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The Sky as a cow, supported by Shu and other gods. Across her body are the stars, and the barks of the sun. (Tomb of Seti I)
413 visits
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To the Egyptians there was no god of higher than the sun god, who was regarded as the sole creator, and ruler of the world; from the bark in which he traversed the heavens,
the great god, the gor of heaven governed all things, and who-soeve in daily life merely speaks of the god, he will think of him.
233 visits
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Another important centre of the worship of the sun god, was Edfu in Upper Egypt, where even now his temple stands complete.
Here originated the remarkable figure of the god which represents him as the sun with multicoloured wings as he flies across the heavens triumphant over his enemies. This figure of Horus of Edfu (or, as he was usually styled, he of Edfu) is placed over the gateways of the temples to keep out all evil things.
222 visits
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That they [the Hittites] thoroughly cherished wine may be seen from the accompanying illustration, which represents one of their deities, who appears to be a compound of Bacchus and Ceres, and aptly illustrative of the two good things of those countries, corn and wine, which, with the olive and honey, made an earthly Paradise for the inhabitants thereof. It shows how much they appreciated wine, when they deified it.
510 visits
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Image 7960
229 visits
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The Trimurti or three-headed deity in the caves of Elephanta.
This is a sculpture of the most remote antiquity, but the dress, the beads, the sacred cord and other religious symbols declare it to be the work of Hindoos. In anthropomorphising the Deity, men always adopt their own typical countenance for that of their God. Hence their idols betray the national features. Now, observe the profiles of Vishnu and Siva in this Trimurti.
618 visits
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Bes seems also to have been a divinity of the same class {Evil Gods]. He was represented as a hideous dwarf, with large outstanding ears, bald, or with a plume of feathers on his head, and with a lion-skin down his back, often carrying in his two hands two knives.
855 visits
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It was a peculiar feature of the Egyptian religion, that it contained distinctively evil and malignant gods. Set was not, originally, such a deity; but he became such in course of time, and was to the later Egyptians the very principle of evil—Evil personified. Another evil deity was Taour or Taourt, who is represented as a hippopotamus standing on its hind-legs, with the skin and tail of a crocodile dependent down its back, and a knife or a pair of shears in one hand.
711 visits
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Another representation of the Elephant-headed Rain god. He is holding thunderbolts, conventionalised in a hand-like form. The Serpent is converted into a sac, holding up the rain-waters.
620 visits
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Reproduction of a Picture in the Maya Codex Troano
I reproduce here a remarkable drawing from the Codex Troano, in which this god, whom the Maya people called Chac, is shown pouring the rain out of a water-jar (just as the deities of Babylonia and India are often represented), and putting his foot upon the head of a serpent, who is preventing the rain from reaching the earth. Here we find depicted with childlike simplicity and directness the Vedic conception of Indra overcoming the demon Vritra. Stempell describes this scene as "the elephant-headed god B standing upon the head of a serpent"; while Seler, who claims that god B is a tortoise, explains it as the serpent forming a footstool for the rain-god.
368 visits
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Babylonian Weather God
691 visits
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The image of the sun is held up by a man in front of his face; two men blow conch-shell trumpets; another pair burn incense, and a third pair make blood-offerings by piercing their ears.
612 visits
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A drawing made from the Pandora Vase, dated
460 B.C., in the Ashmolean Museum, and is given as an example of the
treatment adopted by Greek artists in delineating the following garments
It represents Zeus (on the left), Hermes and Hercules, wearing respectively the himation, chlamys, and kolobus. Pandora wears the Ionic
crinkled chiton, and a small himation, which is nothing more than a
veil, over an elaborate stephane. Eros is holding her girdle.
419 visits
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This Doric chiton is often seen on statues and paintings of Greek goddesses. The shoulders and breast part were usually surmounted by the "AEgis," a sort of scaled cape-cuirass. Athena is generally represented wearing it
558 visits
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An altar stands before the statue of Venus. In pre-Roman times this may have been the only shrine in the city at which worship was offered to Herentas; for by that name the goddess of love was known in the native speech. Venus as goddess of the Roman colony, was represented in an altogether different guise, and had a special place of worship elsewhere
1264 visits
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This trinity consisted of the god Serapis (= Osiris + Apis), the goddess Isis (= Hathor, the cow-moon goddess), and the child-god Horus. In one way or another almost every other god was identified with one or other of these three aspects of the one God, even the sun god Mithras of the Persians.
771 visits
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In all these temples there was a shrine; dominating the shrine there was commonly a great figure, usually of some monstrous half-animal form, before which stood an altar for sacrifices. This figure was either regarded as the god or as the image or symbol of the god, for whose worship the temple existed. And connected with the temple there were a number, and often a considerable number, of priests or priestesses, and temple servants, generally wearing a distinctive costume and forming an important part of the city population.
873 visits
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Goddess Athene of the Parthenon
658 visits
