Kuntillet Ajrud Pithoi

cloudyday2 · Aug 31, 2015

I apologize in advance for how poorly organized this might be.

If you're not familiar with the Kuntillet Ajrud Pithoi, check out this link. Basically archaeologists found jars in a shrine in Sinai from about 800 BCE. One jar had an inscription in early Hebrew saying "I have blessed you by Yahweh of Samaria and Asherah" with an elaborate picture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuntillet_Ajrud

I believe that the picture depicts an Akkadian myth about the birth of the sun god as a suckling calf. That Akkadian myth describes the sun rising in the constellation Taurus at the spring equinox in the Bronze Age. The Jewish New Year is synchronized to the spring equinox, so the Kuntillet Ajrud Pithoi is an early Israeli New Years greeting card. Yahweh of Samaria is the suckling calf, and we know that the Northern tribes had a golden calf in Samaria at their temple.

I found this link that has some good ideas about the meaning of the pictures:
http://www.lebtahor.com/Archaeology/inscriptions/kuntillet ajrud inscriptions.htm
Left-most is a cow with a suckling calf. Next are two lion-faced gods (Bes and his wife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bes ). Right-most is a woman sitting on a cat-footed chair playing a harp (Asherah?). A second scene on the other side shows Asherah as the Tree of Life flanked by two caprids and standing on a lion.

One more character to introduce is the moon god who fathered the sun god ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin_(mythology) ) The moon god is usually depicted as a bull or a crescent moon with the corners pointing up like a bull's horns.

Now let me summarize an Akkadian myth quoted in "Bovine Symbolism in the Exodus Narrative" by Jack M. Sasson. (Sasson's impressive credentials are here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_M._Sasson )
http://discoverarchive.vanderbilt.edu/handle/1803/3743
Basically the moon god (also a bull) falls in love with a beautiful cow in his herd. He has intercourse with the cow. The cow has a long and painful period of labor. The moon god sends TWO guardian demons (midwifes) to apply oil and water to comfort the cow. Finally a suckling calf is born.

Now compare this story with the picture on the jar. Bes is the Egyptian god that helps with pregnancies and family life. There are TWO Bes images like the TWO midwifes.

Finally, consider the constellation Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer. The cow would be Taurus, the Bes pair would be Gemini, and the harp player (Asherah?) might be Cancer. The sun would rise under the constellation Taurus much like the suckling calf. (The bronze age was the Taurian astrological age).

Any thoughts?

LoAmmi · Aug 31, 2015

cloudyday2 said:
I believe that the picture depicts an Akkadian myth about the birth of the sun god as a suckling calf. That Akkadian myth describes the sun rising in the constellation Taurus at the spring equinox in the Bronze Age. The Jewish New Year is synchronized to the spring equinox, so the Kuntillet Ajrud Pithoi is an early Israeli New Years greeting card. Yahweh of Samaria is the suckling calf, and we know that the Northern tribes had a golden calf in Samaria at their temple.

Rosh HaShannah is in a few weeks. It's not spring.

LoAmmi · Aug 31, 2015

I think you're talking about Passover. It isn't synchronized with the equinox, it only has to come after it because it must occur in the Spring. Sometimes it comes weeks after it.

cloudyday2 · Aug 31, 2015

LoAmmi said:
I think you're talking about Passover. It isn't synchronized with the equinox, it only has to come after it because it must occur in the Spring. Sometimes it comes weeks after it.

Right, I'm thinking of the month of Nisan which is the first month of the ecclesiastical year ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisan ). I didn't realize they are different. I wonder why there are two different New Year's days? Hmmm. That might be another mystery to investigate about Judaism.

Robban · Aug 31, 2015

cloudyday2 said:
I apologize in advance for how poorly organized this might be.

If you're not familiar with the Kuntillet Ajrud Pithoi, check out this link. Basically archaeologists found jars in a shrine in Sinai from about 800 BCE. One jar had an inscription in early Hebrew saying "I have blessed you by Yahweh of Samaria and Asherah" with an elaborate picture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuntillet_Ajrud

I believe that the picture depicts an Akkadian myth about the birth of the sun god as a suckling calf. That Akkadian myth describes the sun rising in the constellation Taurus at the spring equinox in the Bronze Age. The Jewish New Year is synchronized to the spring equinox, so the Kuntillet Ajrud Pithoi is an early Israeli New Years greeting card. Yahweh of Samaria is the suckling calf, and we know that the Northern tribes had a golden calf in Samaria at their temple.

I found this link that has some good ideas about the meaning of the pictures:
http://www.lebtahor.com/Archaeology/inscriptions/kuntillet ajrud inscriptions.htm
Left-most is a cow with a suckling calf. Next are two lion-faced gods (Bes and his wife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bes ). Right-most is a woman sitting on a cat-footed chair playing a harp (Asherah?). A second scene on the other side shows Asherah as the Tree of Life flanked by two caprids and standing on a lion.

One more character to introduce is the moon god who fathered the sun god ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin_(mythology) ) The moon god is usually depicted as a bull or a crescent moon with the corners pointing up like a bull's horns.

Now let me summarize an Akkadian myth quoted in "Bovine Symbolism in the Exodus Narrative" by Jack M. Sasson. (Sasson's impressive credentials are here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_M._Sasson )
http://discoverarchive.vanderbilt.edu/handle/1803/3743
Basically the moon god (also a bull) falls in love with a beautiful cow in his herd. He has intercourse with the cow. The cow has a long and painful period of labor. The moon god sends TWO guardian demons (midwifes) to apply oil and water to comfort the cow. Finally a suckling calf is born.

Now compare this story with the picture on the jar. Bes is the Egyptian god that helps with pregnancies and family life. There are TWO Bes images like the TWO midwifes.

Finally, consider the constellation Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer. The cow would be Taurus, the Bes pair would be Gemini, and the harp player (Asherah?) might be Cancer. The sun would rise under the constellation Taurus much like the suckling calf. (The bronze age was the Taurian astrological age).

Any thoughts?

Per lunar calender, the 15th is full moon,
This one can test easily, if you have now Aug 31 2015,
Elul 16 5775,
would mean that yesterday was full moon,
Check it out, the moon is one of the faithful witnesses in the sky.
It is predictable.
Why complicate things.

LoAmmi · Aug 31, 2015

cloudyday2 said:
Right, I'm thinking of the month of Nisan which is the first month of the ecclesiastical year ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisan ). I didn't realize they are different. I wonder why there are two different New Year's days? Hmmm. That might be another mystery to investigate about Judaism.

Even still, the first of the month doesn't start with the equinox.

cloudyday2 · Aug 31, 2015

Robban said:
Per lunar calender, the 15th is full moon,
This one can test easily, if you have now Aug 31 2015,
Elul 16 5775,
would mean that yesterday was full moon,
Check it out, the moon is one of the faithful witnesses in the sky.
It is predictable.
Why complicate things.

We might be talking about different things? I agree that the Jewish calendar matches the full moons, etc.
I'm saying the picture and inscription on the jar from 800 BCE mean that the Israelites (northern tribes) celebrated the birth of the Yahweh at the spring equinox in the month of Nisan (first month of ecclesiastical year) when the sun rose under the constellation Taurus. Yahweh of Samaria was a golden calf and also the sun god. The pictures are constellations. The sun rising was like the golden calf being born and suckling from its mother (Taurus).

cloudyday2 · Aug 31, 2015

A few more pieces of evidence:
(1) Calves are born in the spring, so it would make sense for the spring equinox to represent the birth of the suckling calf (Yahweh).
(2) There were two jars in the shrine, and the myth describes two jars. One jar contained water and the other jar contained oil. Maybe travelers would be blessed with some water and oil for a safe pregnancy?

cloudyday2 · Aug 31, 2015

LoAmmi said:
Even still, the first of the month doesn't start with the equinox.

That's true, but probably the constellation Taurus would be in the eastern night sky during Nisan. That would be the cue for the Sanhedrin to get their gnomons out to measure the exact day of the equinox so they could make their yearly adjustments to the calendar. (Apparently that was the process until about 400 AD.) Originally the Christians relied on the Jewish authorities' determination of Passover to determine Easter. So the below quote applies to early Passover calculations too:

Notionally, the paschal full moon refers to the ecclesiastical full moon of the northern spring used in the determination of the date of Easter. The name "paschal" is derived from "Pascha", a transliteration of the Greek word, which is itself a transliteration of the Hebrew pesach, both words meaning Passover. The date of Easter is determined as the first Sunday after the "paschal full moon" falling on or after the Spring Equinox

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesiastical_full_moon#Paschal_full_moon

cloudyday2 · Aug 31, 2015

^Of course the Earth had axial precession since the bronze age, so Taurus was replaced by Aries and then Pisces.

The 800 BCE date was in the Arian astrological age, but the myth of the suckling calf probably originated in the Taurian astrological age.

LoAmmi · Aug 31, 2015

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/pass...-Equinox-Relate-to-the-Timing-of-Passover.htm

seashale76 · Aug 31, 2015

I will say this when it comes to archaeology: Archaeologists are very careful in making speculations. Their speculations tend to be formed around the artifacts/sites found, et cetera. If the speculations regarding the sites and artifacts turn out to be wrong, they are revised. I admit, I've not gone to every link you provided, but what are the actual archaeologists saying about these artifacts? Those are the people I'd be more apt to give any credence to. When it comes to anything found in Israel or Sinai area, too many armchair archaeologists jump in with their own speculations that can get wild.

I would be interested in seeing what actual archaeologists have to say about it. So, I'd love to see academic journals, papers, books on this (not Wikipedia).

(And now I'm kind of nostalgic for my shovel bum days.)

Robban · Sep 1, 2015

cloudyday2 said:
We might be talking about different things? I agree that the Jewish calendar matches the full moons, etc.
I'm saying the picture and inscription on the jar from 800 BCE mean that the Israelites (northern tribes) celebrated the birth of the Yahweh at the spring equinox in the month of Nisan (first month of ecclesiastical year) when the sun rose under the constellation Taurus. Yahweh of Samaria was a golden calf and also the sun god. The pictures are constellations. The sun rising was like the golden calf being born and suckling from its mother (Taurus).

I know, I know, should have to bed long ago, hehe.

There have been events where Rulers got it wrong but at five o Clock in the morning
would be pushing it trying to recall..

AHH who-stole-my-name · Sep 1, 2015

cloudyday2 said:
Right, I'm thinking of the month of Nisan which is the first month of the ecclesiastical year ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisan ). I didn't realize they are different. I wonder why there are two different New Year's days? Hmmm. That might be another mystery to investigate about Judaism.

Nisan was one of the target months that my old faith determined was the month Christ was born in. I think it was the 13th or the 14th. I'm not sure. It was a long time ago that i walked away from that life, If life you can call it.

cloudyday2 · Sep 1, 2015

seashale76 said:
I would be interested in seeing what actual archaeologists have to say about it. So, I'd love to see academic journals, papers, books on this (not Wikipedia).

What I'm saying that is different from the experts (as far as I know) is that the picture on the jar is the constellations Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer at the spring equinox. I believe Yahweh of Samaria is the suckling calf as described in the Akkadian myth.

I agree that quacks seem to be attracted to anything Egyptian, but if you read the links you can make an informed judgment for yourself. Why are there two Bes images to the right of the cow and calf instead of just one? Why are there two sky demons (i.e. midwifes) in the myth? I think it is because Gemini appears to the right of Taurus in the night sky. I think the suckling calf is the sun rising in the constellation Taurus at the spring equinox. Apparently the spring equinox was the most important day of the year, because this was how the astrological ages were named.

cloudyday2 · Sep 1, 2015

BTW The Sasson paper I linked for the myth of the suckling calf also discusses Moses and his horns or radiance. It's an old paper from 1968, but Sasson is a legitimate academic. I don't know if he has changed his view on this since 1968. The paper is a free PDF file that isn't too long. He seems to believe that the name "Moses" comes from the name of the suckling calf in the myth, and that Moses descended the mountain of the moon with horns as the official emissary of the suckling calf, the son god, Yahweh. (If I understand the paper correctly.)
http://discoverarchive.vanderbilt.edu/handle/1803/3743

ChetSinger · Sep 1, 2015

cloudyday2 said:
If you're not familiar with the Kuntillet Ajrud Pithoi, check out this link. Basically archaeologists found jars in a shrine in Sinai from about 800 BCE. One jar had an inscription in early Hebrew saying "I have blessed you by Yahweh of Samaria and Asherah" with an elaborate picture...

It's certainly interesting. The OT says that the Israelites of that time period were mixing the worship of God with the worship of other nearby deities. This may well be an example of that.

cloudyday2 · Sep 1, 2015

LoAmmi said:
http://www.chabad.org/holidays/pass...-Equinox-Relate-to-the-Timing-of-Passover.htm

Thanks. Is this method equivalent to the Paschal moon method in my link? Was the leap month a full 29 or 30 days or was it partial? The difference between the solar year and the lunar year was about 11 days. I'm trying to figure out if this is two different ways of describing the same solution or not.

ContraMundum · Sep 1, 2015

There's plenty of evidence that ancient Jews fell into idolatry and perhaps that's all this finding actually proves.

ViaCrucis · Sep 1, 2015

ContraMundum said:
There's plenty of evidence that ancient Jews fell into idolatry and perhaps that's all this finding actually proves.

This is what I was thinking. A common motif within the writings of the Prophets is precisely this sort of syncretism, of particular concern frequently was attaching Asherah as a partner or consort of YHVH. So we know, at least from the biblical records, that this sort of syncretism or blending of worship of YHVH with idolatry or Canaanite religion was something that happened frequently--and which wrought the ire of the prophets who were emphatic about the pure and unadulterated worship of YHVH.

-CryptoLutheran

Kuntillet Ajrud Pithoi

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