Similarities between a Egypt constellation

And scenes depicted on some Ancient Near East cylinder seals

You know that in Ancient Egypt as well as in the Ancient Near East natural phenomena were
anthropomorphized, for instance: in Egypt the sky was depicted like a woman who
swallowed the sun every evening and gave birth to it every morning.


The goddess Nut, as found on the ceiling of another part of the temple of Hathor, Dendera.
(This constitutes the ceiling of the Chapel of the New Year)

At sunset, when the sun is said to be weak and growing old, Ra becomes Atum, who
symbolized the setting sun and its journey through the underworld to its rising in the east.
The Sky goddess Nut swallows Atum at night and gives birth to it again at dawn, every day.
http://www.aldokkan.com/religion/ra.htm.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hapy_tying.svg

The rising of the Nile in July is anthropomorphized too:

During the Feast of Hapi celebrated on 28 September Hapi, the god of the annual
flooding, created the Nile. http://kemeticfederation.webs.com/festivaldates.htm.

After nine months, during the Ritual of Ankhet (the Welcoming of the rising Nile,
celebrated on 25 July), the Nile was born again: the annual flooding of the Nile
occasionally was said to be the Arrival of Hapi. http://kemeticfederation.webs.com/festivaldates.htm

The Beautiful Feast of the Opet

Every year the Ancient Egyptians celebrated The Beautiful Feast of the Opet in
August/September: gods like Amun and goddesses like Mut practiced Sacred Marriages.
During these Marriages the gods engendered a new generation of deities and like the Nile
these deities were born in June/July, when in Ancient Egypt a new year started.


Zodiac of Denderah, Louvre

In June/July mother goddesses gave birth to their children and therefore they dominated
these two months. As a result the constellations which represented these two months were
pictured like women, such as: Virgo, Mother and Child, Lady Crater and Lady
Bow, as we can see on the Denderah Zodiac.

On the next pictures we will see that because of the precession of the equinoxes June was
indicated by different constellations: for instance: between 4,320 - 2,160 B.C. it was
indicated by constellations like Mother and Child and Lady Crater and between 2.160
BC 0 it was indicated by constellations like Lady Scorpio and Lady Bow. Obviously
the mother goddesses adopted the shape of a suitable constellation at the moment they gave
birth to their children.


http://flyinghfarm.blogspot.nl/2010_02_01_archive.html

Nut even adopted the shape of the constellation SHAH "The Pig" (Delphinus) and looked
like a sow suckling Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys who were pictured like pigs.


http://gaylenebarnes.wordpress.com/

Hathor holding an ear adopted the shape of the constellation Virgo who holds an ear too.
She may be the mother of the little goddess or princes standing next to her:

The Sacred Marriage between Amun and Mut was re-consummatedwith the pharaoh and
his queen acting as stand-insand the divine pair took a few days honeymoon in the
seclusion of the temple. http://www.odysseyadventures.ca/articles/thebes/article_opet.htm
During these Sacred Marriages princes and princesses were engendered and after about
nine months they were born in May, June or July.


http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/egyptmyth/tp/071507egyptiandeities.htm

Different goddesses like Hathor and Isis adopted the shape of the constellation Mother and
Child.

The child on the lap of the goddess may have been a deity like Horus, but he also may have
been a pharaoh: Isis was a vital link between the gods and mankind. The Pharaoh was her
son, as the living Horus. Often shown holding Horus on her lap, her lap was the Pharaoh
Protector in childhood. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:m3r3YXBlcSAJ:www.aldokkan.com/religion/isis.htm+pharaoh+lap+Isis&cd=3&hl=nl&ct=clnk&gl=nl



But instead of adopting the shape of the constellation "Crater the goddesses adopted the
shape of the constellation "Wings" and looked like a woman with wings outstretched as we
can see on the next pictures: in Egypt the constellations Corvus and Crater were usually
known as the constellation The Wings(tm3t). http://members.westnet.com.au/gary-david-thompson/page11-19.html


http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/picture03212005.htm#ixzz2QHJUIuvc

This faience shows Hathor in the constellation Wings.


Winged Isis Relief - Tomb of Seti I, Valley of the Kings. Luxor, Egypt, 1280 B.C.

This relief shows Isis in the constellation Wings.



The iconography of ancient astronomy Asia Haleem

This drawing show Neith as represented in the Egyptian Book of the Dead in the
constellation Wings.


http://egyptian-gods.99k.org/Mut.html

This painting shows a beetle called Khepri and Nut, the goddess of the sky, in the
constellation Wings.

Khepri meaning develop or come into being represented creation and rebirth, and he
was specifically connected with the rising sun and the mythical creation of the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khepri
This painting may show that the sky goddess gave birth to the sun on July 20: New Year -
Opening of the Year - birthday of Ra-Horakhty (the sun-god). http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/ideology/festivaldates.html

Western Asian Goddesses could adopt the shape of the constellation Wings too.
But the remarkable thing was that instead giving birth to their children they brought them
down on earth. They created them without male intervention: they remained virgins.


Ivory bas-relief Ugarit-Ras Shamra 1550-1200/1150 BC

Early excavators at Ugarit unearthed a few exquisite ivory furniture panels, one of which
shows a goddess nursing two princes. Since Anat is the only female deity whom the Ugaritic
poems describe as actually flying, this winged goddess is probably Anat. She was one of
"the two wet nurses of the gods" (Coogan 1978:66). In this capacity, she probably validated
royal heirs, but she was not a spouse in the Ugaritic poems, her usual epithet was "Virgin."
http://www.matrifocus.com/SAM03/spotlight.htm

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sumer_anunnaki/anunnaki3a/Louvre%20Dec%201%202002%20192.html

This drawing of a Syrian cylinder seal (ca. 1600-1400 B.C.) shows a man and a woman
practicing a Sacred Marriage. At the same time the nude winged Anat brings down two
children. As a result the woman may get pregnant.

Obviously goddesses were able to create children too: in the The advice of a supervisor to
a younger scribe we can read that Nisaba, the goddess of writing, created a scribe:

"Nisaba has placed in your hand the honour of being a teacher. You were created by Nisaba!
May you upwards}. May she bless you with a joyous heart and free you from all
despondency.


http://metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/30000033

On this late Cypriot I-II cylinder seal (ca. 16th14th century BC) a nude winged Anat
brought down a hare probably symbolizing life.

Anat stood above a snake representing the constellation Hydra, which indicated June.
Tree heads behind Anat symbolized that three princes were created and born: a head is an
old Sumerian pictogram which meant lord prince and king.


http://www.goldenageproject.org.uk/969.php
These princes were born in March indicated by the cow, which represented The Wild Bull
of Heaven.

1. On this imprint the moon god may have depicted like a boy.
2. A weather god (like Ninurta?) holding two objects was depicted above the cow.
3. A prince who was depicted like an adult man stood before Anat. He held an
amphora which may have showed his fate: Be amphora bearer, like Ur-Zababa
appointed Sargon cupbearer in Sargon and Ur-Zababa:

After Sargon had received the regular deliveries for the palace, Ur-Zababa appointed him
cupbearer, putting him in charge of the drinks cupboard. Holy Inana did not cease to stand
by him.

The weather god may have given the prince a sceptre an altar and a measuring rod (?)
symbolizing three other fates: Be king, be my priest and build my temple (?).


Lnder der Bibel Blz 132

On this North Mesopotamian cylinder seal (ca. 1300-1200 BC) a nude winged Anat brought
down two lambs in June.
One of the lambs may have represented a prince: humans were related to sheep as we can
read in the hymn The Holy One:

And on the people of Sumer as numerous as sheep.

These lambs were born in March represented by the two sheep (Aries).
The palm tree may have indicated birth: in a message of Lu-diira to his mother we can
read:

Let me give you a fifth description of my mother: My mother is a palm-tree, with the sweetest
fragrance. She is a chariot of juniper wood, a sedan chair of boxwood. She is a fine cloth perfumed
with refined oil.

This imprint may show that Anat created a prince and a goddess like Nisaba in June. They
both may be depicted like lambs as well as like sheep. Nisaba is called a wild sheep in a
hymn dedicated to her (Nisaba A). She may be the divine sister and the lover of the king
embracing him (Dumuzid-Inana D1).

"May high flood-waters flow in the Tigris and Euphrates, may the grasses grow tall on their banks,
and may the meadows be covered. May the holy lady Nisaba pile high the grain heaps and mounds.
My lady, queen of heaven and earth, queen who encompasses heaven and earth, may he enjoy long
days embrace."

A close-up of a panel from the ruins of the 'North West Palace' in Nimrud, northern Iraq, dated to 865-860 BCE.

Persia, Mesopotamia and Syria most of the Sacred Marriages were practiced in June. In the
Ancient Near East father gods like Ahura Mazda, Enlil, Ninirsu, Ashur and Snmurw could
adopt the shape of the constellation "Wings" when they created their offspring as we will see
on the next cylinder seals:


British Museum

This very special Babylonian cylinder seal (Ca 800-734 BC) shows the sun in the
constellation Wings as well as in the constellation Crater both indicating June.
The winged sun disk symbolizes Enlil bringing down, or creating a human son called
Nabunaisir and two divine sons.

Nab-nir was king of Babylon between 747734 BC. His name inscribed in cuneiform as
dAG-PAB or dAG-E-ir, means "Nab (is) protector". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabonassar

Nab may be regarded as the son of Enlil:

Nabu was the patron deity of scribes. His main temple was Ezida (True House) in the city of
Borsippa, located near Babylon. In Assyria, Nabu was later syncretized with NINURTA, the
son of ENLIL. This, however, seems to have resulted from the complex syncretism between
Enlil, Ashur and Marduk. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah24152/abstract

As he is protector of Nabunaisir he is depicted like a winged man carrying a bucket,
which symbolizes that he is a servant.
The inscription reads: priest Nabunaisir son of the priest of the god Adad
Enlil may also have created Adad who may have been depicted like the other winged
deity carrying a basket symbolizing that he is a servant too.
Sometimes Adad/Iskur is the son of the moon god Nanna/Sin by Ningal and brother
of Utu/Shamash and Inana/Ishtar. He is also occasionally son of Enlil.

Adad in Akkadian and Iskur in Sumerian and Hadad in Aramaic are the names of the storm-
god in the Babylonian-Assyrian pantheon. All three are usually written by the logogram dIM.
The Akkadian god Adad is cognate in name and functions with northwest Semitic god
Hadad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adad


Registration number: 1938,0108.118 BM/Big number: 126064

On the left of this Syrian cylinder seal (8thC BC) we can see Ashur in the constellation
Wings as well as in the constellation Crater.


British Museum

This Neo-Assyrian cylinder seal (9th century BC) shows Ashur/Enlil in the constellation
Wings as well as in the constellation Crater, both indicating June.
Enlil may have created Mushezib-Ninurta, Ninurta-eresh and two divine sons.

The cuneiform inscription reads:

Seal of Mushezib-Ninurta, governor, son of Ninurta-eresh, ditto,
son of Samanuha-shar-ilani, ditto.'

Samanuha-shar-ilani was governor of Shadikanni (Arban in eastern Syria), in 883 BC,
and an Assyrian vassal.

Enlil (god wind) is the father of Ninurta (Nin Ur: God of War) and the imprint
may show that he may also have been the divine father of Mushezib-Ninurta as
well as Ninurta-eresh.
The wings and the two streams of waters showed that Enlil was situated in the
constellations Wings as well as in the constellation Crater both indicating June.
The two pots at the end of the streaming waters look like Omega signs
symbolizing two childbirths.
The tree of life may have represented a mother goddess like Asherah,
symbolizing childbirth too.
Probably Mushezib-Ninurta and Ninurta-eresh were depicted on both sides of
the tree.
It was not unusual to depict Ninurta as well as Suen on cylinder seals as they
both were sons of Enlil. On this imprint they might have been depicted like
humanized eagles carrying baskets. It demonstrated that they were servants:
they may have helped the kings to fulfil their tasks.


17. A seal of Urlama, a patesi of Tello who succeeded Gudea; fig. 39a.
(See Heuzey, Rev. d'Assyr., v, p. 139: " Decouvertes, " p. 307.)

This drawing of an Assyrian cylinder seal (ca. 2200-2100 B.C.) shows three constellations:

1. The eagle standard which symbolizes Ashur/Enlil in the constellation Wings.
2. The seated deity holding a crater which symbolizes Ashur/Enlil in Crater.
3. And the lion depicted on the throne which symbolizes the constellation Leo.

They all indicate June as between 4,320 - 2,160 BC the sun moved through these
constellations in that month.

An eagle depicted on a standard symbolizes the creative activity of Enlil like Donald A.
Mackenzie writes in his Myths of Babylonia and Assyria:

The eagle figures in various mythologies, and appears to have been at one time worshipped as the god
or goddess of fertility, and storm and lightning, as the bringer of children, and the deity who carried
souls to Hades".[197]

It means that the seated Enlil creates or brings forth a little child called Urlama.

When Urlama is grown up his heavenly mother Ninlil takes him by the right wrist as she
leads him before the seated Enlil who has to decide a good fate for him. Enlil looks at him,
calls his name and decides his fate which may be written in the inscription behind his son:

Urlama, (be) patesi of Shirpurla.


THE SEAL CYLINDERS OF WESTERN ASIA BY WILLIAM HAYES WARD

On this drawing of a cylinder seal from Ur (ca 1972-1964 BC) Enlil is depicted in two
different ways:

1. He is depicted like an eagle which symbolizes his creative activity in June. Being like
an eagle he creates a human son called Shu-sin.
2. Enlil is also depicted like a seated god. Seated on his lion-throne he decrees a fate for
Shu-sin, who is introduced by Ninlil. The lion on the throne tells us that this event
happened in June too.

The crescent/sun disk symbolizing full moon usually indicates June, as the moon god is the
presiding deity of June. It emphasizes that Shu-sin is created and that he hears his fate in
June. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_calendar

The constellation Leo gives Shu-sin a palm-sceptre, which shows this fate: Be king.
It also shows that the sceptre is given from heaven.

Shu-sin, or Gimil-sin, was king of Sumer and Akkad from circa 1972 BC until 1964
BC. His human father was Shulgi.


THE SEAL CYLINDERS OF WESTERN ASIA BY WILLIAM HAYES WARD
421. Cylinder, Heuzey, Origines, p. 41 160

This Babylonian cylinder seal (2200-1900 BC) tells two stories. The first story is depicted on
the left.

The double headed eagle symbolizes Enlil in the constellation Wings, which indicates
June. Being depicted like a double headed eagle Enlil appears to be man/woman or
father/mother. Being father/mother Enlil engenders and gives birth to two sons: Ninirsu
and a human prince.

The second story:

Enlil is seated on a lion-chair which is placed on a mountain dais. This mountain dais
indicates Enlil who is usually called Great Mountain.
This scene also indicates June.

Two lions spout from the shoulders of Enlil which symbolizes that he brings forth two
sons.
Enlil decrees a fate for his human son who is introduced by Ninirsu. He gives a seven
headed scimitar to his human son, which shows that his fate is to be a warrior.
The inscription shows a second fate: Be priest of Ninirsu.
The human son is giving water to a tree, which shows a third fate: Be fruitful, led trees
grow like Ur-Nanna release water into the canals of Summer making the trees grow tall
on their banks:

A praise poem of Ur-Namma (Ur-Namma C)

Since I have been adorned (?) with their ruler ship, no one imposes taxes on my abundant
crops which grow tall. My commands bring about (?) joy in the great fortresses of the
mountains. The joy of my city and the territory (?) of Sumer delight me. I release water into
the canals of Sumer, making the trees grow tall on their banks. I have lifted the yoke of its
male prostitutes.

Both the king seated on a throne and holding a crater as well as the lion headed eagle
indicates the constellations Crater/Leo/Wings. These constellations indicate June: between
4,320 - 2,160 B.C. the sun moved through Leo and Wings/Crater in June.


http://educators.mfa.org/objects/detail/138440?classification=Seals&pageSize=100&page=3

On this Assyrian cylinder seal (883612 BC) Ashur/Enlil is depicted in the constellation
Wings June. He brings down two persons coming out of his wings. He also decrees a fate
for them.

The two little persons are identical which shows that they are brothers.
Enlil wears a headdress topped by a crescent. This crescent indicates May/June as the
moon god Sin is the presiding deity of these months.
The tree of life may have represented a mother goddess like Asherah, symbolizing
childbirth too.
On the right: the stylus of Nabu symbolizes that Nanna decrees a fate for his mature
sons who are depicted on the left and on the right.

Nabu was the god of writing and scribes and was the keeper of the Tablets of Destiny, in
which the fate of humankind was recorded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabu

On the left: the mace in front of the prince shows his fate: Be king.
The fish-apkallu, brother of the prince, holds a cone and a bucket which shows that he
is a godly priest.

The Apkallu (Akkadian) or Abgal, (Sumerian) are seven Sumerian sages, demigods who are
said to have been created by the god Enki (Akkadian: Ea) to establish culture and give
civilization to mankind. They served as priests of Enki and as advisors or sages to the earliest
"kings" or rulers of Sumer before the flood. They are credited with giving mankind the Me
(moral code), the crafts, and the arts. They were seen as fish-like men who emerged from the
sweet water Abzu. They are commonly represented as having the lower torso of a fish, or
dressed as a fish. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apkallu

The Hebrew owner of the seal is inscribed in Aramaic.


Tom van Bakel
Sint Pancras
Nederland

Fragments are taken from The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.