Sylvia Rose
Cassiterite - Tin Source of Ancients
Best known as an ore of the soft metal tin, cassiterite (SnO2) has an elemental magic all its own. Cassiterite occurs in igneous rocks...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 84 min read
Tin Mining in the Bronze Age c 3300 - 1200 BCE
In Bronze Age Europe tin is an important commodity. Bronze uses 88% copper and 12% tin. Lacking tin, or for harder bronze, metal workers...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 75 min read
Ashur - Tutelary God of Assur, Assyria
Ashur is the tutelary God of ancient Assur, capital city of the Kingdom of Assyria in 2600 BCE. Like many other Mesopotamian cities,...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 74 min read
Dragons: German Harvest & Nature Spirits
The mystic Dragon is among the plentiful Harvest Spirits, nature spirits and legendary creatures in Germany. Appearing in various shapes...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 64 min read
Striped Hyena - Bronze Age Wild
The striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) is widespread during Neolithic and Bronze Age times, with fossils going back three million years. The...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 63 min read
Baba Yaga - Slavic Forest Witch
Baba Yaga is a tree hag nature spirit of Russia and the Slavic regions. She may be alone or with one or two others, called Baba Yaga...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 64 min read
Pomegranate - Food of the Ancients
Pomegranate (Punica granatum) is one of the seven ancient foods of the southern Mediterranean. Figs are also part of the group. Read:...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 63 min read
Despoina - Goddess of the Mysteries
Her home is Arcadia, a pastoral idyllic land of cypress and sunshine. Her father Poseidon, is lord of groundwater, earthquakes and...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 54 min read
Arcadia - Greek Lands of Ancient Gods
Arcadia is a central pastoral region on the Peloponnese peninsula of southern Greece. It's equated with idyllic Arcadia, a paradise of...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 54 min read
Erinyes - Vengeful Women of Ancient Greece
The Erinyes (Erinys, Eumenides) are goddesses of vengeance in Ancient Greece. They're later called the Furies. They're described dressed...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 55 min read
Mythology: Gods of Mycenean Greece
The early Mycenean pantheon includes now familiar deities such as Poseidon, who evolves as a god of the underworld, and Demeter and...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 45 min read
Rise of the Phoenicians - Early Years
The Phoenicians rise from semi-nomadic hunter gatherers who settle the coasts of today's Lebanon to become the foremost merchant and...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 44 min read
Assyrians: Reign of Tukulti-Ninurta I
Tukulti-Ninurta I (r. 1243 - 1207 BCE) rules during the Middle Assyrian Empire. His father Shalmaneser I has subdued the Hurrian Empire...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 33 min read
Aruru - Violent Vegetation Goddess
Aruru is a Goddess of vegetation, portrayed with a nasty yen for violence. Her major cult centers are Sumerian sites Adab (Bismaya), Kesh...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 34 min read
Bronze Age Trade of Mesopotamia
In the ancient world, trade unites countries, spreads knowledge and formalizes safe travel routes. In Mesopotamia a local trade network...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 35 min read
Nungal (Manungal) Prison Goddess
Nungal (Manungal) is a goddess of prisons in Mesopotamia. She can be empathetic or merciless. She's especially popular in the Ur III...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 24 min read
Humbaba: Giant Mountain Forest Man
Humbaba (Ḫumbaba, Ḫuwawa) features in the Mesopotamian poem Epic of Gilgamesh, which is often copied at scribe schools. A huge mountain...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 23 min read
Kassite Empire: Rise of the Kassites
Babylonia comes under control of the Kassite Empire in the aftermath of the 1531 BCE sack of Babylon by the Hittites to the north. The...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 23 min read
Lahar: Flock & Sheep Pastoral Goddess
Lahar is a pastoral goddess of sheep, flocks and wool in ancient Mesopotamia. Throughout the year various deities are invoked to keep...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 13 min read
Apkallu - Seven Sages of Mesopotamia
When the gods come into being in Mesopotamia, they create the Igigi to act as their servants because they find work too exhausting. As...
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