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Throughout the 20th century, the science of comparative mythology has been
characterized by an ever-increasing specialization and narrowing of interest.
Unifying theories of myth are nowhere to be found. The so-called Saturn theory represents a
notable exception in this regard. Proponents of the theory, including David
Talbott and myself, have argued that extraordinary astronomical events in the
relatively recent prehistorical period, had profound and formative influence on
all primary institutions of human culture, including mythology, religion
language, monumental architecture, funerary practices, marriage ritual,
cosmology, athletics, dance and music. Stated this boldly, our historical
reconstruction seems so ambitious as to inspire incredulity. Once the evidence is fully laid out
however, it speaks for itself. While it would be impossible to
summarize a lifetime of research within a 10-minute presentation, and we intend to
use the next several videos to illustrate some of the most salient
evidence supporting the theory, interested viewers can turn to our
manifold publications for additional information. A testimony of ancient religion is
especially compelling. In ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, the
principal gods are identified with celestial bodies. In the earliest strata of Mesopotamian
Uruk, conventionally dated the last third of the fourth millennium BCE,
it is the worship of the planet Venus as Innana that predominates. So too at the
dawn of history in Egypt, the leading god Horus, is explicitly identified with a
star. In our reconstruction that star is Mars. And yet mainstream scholars rarely
ask the all-important question, why planetary bodies assumed this prominent
role in the oldest religious texts? The evidence from the earliest written
languages corroborates this picture. Writing was first invented in ancient
Mesopotamia in the fourth millennium BCE and the earliest script was pictographic in nature.
I.e. the vast majority of the written signs were pictures of the object being
described. For example, a foot signified a foot or, ‘to walk’.
In perfect keeping with our hypothesis that the earliest gods were astronomical in nature,
Sumerian scribes denoted the concept of God with an eight-pointed star. This is a
so-called ‘An’-sign. The earliest pictograph for Inanna
Venus in turn, depicted a comet-like object. Our theory, and our theory alone, can
explain these facts. The first gods were identified with the
most prominent celestial bodies and the queen of heaven, as Venus, spent a portion
of her early career as a comet-like body. The Saturn theory is most famous perhaps
for the claim that a giant pillar-like structure formerly spanned the
circumpolar heavens and seemingly linked together a number of nearby planets.
Hence the name polar configuration coined by Talbott, the subject of much
controversy over the decades. While it is well documented that the
mythological traditions of cultures around the globe celebrated a luminous
world pillar in the sky, critics tend to be skeptical of the testimony from ancient myth.
It is here that the evidence encoded in monumental architecture is especially
instructive and difficult to explain away. Witness the towering pyramidal
structures and ziggurats in Egypt and Mesopotamia that took thousands of
people and multiple generations to construct. The ziggurat at Ur, for example,
is estimated to have weighed several hundred thousand tons.
What could possibly have possessed the ancient sky watchers to erect these
towering structures? What were they intended to represent?
According to terminology applied to the monumental structures by the builders
themselves, the answer is patently obvious. The ziggurats represented the world
mountain, atop which the planetary gods lived, loved and died.
Thus it is that among the earliest Sumerian names for the ‘ziggurat’ are
’giant mountain’ and ‘stairway to heaven’. And to whom were these first ziggurats
constructed and devoted? To the aforementioned star gods Inanna Venus and An.
The earliest ziggurats and pyramids, like sacred architecture everywhere, were
specifically patterned upon the unique celestial configuration overhead in
accordance with the prevailing philosophy of ’as above, so below’.
It stands to reason accordingly, that early monumental structures will include
a number of telltale architectural details that have no conceivable
function or rationale in the present natural world, and point instead to the
unique features of the polar configuration. As a case in point, consider the massive
set of shiny horns that formally adorned the apex of early ziggurats.
At the tail end of the third millennium king Gudea of Lagash could be found
boasting of a ziggurat quote “One makes the house grow upwards like a mountain,
...makes it lift its horn like a bull.” How on earth is it possible to explain
this bizarre bovine imagery? For anyone familiar with the writings of
Talbott and myself, the answer is obvious. The gigantic crescentine horns model the
heaven-spanning crescent that formerly distinguished the polar configuration
during one particularly memorable phase in its history. But you don't have to take our word for
it. An archaic pictograph from China dating the third millennium BCE is
believed to depict the mountain of the Sun. While the image in question has no
conceivable reference in the present sky, it illustrates perfectly a central claim
of the Saturn theory, namely that a crescent formally adorned
the world mountain and served as the perch of the primordial Sun God.
Human institutions, not surprisingly, were indelibly impacted by the unique and
awe-inspiring events associated with the polar configuration. The institution of
kingship offers a perfect example. It will be remembered here that Sumerian
tradition held that kingship had originally descended from heaven.
Early kings in Mesopotamia, Egypt and Mesoamerica referred to themselves as
the son of the land and modeled their behavior in accordance with the mythical
behavior ascribed to the prototypical son. If the prototypical son engaged in
sexual intercourse with the planet Venus, the Sumerian king made a public show of
simulating sex with Inanna Venus in order to legitimize his hold on the
throne and signal his own divinity. So too, if the prototypical son was said
to have formerly appeared as a diminutive orb at the breast of Venus,
the Sumerian king had himself depicted in monumental artworks
as a babe at the breast of Inanna or Ishtar. If the prototypical son fought
apocalyptic wars against the powers of chaos, the kings of Sumer in Babylon
purposely sought out barbarian hordes to vanquish. This while proclaiming that the warrior
goddess Venus accompanied them at their side, protecting them from all harm and
guaranteeing victory. The sacred garments of kings reveal the
clear imprint of extraordinary astronomical events.
Check out the royal garb of the Assyrian king. It is as if the king wrapped
himself in iconic stellar images, namely those of the primordial son and Venus.
It will be noted that not one of these images has any recognizable counterpart in the current sky.
In the earliest attested rituals of royal investiture, each and every detail
of the king's regalia reflected the celestial original. Crown worn by the
king for example, was expressly modeled upon that worn by the prototypical son
at the time of beginning and is identifiable with the planet Venus.
Thus it is that Sumerian hymns report that the ancient Sun God tied on a mush
band as a crown, wherein the word 'mush' is the aforementioned comet-like
pictograph denoting Inanna Venus. The local king following a long
tradition, tied on his mush crown in imitation of the celestial prototype.
Nearly two thousand years later, Assyria's great king Esarhaddon
reiterated this belief, claiming of Inanna Venus that quote “She guards me like the
crown on my head.” What is true in ancient Mesopotamia is
also true in Egypt and Mesoamerica. There too the king tied on a headband
crown carefully modeled upon the planet Venus. Thus it is that the Egyptian ‘seshed’
headband shows the same spiraling form and two flowing streamers as a Sumerian mush sign.
The word ‘seshed’, as Talbott and I pointed out 30 years ago, means ‘comet’.
Recall here the statement from a third millennium Sumerian hymn quoted in our
previous video wherein the king invoked Venus as follows “The ever-
sparkling lady gives me my kingship.” The word translated as ever sparkling
here is mul-mul-e = “to shine, or radiate”, a verb formed from the Sumerian word for star: mul=”star”
and hence referring to the luminous splendor of Venus itself.
The clear import of this passage accordingly is that kingship is a gift of the planet Venus.
Venus's profound influence on ancient conceptions of kingship is simply one of
hundreds of archetypal mythological motifs that conventional scholarship has no answer for.
Our historical reconstruction on the other hand, explains the connection with
an unrivaled elegance and logical rigor. Truth be told, in order to achieve a
fact-based history of our solar system, it is sometimes necessary to ignore the
strictures of modern science and pay careful heed to the testimony of ancient myth.
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