The motifs composing the universal “mono-myth”.
Part Three, “Judges”
In the Atrahasis epic narrative when the gods decided to create the human race called the goddess Nintu:
[Saying: “The creatress of mankind] we call thee;
[The mistr]ess of all the gods be thy name!”
[They went] to the House of Fate,
[Nin]igiku-Ea (and) the wise Mama.
[Fourteen mother]-wombs were assembled.(ANET, pp. 99-100)
The goddess, who is called Mother-womb herself: ”thou art the mother-womb, the one who creates mankind” (Old Babylonian text) in order to create humans has to call a number of mother-wombs. Indeed, these fourteen mother-wombs produced seven men and seven women.
Those mother-wombs were obviously the ones raped by the Bulls. The mothers were expected to give birth to pure sons of Bulls so that the population of the master race of the Shepherds/Bulls would be increased but also to produce hybrid offspring needed to serve the master race. The girls remained where born and contributed to the production side by side with their mothers and grandmothers because the gods are reported to have had sex with their daughters, grand daughters and great grand daughters.
In the Sumerian myth “Enki and Ninhursag,” Enki impregnates the goddess Ninhursag (Nintu), “the mother of the land,” who gives birth to the goddess Ninmu. Enki then proceeds to impregnate his daughter Ninmu, who gives birth to the goddess named Ninkurra. Enki then impregnates his granddaughter Ninkurra and the latter gives birth to the goddess Uttu, whom Enki impregnates too.
Poured the semen in the womb of Ninhursag.
She took the semen into the womb, the semen of Enki. (lines 76-77)
He embraced her, he kissed her (Ninmu)
Enki poured the semen in the womb,
She took the semen into the womb, the semen of Enki. (lines 100-103)
Enki poured the semen in the womb [of Ninkurra] (line 121)
She took the semen into the womb, the semen of Enki,
Uttu the fair lady…,(lines 184-185)(ANET, pp.39-40)
Most probably some girls would have been used to serve the masters other than sexually but it is only the “sons of gods” that the master race was interested in. The male hybrids had to be evaluated and classified: the pure ones would be accepted as members of the master race, the hybrids would be used as slaves and those found with no master-race blood in their veins would be exterminated.
The evaluation was realized by the famous “Judgment” which the males had to undergo when approaching adulthood.
The older religious texts of the humanity, the Egyptian funerary texts, are not but prayers recited by the man undergoing judgment expressing his hopes that he will be found to be physically identical with the members of the master race.
From the Coffin Texts:
The gods who act on [my(?) behalf [ . . . ] as Lord of eternity. I wish that you would give me a god-like body . (Spell 827, Faulkner, p. 17)
In order for the judging gods to be persuaded that the man in fron of them (in this case king Pepi Meryre) does have a god’s body, every member of the body of the man is verified as coming from the body of a god or deity (the ba, for example).
Utterance 539 (James Allen translating)
RECITATION. The head of this Meryre is that of a vulture, as he
emerges and ascends to the sky.
The sides of the head of this Pepi are those of Her of a Thousand Bas
of a God, as [he] emerges and [ascends] to the sky.
This Pepi’s ears are those of the Watery One and Nu,…
The face of this Pepi is that of Paths-Parter,…
Meryre’s eyes are the great goddess at the fore of the bas of Heliopolis,…
The nose of this Pepi is that of Thoth,
The mouth of this Meryre is that of the great To-and-Fro canal,
The tongue of this Pepi is that of the guide for the Maat-boat,
This Pepi’s teeth are bas,
[This Meryre’s] lips [are Shu] and Tefnut,
The chin of this Pepi is that of Kherti, foremost of Letopolis,
The neck-vertebra of this Pepi is that of a wild bull,
This Pepi’s shoulders and upper arms are those of Seth,
The [right arm and hand] of this Meryre is that of the western [ba, as]
The left arm and hand] of Pepi is that of the eastern ba,
The chest of this Meryre is that of Bastet,
The belly of this Meryre is that of Nut,
This Pepi’s back is that of Geb,
This [Pepi’s spine] is that of the Dual Ennead,
This Pepi’s rear is that of Heqet,
This Meryre’s buttocks are those of the Nightboat and Dayboat,
The penis of this Pepi is that of the Apis,
Meryre’s thighs are those of Neith and Selket,
This Meryre’s lower legs are those of the two bas at the fore of the Marsh of the Limit,
This Meryre’s feet are those of the two Maat-boats,
Pepi’s toes are those of the bas of Heliopolis,
The Egyptian priesthood that inherited the texts preached a judgment of the dead and thus the life after judgment became a life after death. The requirement, however, for the transformation of man into god was passed on to the Greek culture as orphic prayers and thus golden sheets were placed in the graves to help the dead go successfully through the judgment awaiting him/her. The difference being that on the golden sheets the pronouncement of the verdict had been retained:
Θεός εγένου εξ ανθρώπου, from man you became a god
ίθι δία γεγώσα, go, you became a goddess
θεός δ’ έσηι αντί βροτοίο, you will be god instead of man .
(“Presocratic philosophers”, KAKTOS publishing, 806 p.710
The insanity of the resulting situation, being the realization that the dead should be provided with a decent body for his judgment, forced the priests to resort to mummification.
To be continued…
Part Three, “Judges”
In the Atrahasis epic narrative when the gods decided to create the human race called the goddess Nintu:
[Saying: “The creatress of mankind] we call thee;
[The mistr]ess of all the gods be thy name!”
[They went] to the House of Fate,
[Nin]igiku-Ea (and) the wise Mama.
[Fourteen mother]-wombs were assembled.(ANET, pp. 99-100)
The goddess, who is called Mother-womb herself: ”thou art the mother-womb, the one who creates mankind” (Old Babylonian text) in order to create humans has to call a number of mother-wombs. Indeed, these fourteen mother-wombs produced seven men and seven women.
Those mother-wombs were obviously the ones raped by the Bulls. The mothers were expected to give birth to pure sons of Bulls so that the population of the master race of the Shepherds/Bulls would be increased but also to produce hybrid offspring needed to serve the master race. The girls remained where born and contributed to the production side by side with their mothers and grandmothers because the gods are reported to have had sex with their daughters, grand daughters and great grand daughters.
In the Sumerian myth “Enki and Ninhursag,” Enki impregnates the goddess Ninhursag (Nintu), “the mother of the land,” who gives birth to the goddess Ninmu. Enki then proceeds to impregnate his daughter Ninmu, who gives birth to the goddess named Ninkurra. Enki then impregnates his granddaughter Ninkurra and the latter gives birth to the goddess Uttu, whom Enki impregnates too.
Poured the semen in the womb of Ninhursag.
She took the semen into the womb, the semen of Enki. (lines 76-77)
He embraced her, he kissed her (Ninmu)
Enki poured the semen in the womb,
She took the semen into the womb, the semen of Enki. (lines 100-103)
Enki poured the semen in the womb [of Ninkurra] (line 121)
She took the semen into the womb, the semen of Enki,
Uttu the fair lady…,(lines 184-185)(ANET, pp.39-40)
Most probably some girls would have been used to serve the masters other than sexually but it is only the “sons of gods” that the master race was interested in. The male hybrids had to be evaluated and classified: the pure ones would be accepted as members of the master race, the hybrids would be used as slaves and those found with no master-race blood in their veins would be exterminated.
The evaluation was realized by the famous “Judgment” which the males had to undergo when approaching adulthood.
The older religious texts of the humanity, the Egyptian funerary texts, are not but prayers recited by the man undergoing judgment expressing his hopes that he will be found to be physically identical with the members of the master race.
From the Coffin Texts:
The gods who act on [my(?) behalf [ . . . ] as Lord of eternity. I wish that you would give me a god-like body . (Spell 827, Faulkner, p. 17)
In order for the judging gods to be persuaded that the man in fron of them (in this case king Pepi Meryre) does have a god’s body, every member of the body of the man is verified as coming from the body of a god or deity (the ba, for example).
Utterance 539 (James Allen translating)
RECITATION. The head of this Meryre is that of a vulture, as he
emerges and ascends to the sky.
The sides of the head of this Pepi are those of Her of a Thousand Bas
of a God, as [he] emerges and [ascends] to the sky.
This Pepi’s ears are those of the Watery One and Nu,…
The face of this Pepi is that of Paths-Parter,…
Meryre’s eyes are the great goddess at the fore of the bas of Heliopolis,…
The nose of this Pepi is that of Thoth,
The mouth of this Meryre is that of the great To-and-Fro canal,
The tongue of this Pepi is that of the guide for the Maat-boat,
This Pepi’s teeth are bas,
[This Meryre’s] lips [are Shu] and Tefnut,
The chin of this Pepi is that of Kherti, foremost of Letopolis,
The neck-vertebra of this Pepi is that of a wild bull,
This Pepi’s shoulders and upper arms are those of Seth,
The [right arm and hand] of this Meryre is that of the western [ba, as]
The left arm and hand] of Pepi is that of the eastern ba,
The chest of this Meryre is that of Bastet,
The belly of this Meryre is that of Nut,
This Pepi’s back is that of Geb,
This [Pepi’s spine] is that of the Dual Ennead,
This Pepi’s rear is that of Heqet,
This Meryre’s buttocks are those of the Nightboat and Dayboat,
The penis of this Pepi is that of the Apis,
Meryre’s thighs are those of Neith and Selket,
This Meryre’s lower legs are those of the two bas at the fore of the Marsh of the Limit,
This Meryre’s feet are those of the two Maat-boats,
Pepi’s toes are those of the bas of Heliopolis,
The Egyptian priesthood that inherited the texts preached a judgment of the dead and thus the life after judgment became a life after death. The requirement, however, for the transformation of man into god was passed on to the Greek culture as orphic prayers and thus golden sheets were placed in the graves to help the dead go successfully through the judgment awaiting him/her. The difference being that on the golden sheets the pronouncement of the verdict had been retained:
Θεός εγένου εξ ανθρώπου, from man you became a god
ίθι δία γεγώσα, go, you became a goddess
θεός δ’ έσηι αντί βροτοίο, you will be god instead of man .
(“Presocratic philosophers”, KAKTOS publishing, 806 p.710
The insanity of the resulting situation, being the realization that the dead should be provided with a decent body for his judgment, forced the priests to resort to mummification.
To be continued…
"Culture is memory"
Yuri Lotman
Yuri Lotman
