The Great Semiramis scam...

Once upon a time according to some there was a woman called Semiramis who created all the Pagan mystery cults as the mood took her, directing all worship toward herself and husband and child, seemingly the greatest scam of all time and then some, such was the hughly influential theory outlined by Rev Alexander Hislop in 1850

Worship of Nimrod and his wife

See how a religion that was started by Nimrod and his wife spread to various regions, taking on different names, but keeping the same pagan rituals and trappings. These same rituals embody the Catholic church of today.

The Roman Catholic church was implicated as a continuation of this scam, Babylon mystery religion as established by Semiramis, posited as the archetypal whore of Babylon and her husband the Anti-Christ, a Prince of lies.

The Chaldean Mysteries can be traced up to the days of Semiramis, who lived only a few centuries after the flood, and who is known to have impressed upon them the image of her own depraved and polluted mind...

So some pretty wild allegations, and they inform a lot of the attitude toward the Roman Catholic Church around these parts, youtube not unsurprisingly has many insane video takes on the subject.

That beautiful but abandoned queen of Babylon was not only herself a paragon of unbridled lust and licentiousness, but in the Mysteries which she had a chief hand in forming, she was worshipped as Rhea,the great "MOTHER" of the gods, with such atrocious rites as identified her with Venus, the MOTHER of all impurity, and raised the very city where she had reigned to a bad eminence among the nations, as the grand seat at once of idolatry and consecrated prostitution

So what is the historical basis for the allegations, of course writing in 1850 Hislop had very little knowledge of Mesopotamian culture, he was largely dependent on Greek writers that had taken an interest in legends of Semiramis, though excavations had began at Nineveh, and a historical basis for Semiramis had been suggested as Shammuramat was a wife of King Shamshi-Adad V and after he died in 811 BC, she ruled the Neo-Assyrian Empire as its regent for five years until her son Adad-nirari III came of age

Sir H. Rawlinson having found evidence at Nineveh, of the existence of a Semiramis about six or seven centuries before the Christian era, seems inclined to regard her as the only Semiramis that ever existed. But this is subversive of all history. The fact that there was a Semiramis in the primeval ages of the world, is beyond all doubt, although some of the exploits of the latter queen have evidently been attributed to her predecessor

Hislop wasn't satisfied that a Neo-Assyrian Queen that had acted as regent for five years could have provided the entire basis for the tradition, i think he's right on that point, the much more substantial and influential tradition was that of Kug-Bau that ruled Kish for 100 years as the High King of Sumeria, that had been a barmaid.

The iconography that Hislop relates to Semiramis, the tower hat was of cults derivative of her, the only association with the Assyrian Queen Shammuramat is that they both ruled in the place of Kings.

Ephesian Diana she was identified with Semiramis; for Despoina is the Greek for Domina, "The Lady," the peculiar title of Rhea or Cybele, the tower-bearing goddess, in ancient Rome.

Now, the Assyrian goddess, or Astarte, is identified with Semiramis by Athenagoras (Legatio), and by Lucian (De Dea Syria). These testimonies in regard to Astarte, or the Syrian goddess, being, in one aspect, Semiramis, are quite decisive. 1. The name Astarte, as applied to her, has reference to her as being Rhea or Cybele, the tower bearing goddess

In both cases then there was no actual King involved, no Nimrod, that's the whole point, he has no historical basis other than a biblical Patriarch associated with cities in the region of Assyria, including Kalhu, referred to today as Nimrud.

The archetype of the great hunter is based on the cult of Ninurta whose cult was prominent in that region, the major temple of Nimrud was that of Ninurta, and also Ninurta was something of a rebel having tried to sieze the Tablets of Destiny for himself, and most importantly Ninurta was the consort of the Goddess Bau, the nomenclature archetype for King(Queen) Bau of Kish.

So with certainty it can be realized the Semiramis and Nimrod tradition was based upon the relationship of the Goddess Bau and Ninurta, and in particular women who were understood as the very incarnation of the Goddess Bau upon Earth, they didn't invent religion they represented it.

There are quite simple reasons why aspects of these cults should seemingly have found their way into Catholicism, the numeric symbolism of the Apocalyptic Books of Daniel and Revelations is derivative of the cult of Ninurta and his slaying of mythological beasts as i outlined here, he provided the archetype for the Celestial Messianic figure that returns as an avenger with all the powers of Heaven at his command.

His consort, Mother Bau, provided the archetype for kind and benevolent rule in his absence, the Mother Church, both Bau and Ninurta were seen as aspects of Sirius, Bau in some sense as a nurse that provided curative support for any victim of a malaise, the kindly shoulder to lean on, whereas Ninurta could be expected to directly confront and eradicate the primary cause, so Deities of healing from opposite directions.

So all Hislop really managed to do was set Protestants on a collision course with fundamental archetypes of their own religion...

Child of An, he has chosen you in his holy heart in the great sky and on the great earth and made you worthy of the ladyship of the Land.

Bau, in the E-tar-sirsir, founded for you by An, you decide the fate of all the countries; you, Bau, render verdicts and decree judgments

Thanks for providing such interesting historic information as I enjoy learning about this kind of topic. It is correct that most of the early Mesopotamian mythology was based on astronomical observations and that the deities are represented by Planets and Stars.

a reply to: Tindalos2013

In the symbolic sense yes the stars and planets could represent the Deities, Sirius as the brightest star in the case of Bau and Ninurta, simply because they were brilliant...how else could a barmaid go on to rule the world.

The barmaid that became King

Kubaba gave bread to the fisherman and gave water, she made him offer the fish to Esagila. Marduk, the king, the prince of the Apsû, favored her and said: "Let it be so!" He entrusted to Kubaba, the tavern-keeper, sovereignty over the whole world."

nimrod was enmerkar (which see) and the egyptian narmer (which see). real guy. i think what hislop is picking up on is the repeating theme of osiris, isis and horus.

a reply to: undo

There were real Kings that bore the name Ninurta, but of course they wouldn't be claiming to be Ninurta, also attested as Nimurda.

A number of scholars have suggested that either the god Ninurta or the Assyrian king bearing his name (Tukulti-Ninurta I) was the inspiration for the Biblical character Nimrod

According to Ronald Hendel the name Nimrod is probably a polemical distortion of the god Ninurta, a prominent god in Mesopotamian religion who had cult centers in a number of Assyrian cities such as Kalhu, and also in Babylon, and was a patron god of a number of Assyrian kings.Nimrod's imperial ventures described in Genesis may be based on the conquests of the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I . Julian Jaynes also indicates Tukulti-Ninurta I as the origin for Nimrod


It seems more likely, however, that it was this king's namesake, the god Ninurta (under the form Nimurda), who was the prototype for Nimrod."' Ninurta was the Babylonian and Assyrian war god credited with teaching the people arts, crafts, and sciences, just as Nimrod is said by Epiphanius to have established the sciences of magic and astronomy."

But the only mention of Nimrod is the Hebrew patriarch lists of Genesis and they're not exactly reliable, there is no Mesopotamian figure noted for founding those cities, and indeed in the list Asshur the High God of the Assyrians is seemingly founding some, so i think they just took the archetype of Ninurta as great hunter and rebel.

And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,

let me see here, i have some reference material you might enjoy.


ENMERKAR AND THE LORD OF ARRATA
etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk...

THE NAMSHUB OF ENKI (excerpted from enmerkar and the lord of arrata)

Once upon a time, there was no snake, there was no scorpion,

There was no hyena, there was no lion,

There was no wild dog, no wolf,

There was no fear, no terror,

Man had no rival.


In those days, the land Shubur-Hamazi,

Harmony-tongued Sumer, the great land of the me of princeship,

Uri, the land having all that is appropriate,

The land Martu, resting in security,

The whole universe, the people well cared for,

To Enlil in one tongue gave speech.


Then the lord defiant, the prince defiant, the king defiant,

Enki, the lord of abundance, whose commands are trustworthy,

The lord of wisdom, who scans the land,

The leader of the gods,

The lord of Eridu, endowed with wisdom,

Changed the speech in their mouths, put contention into it,

Into the speech of man that had been one.

---

thats the babel account.

Excerpt from The Giza Discovery:

In Hebrew the four letters that make up the name Nimrod roughly translate to n-m-r-d. In Sumerian the name Enmer translates to n-m-r, while the suffix -kar simply means "hunter." In the Bible he is "Nimrod the Hunter" and in Sumerian myth he is "Enmer the Hunter."

www.redmoonrising.com...

oh and this page is interesting too
www.redmoonrising.com...

a reply to: undo

I think he's wrong on that En-mer-kar simply includes the 'En' prefix signifying Lord, in the myth you linked to he is described as a son of Utu, but i would take that as an honorific title regarding his supposed splendour, there is nothing to suggest he had any association with Nimurda/Ninurta.

originally posted by: Kantzveldt
a reply to: undo

I think he's wrong on that En-mer-kar simply includes the 'En' prefix signifying Lord, in the myth you linked to he is described as a son of Utu, but i would take that as an honorific title regarding his supposed splendour, there is nothing to suggest he had any association with Nimurda/Ninurta.

read the material.

makes me wonder if the nin prefixes were originally enin

lord mer the hunter
egyptian nar-mer
wonder if it was en mer ar

things that make you go "hmmmmm"

( i have a pet theory that osiris/isis/horus actually predates the version of pharaonic egypt started by nimrod/narmer/enmerkar. but that requires tracing the actual egyptian spelling backwards and that part of egyptian history is like a big blank chalkboard. i also think the reference to nimrod becoming a "mighty one" suggests that he became a nephil pharaoh/king/ruler by virtue of his familial bond with inana's troop, which is indicated the enmerkar story as well. )

a reply to: undo

I did read the material, he makes no case for Enmerkar being in anyway representative of Ninurta!

Of course many Kings styled themselves as mighty hunters and warriors after the archetype of Ninurta, just look at the Assyrian lion hunt murals of Nineveh...

a reply to: Kantzveldt

i think you're arguing with hislop, correct? i don't agree with everything mr. hislop says, so you and i are probably debating around each other lol

patience with the ancient texts has revealed to me that they are all talking about pretty much the same things. only language/cultural variants have hidden that factoid

a reply to: undo

I don't entirely disagree with Hislop, but it should be noted that from considering the slightest connection between various cults
and others that simply weren't there he made Semiramis seemingly responsible for every aspect of Divine Feminine archetype on the planet, and had Nimrod running about here there and everywhere.

Not that the Roman Catholic church doesn't incorporate symbolism from the likes of the cult of Artemis of Ephesus who was contrived as a super Goddess incorporating aspects of Artemis, Cybele, Astarte, Atagartis to name but a few, but in essence they had hoovered up the Divine archetypes and dished them out to the Saints.

a reply to: Kantzveldt

Well i haven't as yet, connected semiramis to inana, which means from my perspective, i can't connect semiramis to isis (since i believe inana had the isis title *but only one of many, just like osiris was a title for every pharaoh)

might be an interesting topic to research in the future , thx for link op

a reply to: Kantzveldt
So what are you trying to say that nimrod and all who believe all these stories are nimrods? Bah! All history like Shakespeare once said of life is, and I quote. 'Life ... is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing"

I am not sure if reading any of it or knowing any of it helps or hinders anything. But you know those who dont learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Or so they say. Stories do repeat themself you know. Sometimes they are done and redone to death, including this latest fascination people have with history.

a reply to: galadofwarthethird

It's a lot more sophisticated than you might realize, the hoped for production of an equal and opposite reaction, the establishment of the cult of Bau as Mother Church in the hope that Ninurta will eventually show and eradicate all opposition on her behalf . the irony in all this is that's generally the event Protestants look forward to the most anyway.

There were precedents as Bau had become the patroness of mystery cults of the Eastern Mediteranean, in the form of Kubaba or Cybele, and it wasn't so hard to emulate Bau as she was in origin a barmaid, so if you could make nice cakes and serve sweet refreshing drinks and be a good listener you were well set up, it was all about the social side.


a reply to: undo

Semiramis would certainly connect to Istar because as an Assyrian Queen she would have been understood as Nanaya, the physical incarnation, that also an aspect of Atagartis which again was an aspect of Artemis of Ephesus, there was always overlap that common denominator being 'woman'.


Nymphaeum of Magdala

a reply to: Kantzveldt

assyria is too far down the timeline to be applicable in this case, to inana as isis. at least, in the sense of real people functioning in real time.

a reply to: undo

As i mentioned the cult of Nanaya was very popular in Assyria, continuing up to the 7th century AD, that does trace back to Uruk were Nanaya is one of the five aspects of Inanna, that of physical incarnation.

In the Hellenistic period Nanaya or Nanâ was frequently assimilated with Artemis. A Roman temple for Artemis-Nanâ was built in the middle of the city of Dura Europos, and a dedicatory inscription identified Nanȃ as the chief goddess of that city.

In this temple were erected the images of Aphrodite (winged victory), and Tyche or Fortuna which shows that Nanâ combined her characteristics with all those Graeco-Roman divinities. An inscription accompanying the image of Artemis in Greek dress on a tessera from Palmyra identifies her as Nanaya . Her cult is also known from Aššur and Hatra. Nanai or Nanaya had the epithet “the great goddess of the entire earth” according to the Syriac Martyr Legend of Mār Muˁain of the 4th century .

The Iranian goddess Anāhīt, who was identified with Nanaya, may have been worshipped as Mammai in the Diyala region in the fifth century. The end of Nanaya’s cult can be approximately dated to the seventh century CE.

The cult of the Goddess incarnate was nothing new, but with religious syncretism of the Hellenistic period the suggestion of a Divine super-woman did sort of develop, the merging of the Nanaya tradition with that of the curious incarnation of Bau, similar things did occur with the cult of Isis.

a reply to: Kantzveldt

i think the links to the giza discovery provide compelling evidence that enmerkar did travel to egypt, with his entourage intow, and founded what would become the capital city of osiris, ABYDOS. abydos is a greek word. in egyptian it is spelled abdju. the "dj" is pronounced "z", like djozer is pronounced zoser. so abdju is pronounced "abzu" (source: david rohl)

the grave goods at abydos from the naqada periods, were mesopotamian in origin. i theorize that when enmerkar (narmer/nimrod) got there, he built the osirieon (thusly why it is so incredibly different in construction from later period construction) and that he had a pyramid type structure built on top of it, that was destroyed when he was murdered. the story of his body parts being scattered along the nile, is actually a reference to the stones of his abydos pyramid being used to create obelisks, along the nile, by inana as isis.

a reply to: Kantzveldt

Hey Kantzveldt, I just finished a great book that I bet you would like.

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