2nd MILLENIUM BCE (1999-1000)
2nd mil BCE Indo-European nomadic warriors of patriarchal organisation invade the Aegean. The indigenous pre-Hellenic societies were of matriarchal organisation that is, the Minoan goddess-worship of Crete. The male and female deities united to constitute the Olympian pantheon and the pluralism is reflected in social dichotomy of A.-rituals of the Olympian deities, the sky god Zeus and his pantheon. B.- Followers of the Mystery religions, such as Orphic, Dionysian and Eleusian, which drew on pre-Greek and oriental traditions of death-rebirth initiation, fertility cults and worship of the Great Mother Goddess. (19)The associated ‘Thesmophoria’ is a Greek woman’s annual three-day festival dedicated to the wheat goddess Demeter. (9)
Orphic Hymns of the 2ndmillennium BCE indicate that the Greeks of this early period had advanced astronomical knowledge, knowing that the seasons were the result of earth’s orbit around the sun. As the sun moved along the ecliptic, the four markers of the Equinoxes and Solstices where identified along with earth’s axial rotation oriented to the north celestial pole. This knowledge the Orphics passed on to their initiates. (68)Not because it was particularly secret but because the general populace was uninterested.
Hebrew patriarchs of this time migrate from Mesopotamia to Palestine as part of the migration of Amorites who were northwest Semitic peoples. (173)
Semitic people inhabiting Syria-Palestine develop an alphabet; called “North Semitic” it consists of 22 characters each representing a consonant; written right to left. From here the alphabet was eventually to diffuse east as Hebrew=Aramaic=Arabic; Indian=Sanskrit. To the west as Phoenician=Greek (where it accumulated vowel characters) and lead to Etruscan = Roman =classic Latin = modern western alphabet. The alphabet will continue to spread through the church scholars; through the Roman Catholics using the Latin alphabet; through the Greek Orthodox church using the Cyrillic script. (114)
c2000 BCE NETWER AMUN[Amonet or Amunet] symbolized in the Ram, supplants Mentu the Bull as the highest deity of Egypt. This event corresponds with the Precession of the Vernal Point from Taurus to Aries in its backward slide around the constellations. [067]
Avenue of Ram headed sphinx in Karnack.
In a general way, the second millennium is regarded as the ‘Age of the Patriarchs’ (c2000-1600BC), the Biblical fathers, or the 10 purported ancestors of the human race possibly the same as the 10 mythical kings of Akkad prior to the Flood of Genesis. Most commonly thought of as Abraham (c2000BC), Isaac (c1900BC), Jacob (c1800BC) and Jacob’s sons. However, some authors push Abraham back to 2081. Centered on Israel, these characters mark the origin of Judaism and its worship of Yahweh. Their sacred book being the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, of which the first five books are called the ‘Torah’ or the ‘Five Books of Moses’ (c1350 BCE) and contain God’s laws, ritual prescriptions and the early Jewish history of migration into Egypt, the Exodus back to Canaan and the establishment of the Israelite monarchy. (9)
1963 BCE An alternate date for the Vernal Point entering sidereal Aries.
1950 IBBI-SINis the last king of Ur, archaeological period III of Mesopotamia. Around this time, Elamites invade a weakened Sumer and destroy the city of Ur. Semitic Amorites, nomads from the west and of the same stock as Israel’s ancestors, (173)join those in Sumer, rise up and take power. They establish a capital at Babylon and a new dynasty of kings. Sixth in this line of kings will be Hammurabi who will build the great Babylonian Empire of the future by absorbing the Sumerian city states and uniting them with North Mesopotamia. The resultant culture will reflect the mixed law and culture of the Amorites and Sumerians.
c1900 BCE ISAACson of the first Patriarch of the Hebrews; Abraham and his wife Sarah.
At this time, from Egyptian Hieroglyphic symbols developed a more cursive form for easier writing on papyrus, known as hieratic. (114)Does the Hebrew script originates here? The Hebrews are the successors of the ancient knowledge that came through the Egyptians. The Hebrew letters are the secret hieroglyphs from Egypt, given to them by an heretic Egyptian leader called Moses. (161. 300)
1894 OLD BABYLONIAN PERIOD (1894-1595 BCE). Royal women serve as chief priestesses. One type of priestess called the ‘naditu’, live as cloistered celibates in isolated communities. They are of independent means and set up independent households within such a community. (9)
c1890 BCE JACOB, a patriarch of the Hebrews and son of Isaac, will be renamed Israel, Is-Ra-El ‘striver with God’ or the light of God. He has 12 sons from whom descend the Biblical 12 tribes of Israel (Jacob) symbolized in the 12 constellations. They worship the One God by the name of Yahweh. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in linear descent, received divine revelation of this one true God who promised that man should be free through their descendants. Jacob’s sons sold their brother Joseph into slavery in Egypt. When famine broke out in Canaan (Palestine), Joseph, who had previously found favour in Egypt, received his father and his brothers there and they prospered for many years. Much later, their descendants will be enslaved, possibly during the reign of Seti I (r.c1309-1291). These descendants will eventually emerge from captivity under the leadership of Moses c1250 BCE. (114)
From Jacob’s progeny, there will arise a new race, that of the mighty Greeks. The Anglo-Saxons will eventually carry forward the evolution of the house of Jacob and Israel. (160)
BENJAMINheads one of the tribes of Israel/Jacob. He is called ‘Son of My Right Hand’, ‘Ruler of the South’ and the summer sun. December 23rd[solstice] is the sacred day of this tribe. (36)
Benjamin’s tribe is apportioned territory in the ‘Promised Land’ that will become the site of the sacred city Jerusalem, the Holy City, and capital of Judea in the future. The Benjamites worship Belial, a variation of the Sumerian Mother Goddess (Babylonian Ishtar; Phoenician Astarte). From the Tribe of Benjamin is to come the first Israelite king, Saul who will be elected by the people rather than selected by God. A war between the tribes, over the activities of the worshippers of Belial, ended with many Benjamites going into exile to Arcadia (Greece).(7)
ARCADIA comes from Arkades ‘People of the Bear’ whose totem is the sacred bear. They are said to be descended from the deity Arkas, patron of Arcadia and son of Kallisto, the nymph of Artemis the Huntress. Kallisto is associated with the constellation Ursa Major. (7)
DANAUS, son of King Belus (Belial), and his daughters, as colonists from Palestine (Canaan), bring to the Peloponnesus (Greece) the cult of the Mother Goddess. (33)
