Dan Potts
"Hostile Spirit"
This photo shows a closeup of a 3rd century A.D. relief from Iran. The "hostile spirit" Ahriman is depicted as having a crown in the shape of a snake.
Posted on 05/18/2007 10:51:54 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Pre-Islamic Middle Eastern regions were home to mysterious snake cults, according to two papers published in this month's Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy journal. From at least 1250 B.C. until around 550 A.D., residents of what is now the Persian Gulf worshipped snakes in elaborate temple complexes that appear to have been built for this purpose, the studies reveal. The first paper, by archaeologist Dan Potts of the University of Sydney, describes architecture and relics dating to 500 B.C. from Qalat al-Bahrain in Bahrain. Two rooms in what is now known as the Late Dilmun Palace each contain 39 pits, some of which surround what appears to have been an altar. At least 32 of the pits housed ceramic vessels containing bones from rat snakes and sea snakes... He described pottery decorated with snakes, snake artwork and even ancient oral traditions, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, which originated at early Arabic sites and paid homage to snakes.
(Excerpt) Read more at dsc.discovery.com ...
Dan Potts
"Hostile Spirit"
This photo shows a closeup of a 3rd century A.D. relief from Iran. The "hostile spirit" Ahriman is depicted as having a crown in the shape of a snake.
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This explains a great deal.
Hmmmm......
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angra_Mainyu
Described as a demon.
The link you posted was about Persian pre-Islamic religion. The Persians aren’t Arab.
Snake cult, death cult... what’s the difference?
One's got swankier shoes and hatbands?
I thought Conan overthrew the snake cult.
I am involved with lots of muslims from all over. As a rule they are tribally oriented and primitive in more ways than Sunday. Superstitious and illogical. It’s a trip dealing with them on so many levels.
And we keep letting them into our country.
Nice link, the wiki-wacky-pedia has the info.
“’Ahriman’ redirects here.”
Crom!!
LOL!
We were better off when they were worshipping snakes. They were less of a nusiance.
Crazy, isn’t it?
You should see the warm and fuzzy clueless Americans who would rather cuddle up than kick them out.
In the meantime the local mosque imams call the faithful to jihad.
It does. Very, very interesting.
Snakes were a common object of worship by early societies.
The act of shedding its skin was viewed as a form of “rebirth”. Before a snake sheds its skin, its appears dull colored and often is very lethargic. A milky fuild appears between the old skin on the outside and the new skin which formed underneath and serves as a lubricant in removing the old skin. This fluid also covers the snake’s eyes as the eye in the snake is protected by a tranparent scale attached to its skin. After the snake sheds, the new skin is quite vivid with the color patterns looking clear and bright and the animal appears to have been reborn.
Also, in many societies, snakes - living or appearing to live in the underworld - were thought of as messengers to the dead or from the underworld.
Additionally, snakes are often thought of as phallic or reproductive symbols.
The snake was also worshipped in connection with plagues and cures from plagues. Since many snakes eat rodents and keep their numbers down and rodents often carry diseases, there may have been a recognized connection between snakes and the absence of plagues. The God of Healing - Aeschylus - had a staff with two snakes twined about it which is a still a symbol of the mediacl profession.
The Asp was sacred to Egyptian Pharoahs and the Cobra Goddess Wadjet was the symbol of lower Egypt (the Delta). It was viewed as a protector to the Pharoahs - probably as a symbol of power.
Snakes are really pretty interesting creatures - but certainly not objects of worship today.
The snake got a bad press in JUdaeo-Christian theology thanks to that story about the Garden of Eden, but in most other religions and theologies they are not viewed in that negative light.
“...such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, which originated at early Arabic sites and paid homage to snakes...”
The Epic of Gilgamesh is, perhaps, the oldest written story on Earth. It comes to us from Ancient Sumeria, and was originally written on 12 clay tablets in cunieform script. It is about the adventures of the historical King of Uruk (somewhere between 2750 and 2500 BCE).
http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/
I fail to see where arabs come into the Gilgamesh epic.
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