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It is not exactly known why the horns of cattle adorn many of the walls in the homes of these Neolithic people. Obviously it is out of some sense of respect to the animal, it has been theorised that the platform in front of the horns is a place of ritual or worship.
The people of Çatalhöyük buried their dead within the village. Human remains have been found in pits beneath the floors, and especially beneath hearths, the platforms within the main rooms and under the beds.
The women figurines suggest some very well fed matriarchs! Or do you think it's just the artist creating his "dream" girl? It's safe to say the idea of "junk in the trunk" is an ancient obsession!
...it should be obvious that, in the prehistoric era, fat female posteriors had quite other than erotic significance. This symbolism expressed reverence for supernatural potency, expressed by the doubling device, the "power of two".
Originally posted by ucalien
reply to post by kiwifoot
WTF???
It is not exactly known why the horns of cattle adorn many of the walls in the homes of these Neolithic people. Obviously it is out of some sense of respect to the animal, it has been theorised that the platform in front of the horns is a place of ritual or worship.
...Or maybe the horns are just part of a primitive sofa made with fur and leaves, instead a private worship platform in honor to the Cow-goddess...
C'mon, why jump to conclude that these ancient people were stupid cow worshipers?? Remember that in those days, the ancient astronaut gods were walking on Earth, and THEY were the gods, not cows.
Sorry people, ain't joking about the ancient astronaut theory, but about the "cow-goddess-worship-platform", oh boy
[edit on 19-1-2010 by ucalien]
Originally posted by CognitiveInfiltrator
The absolute oldest such site though, is Gobekli Tepe, also from turkey, which dates to 9000 B.C. 11,500 years ago. I find that date fascinating because it corresponds to:
The Younger Dryas "Event" of 10,900 BP (before present
The earliest civilization in the Americas,Norte Chico , oldest radiocarbon (yet) dated to 11,220 BP
Famously, Plato's assertion of the destruction of Atlantis "9,000 years before the time of solon" or approximately 11,610
The site itself is interesting for many reasons.
Genetic analysis has suggested that it was the area wheat was first cultivated.
When it was abandoned in 8,000, it was deliberately and extensively covered up, and has therefore been well preserved.
Also, from This Article,
"Look at this", he says, pointing at a photo of an exquisitely carved sculpture showing an animal, half-human, half-lion. "It’s a sphinx, thousands of years before Egypt. Southeastern Turkey, northern Syria - this region saw the wedding night of our civilization."
[edit on 19-1-2010 by CognitiveInfiltrator]
Originally posted by shamhat
reply to post by kiwifoot
You don't feature a picture in your posts, but what has always intrigued me about this site is the figurine of the god Bes that was found there. It contradicts all known information about Bes by it's very presence in Turkey at that time. There seems a reluctance to acknowledge that the discovery of these phallus gods is suggestive of a suppression, here and at other sites in Central Europe, at some point, of the male role in creation.
It's a very interesting site, as are the others that have more recently been uncovered around the Black Sea. Thanks for posting.
Originally posted by Kandinsky
reply to post by kiwifoot
Bloody good thread Kiwi. Again, well-laid out, interesting and colourful. I'm kinda bummed out that there's not much to add to the OPs. Here's a couple of images you missed...
Museum reconstruction of a room at Çatalhöyük
'Mother Godess flanked by two lions.'
Crikey! She sure was a pretty young thing! I'm sure she'll be going in the porn folders of many a younger ATS member...growl
You don't feature a picture in your posts, but what has always intrigued me about this site is the figurine of the god Bes that was found there. It contradicts all known information about Bes by it's very presence in Turkey at that time. There seems a reluctance to acknowledge that the discovery of these phallus gods is suggestive of a suppression, here and at other sites in Central Europe, at some point, of the male role in creation.
...Male figurines constitute only 2 to 3 percent of all Old European figurines and consequently any detailed reconstruction of their cult role is hardly possible...
...it must be remembered that statistics of Neolithic sculptures are based on what was found within the houses, shrines, or temples, and the God of Wild Nature must have been worshiped in the wild.
At Catal Huyuk, a white marble sculpture of a male god seated on a stool with hands on knees was found in the Bulture Shrine VLA25 (Melaart 1967: pl. 84) - an obvious association with the aspect of death.
"we can actually study the transition from an aceramic Neolithic with baskets and wooden vessels to a ceramic neolithic with the first pottery." Along with this pottery, furthermore, which is the earliest yet discovered anywhere, there have also come to light the earliest known neolithic figurines, in association with some forty or more symbolically ornamented chapels - revealing, in superb display, practically all the basic motifs of the great mother-goddess mytholoties of later ages. And these earliest known neolithic figurines are of an easy, natural, lifelike grace, not the least "archaic," primitive, or stilted.
Originally posted by rnaa
reply to post by SerialLurker
The first image of the figurine you posted bears a strong resemblance to the Venus of Willendorf - en.wikipedia.org...
With respect to the large number of animal statue finds, the Goddess had a lot of 'helpers' or incarnations. The bird statue for example, is the
main epiphany of the Goddess as Giver-of-all, including life and death, happiness, and wealth; alias Fate. Waterfowl (duck, goose, swan) bring happiness, wealth, nourishment; birds of prey (vulture, owl, raven, crow) are omens of death and epiphanies of the Death Wielder; prophetic birds (cuckoo, owl) prophesy spring, marriage, and death; birds of the soul (dove, cuckoo, and other small birds) are seats of the souls of the human dead.
(Gimbutas 1989, glossary entry for Bird, page 322)
[edit on 18/1/2010 by rnaa]