RE: The dawn of civilization
December 13, 2018 at 1:26 pm
(This post was last modified: December 13, 2018 at 1:54 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
It's certainly clear that the basic thematic elements of religious thought predate history, and the manner in which they're expressed in the early ancient period gives us some indication of how that panned out. The proto semetic mythos is, for example, a conflict between agriculturalists and pastoralists that predates the written word, proceeds through the pheonicion incursion, and extends all the way up to assyrian transportation. Culturally, the pastoralists were clear winners, even though they were forced to broadly assume the agriculturalists methodology as a matter of practical and political necessity.
Some of the most memorable lines from the OT express this relationship as it developed to it's final terminus. Even more interesting, is the manner in which the inciting events have been garbled by the effect of time and propagandists. It's also the explanation for some of the most absurd (and commonly derided) bits of leviticus. While some cannot help but be incredulous and others see advice far more forward thinking than would be warranted in one's wildest dreams.....placed in their actual context they became almost "Oh...that? Well, yeah sure, no shit, now I see it" kind of things.
Cain and Abel, for example..not proper names. They're descriptors. The story understood for it's origins and linguistics should read, "there was once a farmer and a shepherd". The line about beating swords into plowshares was legit, but in the reverse, concerning a conquering agriculturalist prohibition against metalworking by pastoralists for fear of insurrection, and the prohibition against poly blend cloth and specific threads in conjunction a remnant of that same. Just as a few of my favorite examples.
It wasn't actually clear, until well into history....which side would ultimately prevail (and particularly when that dispute become cultural rather than practical) - yet another reason for the slow uptake of agriculture. Despite it's crushing dominance today, it wasn't always such an easy call to make.
-and don't even get me started on the proto-european mythos.........those poor bastards had it rough, lol. The only place we can look to see cultural and practical disputes resolved in pre-history is mesoamerica. In their context, all historic instances of religious observance center around a monoculture. Hi, I'm corn..I'm -still- in everything! There's a rough rule of early ancient religious and cultural norms that you can separate by latitudinal bands - with some notable exceptions generally due to unique circumstances of the society involved, either the isolation...or the harshness or suitability of some local environment with respect to their contemporaries.
FWIW, nothing says "Chosen of the Gods" quite like watching all those non-human psuedo people starving.
Some of the most memorable lines from the OT express this relationship as it developed to it's final terminus. Even more interesting, is the manner in which the inciting events have been garbled by the effect of time and propagandists. It's also the explanation for some of the most absurd (and commonly derided) bits of leviticus. While some cannot help but be incredulous and others see advice far more forward thinking than would be warranted in one's wildest dreams.....placed in their actual context they became almost "Oh...that? Well, yeah sure, no shit, now I see it" kind of things.
Cain and Abel, for example..not proper names. They're descriptors. The story understood for it's origins and linguistics should read, "there was once a farmer and a shepherd". The line about beating swords into plowshares was legit, but in the reverse, concerning a conquering agriculturalist prohibition against metalworking by pastoralists for fear of insurrection, and the prohibition against poly blend cloth and specific threads in conjunction a remnant of that same. Just as a few of my favorite examples.
It wasn't actually clear, until well into history....which side would ultimately prevail (and particularly when that dispute become cultural rather than practical) - yet another reason for the slow uptake of agriculture. Despite it's crushing dominance today, it wasn't always such an easy call to make.
-and don't even get me started on the proto-european mythos.........those poor bastards had it rough, lol. The only place we can look to see cultural and practical disputes resolved in pre-history is mesoamerica. In their context, all historic instances of religious observance center around a monoculture. Hi, I'm corn..I'm -still- in everything! There's a rough rule of early ancient religious and cultural norms that you can separate by latitudinal bands - with some notable exceptions generally due to unique circumstances of the society involved, either the isolation...or the harshness or suitability of some local environment with respect to their contemporaries.
FWIW, nothing says "Chosen of the Gods" quite like watching all those non-human psuedo people starving.
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