Mesopotamian representation of the Perseid Meteor stream.

It's quite astonishing to come across Mesopotamian representations of the Perseid meteor shower, were i did so was through reading an article here on a Problematic Cylinder Seal, there are several articles there the one in question being some way down the page.

Anyway the author quite rightly identifies several strange problems with examples of seals dating back some 3,500 years and related to the Mitannians and fails to solve any of them.

The first issue is an unusual manner in which the lion is represented, which is actually quite easily solved as it's the winged Panther constellation.



He identifies the Deity type seen in association, a storm God similar to Teshub or Baal-Hadad, after Ninurta, but fails again to see why they should be a pairing, again this is easily solved as the Ninurta type figure will be the one holding the lightning bolts and the one holding dagger will be Nergal bringer of death, the general theme being the unleashing of death and destruction.

At that point he really should have been recognizing the beast as the Panther.

In these first millennium BCE texts, the name of the panther is written with the cuneiform signs UD.KA.DUḪ.A, which literally translated means “The (storm)demon with the wide open mouth” It is read nimru leopard/panther, however, by ancient and modern scholars

Again he fails to find reason for what issues out of the Panthers mouth, considering rain globules or hail stornes, in connection to the theme of storm.



So taking into account that it is from the Panther that the stream issues forth we can ask ourselves why, there is confusion it seems to me with regards to which Mesopotamian star grouping should be recognized as the winged Panther.

Some try to suggest it was formed of the stars of Cygnus-Cepheus-Lacarta but they are wrong it was Perseus, all the iconography places it in that relative position, and as far as these things go the iconography of the winged Panther can easily be recognized.

It can be seen in the examples provided that the emergent globules take on quite a consistent pattern and if we take into consideration what emerges from the Panther constellation as Perseus it becomes readily understandable;

The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle. The Perseids are so called because the point from which they appear to come, called the radiant, lies in the constellation Perseus.

It turns out that in all the illustrations the Mesopotamians were quite accurately illustrating the Perseid meteor stream, and the context of this is association with death and destruction.

One of the aspects of these seals which imediatly drew my attention and which the author also quite rightly picked up on and identified is the usage in them of the curious sea serpent more normally seen only on Dilmun seals of an earlier period, that's one of my favourite subjects as in Mysteries of Dilmun and also provides the greater context for what is involved here, the generation of life were the sea serpent represents the point of transformation between vegetal and animal life, thus life in general and the secret of immortality and also it's destruction and regeneration.

It turns out that the Perseid meteor stream is also very similar in form to the standard/symbol of Inanna, because after the death and destruction of the storm and flood associated with the Panther were Taurus is the sacrificial victim it is she given her association with that constellation as the Pleiades above it enters into the underworld and returns forth, the next stage in the great drama.



It can also be considered in terms of the sea serpent of life being closely seen in conjunction with the Perseid stream that such not only might it be suggested that comets and meteors can end life but that that they can also seed it in the first place, in a constant cycle of death and regeneration, perhaps the Mesopotamians got there first with Pan-Spermia theory....

a reply to: Kantzveldt

S&F for yet another brilliant thread. I have always ben fascinated by the ancient's views about our vegetable and animal bodies and all their theory and cosmology behind their beliefs, hopefully I will get the time to slow down and go back to more studying, but I am enjoying your findings greatly.

a reply to: Shiloh7

Thank you, like i said they astonish me on this one with such insight and all part of a greater narrative with regards to their symbolic axis through the Heavens i have considered, from Pegasus to Canis Major.



It was always going to be the case that as in that progression death and regeneration are associated with Taurus and the Pleiades that Perseuus would be the harbinger of such, i didn't realize though they'd consider that in such Cosmic terms.

As far as direct observation of the axis goes when Sirius is rising in the East then Pegasus will be setting in the West, the axis stretches right across the horizon, due South at the highest point will always be Perseus as the mid=point, so it sort of makes the point that in the midst of life we are in death etc.

Looking at the comparative mythology for this it can be noted that the Panther is first seen and probably as the constellation at Gobekli Tepe, this appears to be a pregnant female and also the Perseid stream appears to have been picked out in form over her belly.



The Greek myth see's Danae impregnated by Zeus in the form of the Perseid meteor stream giving birth to Perseus of course;





The emphasis there then on the association of the Perseid stream with seeding and regeneration, interestingly there is a 19th century French rendition of this which has a curious serpent form associate with the stream, exactly as the Mesopotamians saw things;



Strange how what goes around comes around.

My mind is blown away with your beautiful and extremely symbolic diagram.

We are so far removed from the beauty and symbology the ancients enjoyed about the cosmos, especially how they related it to their lives and this little planet.

Most just think that past beliefs are only obsessed with birth, death and regeneration. You open up this into something tangible that has been forgotten over millennia by pointing out the relationship and significance of the Sirius to Pegasus axis with Perseus at the mid-point for us all to rejoin the ancients in their wonderment of the cosmos.

Today we are about space travel, new planets and worlds etc. We can hardly see the stars for the light pollution etc (and in the UK the bad weather). We miss out on the quiet therapeutic side of sheer wonderment at creation being enacted before our very eyes. Thanks again for such enjoyment.

a reply to: Shiloh7

Yes it was a truly great vision, i set out my understandings of it in these threads;

Mysteries of Dilmun

The Stairway to Sirius

Dilmun and the secret of immortality

An interesting further consideration which i was going to include in the OP but didn't as it would over complicate is the nature of the rebirth and regeneration that emerges from Taurus, that is essentialy orchestrated by Ninshubur as Orion and First Minister to Anu and Inanna, in the sense that she arranges the principle of substitution under advice from Enki, which is to say it shall be one in one out from the Underworld, the cult of Dumuzid.

Ninshubur as Orion

But in what manner does one emerge from the Underworld, here is a seal which has the key figures of the seals in the OP, Inanna on lion triumphant, Nergal centre and Ninurta to the right on winged Panther, in the above corners they flank Taurus and a curious baby hovers above it.



The curious baby gets curiouser and curiouser on this seal, which again has an underlying theme of the storm God on the winged Panther, lower section;



The crawling child there seems strangely endowed with eight powers which radiate from the body, were the final stage in the great transformation axis involves a sacred drink associated with Canis Major and the symbolism of eight and related to immortality, there are i think seals relating to this final stage but i need to find better quality.



But anyway you're right, very little of this is understood or appreciated, and given the response here it's going to remain that way...

a reply to: Kantzveldt

Thanks for the extra information, I will get to it later when I can enjoy it.

Don't get despondent because its the end of the week and many are rushing around for the weekend. But I do think we have less leisure time when I consider the long hours my sons work and how tired they both are when they are home. Its the tv and crashed out on the couch as the norm for many I suspect.