capital of the Remi (present-day Rheims), the tutelary was Mars Camulus.” ref 

Household deity (a kind of or related to a Tutelary deity)

“A household deity is a deity or spirit that protects the home, looking after the entire household or certain key members. It has been a common belief in paganism as well as in folklore across many parts of the world. Household deities fit into two types; firstly, a specific deity – typically a goddess – often referred to as a hearth goddess or domestic goddess who is associated with the home and hearth, such as the ancient Greek Hestia.” ref

“The second type of household deities are those that are not one singular deity, but a type, or species of animistic deity, who usually have lesser powers than major deities. This type was common in the religions of antiquity, such as the Lares of ancient Roman religion, the Gashin of Korean shamanism, and Cofgodas of Anglo-Saxon paganism. These survived Christianisation as fairy-like creatures existing in folklore, such as the Anglo-Scottish Brownie and Slavic Domovoy.” ref

“Household deities were usually worshipped not in temples but in the home, where they would be represented by small idols (such as the teraphim of the Bible, often translated as “household gods” in Genesis 31:19 for example), amulets, paintings, or reliefs. They could also be found on domestic objects, such as cosmetic articles in the case of Tawaret. The more prosperous houses might have a small shrine to the household god(s); the lararium served this purpose in the case of the Romans. The gods would be treated as members of the family and invited to join in meals, or be given offerings of food and drink.” ref

“In many religions, both ancient and modern, a god would preside over the home. Certain species, or types, of household deities, existed. An example of this was the Roman Lares. Many European cultures retained house spirits into the modern period. Some examples of these include:

• Brownie (Scotland and England) or Hob (England) / Kobold (Germany) / Goblin / Hobgoblin
• Domovoy (Slavic)
• Nisse (Norwegian or Danish) / Tomte (Swedish) / Tonttu (Finnish)
• Húsvættir (Norse)” ref

“Although the cosmic status of household deities was not as lofty as that of the Twelve Olympians or the Aesir, they were also jealous of their dignity and also had to be appeased with shrines and offerings, however humble. Because of their immediacy they had arguably more influence on the day-to-day affairs of men than the remote gods did. Vestiges of their worship persisted long after Christianity and other major religions extirpated nearly every trace of the major pagan pantheons. Elements of the practice can be seen even today, with Christian accretions, where statues to various saints (such as St. Francis) protect gardens and grottos. Even the gargoyles found on older churches, could be viewed as guardians partitioning a sacred space.” ref

“For centuries, Christianity fought a mop-up war against these lingering minor pagan deities, but they proved tenacious. For example, Martin Luther‘s Tischreden have numerous – quite serious – references to dealing with kobolds. Eventually, rationalism and the Industrial Revolution threatened to erase most of these minor deities, until the advent of romantic nationalism rehabilitated them and embellished them into objects of literary curiosity in the 19th century. Since the 20th century this literature has been mined for characters for role-playing games, video games, and other fantasy personae, not infrequently invested with invented traits and hierarchies somewhat different from their mythological and folkloric roots.” ref

“In contradistinction to both Herbert Spencer and Edward Burnett Tylor, who defended theories of animistic origins of ancestor worship, Émile Durkheim saw its origin in totemism. In reality, this distinction is somewhat academic, since totemism may be regarded as a particularized manifestation of animism, and something of a synthesis of the two positions was attempted by Sigmund Freud. In Freud’s Totem and Taboo, both totem and taboo are outward expressions or manifestations of the same psychological tendency, a concept which is complementary to, or which rather reconciles, the apparent conflict. Freud preferred to emphasize the psychoanalytic implications of the reification of metaphysical forces, but with particular emphasis on its familial nature. This emphasis underscores, rather than weakens, the ancestral component.” ref

“William Edward Hearn, a noted classicist, and jurist, traced the origin of domestic deities from the earliest stages as an expression of animism, a belief system thought to have existed also in the neolithic, and the forerunner of Indo-European religion. In his analysis of the Indo-European household, in Chapter II “The House Spirit”, Section 1, he states:

The belief which guided the conduct of our forefathers was … the spirit rule of dead ancestors.” ref

“In Section 2 he proceeds to elaborate:

It is thus certain that the worship of deceased ancestors is a vera causa, and not a mere hypothesis. …

In the other European nations, the Slavs, the Teutons, and the Kelts, the House Spirit appears with no less distinctness. … [T]he existence of that worship does not admit of doubt. … The House Spirits had a multitude of other names which it is needless here to enumerate, but all of which are more or less expressive of their friendly relations with man. … In [England] … [h]e is the Brownie. … In Scotland this same Brownie is well known. He is usually described as attached to particular families, with whom he has been known to reside for centuries, threshing the corn, cleaning the house, and performing similar household tasks. His favorite gratification was milk and honey.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

ref, ref

Hinduism around 3,700 to 3,500 years old. ref

 Judaism around 3,450 or 3,250 years old. (The first writing in the bible was “Paleo-Hebrew” dated to around 3,000 years ago Khirbet Qeiyafa is the site of an ancient fortress city overlooking the Elah Valley. And many believe the religious Jewish texts were completed around 2,500) ref, ref

Judaism is around 3,450 or 3,250 years old. (“Paleo-Hebrew” 3,000 years ago and Torah 2,500 years ago)

“Judaism is an Abrahamic, its roots as an organized religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Some scholars argue that modern Judaism evolved from Yahwism, the religion of ancient Israel and Judah, by the late 6th century BCE, and is thus considered to be one of the oldest monotheistic religions.” ref

“Yahwism is the name given by modern scholars to the religion of ancient Israel, essentially polytheistic, with a plethora of gods and goddesses. Heading the pantheon was Yahweh, the national god of the Israelite kingdoms of Israel and Judah, with his consort, the goddess Asherah; below them were second-tier gods and goddesses such as Baal, Shamash, Yarikh, Mot, and Astarte, all of whom had their own priests and prophets and numbered royalty among their devotees, and a third and fourth tier of minor divine beings, including the mal’ak, the messengers of the higher gods, who in later times became the angels of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Yahweh, however, was not the ‘original’ god of Israel “Isra-El”; it is El, the head of the Canaanite pantheon, whose name forms the basis of the name “Israel”, and none of the Old Testament patriarchs, the tribes of Israel, the Judges, or the earliest monarchs, have a Yahwistic theophoric name (i.e., one incorporating the name of Yahweh).” ref

“El is a Northwest Semitic word meaning “god” or “deity“, or referring (as a proper name) to any one of multiple major ancient Near Eastern deities. A rarer form, ‘ila, represents the predicate form in Old Akkadian and in Amorite. The word is derived from the Proto-Semitic *ʔil-, meaning “god”. Specific deities known as ‘El or ‘Il include the supreme god of the ancient Canaanite religion and the supreme god of East Semitic speakers in Mesopotamia’s Early Dynastic Period. ʼĒl is listed at the head of many pantheons. In some Canaanite and Ugaritic sources, ʼĒl played a role as father of the gods, of creation, or both. For example, in the Ugaritic texts, ʾil mlk is understood to mean “ʼĒl the King” but ʾil hd as “the god Hadad“. The Semitic root ʾlh (Arabic ʾilāh, Aramaic ʾAlāh, ʾElāh, Hebrew ʾelōah) may be ʾl with a parasitic h, and ʾl may be an abbreviated form of ʾlh. In Ugaritic the plural form meaning “gods” is ʾilhm, equivalent to Hebrew ʾelōhîm “powers”. In the Hebrew texts this word is interpreted as being semantically singular for “god” by biblical commentators. However the documentary hypothesis for the Old Testament (corresponds to the Jewish Torah) developed originally in the 1870s, identifies these that different authors – the Jahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, and the Priestly source – were responsible for editing stories from a polytheistic religion into those of a monotheistic religion. Inconsistencies that arise between monotheism and polytheism in the texts are reflective of this hypothesis.” ref

Jainism around 2,599 – 2,527 years old. ref

Confucianism around 2,600 – 2,551 years old. ref

Buddhism around 2,563/2,480 – 2,483/2,400 years old. ref

Christianity around 2,o00 years old. ref

Shinto around 1,305 years old. ref

Islam around 1407–1385 years old. ref

Sikhism around 548–478 years old. ref

Bahá’í around 200–125 years old. ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Expressions of Atheistic Thinking:

• Around 2,600 years ago, Ajita Kesakambali, ancient Indian philosopher, who is the first known proponent of Indian materialism. ref
• Around 2,535 to 2,475 years ago, Heraclitus, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher, a native of the Greek city Ephesus, Ionia, on the coast of Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor or modern Turkey. ref
• Around 2,500 to 2,400 years ago, according to The Story of Civilization book series certain African pygmy tribes have no identifiable gods, spirits, or religious beliefs or rituals, and even what burials accrue are without ceremony. ref
• Around 2,490 to 2,430 years ago, Empedocles, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of Agrigentum, a Greek city in Sicily. ref
• Around 2,460 to 2,370 years ago, Democritus, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher considered to be the “father of modern science” possibly had some disbelief amounting to atheism. ref
• Around 2,399 years ago or so, Socrates, a famous Greek philosopher was tried for sinfulness by teaching doubt of state gods. ref
• Around 2,341 to 2,270 years ago, Epicurus, a Greek philosopher known for composing atheistic critics and famously stated, “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him god?” ref

This last expression by Epicurus, seems to be an expression of Axiological Atheism. To understand and utilize value or actually possess “Value Conscious/Consciousness” to both give a strong moral “axiological” argument (the problem of evil) as well as use it to fortify humanism and positive ethical persuasion of human helping and care responsibilities. Because value-blindness gives rise to sociopathic/psychopathic evil.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

The “Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries”

Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ Atheist Leftist @Skepticallefty & I (Damien Marie AtHope) @AthopeMarie (my YouTube & related blog) are working jointly in atheist, antitheist, antireligionist, antifascist, anarchist, socialist, and humanist endeavors in our videos together, generally, every other Saturday.

Why Does Power Bring Responsibility?

Think, how often is it the powerless that start wars, oppress others, or commit genocide? So, I guess the question is to us all, to ask, how can power not carry responsibility in a humanity concept? I know I see the deep ethical responsibility that if there is power their must be a humanistic responsibility of ethical and empathic stewardship of that power. Will I be brave enough to be kind? Will I possess enough courage to be compassionate? Will my valor reach its height of empathy? I as everyone, earns our justified respect by our actions, that are good, ethical, just, protecting, and kind. Do I have enough self-respect to put my love for humanity’s flushing, over being brought down by some of its bad actors? May we all be the ones doing good actions in the world, to help human flourishing.

I create the world I want to live in, striving for flourishing. Which is not a place but a positive potential involvement and promotion; a life of humanist goal precision. To master oneself, also means mastering positive prosocial behaviors needed for human flourishing. I may have lost a god myth as an atheist, but I am happy to tell you, my friend, it is exactly because of that, leaving the mental terrorizer, god belief, that I truly regained my connected ethical as well as kind humanity.

Cory and I will talk about prehistory and theism, addressing the relevance to atheism, anarchism, and socialism.

At the same time as the rise of the male god, 7,000 years ago, there was also the very time there was the rise of violence, war, and clans to kingdoms, then empires, then states. It is all connected back to 7,000 years ago, and it moved across the world.

Cory Johnston: https://damienmarieathope.com/2021/04/cory-johnston-mind-of-a-skeptical-leftist/?v=32aec8db952d  

The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist (YouTube)

Cory Johnston: Mind of a Skeptical Leftist @Skepticallefty

The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist By Cory Johnston: “Promoting critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics by covering current events and talking to a variety of people. Cory Johnston has been thoughtfully talking to people and attempting to promote critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics.” http://anchor.fm/skepticalleft

Cory needs our support. We rise by helping each other.

Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ @Skepticallefty Evidence-based atheist leftist (he/him) Producer, host, and co-host of 4 podcasts @skeptarchy @skpoliticspod and @AthopeMarie

Damien Marie AtHope (“At Hope”) Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist. Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Poet, Philosopher, Advocate, Activist, Psychology, and Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Historian.

Damien is interested in: Freedom, Liberty, Justice, Equality, Ethics, Humanism, Science, Atheism, Antiteism, Antireligionism, Ignosticism, Left-Libertarianism, Anarchism, Socialism, Mutualism, Axiology, Metaphysics, LGBTQI, Philosophy, Advocacy, Activism, Mental Health, Psychology, Archaeology, Social Work, Sexual Rights, Marriage Rights, Woman’s Rights, Gender Rights, Child Rights, Secular Rights, Race Equality, Ageism/Disability Equality, Etc. And a far-leftist, “Anarcho-Humanist.”

I am not a good fit in the atheist movement that is mostly pro-capitalist, I am anti-capitalist. Mostly pro-skeptic, I am a rationalist not valuing skepticism. Mostly pro-agnostic, I am anti-agnostic. Mostly limited to anti-Abrahamic religions, I am an anti-religionist. 

To me, the “male god” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 7,000 years ago, whereas the now favored monotheism “male god” is more like 4,000 years ago or so. To me, the “female goddess” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 11,000-10,000 years ago or so, losing the majority of its once prominence around 2,000 years ago due largely to the now favored monotheism “male god” that grow in prominence after 4,000 years ago or so. 

My Thought on the Evolution of Gods?

Animal protector deities from old totems/spirit animal beliefs come first to me, 13,000/12,000 years ago, then women as deities 11,000/10,000 years ago, then male gods around 7,000/8,000 years ago. Moralistic gods around 5,000/4,000 years ago, and monotheistic gods around 4,000/3,000 years ago. 

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope (Said as “At” “Hope”)/(Autodidact Polymath but not good at math):

Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist, Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Jeweler, Poet, “autodidact” Philosopher, schooled in Psychology, and “autodidact” Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Pre-Historian (Knowledgeable in the range of: 1 million to 5,000/4,000 years ago). I am an anarchist socialist politically. Reasons for or Types of Atheism

My Website, My Blog, & Short-writing or Quotes, My YouTube, Twitter: @AthopeMarie, and My Email: damien.marie.athope@gmail.com