9,000-7,000 years-old Sex and Death Rituals: Cult Sites in Israel, Jordan, and the Sinai

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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9,000-7,000 years-old Sex and Death Rituals: many ancestor and fertility cult sites, 100+ with phallic and vulva shape structures as well as artifacts in Israel, Jordan, and the Sinai.  The cult sites in the Eilat Mountain region, mainly around Nahal Roded part of Israel’s southern Negev desert. Artifacts and radiometric analyses indicate that an organized religion was firmly established in the area 9,120 to 8,900 years ago. The ritualistic cult sites consist of small, low stone installations – circular, oval and elongated, as well as a repeated pattern of a pair with an elongated cell pointing to a circle. They also contain ‘regular’ phallic standing stones, vulva perforated standing stones, anthropomorphic stone images and other features. Sites consist of small, low stone installations – circular, oval and elongated, as well as a repeated pattern of a pair with an elongated cell pointing to a circle. They also contain ‘regular’ phallic standing stones (Masseboth like European Menhir “standing stones”), vulva perforated standing stones, anthropomorphic stone images and other features. As shown in the main picture the seven small circular masseboth “standing stones,” as found in Nahal Shehoret, with a small copper nodule at the foot of the central massebah. Surface collection of flint artifacts include bidirectional blade cores and tools, flakes and ad-hoc tools, suggesting that the sites mainly date to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period. Although the majority of these sites is currently recorded in the Eilat mountains, they were also found in other regions of the Negev and in southern Jordan, and therefore they represent a broad phenomenon. Excavations at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B ritual site of Naḥal Roded 110 in the Southern Negev, Israel, have revealed evidence—unique to this region—for on-site flint knapping and abundant raptor remains. ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref

Prehistoric Cult Sites along the Desert Roads

These stone installations may help us understand the very origins of Israelite religion. ref  

1. “Regular standing stones (n=126) These are unshaped stone slabs, 10 to 80 cm tall, mostly of limestone, set vertically into the ground. They were usually set individually (75 stone slabs in 31 sites), but were also found as pairs (eight in seven sites), triads (three in three sites) one group of five and three groups of seven (in three sites). They are termed here “regular” for two reasons. One is that they are very common in desert cult installations, second is that they are distinguished from the perforated standing stones which are unique to these sites. Some of the standing stones were found in situ, vertically set or tilted, many were fallen or even broken.” ref, ref

2. “Small perforated standing stones (n=72) These are stone slabs, up to 15×30 cm, mostly of limestone, with a bi-conical perforation below the top. The perforation was made first by chiseling and then smoothed, otherwise, the stones were unshaped. Seventy two such stones were found in 41 sites. They were rarely found in situ, usually fallen, sometimes broken, scattered or even discarded up to 30 m away from the sites.” ref, ref

3. “Naturally holed stones (n=126) Limestone objects with natural holes, created by chemical weathering, are quite common on limestone surfaces and usually ignored. However, 126 of these were found in 32 sites built on igneous terrain and dozens were found set vertically into the ground. It is clear, therefore, that they were deliberately brought to the sites from some distance, due to unknown symbolic value related to them.” ref, ref

4. “Anthropomorphic images (n=79) Anthropomorphic stone images, 12–46 cm high, are naturally elongated stones with a schematic human appearance; 79 images were found in 36 sites. On 26 stone images only a neck was carved by fine pecking, on 18 images the neck was made by minimal flaking, two were finely pecked all over the surface and 33 were unshaped, selected for their natural human silhouette. All but two were found tumbled; some were also broken in two. They were found lying within the installations or beside them, while some were discarded up to 30 m off the sites. Two stone images were found in situ in the circle of a regular pair. One was set upright, the other was buried, with only the very top visible on the surface (outside the core survey area stone images were found in situ in nine sites, in seven of them they were set in pairs).” ref, ref

5. “Stones with elongated perforation (n=20) These are ca. 20×25 cm limestone slabs with a smoothed, elongated or pear-shaped perforation. Four complete ones were found in four sites, two halves and 14 fragments in 11 sites. One of the halves bears an engraving that resembles a snake. 6. Stone Bowls (n=22) Twenty two complete and broken stone bowls were found in 15 sites. They vary in workmanship, from totally natural bowls created by chemical weathering, to carefully shaped ones. Most bowls are made of limestone, 15–45 cm across; a few (fragmented) are of sandstone. It is of interest to note that some of the stone objects were found buried, so that only their very top was discernible on the surface. These included three regular standing stones in three different sites, one perforated standing stone and one anthropomorphic image. In addition, two perforated standing stones were found set with the perforation down and one anthropomorphic stone was incorporated in a vase-shaped installation with the head down. Since buried stones are barely discernible, this phenomenon may be more common in these cult sites.” ref, ref

Masseboth “Pillars” or “Standing Stones” and in the Singular, Massebah 

“On the small ridges there are “Roded type” cult sites characterized by slabs of lime stone which were brought from the seabed sediment range nearby.” ref

“Masseboth dot the landscape of the Bible’s desert lands. It s the Hebrew Bible that calls them masseboth; singular, massebah), usually translated as “pillars” or “standing stones.” They are unmistakably purposeful arrangements of carefully selected crude stones set vertically into the ground, individually or in groups, and are abundant in the desert. The Bible makes it clear that these standing stones had a pervasive, if ambiguous, cultic significance in early Israelite religion. In these shrines masseboth stand alone or in groups—pairs and triads are the most common, but groups of five, seven and nine also occur. Some are only a few inches tall while others are six feet and more. Most face east and many have at their base a carefully placed circular compartment or cell. Other features, such as offering benches, altars of different types and basins sometimes accompany masseboth. In addition to these independent sites, identical groupings of masseboth can be found at hundreds of tumuli (large stone heaps that mark a tomb) and in open-air sanctuaries.” ref

The Emergence of Masseboth and Their Bible Relations

“The earliest masseboth in the Near East are located in the Negev and the southern Jordan deserts and date to the 11th and 10th millennia B.C.E. (around 13,000-11,000 years ago) Masseboth became quite common from the sixth to the third millennia B.C.E. (around 8,000-4,000 years ago) and continued to be erected all through the Biblical period and later. In the fertile, non-desert areas of the Near East, however, they are much less common, especially at prehistoric sites; only in the second millennium B.C.E. (around 4,000-3,000 years ago) do their numbers significantly increase. The Bible and other ancient literature mention two types of masseboth: those representing gods and their abodes and those representing ancestral spirits.” ref

“Archaeology confirms the existence of both types; people in many traditional societies throughout the world still erect stones of the second type for their ancestors. In the ancient Near East the best-known reference to the ancestral massebah comes from The Tale of Aqhat, a narrative inscribed on 15th-century B.C.E. (3,500 years old) cuneiform tablets from Ugarit (on the Mediterranean coast of Syria). In the story, Dan-el, father of Aqhat, repeatedly complains to the gods that he “does not have a son to set up massebah in the temple in his name.” Although the translation of the last two words is controversial, the stone is clearly understood to contain and preserve the ancestral spirit.” ref

“One Biblical example is the story of Jacob at Beth-El. After he awakens from his dream of a ladder ascending to heaven, Jacob takes the stone that served as his pillow and sets it up, declaring, “This stone that I have set up as a pillar (massebah) shall be God’s house” (Genesis 28:22). He probably believed that the stone contained God’s power and spirit. Three inscribed basalt stelae or pillars were discovered near Sefire, Syria. These Sefire inscriptions, record an eighth-century B.C.E. (around 2,800 years ago) treaty between the vassal/king of Arpad and his overlord. The text, the longest intact inscription in Old Aramaic, contains over 100 legible lines. An introductory section invokes several well-known Syrian and Mesopotamian gods as witnesses to the treaty. It then identifies the stone pillars upon which the treaty is inscribed as the “house of god.” ref

“Later Arabian sources apply the same term, “house of god,” to standing stones. Similarly, a ninth-century B.C.E. (around 2,9,00 years old) Assyrian document describing King Tukulti Ninurta’s campaign to the Lebanon coast says that “he camped by the stones in which the great gods are dwelling.” Other masseboth offer variations on this theme. Some, by virtue of their divine authority, serve as witnesses to treaties and covenants; others oversee the fulfillment of vows and treaties, commemorate special events and bequeath divine protection upon territorial borders.” ref

Two Major Characteristics in Masseboth

*First, “in all groupings, the number of stones parallels the number of gods in various Near Eastern inscriptions, artistic representations and mythologies. Thus, a group of stones may represent a known group of gods.” ref

*Second, “a closer look reveals that most clusters of masseboth include stones of different shapes and proportions; moreover, the stones within a group are set in a symmetrical pattern or in some other order related to their shape.” ref

“For example, a group of seven stones at the top of Ma’aleh Jethro, east of the Uvda Valley, is set in a distinct pattern of alternating broad and narrow stones (see “Desert Masseboth: A Gallery of Types”). The stones were brought from some distance and obviously carefully selected, so we must assume some purpose or concept lay behind this arrangement.  A  similar relationship between broad and narrow stones or tall and short stones  is found in other groups. Perhaps a narrow or tall stone represented a god and a broad or shorter stone represented a goddess.” ref

The 7,000 year old Masseboth Leopard Temple of Uvda

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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7,000-year-old Leopard Temples of Uvda basin in southern Israel

“7,000-year-old Leopard Temple of Uvda, in the Uvda basin in the desert of southern Israel. Uvda (Hebrew: עובדה) is the name of a region in the southern Negev desert, directly north of Eilat. The name derives from the Hebrew word uvda (meaning fact). The Uvda Valley is known for the 7000-year-old Leopard Temple archaeological site. They also began to worship something, perhaps the sun, perhaps their own ancestors, and intriguingly, perhaps the local scourge, the wild leopard.” ref, ref

 “Uvda Valley Site 6, “stone drawings” of 15 leopards and one oryx, next to an open-air sanctuary, a vertical view (small stones indicate reconstruction).” ref

“Jebel Ḥashem al-Taref, eastern Sinai, three examples of “stone drawings” built next to pairs of open-air sanctuaries: (a) Excavated; (b,c) Unexcavated, dark stones—vertically set, light stones—fallen. Radiometric dates available to date from open sanctuaries are of the 6th and 5th millennia BCE. Nevertheless, Pre-Pottery Neolithic B flint items were also found in some of them (8th–7th millennia BCE), while other finds indicate continuation through the third millennium BCE, even the early second (Middle Bronze Age).” ref

“All open sanctuaries were built next to ancient roads (Figure 21c and Figure 27), while clusters of sanctuaries were built next to road junctions, for example, a cluster of 33 open sanctuaries near Jebel Ḥashem al-Taref in Sinai, 35 km west of Eilat; 4 pairs of sanctuaries at Ramat Saharonim; and 28 sanctuaries near Har Tzuriʻaz, in the southern Negev. Some sanctuaries were built in burial sites, also located next to ancient roads and road junctions.” ref

“This is also the female’s position in the drawing of a couple from Kuntilat ʻAjrud (Figure 17), slightly behind the male, presented as standing on a higher-like level, and her right leg is hidden behind the male’s left leg. Many open sanctuaries are circular, (Figure 21, Figure 28, and Figure 33). Most of them are 6–18 m in diameter, but tiny circular sanctuaries are also known, ca. 3 m in diameter (Figure 33), as well as large circular cult enclosures up to 70 m in diameter (Figure 33b). Stone alignments are attached to most of the circular sanctuaries, mainly in the form of “ladders,” which are chains of square cells made of a single line of stones or of small flagstones set vertically into the ground (Figure 34 and  Figure 36). Their length ranges from a few meters to 78 m, and they present one of the combination of lines and circles.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Catal Huyuk “first religious designed city” around 9,500 to 7,700 years ago (Turkey)

Catal Huyuk “first religious designed city” dated to around 9,500 to 7,700 years ago (Turkey) of one-room homes, accessed from the roof, that were also places of worship and often featured sacred bulls or leopards, as well as anthropomorphic bears. This also includes sacred vultures and other ritual animals in cultic hunting scenes.

Many figures were found in, under, or in the walls or foundations of houses.

“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 pagan religions 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, with examples including the Greek Hestia and Norse Frigg. 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.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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I think most represent a Goddess as well as it is possible, and some could relate to Demi-goddesses/Grandmother-Mother Ancestor Spirits. Some are with leopards, I think possibly three figureans, and another looks like she has leopard skin on her chest.

“ A demigoddess or demi-goddess is a minor deity, or a mortal or immortal who is the offspring of a god and a human, or a figure who has attained divine status after death.” ref

Goddesses/Demigoddesses/Grandmother-Mother Ancestor Spirits from Catal Huyuk?

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Leopard Crown Male Hunter from wall art in a temple at level III wearing a leopard pelt. Here are two male figurines sitting, that seem to be wearing leopard skin caps that like the Male Hunter in the wall art that are not common and thus likely reflects elite. Moreover, the elite male skeleton seems to also be in a body position at burial like the two male figurines tightly sitting with his arms at his legs. Then there are the two depicted ceremonial daggers buried with elite males.

Special Items and Art as well as Special Elite Burials at Catal Huyuk

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Some of the hunters have “leopard skin” loincloths. 

I view these art scenes as hunting cult behavior of the early paganist males with a totemistic type of warrior-shaman, in demonstrations of bravery taunting and ritually playing with strong animals such as bears and bulls. Cult ritual, not just standard hunting. None of the average male hunters are depicted as wearing a leopard skin crown. It is thus a special or elite thing to wear a leopard skin crown and only a few have this. Moreover, I see this not as standard hunting for food but rather cult ritual hunting behaviors. At Catal Huyuk, some of the cultic hunting scenes depict possible goddesses, female shamanistic pagan figures, or female ancestor spirits. However, possibly it could be all of these characteristics, which was a female ancestor spirit of a female shaman that turned into a goddess or demigoddess protector. Is there one ancestor goddess or demigoddess in each of these three hunting scenes? Well, I think it likely could be so or at least something like that as all others seem to be men.  ref, ref, ref, ref

To me, my referencing of Catal Huyuk cultic hunting totemistic “warrior-shaman” type it meant to be similar in some ways to the Norse and Germanic peoples paganistic shamanism that involved a sacred trance-like battle-fury closely linked to a particular totem animal, which for Catal Huyuk males was seemingly the leopard (wearer of “leopard -shirts”) and whom I surmise believed they drew their power from the leopard and were devoted to leopard cults. Viking Age “warrior-shamans” had two main totem animal groups, such as the berserkers (wearer of “bear-shirts”) who thought they drew their power from the bear and were devoted to bear cults and ulfheonar (“wolf-hides”) who thought they drew their power from the bear and were devoted to bear cults. Moreover, the wolf type of warrior-shamans appears among the legends of the Indo-Europeans, Turks, Mongols, and even Native American cultures. ref, ref

Cultic Hunting at Catal Huyuk “first religious designed city”

Leopard Mythology

“The finds of a seal in the shape of a leopard both in Hamoukarand in 9,000-year-old Çatal Hüyük and of wall paintings depicting leopards in Avarisnot only made it clear that this animal played an important role in both these regions, an investigation into its iconography. The starting point of this research into the role and function of the leopard in the art of the Eastern Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, and Iran was the hypothesis that this animal could have had an iconography that was basically similar during many ages in all these regions.” ref 

“In the Inanna-myth the goddess is said to be the leopard of the mountains or the leopard between the gods of Anuna. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu is depicted as “the leopard of open spaces.” Aššur-bēlkala brought troops of leopards into Assur for his people to admire, and he and other Assyrian and Persian kings hunted the leopard. The Hittite Boğazköy-texts relate the leopard to Inar(ra), Tetešapi, and the sun goddess and mention that in Yazilikaya the goddess Hepat(u) and her son Šarruma are depicted standing on a leopard; the same texts tell about a religious ritual that involved a goddess and a leopard and dancers dressed in leopard skins and mention the use of tendons of leopards as medicine. Recent sources tell about the finding of feline bones in temples in Boğazköy, Norṣuntepe, and Troy. Texts from the XVIIth and XVIIIth Dynasties in Egypt talk about the leopard that was hunted, but depictions of the animal as prey have not been found.” ref 

“The skin of the leopard or the living animal was often part of the objects that were offered to the pharaoh for tax payment. It was used, among other things, as a garment for priests and the deceased, as a fetish in the context of the burial rites, and it played a role in the ritual of the Opening of the Mouth. Since the leopard was extinct inEgypt from the XVIIIth Dynasty, skins and/or live animals had to beimported from countries such as Nubia and Punt. In the Aegean also, where no leopards lived, the animal must have been the prey in hunting trips, according to some sources but here again no such images were found.” ref

“The functions and roles of the leopard that were uncovered, four in total, can not be seen apart but overlap with each other. Most depictions of the leopard carry at least two, sometimes all. The most obvious of them, the identification of groups or individuals, leads to the second, the role of the (depictions of the) leopard as a symbol for power and status. This function leads in its turn to the leopard playing a protective and supporting role. The last one stands a bit apart and is not so obvious at first glance: the leopard as a symbol of fertility or what occurs most, in general, for the “Weltkreislauf”.Each function will be treated in a separate paragraph with an additional section about the so-called Masters and Mistresses of the Animals.” ref

“Leopards have been featured in art, mythology, and folklore of many countries. In Greek mythology, it was a symbol of the god Dionysus, who was depicted wearing leopard skin and using leopards as a means of transportation. In one myth, the god was captured by pirates, but two leopards rescued him. Numerous Roman mosaics from North African sites depict fauna now found only in tropical Africa. During the Benin Empire, the leopard was commonly represented on engravings and sculptures and was used to symbolize the power of the king or oba, since the leopard was considered the king of the forest. The Ashanti people also used the leopard as a symbol of leadership, and only the king was permitted to have a ceremonial leopard stool. Some African cultures considered the leopard to be a smarter, better hunter than the lion and harder to kill.” ref

“In Rudyard Kipling‘s “How the Leopard Got His Spots,” one of his Just So Stories, a leopard with no spots in the Highveld lives with his hunting partner, the Ethiopian. When they set off to the forest, the Ethiopian changed his brown skin, and the leopard painted spots on his skin. A leopard played an important role in the 1938 Hollywood film Bringing Up Baby. African chiefs and European queens wore coats made of leopard skins. The leopard is a frequently used motif in heraldry, most commonly as passant. The heraldic leopard lacks spots and sports a mane, making it visually almost identical to the heraldic lion, and the two are often used interchangeably. Naturalistic leopard-like depictions appear on the coat of arms of Benin, Malawi, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gabon, the last of which uses a black panther.” ref

“A pard (Ancient Greek: πάρδος) is the Greek word for the leopard, which is listed in medieval bestiaries and in Pliny the Elder‘s book Natural History. Over the years, there have been many different depictions of the creature including some adaptations with and without manes and some in later years with shorter tails. However, one consistent representation shows them as large felines often with spots. One of the earliest known references to this creature appears in Pliny the Elder’s book Natural History (in Book 8, chapter 17: “Lions: How they are Produced”). In it, Pliny writes about the creation of cheetah (though he does not have a clearly separate word for this animal) which were believed to be a hybrid animal (like mules or ligers) resulting from the union between a promiscuous lioness and the pard, i.e. the leopard.” ref

“In fact, the word “leopardos” (λεόπαρδος) or “leontopardos” (λεοντόπαρδος), Greek for cheetah, comes from the combination of the word “leo” (Greek for lion) and “pardos, ‘spotted’.” The pard itself is described as being maneless like the female lion with a distinct odor. Pliny also states that the sexual passion between the pard and lioness is so violent that it enrages the male lion, who will often seek revenge on a lioness when smelling the pard. Because of this, the lioness will wash the pard’s scent from her or follow the pride at a distance after mating.” ref

“By the medieval era, pards were commonplace in books and artwork where various depictions of them are shown (some even including “bearded manes”). In the seventh-century book Etymologies, Isidore of Seville describes their coat as being mottled like a giraffe’s. He goes on to describe them as being “headlong for blood” by being capable of killing their prey in a single leap. The author references Pliny the Elder’s work by reaffirming that pards were the sires of cheetahs from lionesses.” ref

“It wasn’t until the 13th century that pards acquired their mythical reputation for being bloodthirsty and almost demonic creatures, primarily thanks to the MS Bodley 764 Bestiary. In this, their spots were said to symbolize sins, the devil, or even the variety of vices in mankind. It even claims that the Antichrist comes in the form of a pard. Despite the mention of their spots, in this bestiary pards are often illustrated without spots. Instead, they’re colored and maned like a lion with a human-like, grinning face.” ref

“Yet ironically, in the same century, different writers of the Aberdeen Bestiary oppositely describe the pard (borrowing in this case from the panther) as a beautiful and gentle creature whose only enemy is the dragon. It’s said to sleep for three days after filling its stomach and arise, carrying with it a sweet scent from its mouth which attracts all animals except the dragon. Its roar is said to terrify the dragon into fleeing to its den. In this bestiary, the creature is said to symbolize Jesus Christ who opposes the devil. It also features the most accurate illustrations of it, depicting a creature with dark fur, spots, and no mane.” ref

“By the 14th century, they are characterized again as a real animal. The Byzantine poem “An Entertaining Tale of Quadrupeds,” describes pards (also called “cat-pards” and “leopards” interchangeably in the text) as being resistant to fleas–and thus good for using their pelts as bedspreads. Their tails are noted as being “comically” short like a lynx’s and that the creature often lives in quarries. Finally, by the 1700s, despite centuries of confusion, scientists understood cheetahs and leopards to be their own, independent species of cat and not the offspring of pards and lions.” ref

Serpopard  “serpent–leopard“

“The serpopard is a mythical animal known from ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian art. The word “serpopard” is a modern coinage. It is a portmanteau of “serpent” and “leopard“, derived from the interpretation that the creature represents an animal with the body of a leopard and the long neck and head of a serpent. However, they have also been interpreted as “serpent-necked lions.” There is no known name for the creature in any ancient texts. The image is featured specifically on decorated cosmetic palettes from the Predynastic period of Egypt, and more extensively, as design motifs on cylinder seals in the Protoliterate period of Mesopotamia (circa 3500–3000 BCE or around 5,500-5,000 years ago). Examples include the Narmer Palette and the Oxford Palette. The cylinder seal of Uruk (image above) displays the motif very clearly. Typically, two creatures are depicted, with their necks intertwined.” ref

“The image generally is classified as a feline, and with close inspection resembles an unusually long-necked lioness. It bears the characteristic tuft of the species at the end of the tail, there are no spots, the round-eared head most closely resembles the lioness rather than a serpent, because serpents do not have ears, and there are no typical serpent features such as scales, tongue, or reptilian head shape. It has been suggested that in Ancient Egyptian art the serpopard represents “a symbol of the chaos that reigned beyond Egypt’s borders”, which the king must tame. They are normally shown conquered or restrained, as in the Narmer Palette, or attacking other animals. But in Mesopotamian art they are shown in pairs, with intertwined necks.” ref

“Mesopotamian use of these “serpent-necked lions” and other animals and animal hybrids is seen by some scholars as “manifestations of the chthonic aspect of the god of natural vitality, who is manifest in all life breaking forth from the earth.” Similarly to other ancient peoples, the Egyptians are known for their accurate depictions of the creatures they observed. Their composite creatures have recognizable features of the animals originally representing those deities, merged into novel creatures.” ref

“Lionesses played an important role in the religious concepts of both Upper and Lower Egypt, and are likely to have been designated as animals associated with protection and royalty. The long necks could be a simple exaggeration, used as a framing feature in an artistic motif, either forming the cosmetic-mixing area, as in the Narmer Palette, or surrounding it, as in the Small Palette. Depictions of similar fantastic animals also are known from Elam and Mesopotamia, as well as many other cultures.” ref

Questing Beast: head of a snake, the body of a leopard, the haunches of a lion, and the feet of a hart.

“The Questing Beast, or the Beast Glatisant (Old French: beste glatisant, Modern French: bête glatissante), is a cross-animal monster appearing in many medieval texts of Arthurian legend and modern works inspired by them. In the French prose cycles, and consequently in the quasi-canon of Le Morte d’Arthur, the hunt for the Beast is the subject of quests futilely undertaken by King Pellinore and his family and finally achieved by Sir Palamedes and his companions. The strange creature has the head of a snake, the body of a leopard, the haunches of a lion, and the feet of a hart.” ref 

“Its name comes from the great noise that it emits from its belly, a barking like “thirty couple hounds questing”. Glatisant is related to the French word glapissant, ‘yelping’ or ‘barking’, especially of small dogs or foxes. The questing beast is a description of the medieval mythological view on giraffes, whose generic name of Camelopardalis originated from their description of being half-camel and half-leopard. Evidence of this is shown in the Arthuriana paper, showing that the beast comes from a mistranslation of the Arabic word Zaraffa. The wrong form of the word was used, leading to the description of the beast to be described as Zurafa, or docile or graceful. This is shown in the original French text where it is described as “douce.” ref

“The account from Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin, which was taken up by Thomas Malory for his seminal Le Morte d’Arthur, has the Beast appear to the young King Arthur after he has had an affair with his half-sister Morgause and begotten Mordred (they did not know that they were related when the incestuous act occurred). Arthur sees the beast drinking from a pool just after he wakes from a disturbing dream that foretells Mordred’s destruction of the realm. He is then approached by King Pellinore, who confides that it is his family’s quest to hunt the beast. Merlin reveals that the Beast had been born of a human woman, a princess who lusted after her own brother. She slept with a devil who had promised to make the boy love her, but the devil manipulated her into accusing her brother of rape.” ref

“Their father had the brother torn apart by dogs as punishment. Before he died, however, he prophesied that his sister would give birth to an abomination that would make the same sounds as the pack of dogs that were about to kill him. Later on in the Post-Vulgate, the Prose Tristan, and the sections of Malory based on those works, Saracen knight Palamedes hunts the Beast. It is at first a futile venture, much like his love for Tristan‘s paramour Iseult, offering him nothing but hardship. But his conversion to Christianity allows Palamedes relief from his endless worldly pursuits, and he finally slays the creature during the Grail Quest after he, Percival, and Galahad have chased it into a lake. The Beast’s story can be interpreted as a symbol of the incest, violence, and chaos that eventually destroys Arthur’s kingdom.” ref

“The earlier Perlesvaus, however, offers an entirely different depiction of the Beast. There it is described as pure white, smaller than a fox, and beautiful to look at. The noise from its belly is the sound of its offspring who tear the creature apart from the inside; the author takes the beast as a symbol of Christ, destroyed by the followers of the Old Law, the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Gerbert de Montreuil provides a similar vision of the Beast in his Continuation of Perceval, the Story of the Grail, though he says that it is “wondrously large” and interprets the noise and subsequent gruesome death by its own offspring as a symbol of impious churchgoers who disturb the sanctity of Mass by talking. The Beast appears in some other works as well, including stories written in French, Galician, Spanish, and Italian.” ref

Leopard vs Cheetah?

“Cheetahs are tall and slender, whilst leopards are short and stocky. Leopards are heavier and bulkier. They are powerful tree-climbing big cats with shorter legs and bigger heads. Cheetahs are slinkier, more lightweight African cats than leopards.” ref

“Some tribes associate the cheetah with spirits or deities, viewing it as a spiritual guide or messenger. In ancient Egyptian mythology, the goddess Mafdet was often depicted with the head of a cheetah or as a cheetah herself.” ref

“Beginning with one of the earliest feline deities, Mafdet, the ancient Egyptian pantheon grew steadily as the years passed to include a wide range of creatures, both big and small – furry and feathered. Among them, leopards were greatly regarded for their fearsome nature and physical attributes—and were hence associated with the gods. Pharaohs reared the fantastic beast in private zoos; and priests wore leopard skin during ceremonies. Resin-coated examples of the feline were discovered in the Tomb of Tutankhamun; and these objects symbolized the king’s triumph over death.” ref

“Mafdet (also Mefdet, Maftet) was a goddess in the ancient Egyptian religion. She was often depicted wearing a skin of a cheetah, and protected against the bite of snakes and scorpions. She was part of the pantheon of ancient Egyptian deities that was prominent during the First Dynasty of Egypt. She was prominent during the reign of pharaoh Den whose image appears on stone vessel fragments from his tomb and is mentioned in a dedicatory entry in the Palermo Stone. Mafdet was the deification of legal justice, or possibly of capital punishment. She was associated with the protection of the king’s chambers and other sacred places, and with protection against venomous animals, which were seen as transgressors against Maat. In the Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, she was mentioned as protecting the sun god Ra from venomous snakes.” ref

“Mafdet defended Ra from threats during his daily voyage. She would hunt by night (earning the epithet “Piercer of Darkness”) and ensure the coming of dawn. When Osiris was separated into pieces, Mafdet protected him while she helped bind the pieces together. Depictions in royal tombs associate the symbol of Mafdet with the symbol of Anubis, suggesting that Mafdet accompanied the gods as a hunter or executioner while Anubis fulfilled his role as messenger and attendant. In art, Mafdet was alternately shown as a feline or mongoose, a woman with such a head, or such an animal with the head of a woman. The type of feline varies but is commonly interpreted as a cheetah or serval.” ref

“In the Uvda basin in the desert of southern Israel sits a 7,000-year-old Temple. Here at the heart of the agricultural revolution, before the written word or any organized religion, as we know it today, a small group of people began to settle in one place to cultivate crops and animals. They also began to worship something, perhaps the sun, perhaps their own ancestors, and intriguingly, perhaps the local scourge, the wild leopard. They built a rectangular wall, only two feet high and 35 feet to a side. At the western tip of the diamond (imagine home plate on a baseball field) is a little enclosure, a holy of holies, with 17 small standing stones,  each a foot or two in height, a miniature Stonehenge, clearly of spiritual significance.” ref

“Uzi Avneri, the archaeologist who has studied this spot more than anyone alive, believes that theirs was a ritual of honoring their deceased. He points out that in pre-industrial societies, a Temple that points West, in the direction of the setting sun, signifies a death-cult, with the setting sun symbolizing the descent of life into the beyond. Other experts note that on the Winter Solstice, the shadows cast by the stones of the Temple at dawn form a precise right angle, and suggest the possibility that this was an agricultural calendar. The farmer who plants on that day (in the desert, the beginning of Winter would be the planting season) will have a successful crop.” ref

“Perhaps more intriguing is the primitive montage adjacent to the Temple on its Eastern Side. Mosaics of small stones are forced into the ground, each portraying a connect-the-dots version of a leopard.   All of the leopards are facing east.  One animal in the group, an oryx (a beautiful white relative of the antelope with long delicate horns) is facing west. Like the small standing stones on the other end of the Temple, there are 17 animals represented.   Perhaps a coincidence. The place is mysterious. It brings up far more questions than it answers. “Was each leopard there to protect a corresponding ancestor-stone from an eastern attack?  Perhaps the leopards were there to protect the settlers, their crop, or their temples.” ref

“Did these farmers venerate the thing that they feared most, the leopard, who could prey on their animals and haunt their dreams? Were the leopards a symbol of fertility?  Was there, perhaps, no connection between the leopards and the Temple other than proximity? Here in the empty desert, one can feel the fragility of life, and of our species. These people, in this harsh environment, had learned for the first time in human history that there was something to be gained by banding together with other families, settling in the same place, farming together, sharing a vision, a spiritual life, and with any luck and the right weather, a few pots full of grain, to survive the year.” ref

A Holy Trinity of Masseboth

“A triad of masseboth attached to a fourth-millennium B.C.E. (around 6,000 years ago) tumulus in Wadi Zalaqa, eastern Sinai, includes a large, broad central stone with a smaller stone on either side. Many sites from various periods contain this arrangement, as do numerous more explicit iconographic equivalents. For example, a carved ivory box lid from Ugarit, Mycenaean in origin, shows a broad-hipped goddess feeding two ibexes, which represent young gods. This same arrangement can be seen in paintings on pottery. A similar triad of Canaanite and Egyptian gods can be seen in a New Kingdom Egyptian stela, in which the Canaanite goddess Qudshu stands on a lion, with the male gods Min and Reshef on either side. Painted jars found at Kuntillet ‘Ajrud in the eastern Sinai show a stylized tree mounted on a lion’s back; like the goddess on the Egyptian stela, the tree is flanked by two ibexes, again symbolizing the young deities. This example, which dates to the ninth or eighth century B.C.E. (around 2,900-2,800 years ago), is especially interesting because, although the tree represents the pagan Asherah,* Israelites apparently drew the picture.” ref

Masseboth Sacred Pairs 

Pairs of masseboth are also common and usually follow consistent patterns. An early one fifth to fourth millennium B.C.E. (around 7,000-6,000 years ago) stands at a site near Giv’at Shehoret, north of Eilat. The massebah on the left side, through the viewer’s eye, is tall and narrow, while the one on the right is short and rounded. When seen from the viewpoint of the gods within the stones, however, the shorter one stands to the left of the taller one. Out of 24 sets of paired masseboth found to date, the right stone (from the viewpoint of the stones) is the larger in 22 cases. This pattern also shows up in more explicit depictions of male-female couples, a sure indication that the positioning of the masseboth is not accidental. It was found in 72 percent of 125 couples randomly selected from ancient Near Eastern figurative art (most of the other 28 percent had a reason to stand reversed). Placing the male on the right and the female to his left is comparable to Biblical references of male names before female names (“Adam and Eve”, “Ba’al and Asherah,” etc.).” ref

“Two passages in the Song of Songs also reflect this relationship: The woman says of her lover, “His left arm was under my head, his right arm embraced me” (Song of Songs 2:6, 8:3). Many clay and stone votive plaques vividly echo the imagery of these passages. Another drawing from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud may also correspond to this pattern. Many scholars have attempted to identify two figures on one of the jars found at the site. Some suggest that they are Egyptian deities; others opt for the Israelite God Yahweh and his consort. Above the two figures is a Hebrew inscription that mentions “Yahweh of Samaria and his Asherah.” ref

Bible Goddess Asherah (God’s Wife)

“The word “Asherah” occurs about 40 times in the Hebrew Bible. Scholars wonder if these figures represent Egyptian gods or Yahweh and his consort; they are also unsure whether the Hebrew inscription above the drawing means “Yahweh and his sacred place,” “Yahweh and his symbol” or “Yahweh and his consort.” The pairs of masseboth that we have been examining support the view that the ‘Ajrud figures do represent Yahweh and the goddess Asherah, the former wearing a bull mask and the latter that of a cow. Masseboth from the Biblical period (Iron Age) have been found in at least 36 sites, several of which are surely Israelite. One pair of masseboth found in the eighth- to seventh-century B.C.E. (around 2,800-2,700 years ago) Israelite temple excavated at Arad in the northern Negev displays the same relationship of “male” to “female” and probably represents a pair of deities. At Arad there can be no doubt that the temple is Israelite because on two small ostraca (inscribed potsherds) found there are “Pashhur” and “Mremot,” the names of two Israelite priestly families who served there.” ref

“The recurrent pattern in the positioning of pairs of masseboth and in representations such as the Kuntillet ‘Ajrud drawing lead us to conclude that the pair of masseboth in the Arad temple represents a pair of deities. This means that masseboth were used in an official Israelite temple (and not simply as part of popular Israelite religion, if such a distinction ever existed).** When Yohanan Aharoni excavated the Israelite temple at Arad, he concluded that the Holy of Holies of the temple with its masseboth was eliminated during the religious reform of King Hezekiah late in the eighth century B.C.E. (around 2,800 years ago)with a wall being built on top of it much later, during the Hellenistic period. A remaining point of debate is whether the Babylonians destroyed the Arad temple with its masseboth in 586 B.C.E. (2,586 years ago) or whether Edomites destroyed it a few years earlier when they invaded southern Judah. In either case, the massebothat Arad survived the religious reforms both of Hezekiah in the eighth century B.C.E. (around 2,800-2,700 years ago), and of King Josiah in the seventh century B.C.E (around 2,700-2,600 years ago).” ref

The Bible is Hot and Cold on Sacred Masseboth 

“The Bible itself expresses ambivalent or even contradictory attitudes toward masseboth (see “Does the Bible Disapprove of Masseboth?“) In many places, the Bible vehemently denounces the masseboth because they represent pagan cults and polytheism. Thirteen different passages demand their destruction in order to separate Israel from the cult and customs of the Canaanites. The Bible is cold on sacred masseboth, Deuteronomy 12:3-4 reads: “You shall destroy all the places wherein the nations worship their gods … You shall tear down their altars and smash their masseboth and burn their Asherim.” Three other passages absolutely prohibit masseboth: “You shall not erect a massebah that Yahweh your lord hates” (Deuteronomy 16:22; see also Leviticus 26:1; 2 Chronicles 31:1).” ref

“On the other hand, other passages mention masseboth with no condemnation at all. Like the massebah Jacob erected at Beth-El; in a cultic act, he poured oil on the massebah and called it Beth Elohim, “House of God” (Genesis 28:17-18). He then made a vow to Yahweh.  The Bible is hot on sacred masseboth, when Jacob, in repetition, returned to Beth-El and God told him that henceforth his name would be Israel, Jacob set up a massebah and poured oil on it (Genesis 35:14). Moses erected twelve masseboth at the foot of Mt. Sinai and made a sacrifice to Yahweh there during the ceremony of signing the covenant between Yahweh and the Israelite people (Exodus 24:4-8). Joshua set up a “great stone” (even gedolah) under the sacred terebinth*** in Yahweh’s sanctuary at Shechem to renew the covenant the people had just made with Yahweh, their God (Joshua 24:26-27).” ref

“When the Philistines were forced to return the Ark of the Covenant that they had captured, the Levites offered sacrifices to Yahweh before “the great stone” at Beth Shemesh (I Samuel 6:14-15). Samuel set up a stone called even ha-ezer (the “stone of help”) in gratitude for God’s help in protecting the Israelites from the Philistines (1 Samuel 7:12). In 1 Kings 3:4 we are told that Solomon sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings at Gibeon. The text makes no mention of a massebah, but we learn elsewhere that there was also a “great stone” at Gibeon (2 Samuel 20:8). In 2 Chronicles 1:3 we find that the Tent of Meeting Moses had made in the wilderness reposed at Gibeon. It is not surprising, therefore, that King Solomon went here to sacrifice at the “large bamah.” There is no hint of condemnation of the “great stone” of Gibeon.” ref

“Despite his aggressive religious reform against the bamot (high places), King Josiah himself renewed the covenant between Yahweh and the people “at the ‘amud” (pillar) (2 Kings 23:3; 2 Chronicles 34:31). This covenant ceremony resembled the covenant at Shechem mentioned above, as well as other Near Eastern examples in which masseboth witness the signing of treaties. Even in the books of the prophets, where we might most expect to find them, there are almost no words of condemnation of the masseboth, great stones or sacred pillars. On the contrary, in a couple of places they even seem to be approved. For example, while condemning Egypt and predicting that someday the Lord will be worshiped there, Isaiah foretells: “In that day, there shall be an altar to Yahweh inside the land of Egypt and a pillar (massebah) to Yahweh at its border” (Isaiah 19:19). One possible exception to approval by the prophets may be a sarcastic comment in Jeremiah, where the prophet castigates the people for worshiping other gods (he does not specifically mention masseboth), “They [the Israelites] said to wood, ‘You are my father,’ to stone, ‘You gave birth to me'” (Jeremiah 2:27).” ref

“Especially surprising is that all these references to masseboth are directly connected with the name of Yahweh and his cult. Moreover, these references survived the Deuteronomistic editing (in Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings) of the late seventh century B.C.E., even though Deuteronomistic theology demanded devotion to Yahweh alone, only in Jerusalem, and with many strict prohibitions. After all, Deuteronomy tells us that Yahweh “hates” masseboth (Deuteronomy 16:22). It is speculated that masseboth were deeply rooted in the Israelite cult and culture throughout the First Temple period (c. 960-586 B.C.E. around 2,960-2,586 years ago). This was not because of Canaanite influence, but rather because of the common desert origin of both the masseboth cult and the major body of Israelite religion.” ref

Masseboth and Desert  Magic

“In the desert almost all masseboth are crude, natural, unhewn stones, while in the fertile lands of the Near East the majority of masseboth are stones that were deliberately shaped. Desert peoples clearly had the technical capability of shaping stones, had they wanted to. Indeed, two out of three masseboth dated to the 11th millennium B.C.E. (around 13,000 years ago-12,000 years ago) were carefully shaped, although the later ones were not. Hence desert massebothreflect a principle enunciated in several Biblical passages: “If you make for me an altar of stones, do not build it of hewn stones; for by wielding your tool upon them you have profaned them” (Exodus 20:22; see also Deuteronomy 27:6; Joshua 8:31; 1 Kings 6:7). Crude stones, shaped by nature or God and not by man, were specifically chosen for cult purposes both for the prehistoric desert people and later for the Israelites. Masseboth are therefore an abstract representation of gods, directly associated with aniconic theology, which bans the portrayal of gods in human or animal form. This followed a desert tradition that later developed in Israel into “programmatic aniconism,” as Tryggve Mettinger has termed it, embedded in Deuteronomistic theology. The aniconism of prehistoric desert religion and of Israel also characterized later Nabatean and Muslim religions, both of which have desert roots.” ref

“Around 89 percent of the desert masseboth face east, which means that they follow a dominant sacred orientation. In the fertile areas, on the other hand, only 38 percent face east. The desert masseboth appear in attached, ordered groups, consistent in numbers and shapes; those in the sown areas are usually detached and inconsistent in numbers, orientation and relative position. Israelite culture and religion had deep roots in the desert, and these desert roots shaped Israelite consciousness, as many studies have shown. Even during the Israelite monarchy a “desert ideal” still prevailed. An interesting episode occurred in the last days of the Judahite kingdom that the Babylonians destroyed in 586 B.C.E. (around 2,586 years ago).” ref

“On instructions from the Lord, the prophet Jeremiah took to the Temple the Rechabites, a group probably originating in the Negev, who had joined the Israelites. The Rechabites are held up as an ideal example of obedience to the law. The text describes them as living in tents, not houses, and without agriculture. Jeremiah offers them wine but they refuse, for that is against their law. Long after leaving the desert they still lived by its ideals. Jeremiah then proclaims to the Israelites in the name of the Lord, “You can learn a lesson about obeying my commands [from the desert Rechabites]” (Jeremiah 35:13). In short, the Rechabites are praised because they preserved the “desert ideal.” Israel’s god Yahweh clearly originated as a desert god. In addition to the theophany at Sinai, various Biblical passages associate Yahweh directly with the desert. For example: “Yahweh came from Sinai; He shone upon them from Seir; He appeared from Mount Paran” (Deuteronomy 33:2; see also Judges 5:4-6; Habakkuk 3:3; Psalms 68:8-9). These are all desert sites.” ref

“Yahweh is associated with the desert even in Egyptian records. Three Egyptian inscriptions found in Egypt and Nubia (modern Sudan), dating to the 14th and 13th centuries B.C.E. (around 3,400-3,300 years ago), mention various districts in the desert. One is “the land of [nomad tribe] Shasu [named] YHW in the land of Seir.” So even before the Israelite Exodus from Egypt (assuming a 13th-century B.C.E. Exodus) some desert tribes in Seir (that is, Sinai, the Negev and Edom) named their territory after Yahweh. In Israel the only sacred orientation was east. The tabernacle faced east; the temple of Arad faced east; and so did the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. The dominant orientation of desert masseboth, as we have seen, is also east, but in the sown land all over the Near East during all periods both masseboth and temples are oriented in various directions. The sacred eastern orientation, therefore, is only shared by desert masseboth and Israelite cult places.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Gobekli Tepe: First Temple, Early Paganism Themes, Sky Burial, Skull Cult, T-pillar Site Similarities, Obsidian Trade, Agriculture Revolution, and Megalith Cultures

Gobekli Tepe is more like Shamanistic early Paganism, Not Adam, Eve, and Cain or Bible anything!

Alcohol, where Agriculture and Religion Become one? Such as Gobekli Tepe’s Ritualistic use of Grain as Food and Ritual Drink

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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The number of settlements contemporaneous with Gobekli Tepe Layer II (assigned to Pre-Pottery Neolithic B: 10,800 – 8,500 years ago) increased amongst the Neolithic settlements in the Urfa region and become widespread all around the region.

1. Gobekli Tepe, 2. Nevali Cori, 3. Tasli Tepe, 4. Kurt Tepesi, 5. Sefer Tepe, 6. Karahan Tepe, 7. Harbetsuvan Tepesi, 8. Hamzan Tepe, 9. Urfa, 10. Ayanlar Hoyuk/Gaziantep, 11. Kilisik, 12. Tell Abr 3, 13. Boncuklu Tarla, 14. Gusir Hoyuk, 15. Nemrik 9, 16. Qermez Dere, 17. Hasankeyf, 18. Cayonu, 19. Hallan Cemi, 20. Demirci, 21. Kortik Tepe, 22. Mureybet, 23. Cheik Hassan, 24. Jerf el Ahmar, 25. Dja’de, 26. Tell Abr, 27. Akarcay, and 28. Tell Qarmel

Göbekli Tepe is not alone, in fact, it is part of a religious/cultural connected ritual culture in the general region. There are several other similar sites with similar T-pillars to Göbekli Tepe or other types of stone pillar providing a seeming connected cult belief or religious culture of pillars seen in the PPNA-PPNB in the northern portion of the Near East.

“The locations of the sites that contain “T” shaped pillars are the main topic that needs more understanding to grasp the larger sociocultural-religious cultural complex in the same general region. Another matter under discussion is to comprehend the differences between the small-scale settlements that contain cult centers and “T” shaped pillars and the larger ones found at Gobekli Tepe layer III. The fact that settlements with “T” shaped pillars contain both the remains of circular domestic buildings and the pil­lars such as seen at Cayonu and Nevali Cori, which are also known to contain cult and domestic buildings. It is contemplated that such settlements are contemporary with Gobekli Tepe layer II and the cult building known from Nevali Cori based on the similarities and differences of the “T” shaped pillars. In the light of the finds unearthed from the settlements in Şanliurfa region that conta­in “T” shaped pillars, such settlements should be dated to the end of Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (LPPNA) and the Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (EPPNB).” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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9,000-6,500 Years Old Submerged Pre-Pottery/Pottery Neolithic Ritual Settlements off Israel’s Coast

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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9,000-year-old “Atlit Yam” Megoliths and a Mound of Creation (like the Earth-diver Creation Myth?) A stone semicircle of megaliths, alter stone erected among them in the middle and sounded by a moat, which suggests that they may have been used for a water ritual.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Agriculture religion (Paganism) with farming reached Britain between about 7,000 to 6,500 or so years ago and seemingly expressed in things like Western Europe’s Long Barrows

 Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Masseboth similar but much smaller than a European Menhir, dates to around 13,000-11,000 years ago in the Near East. Kurgan a burial mound over a timber burial chamber, dates to around 7,000/6,000 years ago. Dolmen a single-chamber ritual megalith, dates to around 7,000/6,000 years ago. Ziggurat a multi-platform temple around 4,900 years ago. Pyramid a multi-platform tomb, dates to around 4,700 years ago. #3 is a Step Pyramid (or proto pyramid) for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser it went through several revisions and redevelopments. First are three layers of Mastaba “house of eternity” a flat-roofed rectangular structure, then two step pyramid one on top the other, showing the evolution of ideas.

Ancient Megaliths: Kurgan, Ziggurat, Pyramid, Menhir, Trilithon, Dolman, Kromlech, and Kromlech of Trilithons

Kurgans 7,000/6,000 years ago/Dolmens 7,000/6,000 years ago: funeral, ritual, and other?

Is there a connection between Dolmans/Kurgans and Ziggurats/Pyramids?

Sacred Mounds, Mountains, Kurgans, and Pyramids may hold deep Mythology connections?

Shell Mounds, Earth Mounds, Raised Platforms, and Pyramids: which I think are somewhat related in mythology thinking and culture beliefs

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Stonehenge: Paganistic Burial and Astrological Ritual Complex, England (5,100-3,600 years ago)

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.

• By day the “Bible God” was in a cloud pillar.
• By night the “Bible God” was in a fire pillar.

Did a 4,520–4,420-year-old Volcano In Turkey Inspire the Bible God?

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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4,000-year-Old Dolmens in Israel: A Connected Dolmen Religious Phenomenon?

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

People don’t commonly teach religious history, even that of their own claimed religion. No, rather they teach a limited “pro their religion” history of their religion from a religious perspective favorable to the religion of choice. 

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Do you truly think “Religious Belief” is only a matter of some personal choice?

Do you not see how coercive one’s world of choice is limited to the obvious hereditary belief, in most religious choices available to the child of religious parents or caregivers? Religion is more commonly like a family, culture, society, etc. available belief that limits the belief choices of the child and that is when “Religious Belief” is not only a matter of some personal choice and when it becomes hereditary faith, not because of the quality of its alleged facts or proposed truths but because everyone else important to the child believes similarly so they do as well simply mimicking authority beliefs handed to them. Because children are raised in religion rather than being presented all possible choices but rather one limited dogmatic brand of “Religious Belief” where children only have a choice of following the belief as instructed, and then personally claim the faith hereditary belief seen in the confirming to the belief they have held themselves all their lives. This is obvious in statements asked and answered by children claiming a faith they barely understand but they do understand that their family believes “this or that” faith, so they feel obligated to believe it too. While I do agree that “Religious Belief” should only be a matter of some personal choice, it rarely is… End Hereditary Religion!

Opposition to Imposed Hereditary Religion

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Animism: Respecting the Living World by Graham Harvey 

“How have human cultures engaged with and thought about animals, plants, rocks, clouds, and other elements in their natural surroundings? Do animals and other natural objects have a spirit or soul? What is their relationship to humans? In this new study, Graham Harvey explores current and past animistic beliefs and practices of Native Americans, Maori, Aboriginal Australians, and eco-pagans. He considers the varieties of animism found in these cultures as well as their shared desire to live respectfully within larger natural communities. Drawing on his extensive casework, Harvey also considers the linguistic, performative, ecological, and activist implications of these different animisms.” ref

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, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref

“These ideas are my speculations from the evidence.”

I am still researching the “god‘s origins” all over the world. So you know, it is very complicated but I am smart and willing to look, DEEP, if necessary, which going very deep does seem to be needed here, when trying to actually understand the evolution of gods and goddesses. I am sure of a few things and less sure of others, but even in stuff I am not fully grasping I still am slowly figuring it out, to explain it to others. But as I research more I am understanding things a little better, though I am still working on understanding it all or something close and thus always figuring out more. 

Sky Father/Sky God?

“Egyptian: (Nut) Sky Mother and (Geb) Earth Father” (Egypt is different but similar)

Turkic/Mongolic: (Tengri/Tenger Etseg) Sky Father and (Eje/Gazar Eej) Earth Mother *Transeurasian*

Hawaiian: (Wākea) Sky Father and (Papahānaumoku) Earth Mother *Austronesian*

New Zealand/ Māori: (Ranginui) Sky Father and (Papatūānuku) Earth Mother *Austronesian*

Proto-Indo-European: (Dyḗus/Dyḗus ph₂tḗr) Sky Father and (Dʰéǵʰōm/Pleth₂wih₁) Earth Mother

Indo-Aryan: (Dyaus Pita) Sky Father and (Prithvi Mata) Earth Mother *Indo-European*

Italic: (Jupiter) Sky Father and (Juno) Sky Mother *Indo-European*

Etruscan: (Tinia) Sky Father and (Uni) Sky Mother *Tyrsenian/Italy Pre–Indo-European*

Hellenic/Greek: (Zeus) Sky Father and (Hera) Sky Mother who started as an “Earth Goddess” *Indo-European*

Nordic: (Dagr) Sky Father and (Nótt) Sky Mother *Indo-European*

Slavic: (Perun) Sky Father and (Mokosh) Earth Mother *Indo-European*

Illyrian: (Deipaturos) Sky Father and (Messapic Damatura’s “earth-mother” maybe) Earth Mother *Indo-European*

Albanian: (Zojz) Sky Father and (?) *Indo-European*

Baltic: (Perkūnas) Sky Father and (Saulė) Sky Mother *Indo-European*

Germanic: (Týr) Sky Father and (?) *Indo-European*

Colombian-Muisca: (Bochica) Sky Father and (Huythaca) Sky Mother *Chibchan*

Aztec: (Quetzalcoatl) Sky Father and (Xochiquetzal) Sky Mother *Uto-Aztecan*

Incan: (Viracocha) Sky Father and (Mama Runtucaya) Sky Mother *Quechuan*

China: (Tian/Shangdi) Sky Father and (Dì) Earth Mother *Sino-Tibetan*

Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian: (An/Anu) Sky Father and (Ki) Earth Mother

Finnish: (Ukko) Sky Father and (Akka) Earth Mother *Finno-Ugric*

Sami: (Horagalles) Sky Father and (Ravdna) Earth Mother *Finno-Ugric*

Puebloan-Zuni: (Ápoyan Ta’chu) Sky Father and (Áwitelin Tsíta) Earth Mother

Puebloan-Hopi: (Tawa) Sky Father and (Kokyangwuti/Spider Woman/Grandmother) Earth Mother *Uto-Aztecan*

Puebloan-Navajo: (Tsohanoai) Sky Father and (Estsanatlehi) Earth Mother *Na-Dene*

ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref 

Sky Father/Sky Mother “High Gods” or similar gods/goddesses of the sky more loosely connected, seeming arcane mythology across the earth seen in Siberia, China, Europe, Native Americans/First Nations People and Mesopotamia, etc.

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

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