Re: [tied] Re: Religion

John:

>Much of this mythic material was pre-IE, being found throughout the
>middle east long before the first coming of IE peoples in the
>region. Given that the story starts with the mingling of the waters,
>and the emergence of land above the surface of the primeval ocean, a
>maritime or deltaic place of origin seems to be required.

Sigh, and this revelation only re-emphasizes my point that a Semitoid
mythological structure, as well as language, travelled from the Middle East
towards the IE homeland via the Balkans. I've got more revelations to
elaborate on but I'll wait till tomorrow. Must sleep.

>The impact of these beliefs upon IE religion can hardly be assessed.

I think they could soon... teehee.

>I suspect that prior to their coming IE religion was largely
>shamanistic, and divinities were not clearly anthropomorphic, but
>were rather aniconic (i.e. called Thunder, Fire, Wind, Water etc),
>not even having a gender affiliation (either masculine or feminine).

That's stretching it. I have to disagree with you here.

>I suspect that Dumezil's three fold split occurred at the time that
>the Sumerian influences were impacting on the PIE mythos.

Approximately, yes, but not all at the same time - there were phases. It all
happened between 7000 BCE and 5500 BCE with two main epicenters of
mythological interaction. More later.

- gLeN


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