Hi all
This is another of my "Not for the seriously devout" threads so stop reading if you believe that agnostics and atheists are typically full of Cow manure. OK, you've sufficiently been warned.
Lately, I been wondering whether or not the resurrection of a god had importance. I began to do a little research on the matter and came across this strange bit of information.
The First resurrection myth may have been of a woman.
No I am not saying Jesus or Dionysius were a woman. In fact it appears the myth may predated the beginnings of the religions these men are figureheads for.
No, it seems that the first resurrection myth is that of Ishtar. Who is Ishtar, you ask? According to ancient Sumeria, Ishtar is the goddess of sex, fertility and mother of civilization(as well as courtesans aka prostitutes!). She is better known in the Christian world as the Whore of Babylon. You know, the lady that sometimes is depicted as riding a Bull(also called the Bull of Heaven). Symbolically seen as a symbol for the EU. ( Ishtar and the Bull represents civilization. Not the anti-christ as some christian nutjobs like to claim.)
Well, how does this resurrection myth go? Well according to Wikipedia:
"One of the most famous myths[5] about Ishtar describes her descent to the underworld. In this myth, Ishtar approaches the gates of the underworld and demands that the gatekeeper open them:
If thou openest not the gate to let me enter,
I will break the door, I will wrench the lock,
I will smash the door-posts, I will force the doors.
I will bring up the dead to eat the living.
And the dead will outnumber the living.
The gatekeeper hurried to tell Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld. Ereshkigal told the gatekeeper to let Ishtar enter, but "according to the ancient decree".
The gatekeeper let Ishtar into the underworld, opening one gate at a time. At each gate, Ishtar had to shed one article of clothing. When she finally passed the seventh gate, she was naked. In rage, Ishtar threw herself at Ereshkigal, but Ereshkigal ordered her servant Namtar to imprison Ishtar and unleash sixty diseases against her.
After Ishtar descended to the underworld, all sexual activity ceased on earth. The god Papsukal reported the situation to Ea, the king of the gods. Ea created an intersex being called Asu-shu-namir and sent it to Ereshkigal, telling it to invoke "the name of the great gods" against her and to ask for the bag containing the waters of life. Ereshkigal was enraged when she heard Asu-shu-namir's demand, but she had to give it the water of life. Asu-shu-namir sprinkled Ishtar with this water, reviving her. Then, Ishtar passed back through the seven gates, getting one article of clothing back at each gate, and was fully clothed as she exited the last gate.
Here there is a break in the text of the myth, which resumes with the following lines:
If she (Ishtar) will not grant thee her release,
To Tammuz, the lover of her youth,
Pour out pure waters, pour out fine oil;
With a festival garment deck him that he may play on the flute of lapis lazuli,
That the votaries may cheer his liver. [his spirit]
Belili [sister of Tammuz] had gathered the treasure,
With precious stones filled her bosom.
When Belili heard the lament of her brother, she dropped her treasure,
She scattered the precious stones before her,
"Oh, my only brother, do not let me perish!
On the day when Tammuz plays for me on the flute of lapis lazuli, playing it for me with the porphyry ring.
Together with him, play ye for me, ye weepers and lamenting women!
That the dead may rise up and inhale the incense."
Formerly, scholars[2][6] believed that the myth of Ishtar's descent took place after the death of Ishtar's lover, Tammuz: they thought Ishtar had gone to the underworld to rescue Tammuz. However, the discovery of a corresponding myth[7] about Inanna, the Sumerian counterpart of Ishtar, has thrown some light on the myth of Ishtar's descent, including its somewhat enigmatic ending lines. According to the Inanna myth, Inanna can only return from the underworld if she sends someone back in her place. Demons go with her to make sure she sends someone back. However, each time Inanna runs into someone, she finds him to be a friend and lets him go free. When she finally reaches her home, she finds her husband Dumuzi (Babylonian Tammuz) seated on his throne, not mourning her at all. In anger, Inanna has the demons take Dumuzi back to the underworld as her replacement. Dumuzi's sister Geshtinanna is grief-stricken and volunteers to spend half the year in the underworld, during which time Dumuzi can go free. The Ishtar myth presumably had a comparable ending, Belili being the Babylonian equivalent of Geshtinanna.[8]"
(see source and in-text references online at Ishtar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Here, the ancient dcree is that once a person arrives in the realm naked, he/she is no longer permitted to return to the realm of the living.That is, a naked person is a dead person. However, Ishtar was so important(remember, she is the goddess of sex) that the other gods demanded her revival.
In other words, Ishtar was resurrected because without her life as we know it will cease. People will suffer, kids could not be born. A Widespread incurable epidemic of the "Blue Balls" will befall man-kiind. Now that is the Apocalypse!!
Pretty cool stuff, huh? Of course there are other resurrection myths out there, but this is a bit amusing in that a woman demands to enter the afterlife and then demands to be set free. Later in the source, Ishtar is again threatening to return to the realm of the dead in order to bring back an army of the deceased to do her bidding! Have you notice some parallels here?
Apparently, there seems to be nothing new under the metaphysical sun. The "resurrection" of Ishtar is related to the Greeks Persephone. And the threat of returning to death and re-rising with an army of the dead is eerily reminiscent to the return of Jesus and the resurrection of his followers.
Now how wild is that!?
This is another of my "Not for the seriously devout" threads so stop reading if you believe that agnostics and atheists are typically full of Cow manure. OK, you've sufficiently been warned.
Lately, I been wondering whether or not the resurrection of a god had importance. I began to do a little research on the matter and came across this strange bit of information.
The First resurrection myth may have been of a woman.
No I am not saying Jesus or Dionysius were a woman. In fact it appears the myth may predated the beginnings of the religions these men are figureheads for.
No, it seems that the first resurrection myth is that of Ishtar. Who is Ishtar, you ask? According to ancient Sumeria, Ishtar is the goddess of sex, fertility and mother of civilization(as well as courtesans aka prostitutes!). She is better known in the Christian world as the Whore of Babylon. You know, the lady that sometimes is depicted as riding a Bull(also called the Bull of Heaven). Symbolically seen as a symbol for the EU. ( Ishtar and the Bull represents civilization. Not the anti-christ as some christian nutjobs like to claim.)
Well, how does this resurrection myth go? Well according to Wikipedia:
"One of the most famous myths[5] about Ishtar describes her descent to the underworld. In this myth, Ishtar approaches the gates of the underworld and demands that the gatekeeper open them:
If thou openest not the gate to let me enter,
I will break the door, I will wrench the lock,
I will smash the door-posts, I will force the doors.
I will bring up the dead to eat the living.
And the dead will outnumber the living.
The gatekeeper hurried to tell Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld. Ereshkigal told the gatekeeper to let Ishtar enter, but "according to the ancient decree".
The gatekeeper let Ishtar into the underworld, opening one gate at a time. At each gate, Ishtar had to shed one article of clothing. When she finally passed the seventh gate, she was naked. In rage, Ishtar threw herself at Ereshkigal, but Ereshkigal ordered her servant Namtar to imprison Ishtar and unleash sixty diseases against her.
After Ishtar descended to the underworld, all sexual activity ceased on earth. The god Papsukal reported the situation to Ea, the king of the gods. Ea created an intersex being called Asu-shu-namir and sent it to Ereshkigal, telling it to invoke "the name of the great gods" against her and to ask for the bag containing the waters of life. Ereshkigal was enraged when she heard Asu-shu-namir's demand, but she had to give it the water of life. Asu-shu-namir sprinkled Ishtar with this water, reviving her. Then, Ishtar passed back through the seven gates, getting one article of clothing back at each gate, and was fully clothed as she exited the last gate.
Here there is a break in the text of the myth, which resumes with the following lines:
If she (Ishtar) will not grant thee her release,
To Tammuz, the lover of her youth,
Pour out pure waters, pour out fine oil;
With a festival garment deck him that he may play on the flute of lapis lazuli,
That the votaries may cheer his liver. [his spirit]
Belili [sister of Tammuz] had gathered the treasure,
With precious stones filled her bosom.
When Belili heard the lament of her brother, she dropped her treasure,
She scattered the precious stones before her,
"Oh, my only brother, do not let me perish!
On the day when Tammuz plays for me on the flute of lapis lazuli, playing it for me with the porphyry ring.
Together with him, play ye for me, ye weepers and lamenting women!
That the dead may rise up and inhale the incense."
Formerly, scholars[2][6] believed that the myth of Ishtar's descent took place after the death of Ishtar's lover, Tammuz: they thought Ishtar had gone to the underworld to rescue Tammuz. However, the discovery of a corresponding myth[7] about Inanna, the Sumerian counterpart of Ishtar, has thrown some light on the myth of Ishtar's descent, including its somewhat enigmatic ending lines. According to the Inanna myth, Inanna can only return from the underworld if she sends someone back in her place. Demons go with her to make sure she sends someone back. However, each time Inanna runs into someone, she finds him to be a friend and lets him go free. When she finally reaches her home, she finds her husband Dumuzi (Babylonian Tammuz) seated on his throne, not mourning her at all. In anger, Inanna has the demons take Dumuzi back to the underworld as her replacement. Dumuzi's sister Geshtinanna is grief-stricken and volunteers to spend half the year in the underworld, during which time Dumuzi can go free. The Ishtar myth presumably had a comparable ending, Belili being the Babylonian equivalent of Geshtinanna.[8]"
(see source and in-text references online at Ishtar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Here, the ancient dcree is that once a person arrives in the realm naked, he/she is no longer permitted to return to the realm of the living.That is, a naked person is a dead person. However, Ishtar was so important(remember, she is the goddess of sex) that the other gods demanded her revival.
In other words, Ishtar was resurrected because without her life as we know it will cease. People will suffer, kids could not be born. A Widespread incurable epidemic of the "Blue Balls" will befall man-kiind. Now that is the Apocalypse!!
Pretty cool stuff, huh? Of course there are other resurrection myths out there, but this is a bit amusing in that a woman demands to enter the afterlife and then demands to be set free. Later in the source, Ishtar is again threatening to return to the realm of the dead in order to bring back an army of the deceased to do her bidding! Have you notice some parallels here?
Apparently, there seems to be nothing new under the metaphysical sun. The "resurrection" of Ishtar is related to the Greeks Persephone. And the threat of returning to death and re-rising with an army of the dead is eerily reminiscent to the return of Jesus and the resurrection of his followers.
Now how wild is that!?
