Old Stories
Gilgamesh | Descent of Ishtar | Underworld | Agharta
 Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh (read it here) is one of the oldest known written stories on Earth. You can find many translations on the web, but the  original comes from Ancient Sumeria. The 12 clay tablets in cuneiform script describe the adventures of the historical King of Uruk (around 2750 or 2500 BCE). Sumer was in Mesopotamia the geographical area that is today called Iraq.
In Gilgamesh we hear that "Gilgamesh imagined the Annunaki who decide the fate of those who go to the underworld." In this and another story, The Descent of Ishtar to the Underworld, are the adventures of different kinds of creatures inside the earth.
Descent of Ishtar
This story was inscribed on clay tablets at around 1750 BCE. 6 The Babylonian images below depict a winged Ishtar standing on a Lion 5 Ishtar, the Great Goddess of Love and War is said to have descended through the seven gates of the Underworld (becoming more naked at each gate) to find her beloved, Tammuz.
 The Underworld
Certainly the word "underworld" has been around for a long time. If you consider the diagram on the right, the word takes on a new and powerfully obvious meaning. The underworld is mentioned frequently in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, one of the best preserved copies being the 3,500-year-old Papyrus of Ani.
Then again, the Underworld also has a powerfully obvious meaning if you consider the Earth to be a solid sphere.
Agharta
The Tibetan word 'Aghrtia' means "The subterranean kingdom at the earths center where the king of the worlds reign." An Internet search for "Agharta underworld" may be interesting. Some ancient Tibetan writings predate even the ancient Egyptians.
> next >
|
