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Göbekli Tepe or Gobekli Tepe in today's Turkey is occupied between c. 9500 and c. 8000 BCE. People of the prehistoric settlement leave massive works commemorating their presence, and a candid glimpse into the lives of Neolithic people. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure See also: After the Ice Age - Neolithic Builders Megaliths & Building at Gobekli Tepe Neolithic Skull Cults & Ritual Skulls Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The people of Gobekli Tepe predate the Neolithic pottery makers, emerging at the beginning of the Southwest Asian Neolithic Period. The Neolithic era itself dates from c. 10,000 to c. 2200 BCE. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure About 9700 BCE the Holocene period begins. The stage is characterized by stone tools shaped by polishing or grinding dependence on domesticated plants or animals settlement in permanent villages appearance of such crafts as pottery and weaving. See also: Red Madder: Organic Ancient Colors Neolithic Nubia & Early Egyptians Çatalhöyük (Catalhoyuk) Neolithic Anatolia Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Settlement of Gobeki Tepe begins c. 9500 BCE. The city is one of the most important archaeological sites of early human settlement. In this stage, humans are raising and cultivating their own resources and no longer depend on hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants. These become supplements to agriculture and farming, as they still are in many places today. See also: Oldest Cult Megaliths - Gobekli Tepe Kulullu - Fish Man Monster of Tiamat Terramare Culture - Bronze Age Italy Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books One of the outstanding features of Gobekli Tepe are large circular structures containing massive stone pillars. They are the world's oldest known megaliths. Many pillars are decorated with anthropomorphic details such as human figures, clothing, and sculptural reliefs of wild animals. T pillars have a prominent cross stone and might feature spread arms or a loincloth hinting at a link between humanity and the spiritual. See also: Ancient Mesopotamian Cities - Uruk Silver - Queen of Precious Metals Nature Spirits of German Mythology Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The 15 m (50 ft) high, 8 ha (20-acre) tell is abundant with ancient domestic structures, houses and outbuildings, quarries, and stone-cut cisterns of the Neolithic era. Some previous activity is also evident. The beginning of the Southwest Asian Neolithic c 10,000 BCE marks the appearance of the oldest permanent human settlements throughout in the world. This evolves into a time now called the Neolithic Revolution. See also: Architect Gods & Building in Mesopotamia Ancient Cultures: Yamnaya Steppe People Ancient Wild Predators - Eurasian Lion Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle The Neolithic Revolution is linked to settlement and the beginning of agriculture. Historians disagree as to what came first - the settling or the agriculture. Most tribal societies go though a pre-settlement phase of nomadic or semi-permanent occupation of the lands. They encourage environments of growth for native plants and adopt animals into their lifestyle. See also: Animal Spirits - Puma, Butterfly, Dog Istustaya & Papaya - Dyad of Destiny Saffron - Most Precious Ancient Spice Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The first domestic animal is the dog, about 12,800 BCE. Goat, sheep and cow are domesticated c. 8800 BCE. Chickens are domesticated in East Asia c. 5,800 BCE, and donkeys in Africa c. 5000 BCE, and the dromedary camel in Arabia c. 4-3000 BCE. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure The horse is domesticated around 3300 BCE in central Asia as a work animal. Among invertebrates, the silkworm for silk and the western honey bee for natural sweet honey are domesticated c. 2800. Silk won't make its way to the West until first millennium CE. See also: Prussian Blue - Delight of Artists & Poisoners Alchemy: Science, Philosophy, Magic Scribes & Writing: Ancient Beginnings Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Excavations show Göbekli Tepe as an active settlement, based on such evidence as domestic structures and features, water supply installations, and Neolithic tools used in a domestic capacity. Klaus Schmidt, the first excavator of the site, describes it as a sanctuary used by groups of nomadic hunter-gatherers from a wide area. He posits there are few or no permanent inhabitants. Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books No specific reason is attributed for the megalithic stones erected at the site. Schmidt describes them as the world's first temples and asserts they are intentionally and ritually backfilled. Recent stratigraphic studies, however, show the area is subject to landslides which damage the pillars. Evidence indicates the megaliths are repaired or modified in the wake of these destructive forces. Thus they clearly have meaning to the people of this place. See also: Ephedra - Oldest Medical Stimulant Herb Aya - Goddess of Dawn, Mesopotamia Ancient Deities: Proto Indo European Gods Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Göbekli Tepe is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as of 2018, in recognition of its universal value as "one of the first manifestations of human-made monumental architecture". By 2021, less than 5% of the site has been excavated. Göbekli Tepe is in the Taş Tepeler or Stone Hills, the foothills of the Taurus Mountains. Both Tigris and Eurphrates rivers begin in the Taurus Mountain Range. Gobekli Tepe overlooks the Harran plain and the headwaters of the Balikh River, a tributary of the Euphrates. See also: Taurus Mountains: Bronze Age Bounty Zagros Mountains - the Way to Kur Humbaba: Giant Mountain Forest Man Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Like most Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites in the Urfa region, Göbekli Tepe is built on a high point on the edge of the mountains, giving it both a wide view over the plain beneath, and good visibility from the plain. This location also yields limestone, a favored stone for carving and building; and flint, which can be shaped into sharp-edged tools or weapons. Prehistoric and later quarrying for limestone is evident. See also: Steatite (Soapstone) - Ancient World Women of the Wild Hunt: Holle, Diana, Frigg Garnets - Gemstones of Blood and Life Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Excavations are at the south slope of the tell, and west of a mulberry tree indicating an Islamic pilgrimage. Finds come from throughout the plateau. Remains of tools are unearthed, and a cave is discovered to contain a small carved relief of a bovid. Elements of village life appear as early as 10,000 years before the Neolithic in such as the Ufra (Edessa) region, taking settlement back to Paleolithic or Old Stone Age times. The transition to agriculture happens over millennia. See also: Baltic Amber - Gold of the North Ambrosia: Divine Nectar & Immortal Gods Figs - Food of the Ancient World Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Early Neolithic villages consist of groups of stone or mud brick houses. Occasionally large buildings and monuments are found. They include the tower and walls at Tell es-Sultan (Jericho), as well as large, roughly contemporaneous circular buildings at Göbekli Tepe. Archaeologists typically associate these structures with communal activities. Other cities or settlements from the pre-pottery Neolithic age include Nevalı Çori, Çayönü, Wadi Feynan, Jerf el-Ahmar, Tell 'Abr 3, and Tepe Asiab. See also: Lead White & Minium Red: Colors to Die For Arabian Leopard: Bronze Age Predators Girsu (Tello): Ancient Sumerian City Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Social activity within the structures as well as the collaborative efforts needed to build them help strengthen the interactive bonding and growth of communal groups. When Göbekli Tepe is inhabited, the climate is warmer and wetter than today. Encompassed by open steppe grassland, the city is a primary location for wild cereals such as einkorn, wheat and barley. See also: Hathor: Cosmic Cow Goddess of Ancient Egypt Pretty Poisons: Holly, Yew, Mistletoe Heqet, Frog Goddess of Egypt Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Grazing animals include wild sheep, wild goat, gazelle, and the ancestors of wild horses. Gobekli Tepe is a seasonal migration point for gazelle. About 90% of remnants found in fire places come from pistachio and almond trees. There are no woodlands nearby. In the distant past, however, the climate fosters the growth of forests in the region. Gobekli Tepe undergoes periods of more or less settled activity. Early hunter gatherers of Göbekli Tepe supplement their diet with domestic cereal. See also: Sacred Scarab: Lucky Bug of Ancient Egypt Cult of the Bull - Prehistoric Aurochs Stone Age Botai - First Horse People Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books For at least part of the year the people live in gatherings or village environments. Finds such as grinding stones, mortars and pestles suggest cereal processing. Evidence also indicates large-scale gazelle hunting between midsummer and autumn. The village builds a sophisticated rainwater harvesting system. This consists of carved channels feeding a number of cisterns cut from bedrock. See also: Flooding of the Nile - Nature & Myth Rhinestones: Treasures of the Rhine Natron - Ancient Embalming & Household Salts Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The cisterns can could hold at least 150 cubic m (5,300 cu ft) of water. At the time the local waters are also more abundant. Springs feed into the site during its period of activity but have now dried up. In 2017, fragments of human crania with incisions are discovered. Archaeologists interpret these as part of the widespread Neolithic skull cult. See also: Soap & Medicine Herb of Ancients Sun God of Heaven - Hittite Solar Deity Carnelian - Gems of the Ancient World Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Special preparations of crania include plaster applied to human skulls. Other examples of a Neolithic skull cult appear at sites such as 'Ain Mallaha, Tell es-Sultan (Jericho) and Yiftahel, northern Israel. Flint artifacts are easily found scattered at the site. Tools resemble those of other Northern Levantine Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlements. See also: Hattusa Green Stone - Mystic Secrets Turquoise: Precious Stone of Ancients Dromedary Camel: Animals of Ancient Arabia Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle In 1963, when the site is first discovered, over 3,000 Neolithic tools are found. Most are made of excellent quality flint, with a few obsidian. Cores, various blades, flakes, scrapers, burins (engraving tools), and projectile points, are among the common tool types. Another space shows a workshop with almost 700 tools. Retouched artifacts are the most common finds followed by scrapers, perforators and artifacts with gloss. Heavy duty tools, burins, flint arrowheads and spear heads are also found. See also: Obsidian: Volcanic Black Glass of Gods Tannenbaum - About the Balsam Fir Tree Nigella Sativa: Black Seed of Healers Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Lifestyle, artwork, food production and preparation, tools and irrigation are evidence of an interactive culture at Göbekli Tepe thousands of years ago. Building indicates presence of tradespeople, long-term workers, and social support. See also: Taweret - Hippopotamus Goddess of Egypt Ugarit - Trade Hub of Bronze Age Syria Namni & Hazzi - Mountain Gods Back to Top

Powerful Goddess Inanna plays a catalytic role in the Early Bronze Age Epic of Gilgamesh by sending the Bull of Heaven or Heavenly Bull to slay him. First appearing in the early tales of Gilgamesh, the Bull can kill a hundred men with a blast of breath from his nostrils. See also: Inanna (Ishtar) - Goddess Queen of Heaven Kusarikku - Bull Men of Mesopotamia Ancient Deities: Proto Indo European Gods Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Although regarded as an overall benevolent goddess, Inanna has her moments. She's the goddess of love, fertility and sexuality but also war. She holds deific power for over four thousand years, and influences countless later goddesses such as Aphrodite and Venus. Inanna is patron Goddess of Uruk, over which Gilgamesh rules c. 2900 BCE. There are a few versions of the story. It's originally written in Sumerian; the best preserved is in later Akkadian. Inanna is angry because, according to the tale, she is spurned by Gilgamesh. See also: Apis - Sacred Fertility Bull of Egypt Animal Spirits - Frog, Cat, Bull Iron Age - Metallurgy & Metal Magic Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books She gets the Heavenly Bull from her father, Sky Lord Anu, by threatening to raise the dead and eat the living, or let out a mighty scream to reach the earth. Either way her war persona prevails and her rage is absolute. Anu knows better, but gives her the Bull of Heaven anyway. Inanna sends the great animal to kill Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu slay the Bull instead. See also: Primeval Deities: Goddess of the Dawn Sulfur - Treasure of the Underworld Immortal - Quest for the Elixir of Life Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Enkidu throws the Bull's hind thigh at Inanna to humiliate her. The Gods are horrified at the murder of their sacred animal and condemn Enkidu to death as he's the one who struck the killing blow. In some versions Enkidu is killed outright, and in others he develops a wasting sickness. After the anguish of watching his friend die, Gilgamesh is afraid he'll be next. He embarks on a quest for immortality. As for Inanna, she loses interest. She has many potential lovers. See also: Pagan Solstice Fests: Mithras & the Sun Anzû - Mesopotamian Monster of Mayhem Queen Eleanor and the Calamitous Crusade Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The Bull Taurus is among the heavenly constellations known to Mesopotamia, especially in later Akkad. It's thought the writer(s) of the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh added the scene of Enkidu throwing the haunch at Inanna to explain the star bull's missing back end. See also: Nature Spirits of German Mythology Creation, Cattle & the Cosmic Cow Hesperus (Vesper) the Evening Star Back to Top

The kermes insect is a primary source of vermilion and crimson from Neolithic times to the Middle Ages. The first red colors of the ancient palette include earth pigments and iron ores, kermes insects, Polish cochineal red and the red madder plant root. Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure See also: Red Madder: Organic Ancient Colors Prussian Blue - Delight of Artists & Poisoners After the Ice Age - Neolithic Builders Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The early Neolithic palette is black, white and red. Among other sources black comes from soot or charcoal, and white from powered limestone. They commonly appear in prehistoric rock paintings. They're also the first colors detected by infants after birth. Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure Reds are bold, the color of blood, passion and life. The extraction of red ochre is known in Africa, dated by archaeologists to the Middle Paleolithic c. 300,000 ya. Red ochre clay rocks are easily found on the earth's surface and along riverbeds. See also: Gobekli Tepe - Neolithic Life Anatolia Istustaya & Papaya - Dyad of Destiny Lead White & Minium Red: Colors to Die For Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle In earth reds, colors vary in richness and tone depending on the mix of red iron oxide and other minerals. Red ochres range from orange to brown tones. Hematite is a prominent red iron oxide in clay. As a stone hematite can also be ground into red powder pigment. Another red rock is cinnabar, used to make a vermilion pigment. Cinnabar is known and used by early people from c. 10,000 BCE. It's a mercury sulfide and naturally toxic. A delight to alchemists in later years, cinnabar is also a good source of mercury poisoning. See also: Mercury (Quicksilver): Miracle Metal of Alchemy Alchemy: Science, Philosophy, Magic Neolithic Skull Cults & Ritual Skulls Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books In Mesoamerica, the people make carmine red with crushed bodies of female cochineal insects. A species of sap-sucking scale insect, they feed on certain cactus. In Eurasia, the related kermes insect produces the red shades vermilion or crimson. About 20 species of kermes insects exist. In Eurasia, the insect producing natural vermilion or crimson red dyes is Kermes vermilio. See also: Megaliths & Building at Gobekli Tepe Neolithic Nubia & Early Egyptians Gold - Precious Metal of the Sun Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Native to the Mediterranean regions, kermes insects feed on the sap of kermes oak trees (Quercus coccifera) and Palestine oak (Quercus calliprinos). Fertilized females are bright red, yielding the desired dye. In kermes vermilio insects, the dye is simply called kermes. Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure The word kermes comes from Turkish qirmiz or kirmizi, meaning crimson. It derives from Persian kermest by way of Proto-Indo-Iranian kŕ̥miš. This in turn comes from Proto-Indo-European kʷŕ̥mis (worm). See also: Hathor: Cosmic Cow Goddess of Ancient Egypt Before the Viking Age - Gods of the Sámi Khella - Ancient Health & Herbology Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle First appearing in English in the 13th century, the word vermilion comes from Old French vermeillon. It's derived from vermeil, originating in the Latin vermiculus, which is the diminutive of Latin vermis or worm. Kermes vermilio can translate to wormish little worm, though it's not a worm at all. When it first hits the mass market people commonly believe the dye pigment comes from a plant. Traders, guarding their sources, are in no hurry to correct them. See also: Mythic Fire Gods: Hephaestus of the Greek Women of the Wild Hunt: Holle, Diana, Frigg Kohl: Eye Beauty Magic of Ancients Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books In ancient times kermes vermilio extract is used as a medicine. It's an astringent for wounds and considered a cure for congestion of the eyes. It's taken in Arabia for heart benefits and in Europe until the 18th century as a cardiac drug. A person can harvest about 1 kg (2.2 lb) of kermes in a day. The drying process depletes around 2/3 of the harvested weight. Dried bug bodies are traded unprocessed as raw pigment materials. See also: Herbology & Lore: Poison Hemlock Soap & Medicine Herb of Ancients Bes: Household Protector God of Egypt Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle As demand grows, certain oaks are cultivated as breeding grounds for the kermes insect. One insect will produce 800 eggs. Experiments in Israel find the richest color comes from fertilized females who haven't yet laid their eggs. Best harvesting time is June - August. The insects are collected, dried for one week in the shade, and ground to powder. The pigment is then simmered in water, turning the water red. After straining it's ready to use. See also: Butter - Food of Peasants & Barbarians Baltic Amber - Gold of the North Figs - Food of the Ancient World Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books As a fabric dye it's applied to textiles coated with dissolved alum. Alum acts as a mordant or binder and brightens the red-orange color. Darker shades are made by repeating the process several times, allowing the fabric to dry in between. The kermes pigment and other bug-based colors bond better with animal fibers such as wool and silk than with plant fibers such as linen. In ancient Egypt kermes reds are desired pigments for wall paintings and decor. Artisans are often buried with their paint or pigment. See also: Myth & Metallurgy - Metals of Antiquity Nekhbet - Vulture Goddess of Egypt Sprites: Ethereal Creatures of Faerie Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Jars of kermes dye have been discovered in a Neolithic cave-burial at Adaouste, northeast of Aix-en-Provence in France. Today it's also a bat sanctuary. Woad, a blue pigment made from the flowers of Isatis tinctoria, is also found at the burial site(s). Another important red source in Eurasia is the Polish cochineal insect (Porphyrophora polonica, Margarodes polonicus), native to Eastern Europe north of the Black Sea. The female larvae of the cochineal are used to make red from Neolithic to medieval times. See also: Salt Trade - the Most Precious Mineral Nigella Sativa: Black Seed of Healers Linen, Hemp & Cotton - Fabrics of Ancient Egypt Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Harvesting is a lot of work and yield typically low. Still, the Polish cochineal insect is in popular demand and serves an alternative to kermes. Its use is widespread in Europe until the introduction of the Mesoamerican cochineal in the 16th century. See also: Elixir of Life: Alchemy & the Emperor Isuwa - Bronze Age Hittite Foes Carnelian - Gems of the Ancient World Back to Top

Skull cults appear in various forms from the Stone Ages. Early origins may be the Levant or Turkey, in a broad swath of similar ritual practices. Some may have risen independently of each other, as the collective human unconscious finds similar outlets of expression. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure See also: Oldest Cult Megaliths - Gobekli Tepe Red Madder: Organic Ancient Colors After the Ice Age - Neolithic Builders Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Signs of the skull cult go back to c. 9600 BCE at least. Some theorists suggest an earlier date, c. 12,000. Plastered skulls, marked skulls, skulls on display and decapitated body interment for ritual purpose is found across cultures. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure Skulls are found defleshed after death, with paint or plaster applied directly to the bone. Plaster reconstructs the facial features. Colors of black, white and red are used most often in skull paint. Coincidentally these are the first three colors an infant can see after she's born. See also: Abzu - Primal Waters of Creation Megaliths & Building at Gobekli Tepe Castor Oil, Wigs & Death in Ancient Egypt Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle In Neolithic times colors are close by. Black is made of soot or charcoal; white comes from limestone or chalk ground into pigment. Early reds are made of crushed cochineal insects in Mesoamerica, the kermes insect in Eurasia, and red earth or ground hematite. In Africa, evidence of processing and use of red ochre pigments has been dated by archaeologists to c. 300,000 ya in the Middle Paleolithic. See also: Istustaya & Papaya - Dyad of Destiny Gobekli Tepe - Neolithic Life Anatolia Cattle Goddesses & the Cosmic Cow Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The practice of plastering human skulls is widespread in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Levant, with examples from Jericho and 'Ain Ghazal. Modifications to skulls include replacing eyes with stones or cowrie shells, as in the Jericho skull dating to c. 7000 BCE. The skull belongs to an adult male, and shows evidence of intentional cranial shaping. This is done when the person is a baby and the skull is still soft. In history skull shaping has been done by wrapping fabric or pressing a board against the skull. See also: Prussian Blue - Delight of Artists & Poisoners Khella - Ancient Health & Herbology Wandering Womb - Ancient Medicine Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The Jericho skull may belong to a person deemed special or significant from an early age. After the flesh and sinews decay, the skull is removed. Plaster is modelled over the front of the skull. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure Cranial deformation is also evident from several skulls of the Neolithic period, discovered at the Houtaomuga Site in Northeast China. Most have forehead or front skull modification, but there are other types too. See also: Book of the Heavenly Cow - Myths of Egypt Neolithic Nubia & Early Egyptians Tooth Worms of Ancient Mesopotamia Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books According to researchers, eleven skulls from both sexes show signs of intentional cranial modification (ICM). The deceased vary in age from juveniles to full adults. The skulls date from c. 9800 to c. 2800 BCE. Three types of modification patterns are found. Most are fronto-occipital or forehead / front of face modification pattern. They show wide variations in the structure and curvature of the skull. The practice occurs cross-culturally. See also: Garnets - Gemstones of Blood and Life Neolithic Europe - Danube Valley Culture Ancient Marsh Muse - Rough Horsetail Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books By c. 10,000 - 8000 BCE, clay is an essential part of life. Early pottery emerges. Modeling human features from clay is one way to remember the dead. A much later way to preserve memories of loved ones is Victorian death photography. Plastered or reworked skulls are displayed. The crania owners are powerful, perhaps in a spiritual way. One scholar suggests stigmatization of the individual after death. However removal and decoration seem to show esteem for the body, or at least the skull. See also: Architect Gods & Building in Mesopotamia Proto Writing: Signs of the Times Eye of Ra Egypt - Wrath of the Woman Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle At skull cult sites, some burials contain headless skeletons. At Göbekli Tepe, a Neolithic archaeological site in southeast Turkey, no full burials are found. Signs of skull cult activity include three skulls deeply grooved with flint tools. One has a hole perfectly drilled. It's possible skulls are hung or placed where they need reinforcement or hanging hardware, and the carved lines are for a practical purpose of less slippage. For instance the jaw might be attached with sinew or fiber. Another way of retaining the jaw is to pack it in with clay. See also: Curse of the Evil Eye & Apotropaic Magic Reiker For Hire, Victorian Era & Nixies Sailing - Bronze Age Sails & Sailcloth Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books According to researcher Julia Gresky, “The three modified skulls attest to special treatment of certain individuals and represent an entirely new category of find ... one which testifies to the interaction of the living with the dead at this important Early Neolithic ritual center." Over 700 fragments of human remains at Gobekli Tepe offer an intriguing look into a previously unknown variation of the death ritual. The site is best known for monumental stone buildings, T-shaped limestone pillars, animal sculpture and carvings. See also: Gala Priests: Clergy of Goddess Inanna Bronze Age Europe - The Amber Roads Nanshe, Nature Goddess of Dreams Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books At Köşk Höyük, south central Turkey, almost a dozen ritual skulls are found. Some are covered with clay or plaster. These are the earliest individual molded skulls in Anatolia, with those from Çatalhöyük. Painted red or black, the skulls of Köşk Höyük are displayed on clay platforms. One is that of a child. Of the rest, two are men, three are women and five indistinguishable. Most are young adults. See also: Khet, the Body: Death Rites of Ancient Egypt Mamu - Sumerian Goddess of Dreams Amethyst - Divine Purple Quartz Gemstone Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle According to a booklet by the ministry of tourism and culture, the dead in the Kösk Höyük mound are often buried with their heads "separated from the body, of which the faces were then plastered with clay and the facial features picked out in red paint, giving them a striking appearance. This practice is also evident between the years 10.000 to 8.000 BC in Palestine, Israel and the South of Syria." See also: Gnomes: Earth Spirits of Renaissance Mythology Sun Goddesses of World Mythology Chicken Soup: Chickens in German Folklore Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books At Kösk Höyük the skulls are removed when flesh has decomposed. They're then plastered and painted. The child's skull in Layer III provides important evidence in the debate about whether these skulls indicate veneration of the dead. See also: Gula - Medicine Goddess of Mesopotamia Giant Cinnamon Birds of Arabia Figs - Food of the Ancient World Back to Top

Red madder (Rubia tinctorum) is a precious plant for organic red dyes. Its bright roots yield two red dye pigments. One is alizarin; the other purpurin. The dyes are isolated in the 19th century. First evidence of dye extraction goes back to the Neolithic. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure See also: Prussian Blue - Delight of Artists & Poisoners Lead White & Minium Red: Colors to Die For Herbology & Lore: Plantain Plant Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Red rooted Madder species of plants is native to the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa and the Americas. The organic madder root has long been cultivated for natural dyes and pigments, and used in natural health. It's the first organic color to be synthesized. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure The plant genus name Rubia derives from the Latin ruber or red. Rubinus, from the same root, means 'ruby'. The plant's roots contain the key anthracene compound alizarin, which is the primary coloring agent of red or rose madder dye. See also: Wandering Womb - Ancient Medicine Carnelian - Gems of the Ancient World Castor Oil, Wigs & Death in Ancient Egypt Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Pigments created with the madder root are lake pigments, meaning organic. The term lake comes from lac, referring to secretions of the Indian wood insect Kerria lacca, used in shellac, dye and wax. First production of dyes from madder is found at prehistoric Anatolian site Çatalhöyük (Catalhoyuk), c. 8000 BCE. The practice of making red pigments from extracts of the madder plant is well known in the ancient world. See also: Hathor: Cosmic Cow Goddess of Ancient Egypt Eye of Ra Egypt - Wrath of the Woman Ancient Egypt Remedies: Ebers Papyrus Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Used as a dye since the 18th century, Turkey red is a rich red created from madder (rubia) root. A binder or mordant is added for lightfastness in paint and dyes. The process of creating this color is complex and time-consuming. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure In South America the color created is carmine, a red extract from cochineal insects. This red is one of the colors of prehistoric rock art. In Eurasia the kermes insect is used. The problem in canvas art is poor lightfastness, tendency brown in sunlight, and humidity damage. See also: Alchemy: Science, Philosophy, Magic Elderberry Tree: Germanic Nature Lore Curse of the Evil Eye & Apotropaic Magic Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Carmine is a pigment without permanence. When exposed to environmental factors such as humidity, sunlight and temperature change, properties of the pigment are altered. Over time color can lighten, darken or fade away. Carmine is classed as a fugitive color. Madder has been cultivated as a dye source since antiquity in Central and South Asia. Dye extraction and use develops in India and China. Ancients of Egypt know the method of producing a lake pigment from madder. See also: Proto Writing: Signs of the Times Steatite (Soapstone) - Ancient World Egyptian Blue - First Synthetic Color Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The pics above of ground madder root from different plants show the variance in grain coarseness and color potential. Some orange tones come from the naturally occurring pigment purpurin. See also: Tooth Worms of Ancient Mesopotamia Baltic Amber - Gold of the North Wine God Liber: Liberty & Liberal Libation Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books To make Turkey red, fabrics are soaked several times in different solutions, including lye, olive oil and sheep dung (full process at end of this post). Due to the labor Turkey red fabric is more expensive, but the red is bright and enduring. One of its advantages is its friendly relationship with cotton (Gossypium herbaceum Linnaeus), a textile in use by c. 2000 BCE. Cotton may have been domesticated by c. 5000 BCE in eastern Sudan, where early cotton cloth is produced. See also: Neolithic Nubia & Early Egyptians Nature Spirits of German Mythology Baba Yaga - Slavic Forest Witch Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Dyes are among the popular trade items on ancient land and sea routes. The Egyptian word for red is desher. Red is the first color the human eye perceives after birth, besides black and white. In the ancient civilizations, red colors also come naturally from oxidized iron and red ochre, a clay formed with hematite, an iron ore. A silvery dark magnetic stone with high iron content, hematite is popular for carving cylinder seals, and can be ground to a fine red hue. Garnets - Gemstones of Blood and Life Sacred Music of Ancient Mesopotamia Cylinder Seals of the Ancient World Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Madder reds are used to render flesh tones in ancient and modern art. Egyptians cultivate Rubia tinctorum or madder by c. 1500 BCE. Cloth colored with madder root dye is found in the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun (d. 1323 BCE). In the ancient and modern world, red colors are equated with both love and war. Symbolizing the blood, fire and passion of life, the color red can also correspond to evil and destruction. Fire also has a nurturing, protective aspect. The colors of fire found in the madder pigments range from dark burgundy or blood red to warm golden orange. See also: Book of the Heavenly Cow - Myths of Egypt Enuma Elish: Marduk & the Chaos Monsters 12 Days of Zagmuk: Chaos & the King Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The madder root produces alizarin and purpurin, both of which are isolated much later, in the 19th century. Alizarin is discovered before purpurin, by heating ground madder with acid and potash to create yellow vapor. The yellow vapor crystallizes into bright red needles of alizarin. An alizarin concentrate, it comprises just 1% of the madder root. The name alizarin derives from Arabic al,usara. See also: Anubis: Jackal-Headed God of Egypt Al-Mi'raj: Unicorn Hare of Arab Myth Lead: Death Metal of Metallurgy Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Root pigments of rubia have been known to cause red bones in pigs fed madder plants. Also called rose madder, today's manufactured alizarin is medium red to red-purple in tone. Alizarin crimson, made synthetically, is an enduring color on the ever-changing palette. While commercial alizarin crimson has a specific hue, natural alizarin isn't just one color but refers in general to the reds derived from the alizarin extracted from the red madder root. Its products can range from orange to earthy reds and red-purple. See also: Apples: Myth, Nature & German Folklore Wild Women and Winter Tales Herbs & Natural Remedies - Ancient Egypt Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Alizarin reds and related hues are favorites of artists now as in the ancient world. Originally they're derived from organic source lake pigments, unlike rocks and minerals such as the expensive lapis lazuli (ultramarine) or mercury-loaded ore cinnabar. Other Rubia plants include R. cordifolia from India, also called Indian Madder. Apart from yielding red dyes, the root is used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine to treat ailments such as digestive issues, skin conditions, and inflammation. Madder is also used for kidney stones. See also: Lapis Lazuli: Vibrant Blue Gem of Ancients Kanesh (Kultepe): Kārum City of Trade Rhinestones: Treasures of the Rhine Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Madder appears in ancient Corinth, Greece, in Italy in the Baths of Titus and the ruins of Pompeii. It's mentioned in the Talmud and in writings by Dioscorides, Hippocrates and others. The artist Johann Vermeer (1632 - 1675) uses red madder pigments in his paintings. In later art it's called rubio, found in paintings by English artist Joseph Turner (1775 - 1851) and as a ceramics color. In Spain, madder is introduced and cultivated by Moors. See also: Kulla - God of Bricks & Building Natron - Ancient Embalming & Household Salts Bizilla - Shining Love Goddess Sukkal Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books On an Egyptian tomb painting of the Greco-Roman period it's diluted with gypsum to produce pink. Addition of gypsum is also used to incorporate or bind paintings into walls, as in frescoes. See also: Soap & Medicine Herb of Ancients Women of the Wild Hunt: Holle, Diana, Frigg Bird Woman Elwetritsch: German Folklore Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle The process of dyeing cotton Turkey red, as practiced in Turkey in the 18th century, is described by a dyer in 1786 Manchester, England: 1. Boil cotton in lye of Barilla (a type of saltwort) or wood ash 2. Wash and dry 3. Steep in a liquor of Barilla ash or soda plus sheep's dung and olive oil 4. Rinse, let stand 12 hours, dry 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 three times. 6. Steep in a fresh liquor of Barilla ash or soda, sheep's dung, olive oil and white argol (potassium tartrate). 7. Rinse and dry 8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 three times. 9. Treat with gall nut solution 10. Wash and dry 11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 once. 12. Treat with a solution of alum, or alum mixed with ashes and Saccharum Saturni (lead acetate used as a sugar substitute). 13. Dry, wash, dry. 14. Madder once or twice with Turkey madder to which a little sheep's blood is added. 15. Wash 16. Boil in a lye made of soda ash or the dung liquor 17. Wash and dry. See also: Ephedra - Oldest Medical Stimulant Herb Caspian Tiger: Bronze Age Wild Predators Cinnamon - Spice Trade of Ancients Colors derived from Rubia madder are the common reds worldwide until 1868, when two German chemists, Carl Gräbe and Carl Liebermann, isolate the alizarin component. It becomes the first natural dye color to be synthetically duplicated. See also: Kur - Underworld of Mesopotamia Fairy Rings, Moon & Nature Magic The Anxious Victorian - Mental Health Back to Top

Prussian blue is a vibrant hue first created in 1706 by Swiss German paint manufacturer Johann Diesbach (1670 - 1748) in Berlin. A vivid example of chemical reaction, it's also called Berlin Blue, Brandenburg Blue, Parisian, Iron and Midnight Blue. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure See also: Lead White & Minium Red: Colors to Die For Lapis Lazuli: Vibrant Blue Gem of Ancients Bronze Age Europe - The Amber Roads Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Prussian blue is an accident of chemistry. In 1703 Diesbach wants to make a red cochineal dye. The cochineal is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which natural dye carmine is derived. Only females have the bright red color. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure Cochineal insects and the dye they produce are introduced from Mesoamerica to Europe in the 16th century. The color is carmine, also called cochineal extract, crimson lake or carmine lake. It's effective as a yarn and clothing dye, but can turn brown in canvas art. See also: Linen, Hemp & Cotton - Fabrics of Ancient Egypt Eye of Ra Egypt - Wrath of the Woman Curse of the Evil Eye & Apotropaic Magic Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Cochineal insect dye from crushed dried insects is one of the earliest colors used in history. In Eurasia, a related kermes insect dye creates some of the reds found in prehistoric cave paintings. To make his red, Diesbach needs to prepare an extraction of crushed cochineal insects, iron (ferric) sulphate and potash, a compound of various potassium salts. The mixture creates the color cochineal red lake. See also: Erinyes - Vengeful Women of Ancient Greece Dumuzi & Geshtinanna: Reasons for Seasons Neolithic Nubia & Early Egyptians Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Potash is mined in Ethiopia from the 14th century CE. Deposits are created millions of years ago by evaporation of inland seas. Over time the dry sea basins are buried in earth, covering potash concentrations. Potash deposits date back to the Cambrian period, about 550 million years ago. Potash is a mix of potassium salts. One of its constituents, the caustic chemical potassium hydroxide or lye, can burn or cause eruptions of skin ulcers on contact. Castor Oil, Wigs & Death in Ancient Egypt Hymn to Nungal - Prison Goddess Mythic Fire Gods - Vulkan of Germania Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Evidence of lye used in soapmaking dates to c. 2800 BCE. People make lye by leaching water through layers of wood ashes. Before industry it's the common method. Lye is used today as an electrolyte in alkaline batteries; electroplate, lithography and paint removers. Diesbach is running low on potash, and contacts alchemist Johann Konrad Dippel. Dippel is known for his animal oil, and as one of the inhabitants of Frankenstein's Castle in Odenwald (Forest of Odes) Germany. See also: Silver - Queen of Precious Metals Alchemy: Science, Philosophy, Magic Scribes & Writing: Ancient Beginnings Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Born at Castle Frankenstein, Dippel later returns there to work. To create Dippel's Oil he dissects animals, leading to rumors of human corpses used in experiments of soul transferral. Soul transferral is a major topic of discussion in alchemical and academic circles. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure Dippel achieves some fame in Germany for his animal oil, a distillation made from bones. It's later used as an insect repellent and even chemical warfare. See also: Ambrosia: Divine Nectar & Immortal Gods Myth & Metallurgy - Metals of Antiquity Nibelung - Of Heroes and Worms Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Claiming his animal-derived oil is the Elixir of Life, at one point Dippel tries to trade the recipe for the castle. The owners of Castle Frankenstein do not leap at the opportunity. Finding the elixir of life is one of the goals of alchemy. The Elixir is said to make a person young and/or immortal. As one Chinese Emperor finds out, it isn't mercury. Rumors of a fountain of youth for women also surround Castle Frankenstein. See also: Semen - Life & Death in the Ancient World Egyptian Blue Faience - Ceramic Glass Elixir of Life: Alchemy & the Emperor Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books In 1703 Dippel is in Berlin. He sends over some potash. As Diesbach gets to work he discovers one batch is light pink compared to the red he's trying to achieve. When he concentrates the mixture, it turns purple, then deep blue. He calls on Dippel. They deduce the reaction occurs because the potash is contaminated with either bone oil or blood (historians disagree which it is). The components bond in a form called iron ferrocyanide, a distinct blue hue. See also: Jade - Jadeite, Nephrite & Jade Roads Khet, the Body: Death Rites of Ancient Egypt Reiker For Hire, Victorian Era & Nixies Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle In 1709 it's named Preußisch Blau (Prussian Blue) and Berlinisch Blau (Berlin Blue) by its first trader. Prussian blue is considered to be the first modern synthetic color. At this time the recipe for Egyptian Blue is lost (it's been found again). Ultramarine, made from expensive lapis lazuli, is virtually the only blue on the market. Prussian blue is popular in paint, blueprints, glazes and 19th-century aizuri-e (Japanese woodblock prints). See also: Dream Interpretation (Oneiromancy) - Mesopotamia Sailing - Bronze Age Sails & Sailcloth Ornithomancy - Prophecy by the Birds Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Like most toxic medicines, a little can heal and a little too much can kill. Prussian Blue can be given orally as an antidote to heavy metal poisoning. From Prussian Blue comes prussic acid, or hydrogen cyanide. In German, hydrogen cyanide is known as Blausäure or blue acid. French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac names it cyanide after the blue color cyan. See also: Egyptian Blue - First Synthetic Color Copper - Ruddy Metal of Mystic Magic Enuma Elish: Marduk & the Chaos Monsters Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Cyanide comes in more than a few forms, and is deadly poison. First phase symptoms of cyanide poisoning include headache, dizziness, fast heart rate, shortness of breath, and vomiting. This phase is followed by a second phase including seizures, slow heart rate, low blood pressure, loss of consciousness and cardiac arrest. Onset of symptoms usually occurs within a few minutes and death within half an hour. See also: Arsenic: Murderous Metal & Miracle Cure Baltic Amber - Gold of the North Wine God Liber: Liberty & Liberal Libation Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books For poison purveyors and many crime novel writers, cyanide topples arsenic on the top ten list of the 18th and 19th centuries. While it may have a giveaway almond scent, not all people can smell it. Pure cyanide can be consumed by inhalation, ingestion or can be absorbed through the skin. A volatile compound, cyanide has been used as inhalant rodent killer and human poison. See also: Gala Priests: Clergy of Goddess Inanna Gula - Medicine Goddess of Mesopotamia Giant Cinnamon Birds of Arabia Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Exposure to lower levels of cyanide over a long period increases blood cyanide levels, causing weakness, paralysis, nervous lesions, hypothyroidism and miscarriage. Other effects include liver and kidney damage. Poisoning over the long term can happen by eating improperly processed cassava roots. Cassava (tapioca, yuca or manioc) is a staple food in parts of West Africa. Other foods containing cyanide include almond, apricot, apple, orange and flax seed. Oils have none. See also: Salt Trade - the Most Precious Mineral Nanshe - Nature Goddess of Dreams Ancient Arabia - Stone Age to Bronze Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Today most toxic chemicals in house and artist paint, such as mercury, cyanides or lead, have been replaced by safe pigments. Artists' paint Lead White has no lead, Prussian Blue is devoid of cyanide compounds, and green paint is still not a vegetable. The oldest painting to use Prussian blue is the 1709 Entombment of Christ by Pieter van der Werff. Painters at the Prussian court are using the pigment by cl 1710 CE. See also: Ereshkigal Goddess of Underworld & Night Wandering Womb - Ancient Medicine Khella - Ancient Health & Herbology Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Prussian blue is the first totally modern synthetic pigment made as a product of a chemical reaction. The production of Prussian blue is difficult to control and can result in changes of color in the final pigment. It's also prone to fading, and can seep into adjoining paints. Nonetheless, artists are ecstatic. In Paris, artist Antione Watteau and his contemporaries make liberal use of Prussian blue, giving it the nickname Parisian Blue. See also: Herbs & Natural Remedies - Ancient Egypt Gold - Precious Metal of the Sun Nature Spirits of German Mythology Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Due to excellent marketing, the fame of Prussian blue spreads throughout Europe. It's later eclipsed by other synthetic blues, but can still be found in some palettes. See also: 3 Great German Artists for Art Lovers Cassiterite - Tin Source of Ancients Song of the Loreley Back to Top

Istustaya and Papaya are ancient Hittite goddesses responsible for the fates of mortals. They're said to appear at a birth to oversee the destiny of the newborn. They're also called upon to protect against harm during childbirth. With their grace, one's fate can be changed. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure See also: Lelwani - Hittite Underworld Goddess Lead White & Minium Red: Colors to Die For Hutena & Hutellura: Dyad of Birth & Fate Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Istustaya and Papaya originate among the Hatti people who live in the area of Anatolia, when the Hittites come for a visit c. 1600 BCE and decide to stay. Many Hattic gods find their way into the Hittite pantheon. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure The Hittites retain the capital Hattusa and keep the regional name "Land of the Hatti." According to myth, the goddesses Istustaya and Papaya sit by the Black Sea spinning the threads of life. They are especially associated with the fate of the King. See also: Cattle Goddesses & the Cosmic Cow Uluburun - Bronze Age Shipwreck Saffron - Most Precious Ancient Spice Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle The Black Sea is a forbidding place in the ancient world. The later Greeks theorize it extends to the ends of the earth and nothing exists beyond. The west coast of the Black Sea shows a surprising number of ancient human habitations underwater. The Black Sea coast to the north of Hittite lands is occupied by Kaska mountain raiders and various other troublemaking tribes. It's said the reason the formidable Hittites never get to the coast is the aggression of the Kaska. Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books In the end it's the Kaska who finish the destruction of the Hittites by sacking Hattusa in 1190 BCE. Perhaps the Fate Goddesses warn the last Hittite King, who watches his empire fall down around his ears. He either abandons the city, or is killed in the battle of 1190 BCE. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure The Hittite words for 'fate' are gulsuwar derived from guls-, 'to inscribe, engrave, mark', with the verb, gul(as)sa. Divinities responsible for determining a person's fate are known as Fate-deities or Gulšeš. Copper - Ruddy Metal of Mystic Magic Immortal - Quest for the Elixir of Life Giant Cinnamon Birds of Arabia Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Inscriptions, or writing in general, are the duties of scribes, an association which places Istustaya and Papaya in the scribal domain similar to Hurrian underworld scribe Belet-Seri and part-timer Geshtinanna. In ancient society, scribes are of the priestly class. Another pair of Fate Goddesses, Hutena and Hutellura, appears in mythology of the neighboring Hurrians. The duo is also adopted at Ugarit. Associated with the Underworld, they work with Allani the Hurrian Underworld Goddess to dictate the fates of humans. Red Madder: Organic Ancient Colors Alchemy: Science, Philosophy, Magic Elderberry Tree: Germanic Nature Lore Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books They're considered benevolent. If a person dies prematurely the people assume it's by evil intervention and not the intention of the deities. Likewise are Istustaya and Papaya revered by worshipers. The Hittites believe fate is pre-determined, but not inevitable. A person can change or improve her fate by giving proper reverence to certain gods, or he can try to get a minor deity to intervene on his behalf. Curse of the Evil Eye & Apotropaic Magic Neolithic Nubia & Early Egyptians Nature Spirits of German Mythology Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The role of the Hittite fate deities is described: "In regard to this matter we have just now summoned as witnesses the Mother goddesses and the Fate-deities. [And], if a person is born at a certain time, [then] as the Fate-deities and [the Mother-goddesses] on that day designate well-being for him/her - now this is that day! May you, O Fate-deities and [Mother goddesses], today designate life, [joy], strength, long years (and numerous other boons) for the king (and) queen!" Goddess or god pairs, twins, duos dyads are common in ancient near Eastern myth. Duos are a running theme through later cultures too. They include twin warrior portal gods Lugal-irra & Meslamta-ea; the Divine Twins of Creation, and the divine attendants of Shauska. See also: Baba Yaga - Slavic Forest Witch Sun God of Heaven - Hittite Solar Deity Primeval Deities: Goddess of the Dawn Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle An excerpt from a Hittite building ritual mentions the fate goddesses: When the king enters the building, the Throne summons the eagle, "Come, I am sending you to the sea. When you go, spy out the grove in the steppe. Who is present (there)?" (The eagle) replies, "I have observed (them). It is Isdustaya and Papaya, the chthonic and primeval ... -deities who are present there kneeling." (The Throne) says, "What are they doing?" (The eagle) replies to her, "(One) holds a distaff; (others) hold full spindles. They are spinning the years of the king. There is no limit or number to the years." See also: Immortal - Quest for the Elixir of Life Ancient Deities: Proto Indo European Gods Ancient Greek Cultures: People of Minos Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The chthonic association links Istustaya and Papaya to the Underworld, like the Hurrian fate deities. In the ancient world the Underworld is neither a good nor bad place. Demons live in the Underworld but so do vegetation gods. Fire arises from beneath the earth, and so does ground water. Metals and precious stones form underground. The Underworld is the place all dead must go. See also: Ninkarrak: Ancient Medicine Goddess Cassiterite - Tin Source of Ancients Carnelian - Gems of the Ancient World Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The Sun travels through the Underworld as the Sun Goddess of the Earth. Goddess of Death Lelwani presides over the proceedings in her chthonic realm. She also rules over the lands of the Old Gods, those deposed by their children, or who just decide to retire. While the Hittites seem to believe in an afterlife they make no special effort to get there, compared to the Egyptians, who develop a complex theology. They take care of their gods, and hope their gods take care of them. They aren't shy about blasting a deity below par. See also: Ereshkigal & the Mesopotamian Underworld Mythic Fire Gods: Hephaestus of the Greek Pretty Poisons: Holly, Yew, Mistletoe Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle King Mursili II (c. 1300 BCE) bewails the absence of the God during constant attacks by invaders and drought upon the land. "All of the land of Hatti is dying, so that no one prepares the sacrificial loaf and libation for you [gods]. The plowmen who used to work the fields of the gods have died, so that no one works or reaps the fields of the gods any longer. The miller-women who used to prepare sacrificial loaves of the gods have died, so that they no longer make the sacrificial loaves. See also: Bronze Age Europe - The Amber Roads Sacrifice of the Male: Temple at Uppsala Scribes & Writing: Ancient Beginnings Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books As for the corral and the sheepfold from which one used to cull the offerings of sheep and cattle – the cowherds and shepherds have died, and the corral and sheepfold are empty. So it happens that the sacrificial loaves, libation[s], and animal sacrifices are cut off. And you come to us, oh gods, and hold us culpable in this matter!" See also: German Myth & Folklore: Elves Khella - Ancient Health & Herbology Egyptian Blue Faience - Ceramic Glass Back to Top

The Divine Twins or Horse Twins are part of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon, and appear in later mythologies too. The Divine Twins helped Manu sacrifice his brother Yemo, also twins, thus create the mortal world and humans from his flesh and bones. See also: Blood Sacrifice, Twin Brothers & Creation Arsenic: Murderous Metal & Miracle Cure Mythical Pagan German Gods & Spirits Twins in mythology are often used as contrasts such as day and night, large and small, good and evil (as in a creation myth of the Iroquois), light and dark, peace and war, warm and cool, north and south, life and death and the necessity and unity of opposites in harmony. Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle The Divine Twins always have a dynamic interaction. One often is described as large and fierce, the other as a gentle healer and romantic. As the Horse Twins they're horses and/or riders who pull the golden chariot of the Sun Goddess through the sky. In some lore they rescue the Dawn Goddess, their sister, when she's in danger of falling into the water. An ancient Germanic tribe of Central Europe, the Naharvali, paid homage to the Alcis or Alci (Proto-Germanic*alhiz ~ *algiz), a pair of divine young brothers. The only source to mention them is Tacitus in his Germania of 98 CE. See also: Al-Mi'raj: Unicorn Hare of Arab Myth Nature Spirits of German Mythology German Deities: Sonne the Sun Goddess This isn't surprising as records of German mythology south of the Norse are sparse. Tacitus got his information from Romans and German prisoners and coined the name Germania, but never traveled there himself. The Naharvali are a sub-group of the Lugii, Germanic people occupying central Germania and part of Silesia, now Poland, from 3rd century BCE to 5th century CE. They're identified with the Iron Age Przeworsk culture, so named due to archaelogical finds near the town of Przeworsk. Also considered part of the Przeworsk culture, the Germanic Vandals who lived in southern Poland may have been closely related or the same as the Lugii. The Vandals settled in Silesia and moved west due to pressure from encroaching Huns in the 5th century CE. See also: Mythic Fire Gods - Vulkan of Germania Women of the Wild Hunt: Holle, Diana, Frigg Silver - Queen of Precious Metals Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle After the sack of Rome by Alaric of the Visigoths, and pushed west by Huns and other groups fleeing the Huns, the Vandals moved in to establish kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands and North Africa. An origin myth suggests the Vandal kings are descendants of the Divine Twins. The Twins are rescuers, helpers and healers. They're always together. The mythologic hero figure Aurvandill, mentioned from the 8th century CE on, may be related to the Divine Twins. He appears in Proto-Indo-European and later lore. See also: Germanic Mythology - Brook Horses Butzemann, Witches & Nyx - Scare 'em Good Wine God Liber: Liberty & Liberal Libation According to scholar Donald Ward, the Divine Twins have specific traits such as dual paternity mention of a female figure (their mother or their sister) deities of fertility known by a single dual name or having rhymed/alliterative names associated with horses saviors at sea of astral nature protectors of oaths providers of divine aid in battle magic healers The Divine Twins have been compared to the zodiac Gemini twins Castor and Pollux. Pollux is the son of Zeus and Leda, from the famous story of Leda and the Swan. The father of Castor is Tyndareus, King of Sparta. Together Castor and Pollux are known as the Dioscuri. See also: German Nature Folklore - Fruit Trees Winter Tales - 4 Novellas Wiedergänger - the Undead Walk Again Pollux is immortal and asks Zeus to give Castor immortality too. Zeus puts the brothers in the sky as the constellation Gemini, which in Latin means simply Twins. Patrons of sailors and appearing as St Elmo's Fire, Castor and Pollux are also associated with horsemanship. From the Anglo-Saxon, twins Hengist and Horsa relate in some ways to the Proto-Indo-European Divine Twins. Their names mean 'Stallion' and 'Horse' and they come to the aid of the beleaguered British King Vortigern by sea. See also: German Myth - Father Rhine River God Reiker For Hire, Victorian Era & Nixies Ancient Deities: Proto Indo European Gods Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle In Vedic, Baltic and Greek tradition, the Divine Twins are the morning and the evening star. In Old Norse (c. 9 - 13th century CE) the name Haddingjar refers to Divine Twins, as well as descendants of the Vandals. Amphion and Zethus appear in Greco-Roman culture as another set of Divine Twins. Ancient Greek playwright Euripides calls them "Riders of White Horses". See also: Animal Spirits - Horse, Otter, Goose Song of the Loreley German Myth & Folklore: Elves Back to Top

Since early antiquity, the iron ore cerussite has yielded brilliant white and red pigments used in art and even medicine. In ancient history a mining site for cerussite is Anarak, Iran. Occurring in small quantities throughout the world, it's found with copper on Cyprus. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure See also: Castor Oil, Wigs & Death in Ancient Egypt Creation, Cattle & the Cosmic Cow Lapis Lazuli: Vibrant Blue Gem of Ancients Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Gorgeous but deadly, the product of cerussite is ceruse, also known as lead white, cerussa, lead-spar and white-lead-ore. Cerussite forms a fascinating complex of crystals. it's popular in paints until the 20th century. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure Lead is present in cerussite at about 77%. Extraction is by hydrolyzation or dissolution as lead is carried into the water. Historical uses of cerussa include application as an external medication, and as a pigment. See also: Carnelian - Gems of the Ancient World Wandering Womb - Ancient Medicine Great Women Artists - Käthe Kollwitz Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Greek philosopher Theophrastus (c. 300 BCE) describes the creation of ceruse in his book The Lead and Zinc Pigments. In the section History of Stones he writes "Lead is placed in earthen vessels over sharp vinegar, and after it has acquired some thickness of a sort of rust, which it commonly does in about ten days, they open the vessels and scrape it off, as it were, in a sort of foulness; they then place the lead over vinegar again, repeating over and over again the same method of scraping it till it has wholly dissolved. What has been scraped off they then beat to powder and boil for a long time, and what at last subsides to the bottom of the vessel is ceruse." See also: Agrippina & Son: Poisonous Plots of Rome Book of the Heavenly Cow - Myths of Egypt Cassiterite - Tin Source of Ancients Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books His writing greatly influences the practice of alchemy and even female beauty. Pale complexions appear through history. Famously, 16th century Elizabeth I of England uses ceruse as a face whitener. Lead poisoning is thought to contribute to her death at age 69. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure Roasting lead white creates the amazing red-orange pigment called minium in Latin. Minium is produced in China as early as 300 BCE. Under the Han Dynasty (c. 200 BCE - 200 CE) minium is known as cinnabar of lead. See also: Queen Eleanor & the Calamitous Crusade The Way to Aaru - Egyptian Paradise Obsidian: Volcanic Black Glass of Gods Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Romans call the new color red lead. Although red lead is almost insoluble in water and ethanol, it is soluble in the hydrochloric acid present in the stomach. This makes it toxic if ingested. Lead poisoning symptoms include body pain, seizures, vomiting and death. In traditional Chinese medicine, red lead is used to treat ringworms and ulcerations. Azarcón, a Mexican folk remedy for gastrointestinal disorders, contains up to 95% lead oxide. See also: Cattle Goddesses & the Cosmic Cow Kotharat - Bronze Age Birth Goddesses Turquoise: Precious Stone of Ancients Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The lead-producing mineral cerussite is used in crystal work or folk remedies to calm the nervous system. It's said to relieve anxiety, treat infertility problems and to ease stress during pregnancy and childbirth. Don't believe this. There is no safe level of lead. Early Romans find the pigment comparable to their own vermillion, which they call minium. Their pigment is finely ground from the source ore cinnabar. In natural state vermilion is an opaque, orange-red pigment the Romans associate with life force and blood. See also: Lead: Death Metal of Metallurgy Herbs & Natural Remedies - Ancient Egypt Garnets - Gemstones of Blood and Life Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Cinnabar contains mercury, a toxic metal. Many who extract the mercury ore pay a high price. Mercury poisoning presents symptoms of tremors, loss of muscle control, kidney damage, death. Barbarians are known to refuse Roman wine due to the sickness it causes. By the 8th century CE vermillion can be artificially produced. The maker treats mercury salts with hydrogen sulfide. This creates a black synthetic "metacinnabar". Once heated in water it produces the pigment vermillion. See also: Baltic Amber - Gold of the North Sacred Scarab: Lucky Bug of Ancient Egypt Hattusa Green Stone - Mystic Secrets Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The name minium is applied to vermillion, cinnabar and red lead pigments. Most often it's used to mean red lead, the color prized in illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages. Minium comes from medieval Latin. Originally a "miniature" refers to a work created with minium paint pigment. Miniature meaning 'small' comes from the size of manuscript paintings, which have to be small to fit into the page. See also: Lora Ley Adventures - Feast of Fools Nature Spirits of German Mythology Figs - Food of the Ancient World Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books According to Italian painter Cennino d'Andrea Cennini (c. 1360 - 1427 CE), "A color known as red lead is red, and it is manufactured by alchemy." Alchemy is trending in the Renaissance and Middle Ages. Another vibrant new color is Prussian blue. Red lead is used as a cheaper substitute for vermillion, or might be mixed in to extend the pigment. Vermillion is the favorite red hue for artists up to the 20th century, when cadmium red hits the market. It's also highly toxic. See also: Herbology & Lore: Poison Hemlock Amethyst - Divine Purple Quartz Gemstone Women of the Wild Hunt: Holle, Diana, Frigg Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Bernardinus Ramazzini, 18th century doctor from Italy, is the first to suggest illness affecting artists and workers may be lead or pigment poisoning. In his De Morbis Artificum Diatriba he writes, “Of the many painters I have known, almost all I found unhealthy … If we search for the cause of the cachectic and colorless appearance of the painters, as well as the melancholy feelings that they are so often victims of, we should look no further than the harmful nature of the pigments…” See also: Egyptian Blue Faience - Ceramic Glass Tooth Worms of Ancient Mesopotamia Bizilla - Shining Love Goddess Sukkal Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Thousands of paint and dye colors are on the market today. Toxic constituents of pigments, such as lead and mercury, have been replaced with safe elements. In most countries, products containing lead and other hazardous components are banned. See also: Soap & Medicine Herb of Ancients Bird Woman Elwetritsch: German Folklore Heqet, Frog Goddess of Egypt Back to Top

Lead is a highly toxic metal with a silvery sheen when polished and a grey surface when oxidized. A metal of antiquity, lead is in use by c. 6400 BCE. Lead almost never appears in raw or native form. Cerussite, a lead ore, is often found with copper, zinc and antimony. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure See also: Hashamili - Metal Work & Smith God Myth & Metallurgy - Metals of Antiquity Silver - Queen of Precious Metals Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The three lead ores are galena, cerussite and anglesite. They occur throughout the world in varying amounts. First evidence of lead smelting is at Çatalhöyük in Anatolia (Turkey), dating back to c. 6500 BCE. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure During the Bronze Age c. 3000 BCE, lead ore is mined in today's Asia Minor or ancient Anatolia. This area has a progressive metal culture with industrial quality steel produced by 1800 BCE, about six centuries before advent of the Iron Age. See also: Crocodilopolis - Sobek Crocodile God Neolithic Nubia & Early Egyptians Garnets - Gemstones of Blood and Life Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Lead occurs in the lustrous mineral galena (lead sulfide) also called lead glance, along with silver. Extracted lead also has a low melting point, liquifying at 700-800°F (370-425°C) within 5-10 minutes, and can be poured into molds. As it dissolves in water, lead is also extracted by hydration. Of the lead ores galena is especially attractive as it melts in the hand like magic, and also contains silver. Silver is desirable for decorations, jewelry and trade. See also: Medicine in Ancient Egypt: Ebers Papyrus Cress, Watercress: Natural Health of Ancients Arabian Leopard: Bronze Age Predators Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books As a result, lead ore deposits are worked in the ancient near East since the early Bronze Age. In ancient Rome, silver has strong commercial value. Isolating silver elements progresses to widespread extraction and use of lead. Lead is soluble in water, shown by the toxic nature of lead pipes, as levels of lead dissolve in water flow. Romans line coffins with lead, make pots and utensils. They use lead acetate as an artificial sweetener. Lead acetate solution is also a folk remedy for sore nipples. Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Beginning c. 2000 BCE, Phoenicians work lead ore deposits in the Iberian peninsula. By c.1600 BCE, lead and copper ore mines are established in Cyprus (then called Alashiya), Greece, and Sardinia. Cyprus is mined extensively for copper ore, a common companion of sulfite and lead ores. Smelting facilities are set up on the island by the 2nd millennium BCE. During the Bronze Age collapse of c.1200 BCE, the isle of Cyprus escapes with little sign of violence. See also: Copper - Ruddy Metal of Mystic Magic Wolpertinger - German Myths & Folklore Care & Feeding of Ancient Gods - Enlil Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Lead ores are also prolific in the Aegean and Laurion, Greece, mined from c. 3200 BCE. The three regions dominate production of mined lead ore until c. 1200 BCE. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure Lead sling bullets come into popular use in the first millennium BCE, effective to 100 - 150 m (328 - 492 ft). Fighting as mercenaries in Carthaginian and Roman troops, the Balearic slingers, from islands south of Spain, are famed for shooting distance and accuracy. See also: Ancient Marsh Muse - Rough Horsetail Fertility Rituals - the Sacrificial God Sprites: Ethereal Creatures of Faerie Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books For hundreds of years lead is used in abundance to make weapons, tools, water pipes, sinkers for fishing, tablets for writing upon, bullets, candlesticks, plaques, everyday items and special projects. In extracted form as a solid it can be shaped with ease. Lead is the metal of choice for people of the ancient world and antiquity who can't afford solid gold or silver objects. Lead is poured into a cast and used as the base metal for applications of gold and silver leaf, and an early version of tin foil. See also: Castor Oil, Wigs & Death in Ancient Egypt Turquoise: Precious Stone of Ancients Seduction of Hedammu, Father of Snakes Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Tin has been used since 3500 BCE, before the advent of the Bronze Age. It's the addition of tin to copper which creates bronze. Tin is typically added in small amounts to lead for casting. It keeps the lead from shrinking as it cools. Lead is instrumental in creating the early printing press. Letter blocks are made of 54 - 86% lead with addition of antimony, a lustrous grey metal with hardening properties, discovered in 1600 BCE. Antimony replaces tin in the creative process. See also: Wandering Womb - Ancient Medicine Creation, Cattle & the Cosmic Cow Kanesh (Kultepe): Kārum City of Trade Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle After Roman mine sources expire, miners turn to East Asia and China, where other viable deposits are found. In the Renaissance with the increased popularity of alchemy, lead is often used in experiments, hydrations and extractions. Blood poisoning from lead is thought to be the cause of death for Elizabeth I of England. She whitens her face with censure, or lead white. See also: Arsenic: Murderous Metal & Miracle Cure Al-Mi'raj: Unicorn Hare of Arab Myth Curse of the Evil Eye & Apotropaic Magic Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The face-whitening fad of aristocracy during the Renaissance is considered by the elite to be a sign of modesty. It grows to include powders and wigs. Lead poisoning is given as one possible cause of the fall of the Roman Empire. This theory is still debated. However lead poisoning is identified as the cause death for 18 children at a battery collection site in Dakar, Senegal in 2008. Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Almost half of all refined lead is recycled scrap. As it's heated to molten, inclusions come to the top in the form of dross, which is discarded. The lead can then be poured into molds or mixtures. Lead remains in use today in industry and luxury items like leaded glass. It's used as a glaze on ceramics, especially yellow and red hues. It may be found in antique mirrors. The 'lead' in pencils, graphite, is non-toxic. See also: Tooth Worms of Ancient Mesopotamia Nefertari Queen of Peace Ancient Egypt Bes: Household Protector God of Egypt Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Up to the 20th century visual artists use lead white paint, brightened by addition of lead, for its pure tone and superior coverage. It's still available as the elements are now non-toxic. In spiritual lore, lead is a metal of resurrection, awareness and transformation. A small amount occurs naturally in the bodies of humans and other animals. 95% of that is concentrated in bones and teeth. See also: Ancient Mesopotamian Cities - Uruk Before the Vikings - Nordic Bronze Age Ancient Wild Predators - Eurasian Lion Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books According to scientists there is no safe limit of exposure for lead. It's toxic especially for children. It can lead to brain damage, kidney damage and death. Symptoms of lead poisoning include: kidney affilictions & disease colic-like abdominal pains weakness in fingers, wrists, or ankles high blood pressure anemia in pregnant women, miscarriage in men, reduction of fertility Lead can occur in food plants are grown in soil high in lead. Airborne lead contaminates crops. Animals ingest lead in their diets; or, lead enters the food a vessel or storage container containing lead. See also: Rhinestones: Treasures of the Rhine Reiker For Hire, Victorian Era & Nixies Lamashtu, Baby-Eating Demon Goddess of Mesopotamia Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books A main aim of alchemists is chrysopoeia, from the Greek 'gold-making'. The process involves turning base metals into noble metals, especially lead into gold. Alchemists handle so many toxic substances it's easy to see where the mad scientist prototype comes from. Alchemy was banned for a while in 1404 CE because kings and rulers got nervous. If alchemy really does find a way to turn lead to gold, the whole economic system would collapse. The rich will no longer be rich, a terrifying concept for them. See also: Gold - Precious Metal of the Sun Wiedergänger - the Undead Walk Again Blacksmiths: Iron, Metal, Gods & Myth Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books After a couple hundred years, lobbying by scientists such as Sir Isaac Newton brings alchemy back to the sphere of legality. More recently, research find the fungus Aspergillus versicolor effective in absorbing lead from industrial waste before it's dumped into rivers. Other bacteria are also tested and found effective. One of the obvious questions here is why industrial waste continues to be dumped into water bodies in the first place. See also: Ereshkigal Goddess of Underworld & Night Asteria - Starry Gems of Myth & Magic Eye of Ra Egypt - Wrath of the Woman Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle In the 1920s, tetraethyl lead is added to gasoline to reduce engine knocking, wear and tear and other problems. Almost immediately, industry workers become violently ill and several die. At a manufacturing plant in New Jersey eight workers die between 1923 - 1925. When 44 workers at Standard Oil's plant are hospitalized, public outcry spotlights the crisis. Few changes appear until decades later, in the 1970s, when use of lead is phased out. Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Lead relates to the planet and god figure Saturn. He eats his children, but Zeus makes him spit them up again. Saturn is god of time, abundance, wealth, agriculture, cycles, rebirth and liberation. Saturn's reign is described as a Golden Age of prosperity and peace. See also: House Spirits of Germanic Mythology Sun Goddesses of World Mythology Hathor: Cosmic Cow Goddess of Ancient Egypt Back to Top

Semen in the ancient world is seen from a creative force to an unclean toxin. In early anatomical thinking the semen is stored in the head. It flows through the spine and bones. In Sumerian (c. 3400 BCE) water also means 'semen'. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure See also: Cattle Goddesses & the Cosmic Cow Eye of Ra Egypt - Wrath of the Woman Crocodilopolis - Sobek Crocodile God Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The God Enki, Lord of the Abzu or waters of creation, ejaculates to form the waters of earth. In ancient Mesopotamia the Abzu is the source of all life. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure In a story of Enki and how Enki got pregnant, the God eats eight sacred plants. The plants come from his own sperm, which is removed from the womb of Uttu, Enki's latest unwilling sexual conquest, by Mountain Mother Goddess Ninhursag, and cast into the ground. See also: Ninhursag - Great Mountain Mother Hathor: Cosmic Cow Goddess of Ancient Egypt Chicken Soup: Chickens in German Folklore Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle After eating the plants the God becomes ill with swellings. They form in his jaw, his teeth, his mouth, his hip, his throat, his limbs, his side and his rib. He's made himself pregnant and has no way to give birth. Although angry at Enki because he ate the sacred plants, Ninhursag takes pity on him. She receives Enki's ab (semen) and takes inside her the swellings and pain. See also: Teshub: Hurrian Bronze Age Storm God Kaska - Mountain Raiders of Anatolia Lelwani - Hittite Underworld Goddess Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Ninhursag gives birth to eight divinities: Abu - jaw - snake and vegetation god Nanshe - throat - goddess of marshes, nature, dream interpretation, justice Nintul - hip Ninsutu - tooth - medicine goddess, perhaps Ninkasi - mouth - goddess of beer and brewing Dazimua - side - name means 'water of life' Enshagag - limbs - god associated with date palms Ninti - rib See also: Ancient Egypt Remedies: Ebers Papyrus Scribes & Writing - Ancient Egypt Ereshkigal & the Mesopotamian Underworld Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books In Hurrian myth, the god Kumarbi becomes pregnant when he bites off the testicles of Sky God Anu. His head must be split so he can give birth to Teshub, the Storm God, his son and mortal enemy. New Guinea Among the Sambia tribe in Papua, many believe semen provides sexual maturity to the younger men. Semen of older men bestows manliness and wisdom to the younger. Younger men fellate their elders to receive their authority and powers, and enter adulthood. See also: Garnets - Gemstones of Blood and Life Al-Mi'raj: Unicorn Hare of Arab Myth Sun Goddesses of World Mythology Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books In the Hebrew bible, semen is impure. It's stated in Leviticus 15:16-18 and 32: "16 When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean till evening." Ancient Egypt In ancient Egypt, semen from masturbation of the self-created first god, Atum, gives life to the god of Air Shu and his consort Tefnut, the lion-headed goddess of moisture, dew and rain. Together Shu and Tefnut give birth to the primordial gods Geb (Earth) and Nut (Sky). See also: Hathor: Cosmic Cow Goddess of Ancient Egypt Book of the Heavenly Cow - Myths of Egypt Sistrum (Sistra) Music: Ancient Egypt Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Geb and Nut have sex, and Geb impregnates Nut. Shu separates Geb from Nut during the act of love, creating a space in which life can take place. This is depicted as Shu standing on or by a prone Geb, while lifting the arching body of Nut high overhead. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure In the Egyptian myth of the battle between gods Horus, the falcon-headed god, and Set, chaos god of storms and war. Set has sex with Horus either as a domination display, or by permission for a favor. See also: Mythic Fire Gods: Hephaestus of the Greek Women of the Wild Hunt: Holle, Diana, Frigg Kohl: Eye Beauty Magic of Ancients Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Set's semen is poisonous and makes Horus sick. In some stories Horus fools Set by catching the semen in his hand. After this, Goddess Isis has Horus ejaculate into a pot. She takes it to the garden of Set (Seth). The gardener tells her Set likes lettuce. Isis pours the semen of Horus onto the lettuce. When Set returns to the garden and eats the lettuce, he becomes pregnant by the semen of the falcon-headed god. Told what he's done, Set doesn't believe he ingested the semen of Horus. See also: Thoth - Ibis Scribe Moon God of Egypt The Way to Aaru - Egyptian Paradise Ancient Wild Predators - Eurasian Lion Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Horus and Set stand before the council of judgment, where god Thoth presides. Thoth puts his hands on Horus and calls upon the semen of Set to come out. Nothing happens. Thoth then puts his hands on Set and commands the semen of Horus to come out. The semen emerges as a golden solar disc upon Set’s forehead. See also: Benu - Ba Heron God of Ancient Egypt Aya - Goddess of Dawn, Mesopotamia Early Sun Mythology: Mid European Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Enraged, Set tries to take off the solar disc but cannot. Thoth removes the disc from Set's forehead and sets it as a crown on his own head. In this way both semen (virility, fertility) and falcons (Horus) are associated with kingship. The Babylonian Twelve Days of Zagmuk ritual falls on the first day of the first month, which used to be March. During this time the King must perform various tasks. One task is to have sex with a naditum priestess in a re-enactment of the mating of An (sky) and Ki (earth). See also: 12 Days of Zagmuk: Chaos & the King Queen Eleanor & the Calamitous Crusade Mot - Death & the Ugarit Underworld Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Chinese Medicine Jing - Qigong and Chinese medicine center on the energy force 精 (pinyin: jīng). The word also means essence or spirit. Jing is important to develop and accumulate. As sexual energy it dissipates with ejaculation. The act of masturbation is considered energy suicide. Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Problems arise because, according to Qigong theory, energy from many pathways and meridians becomes diverted during sexual excitement. Jing transfers itself to the sexual organs. The orgasm and ejaculation expel the energy from the system completely. See also: Reiker For Hire, Victorian Era & Nixies Turquoise: Precious Stone of Ancients Steppe Trade Routes: Before the Silk Roads Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books The scientific term for semen in Chinese is 精液 (pinyin: jīng yè, literally: fluid of essence/jing) and the term for sperm is 精子 (pinyin: jīng zǐ, literally: basic element of essence/jing). Medicine of India In Ayurveda, semen is said to be made from forty drops of blood. It is considered to be the end of the food digestion cycle. See also: Ephedra - Oldest Medical Stimulant Herb Before the Viking Age - Gods of the Sámi Alchemist Dippel: the Frankenstein Files Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books A natural system of medicine, Ayurveda originates in India from an oral tradition as far back as c. 5000 BCE. Its practice is widespread today in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. One of the key aspects of Hindu religion is abstinence called brahmacharya. It can be lifelong or during a specific period or on specific days. Brahmacharya attaches great importance to semen retention. Self-restraint is a virtue. See also: Soap & Medicine Herb of Ancients Sacrifice of the Male: Temple at Uppsala Scorpion Men of Babylonia Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Abstinence is important to enlightenment. Brahmacharya is more than celibacy, it is a spiritual state. A person strives to completely control body and mind through ascetic means. Yogic texts also emphasize the importance of semen retention. It's featured in yoga such as Mula Bandha and Aswini Mudra. Awini Mudra is also known as the Horse stance. See also: Carnelian - Gems of the Ancient World Herbology & Lore: Stinging Nettle Ancient Deities: Proto Indo European Gods Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Ashwini mudra exercises the muscles of the rectum, colon and perineum. It increases blood flow to the penis. It releases abdominal stiffness under the navel. This is an exercise for men with premature ejaculation, or those who want to withhold or control semen release. Mul bandha or root lock draws the root chakra (Muladhara) up and in. The root chakra is at the base of the torso, or perineum, the area between the anus and genitals. Its color is red and it's associated with a lotus of 4 red petals. See also: Khella - Ancient Health & Herbology Land of Punt: Pre-Bronze Age Kingdom of Riches Nefertari Queen of Peace Ancient Egypt Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books In Sanskrit, the planet Venus is called Shukra or zukra, meaning semen. Greek philosophy In Ancient Greece, Aristotle (4th century BCE) has a lot to say about semen: "... semen is the residue derived from nourishment, that is of blood, that has been highly concocted to the optimum temperature and substance. This can only be emitted by the male as only the male, by nature of his being, has the heat required to concoct blood into semen." See also: Herbs & Natural Remedies - Ancient Egypt Neolithic Nubia & Early Egyptians Bronze Age Europe - The Amber Roads Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle According to Aristotle, there is a direct connection between food and semen: "Sperms are the excretion of our food, or to put it more clearly, as the most perfect component of our food." The connection between food and physical growth, on the one hand, and semen, on the other, gives Aristotle the forum to warn against engaging in sexual activity at too early an age. He say this will "affect the growth of their bodies". See also Bizilla - Shining Love Goddess Sukkal Medicine in Ancient Egypt: Ebers Papyrus Abu - Ancient Vegetation Snake God Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Aristotle contends that vital nourishment for the growth of the body is used in production of semen. Sexual activity should begin when growth is no longer abundant. When the body reaches full height, transformation of nourishment into semen won't drain growth essence. Aristotle also describes the region around the eyes as the part of the head most fruitful of seed. The effects of sexual indulgence upon the eyes recognizes the seed as coming from the head, specifically the liquid area of the eye. See also: Tooth Worms of Ancient Mesopotamia Disease Demons & Doctors: Ancient Mesopotamia Dream Interpretation (Oneiromancy) - Ancient Egypt Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Pythagoreans profess semen is a drop of the brain [τὸ δε σπέρμα εἶναι σταγόνα ἐγκέφαλου]. Greek Stoic philosophy conceives of the Logos spermatikos ("seminal word") as the principle of active reason rendering passive matter fertile. The Jewish philosopher Philo speaks in sexual terms of the Logos as the masculine principle of reason which sows seeds of virtue in the feminine soul. Christian Platonist Clement of Alexandria likens the Logos to physical blood as the substance of the soul. See also: Giant Cinnamon Birds of Arabia Copper - Ruddy Metal of Mystic Magic Cress, Watercress: Natural Health of Ancients Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Clement notes the belief of animal semen as foam of the animal's blood. Clement purveys an early Christian view that "the seed ought not be wasted nor scattered thoughtlessly nor sown in a way it cannot grow." In the world of ancient medicine, women are believed to have their own version of semen, stored in the womb and released during climax. Retention was believed to cause hysteria. See also: Women of Alchemy - Mary the Jewess Erinyes - Vengeful Women of Ancient Greece Ushumgallu: Dragon Lion Snake Sukkal Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle The term hysteria is first noted in ancient Egyptian medicine of c. 2000 BCE. The ancients perceive feminine issues as a "wandering womb", believing the womb travels around in the body. Male hysteria is known since the mid-19th century, but connected to trauma and not sexuality. In a sexual context, in the Victorian era men are considered vulnerable to spermatorrhoea. See also: Brunhilde: Tragic Germanic Warrior Queen Saffron - Most Precious Ancient Spice Nanaya - Goddess of Erotic Love Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Spermatorrhoea, or involuntary release of semen without sexual stimulation, is seen as a medical disorder with corrupting and devastating effects on mind and body. Treatment is enforced chastity, avoidance of masturbation, and possibly circumcision. See also: Lord Rodent (Ninkilim) Sumerian Pest God Ornithomancy - Prophecy by the Birds Sulfur - Treasure of the Underworld Back to Top

Antelope dung, lizard blood, mother's milk and a crocodile effigy tied to the head are just a few of the recommended medical treatments of the ancient Egyptian Ebers Papyrus. Many Egyptian medical remedies and procedures intrigue and inspire the later Greeks. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure See also: Herbs & Natural Remedies - Ancient Egypt Medicine in Ancient Egypt: Ebers Papyrus Thoth - Ibis Scribe Moon God of Egypt Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books In Egypt, the first evidence of medical treatments appear c. 3400 BCE. By c. 2000 BCE Egyptian medicine reaches unprecedented heights. Like early metallurgy, some branches will lead to later practices in alchemy, a subject of fascination in Egypt. Doctors in ancient Egypt study at the House of Life. By the Late Period c 800 BCE, every town and city has a House of Life. The original is said to be the creation of Thoth, the Egyptian god of scribes, medicine, measurement, wisdom and the moon. See also: Alchemy: Science, Philosophy, Magic Apis - Sacred Fertility Bull of Egypt Nature Spirits of German Mythology Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle The House of Life is a compendium of knowledge on many subjects, including copies of the Pharaoh's correspondence, administrative records, magic spells, legal documents and medical treatments. The only way to become a doctor in ancient Egypt is to study the written works and drawings of those who come before and apply them in practice. Deviations from specific proven treatments can lead to legal punishment; or, if a patient dies, the death sentence. left - seal impression with the words pr anx - 'house of life' See also: German Folklore - Irrwurz or Mad Root Egyptian Blue Faience - Ceramic Glass Bronze Age Europe - The Amber Roads Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Ancient Egyptian medical writings often center on eye disease. Remedies documented in the Ebers Papyrus are varied, and include: READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure Birth control: "To prevent conception, smear a paste of dates, acacia, and honey to wool and apply as a pessary" (vaginal insert). See also: Herbs & Natural Remedies - Ancient Egypt Elderberry Tree: Germanic Nature Lore Gold - Precious Metal of the Sun Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Diabetes mellitus: "Drink a mixture including elderberry, asit plant fibers, milk, beer-swill, cucumber flowers, and green dates." Guinea-worm (Dracunculus medinensis) disease: "Wrap the emerging end of the worm around a stick and slowly pull it out." This remains the standard treatment. Guinea worm disease is caused by life cycle and emergence of the worm, typically in tropics where medical treatment is unavailable. See also: Cress, Watercress: Natural Health of Ancients Caspian Tiger: Bronze Age Wild Predators Disease Demons & Doctors: Ancient Mesopotamia Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Bleary eyes: Combine the following ingredients into a paste to apply to the bleary eyed patient: Myrrh, Onions, Verdigris (green copper salts) and Cyperus (sedge) from the North. Add with Antelope dung, Clear Oil, and Entrails of the qadit animal. This could be painted on with a Vulture's feather." See also: Myrrh - Mystique, Death & Divinity The Way to Aaru - Egyptian Paradise Natron - Ancient Embalming & Household Salts Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books To drive Blood from the eyes: create two substances, one from powdered fruit of the donpalm and milk of a woman who has borne a son. The other Cow's Milk. Then in the morning bathe both eyes from the first mixture. After that, wash the eyes with Cow's milk four times for six days. See also: Butter - Food of Peasants & Barbarians Tooth Worms of Ancient Mesopotamia A Myth of Hahhima, Frost Demon God Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Xanthelasma - harmless yellow bump(s) on or near eyelid skin. A type of xanthoma or cholesterol deposit, a xanthelasma can be soft, chalky or semi-solid. Treatment: Use a combination of red lead, Goose Grease, and Ginger to coat the eyes. READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure Pterygium - wedge-shaped growth over eye. It can affect other parts of the body. Apply a mixture of red lead (minium); powdered wood from Arabia; Iron from Apollonopolis Parvis (city on the Nile); Calamine (zinc oxide), Egg of an ostrich, Saltpeter from upper Egypt, Sulfur, and honey to the eyes. See also: Garnets - Gemstones of Blood and Life Curse of the Evil Eye & Apotropaic Magic Baba Yaga - Slavic Forest Witch Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle For an Ear-that-Discharges-foul-smelling-Matter, an application of Incense-in-Goose-Grease ground up with Cream-from-the-Milk-of-a-Cow in various grains is recommended. A mix of Ass’s Ear, Red-lead, Caraway and Olive Oil, can also be squirted into the Ear. Trichiasis: a common eyelid problem. Lashes grow in toward the eye. Eyelashes rub the cornea, conjunctiva and inner surface of the eyelids. Treatment: Combine Myrrh, Lizard's blood, Bat's Blood. Tear out the Hairs and Put thereon in order to make him well. See also: Turquoise: Precious Stone of Ancients Egyptian Blue - First Synthetic Color Sacred Scarab: Lucky Bug of Ancient Egypt Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Then use a mixture of Incense ground in lizard's dung, Cow's blood, Donkey's Blood, Pig's blood, Dog's blood, Stag's blood, Collyrium, and Incense to prevent the hair from growing back into the eye after being pulled out. Eye remedy for damage done by evil: A Human Brain - Divide it in halves. To one half add Honey and anoint the Eye therewith in the Evening. Dry the other half, crush, powder, and anoint the Eye therewith in the Morning. See also: Apep - Primal Chaos God of Egypt Egyptian Blue Lotus: Visionary Beauty Salt Trade - the Most Precious Mineral Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Blindness: Use two eyes of a pig with the water removed from them, True Collyrium (an eye wash), red lead, and Wild Honey to create a powder and inject it into the ear. While mixing, repeat incantation twice: "I HAVE BROUGHT THIS THING AND PUT IT IN ITS PLACE. THE CROCODILE IS WEAK AND POWER- LESS." See also: Queen Eleanor & the Calamitous Crusade Nigella Sativa: Black Seed of Healers Winter Tales - 4 Novellas Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Constipation: Chew bits of berry along with beer to relieve the constipation. Migraines: A clay effigy of a crocodile with herbs stuffed into its mouth is bound to the head of the patient by a linen strip, which is inscribed with names of Egyptian gods. This treatment is said to get rid of the evil spirits and demons causing pain. Recurring Headaches: Combine the inner of an onion, fruit of the am tree, natron, setseft seeds, cooked bones of a swordfish, cooked redfish, cooked crayfish skull, honey, and abra ointment. Apply to the head for four days. See also: Hattusa Green Stone - Mystic Secrets Anubis: Jackal-Headed God of Egypt Sekhmet - War Goddess of Ancient Egypt Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Burn wound prevention: use a frog and warm it in oils and rub the afflicted spot, or warm an electric eel's head in oils and apply it to the burn site. Diabetes: cakes, wheat, corn and grits. Miosis (over-constriction of the eye pupil): small shavings of ebony wood and saltpeter. Corneal Opacity (scarring of the cornea of the eye): place powdered granite in a cloth and then upon the afflicted eye. See also: Seshat - Scribe Goddess Ancient Egypt Sherden Sea Peoples in Ancient Egypt Lapis Lazuli: Vibrant Blue Gem of Ancients Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Bilharzia, a disease caused by worms; and Hookworms, intestinal, parasitic blood-feeding roundworms. They cause the types of infection helminthiases. Treatment: warm the Jochauflegung ("yoke application" possibly nexus or central core) of the sau (baobab) wood in oil and give to the patient. The plant Ammi visnaga commonly known as khella is also considered effective for bilharzia and related conditions. To strengthen the nervous system: use a poultice of flesh of a fat cow applied to the body part which needs the strengthening. See also: Nekhbet - Vulture Goddess of Egypt Sprites: Ethereal Creatures of Faerie Sistrum (Sistra) Music: Ancient Egypt Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books Coryza (inflammation of mucous membrane in the nose): "Spit it out, thou Slime, Son of Slime: Grasp the bones, touch the skull, smear with tallow, give the patient, seven openings in the head, serve the god Ra, thank the god Thoth. "Then I brought thy remedy for thee, thy drink for thee, to drive away, to heal it: Milk-of-a-Woman-who-has-Borne-a-Son and Fragrant Bread. The Foulness rises form out the Earth! The Foulness!" Four times to be spoken over the Milk-of-a-Woman-who-has-Borne-a-Son and Fragrant Bread; put in the nose." See also: Music of Ancient & Medieval Egypt Dream Interpretation (Oneiromancy) - Ancient Egypt Shen Rings Egypt - Divine Protection Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books To prevent fleas and lice, mix date-meal and water in bowls. Cook the mixture until warm. Drink and spit it out. To protect grain and repel rodents and vermin, sprinkle gazelle dung and mouse urine around the granary fire. One of the more common remedies described in the papyrus is yellow ochre, or medicinal clay. Yellow ochre is widely used as medicine. Some ochres have an antacid and soothing effect on the digestive system. See also: Heqet, Frog Goddess of Egypt Rhinestones: Treasures of the Rhine Cyclades Islands: Paradise of Ancients Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction Series Reiker For Hire Murder Mysteries Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle Ochre is a family of earth pigments. Colors include earth yellow ochre, red ochre, purple ochre, sienna, and umber. The major ingredient of ochres is iron(III) oxide-hydroxide or limonite. Red ochre's color comes from the mineral hematite, an iron oxide. Purple ochre is a similar source with different light refraction. Brown ochre, also called goethite, is a partly hydrated iron oxide. Ochre is favored for painting walls in the ancient Mediterranean world. See also: Song of the Loreley Amethyst - Divine Purple Quartz Gemstone Anzû - Mesopotamian Monster of Mayhem Today's Zazzle Specials Smashwords Books For health, ochres are rich in iron. Reportedly, ingesting ochre can combat lethargy and fatigue and perk up the metabolism. In ancient Egypt ochre is used to treat nausea. See also: Nanshe - Nature Goddess of Dreams Khet, the Body: Death Rites of Ancient Egypt Wadjet - Winged Snake Goddess of Egypt Back to Top