Prophet Zephaniah. Astarte - Goddess and Demoness from the Cradle of Humanity Worship of Baal and Astarte

A typical trait of the ancient Middle Eastern and Mediterranean religion was that the deities that filled its pantheon form family groups and belong to at least two generations. Next, we will take a closer look at how the concepts of the Ancient Near East entered the kabbalistic mythology of the 13th and 16th centuries. In the same chapter, we will speculate about the goddess, who in the Mediterranean was considered the daughter of Ashera, and about her wife El, and about who at times in some places overshadowed her mother, interfered with her popularity and her power over the imagination and feelings of people.

Her real name is Anat. However, she was no less well known far beyond the borders of Syria and Palestine as Astarte (in Hebrew, Ashtoret or Ashtarot in the plural), and she seemed to love this name most of all. For our unsatisfactory knowledge of the history of the ancient Canaanite religion, it is characteristic that we still cannot be sure who was the first - Anat or Astarte, one is a goddess or two, which in the course of history merged into one. We will have to leave this problem unresolved and talk first about Astarte, and then about Anat, presenting at the same time the attributes inherent in both goddesses.

1. Canaanite Astarte

Most of the main gods of Ancient Syria, judging by the Ugaritic sources, had two names; one proper name, the other an epithet.

As we saw above, Ashera the Sea was addressed in the same way as Elat, that is, the Goddess. Her spouse, whose real name is Father Shunem, was usually called El (that is, God), or Bull-El. Asher's son Hadad was almost always called Baal, or Lord. Divine Mota was also called Beloved Gazir El. Another god was called either Yamm (Sea) or Judge Nahar (River). Likewise, Ashera's daughter, apparently, was called either Anat or Astarte (Ashtoret).

The two names of the deity are a demand for prosody of classical Semitic poetry, a favorite technique from which a repetition of an important proposition came, but in other words. To express the same thing in two different ways, using two sets of synonyms in parallel, the Semitic poet had to have two names for his gods, which constantly appeared in mythological poems. The following examples, taken from the Ugaritic tablets, illustrate our point:

Then came a messenger from Jamma,

Messenger of Judge Nahar ... 1

She passed the field of El and stepped Into the tent of King Father Shunem2.

And speaks to the Divine Motu,

Declares Beloved Gazir Ale 3.

He shouts to Ashera and her children,

He shouts to Elat and her offspring 4.

In the same way, the names Anat and Astarte appear in parallel, it is assumed that they belong to the same goddess:

No one is as beautiful as Anat,

Who is more beautiful than the beautiful Astarte? 5

Or elsewhere, where the first, main, part of the name Anat is supplemented accordingly:

Holds (Ana) t with his right hand,

And with his left hand he holds Ashtoret 6.

Such Semitic stylistic tricks were lost among the Egyptians, and we read in the sacred papyrus of the 12th century. BC BC, that Neith the Great, the mother of God, requires the Ennead (nine great gods) to turn to the Almighty, the Bull in Heliopolis: “The Dual Set is in his right; give him Anat and Astarte, both of your daughters ... ”7 From other Egyptian documents, some of which date back to the 13th century. BC e., it is also clear that Anat and Astarte in the Egyptian religion were perceived as two separate goddesses of war8. During the 18th dynasty, Astarte became the goddess of healers in Egypt, who was referred to as "Astar of Syria" 9. Ramses III calls Anat "his shield", Astarte10. Both Anat and Astarte, as well as Kadesh, the third goddess in the Canaanite-Syrian pantheon, bore the Egyptian title of Queen of Heaven. On an Egyptian stele placed in Palestine (Beisan) in the 12th century. BC e., depicts the worship of the Egyptians to the goddess "Anat, Queen of Heaven, Lady of the gods" 11. Of these three goddesses, perhaps only Astarte was the most popular in Egypt; she had her own priests and prophets, 12 like Asherah in Israel. Among the Moabites, the name Astarte appears without a female ending (Ashtar) and in conjunction with the name Shamash on the Moabite stone around 830 BC. 13 BC Astarte was probably the consort of the Moabite god Shamash.

The Canaanite city called Ashtarot, or Ashtartu, is mentioned in Bashan in several Egyptian documents dating back to the 18th century. BC e., as well as in the Amarna letters dating after the XIV century.

In a later period, Astarte becomes the main goddess of Sidon, replacing Ashera. It is not known when this happened, but by the 4th century. BC e. this happened, as can be concluded from the fact that at that time the Sidonian kings were at the same time priests of Astarte, and their wives received the title of priests of Astarte. However, the changes could not have happened much earlier, because a century later, the Sidonian king Yeshmun'azar reports that he and his mother built the Temple of Astarte in Sidon the Seaside and Shamem-Addirim, two parts of Byblos; in other words, in his time the cult of Astarte was still popular in Phenicia. The inscription of Yeshmun'azar, containing the same details, also tells us the full name of Astarte of Sidon: Ashtart-Shem-Baal, that is, "Astarte by the name of Baal", Astarte and Yeshmun, "the holy King, Lord of Sidon", they were called "the gods of Sidon" 15. The name "Ashtoret by the name of Baal" was also known north of Sidon about a thousand years earlier. This is how the goddess, most likely Anat, is called in two inscriptions on the Ugaritic tablets16.

Here is more or less everything we know about Astarte from Canaanite and Phoenician sources. As we will see later, the Canaanite mythological material about Anat is quite rich.

2. Astarte in the Bible

Moving on to examining the biblical references to Astarte, let me start with those that show a connection with non-biblical sources. The city of Ashtartu in Vasan appears several times in the Bible as the city of the Levites. Once it is called Beeshtera18, once again Ashterot19 and, as a rule, Ashtarot20, since this is the plural usually used in biblical place names. Ashtarot was originally the capital of Og, the city of the legendary giant king of Bashan21 and his subjects, the Rephaim, who were defeated by Kedorlaomer22. This detail is in the old semi-historical, semi-mythical story, which, the only one, tells the full name of the city: Ashterot-Karnaim (that is, "Two-horned Astarte"). The source of this name is found in several archaeological finds in Palestine, where, in fact, a goddess with two horns is depicted.

The original meaning of the name Astarte (Ashtoret) was "womb" or "fruit of the womb" 24. This meaning is most suitable for the goddess of fertility: she is called "her womb" (she of the womb), that is, motivation as a source, as a symbol of fertility, like her husband-husband Baal, who was the motivation and symbol of male fertility25. So, the primary meaning of the names of the divine couple Baal and Astarte was "father and mother", "man and woman", "husband and wife."

The name Ashtoreth or Astarte was probably originally an epithet referring to a goddess whose real name is Anat, just as Baal (Lord) is an epithet referring to a god whose real name is Hadad26.

As for the biblical mentions of Astarte, the first indication of the worship of the Jews refers to the beginning of the time of the Judges, that is, soon after the resettlement to Canaan: "They left the Lord and began to serve Baal and Astartes." A little further in more detail:

“The sons of Israel continued to do evil before the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals and Astartes, and the gods of Aramaic, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; but they left the Lord and did not serve Him. ”28.

The first expulsion of Baal and Astarte took place by order of Samuel, immediately after this Yahweh resolutely supported his people in the battle against the Philistines29. As for the Philistines, their Astarte was a warrior goddess, as well as a goddess of love and fertility, which is why, when they defeated Saul, they took his weapons to the Ashtarot temple, undoubtedly in gratitude30.

Earlier we said that the goddess, whose worship in Jerusalem was introduced by Solomon in honor of his wife from Sidon, is Asherah, Elat of Sidon. As a result, the mixing of Asherah and Astarte, which, as we have seen, began in the XIV century. BC e., is found in the Amarna letters, which are now and then found up to the present day. The Hebrew historian of the era of Solomon constantly refers to the goddess, in whose worship as "Ashtoreth, the goddess of Sidon" 31 Solomon was guilty. In later times, she was no longer called a goddess, but was called "Ashtoret, the abomination of Sidon" 32. This is what the historian says about her, who writes about King Josiah of Judah, who destroyed the “height” erected for Ashtoret by King Solomon.

3. Archaeological evidence

The goddess Astarte is mentioned in the Bible only nine times, and Ashera - forty. Thus, the Bible cannot confirm that the worship of Astarte was predominant among the Jews. We can learn a lot more from archaeological finds of recent decades in various places in Palestine. By the beginning of the 1940s. not less than three hundred tablets and terracotta figurines representing a naked woman were found. These nude figures can be divided into several types: standing with their arms spread apart, holding stems or snakes; covering breasts with palms; covering the chest with one hand, and the genitals with the other; crossing arms on the chest. Some figurines depict pregnant women, others resemble columns and so on. The huge number and ubiquity of these figures is amazing. They were found in all Palestinian excavations from the middle of the Bronze Age (2000-1500 BC) to the beginning of the Iron Age II (900-600 BC), that is, until the end of the period of the divided Israeli monarchy and even later. The so-called type of Kadesh is symbolically associated with the goddess; other types are believed by most scholars to represent the goddesses Ashera, Astarte, or Anat, although no direct or definitive identification has yet been made. To be careful, the question of whether the figurines represent “the goddess herself, the prostitute of the goddess cult” or whether they are talismans “used for magical purposes to stimulate the reproductive processes of nature” 33 is still open.

Next, we will concentrate on the only place that has been studied more thoroughly and systematically than any other. We are talking about Tel Beit Mirsim, which is located south of Hebron on today's Israeli-Jordanian border. The Tel (heap of ruins) was excavated for several years by William F. Albright, and he identified this place as the biblical city of Davir34. A systematic study of Tel showed that the Canaanites were the first to live in this place at the beginning of the Bronze Age, period IV (about XXI century BC), then it flourished until the end of the Bronze Age (about XXI-XIII centuries BC. ) and was destroyed by the end of the 13th century, apparently, by the Jews, who at that time conquered this territory. At the beginning of the Early Iron Age (XII century BC), the city was inhabited by Jews and prospered again until the end of the 6th century, when it was destroyed during the general ruin of Judea, during the First Exodus (586 BC. ). In total, Davir was subjected to ten or eleven captives. This city was larger than the typical Israelite cities of the First Temple period, approximately seven and a half acres of walled land.

The old name of the city was Kiriath-Sefer, which means "book city". Then the name was changed to Davir, which is the biblical designation "the holy of holies of the Jerusalem temple" 36. This suggests that there was a temple or sanctuary in Davir, and the city is said to have been given to “the sons of Aaron the priest,” along with eight other cities in the territory of Judah and Simeon37.

We do not know if this city played a special role in the religious life of the Canaanites before the arrival of the Israelites. However, the fact remains that the most popular religious object found in the layers of the Late Bronze Age (XXI-XIII centuries BC) in Tel Beit Mirsim were the so-called Astartes - clay, usually oval, discs with imprinted on casting form depicting a nude figure of the goddess Astarte. In most cases, she holds her arms up, clutching lilies or snakes, or both. The head of the goddess is decorated with a spiral of two rings, like the Egyptian Hathor, or a Philistine-type helmet. On other tablets, the goddess has her hands lowered or joined under her protruding belly. These tablets date back to those found in Mesopotamia, where they have existed since the early Bronze Age. There are other types of nude goddesses on tablets and figurines38.

When we come to the Israelite layers (XII-VI centuries BC), the nature of the finds changes. Only in stratum A (VIII-VII centuries BC) no less than thirty-eight known figurines were found, and even more fragments of such figurines. They differ from the Astarte tablets; the figures of the Israelites are unlike any earlier or modern Canaanite goddesses. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that these are not Astarte's figures; they have their own style and their own appearance: the face is wider, and this is emphasized by the straight "bangs" on the forehead, although the cheeks are framed by curly hair, without any hint of horns and the "rings of Hathor", which is characteristic of the Canaanite Astarte. The breasts are necessarily accentuated, but under them the body resembles a column with a wide base, and this confirms that the figures should have been stable39. Due to the columnar appearance of these figurines, some scholars speculate that they may have been the clay representatives of the goddess Ashera, whose larger images were carved from wood.

Be that as it may, archaeological excavations leave no doubt that these figures were very popular among the Jews during the period of the divided kingdom. "The clay troughs (molds) were undoubtedly made by several potters who were excellent sculptors, and these people (non-Israelites) sold their troughs to ordinary Israeli potters throughout the country." One type of these nude fertility figurines, representing pregnant women, was most likely used as an amulet for fertility or easy childbirth. Seals with Jewish names, such as Eliakim, Joachim, etc., were found in the same layer A, and this undoubtedly proves that the female figurines were made and brought by the Israelites for religious purposes41.

4. The Ugaritic myth of Anat

As stated above, the Canaanite mythical material about Anat is quite rich. We owe this to the discovery and decoding of the Ugaritic tablets, written in a language very reminiscent of Hebrew, and dated no earlier than the 14th century. BC e. In Ugaritic mythology, Anat is an extremely important figure, the goddess of love and war, virgin and dissolute, amorous, subject to uncontrollable fits of rage and monstrous attacks of cruelty. She is the daughter of El, the heavenly god, and his wife Ashera the Sea. She has so much in common with the Sumerian Inanna and the Akkadian Ishtar that one would think she is the heir or relative of these great Mesopotamian goddesses.

However, instead of being concerned primarily with finding new lovers among deities, humans, or animals, as Ishtar is believed to have done, Anat spent most of her energy on the battlefield. She, too, there is no doubt about it, was a typical goddess of love, both chaste and promiscuous in relationships. Her character is accurately described in the Egyptian text of the thirteenth century, in which she and Astarte are called "goddesses who conceive but do not wear", which means their fertility with the preservation of virginity. In Ugaritic myths, she was constantly called the virgin Anat or the maiden Anat. And even Philo Biblius, who lived at the beginning of the 2nd century. n. BC, still mentions the virginity of Anat, which he identifies with Athena, the famous virgin goddess of the Greeks. Like Ishtar, Anat was called “the mistress of heaven, mistress of all gods,” and like Ishtar, she loved gods, people, and animals.

She loved her brother Baal more than others. At her approach, Baal chased away other wives, and she, preparing for solitude with him, bathed in the dew and rubbed herself with sperm whale ambergris. The "real" union of Anat and Baal is described with graphic clarity that is unique even for the unabashed descriptions common in Middle Eastern texts. In a place called Dubr, Baal reclined seventy-seven times with Anath, who took the form of a heifer for such an occasion, and it seems that the wild bull - the son of Baal - is the fruit of this union. Anat's mortal lover was Akat, whom, after what can be called an intimate tete-a-tete (the description, unfortunately, has been lost), Anat called "my dear mortal giant"! As a mother, Anat, apparently, was one of the two nurses of the gods and breast-fed King Keret, which is why one of the addresses to her was "the progenitor of people." In Egypt, Anat is considered the consort of the god Set, and in the Egyptian magical text of the 13th century. BC e. in unexpectedly sadistic terms, it is described how Set on the seashore deprives Anat of her virginity.

Yet these adventures in the fields of love pale in comparison to Anat's great achievements in war and battle. Indeed, no ancient Middle Eastern goddess was more bloodthirsty. It was easy to provoke her, and as soon as she began to fight, she reached the point of fury and crushed and killed everyone left and right. Obviously, she liked to fight: she destroyed the peoples of both the East and the West, so that the heads of people flew like sheaves, and their hands - like locusts. Unsatisfied with this, she ties the severed heads to her back, and her hands to her belt, after which she stands knee-deep in blood and waist-deep among the corpses of the heroes. This is how she achieves her goal: her liver is full of laughter, and her heart is full of joy.

The worship of the bloodthirsty and warlike Anat came to Egypt even before the 13th century. BC e. For the Egyptians, she was also "Anat, mistress of heaven and mistress of the gods", a warrior goddess who was associated with horses and chariots and who protected the pharaoh with a shield and spear. Indeed, because of her warlike nature, Anat in Egypt was called "a goddess, a conqueror, a woman matched by a man, dressed like a man and hugging like a woman."

5. Anat in the Bible

It is amazing that the name Anat is never mentioned in the Bible, as if she were a foreign goddess. This can be explained by the fact that the biblical authors did not address her by name, replacing it with the epithet "Ashtoret", just as they addressed her Canaanite-Phoenician brother and lover using the epithet Baal (Lord), and not his name Hadad.

This, however, does not mean that the name Anat is completely absent from the Bible. For example, there is mention of a Canaanite city in the territory of Naphtali called Befanaf (house of Anat) 44, whose inhabitants were conquered, but not driven out by the Jews. Much more famous is the priestly city of Anathoth, which is north of Jerusalem (today Anatha), it was located on the territory of Benjamin, being the birthplace of Jeremiah and other biblical characters45. Geographical names indicate a connection with the goddess Ashera; it is quite possible that those who laid them called them in the name of the goddess and in honor of the goddess in accordance with the custom that existed in pre-biblical and biblical times in Palestine and required to name settlements in honor of the gods.

Anathoth is the plural of Anat (like Ashtarot from Ashtoret and Baalim from Baal), it indicates something important: the city was named not after the local Anat, but in honor of all Anat in general, who were worshiped in different places. The same form, Anatot, appears after the return from Babylonian captivity and as the name of two people: the grandson of Benjamin, who lived at the beginning of the era of the Judges of Israel, and a contemporary of Nehemiah46. Since the time of the Judges, the name of another person has been preserved in the singular: one of the judges, as it is written, had a son, Anat. This judge is credited with one heroic deed, for Samegar, the son of Anafov: he "beat six hundred Philistines with an ox's horn" and thus saved Israel47. It is difficult to get rid of the temptation and not call Anat (Anaf) the mother (and not the father) of Samegar, it is a pity that not the ancient myth about the son of the goddess Anat, who inherited her military qualities, is briefly mentioned. The cow's horse, which Samegar used as a weapon, recalls the two clubs "Rider" (ayamur) and "Pursuer" (yagrush), with the help of which his brother and beloved Anat defeated his sworn enemy Yamma48.

The last biblical mention of Astarte-Anat does not contain her name, but refers to the goddess as the "Queen of Heaven". And here it is interesting to remember that the title of Queen of Heaven, Anat and Astarte, received from their Egyptian believers49 makes it more credible that the object (Queen of Heaven) of a heated dispute between Jeremiah and his Jewish brothers in Egypt was none other than the "virgin" Anat , "Virgin" Astarte. Jeremiah himself was convinced and tried to convince the Jews in Egypt that the great national catastrophe that befell them was Yahweh's punishment for the people's sin of idolatry. If they do not repent, the prophet warned them, they will all perish in Egypt, as the rest perished in Judea.

However, the popular version of the death of Judea was diametrically opposite to that proclaimed by Jeremiah. The common people also believed that they were punished by God for their religious sin, but the betrayal of the Queen of Heaven was considered a sin, not Yahweh. Therefore, “all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt” answered Jeremiah as follows:

“The word that you spoke to us in the name of the Lord, we do not hear from you; but we will certainly do all that has gone out of our mouths to give incense to the goddess of heaven and pour out libations to her, as we and our fathers did, in the cities of Judea and in the streets of Jerusalem, because then we were full and happy and no trouble seen. And since that time, as we have ceased to give incense to the goddess of heaven and pour out libations to her, we suffer in everything and perish from the sword and hunger. "

This was joined by women:

“And when we were burning incense to the goddess of heaven and pouring libations to her, did we, without the knowledge of our husbands, make her pies with her image and pour libations to her?” 51

This single passage shows us the actual ritual of worship of the Jewish Astarte. The rites were performed by the kings of Judah and her princes; and all men, women, children participated in them, and they took place in Jerusalem and other cities. We can learn more about the ceremony itself from another passage in the Book of Jeremiah, in which God speaks to the prophet:

“Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? Children gather firewood, and fathers make a fire, and women knead dough to make cakes for the goddess of heaven and to pour libations to other gods in order to grieve Me ”52.

Both of these passages contain the following details of the ceremony performed in honor of the Queen of Heaven:

1. Children collect firewood.

2. The fathers kindle the fire.

3. Women knead dough and make pies.

5. Women burn aromatic herbs with the help of men.

6. They "pour out" libations.

7. They "pour out" libations to other gods too.

8. In response, the Queen of Heaven provided people with satiety and protected them from all sorts of troubles.

9. It is obvious that the kings of the Jews were leading the ceremony in Jerusalem, and the princes in other cities.

10. The burning of aromatic herbs, the laying of pies, and libations took place on the altars that were located in the city's sanctuaries or on “heights” outside the city.

Lighting fire on altars, burning aromatic herbs, libations - all this is well known from what happened in the Jerusalem temple, and from other ancient rituals of the Near East. Perhaps the pies require additional explanation.

In Athens, Artemis was honored with round pies (selenia), which seemed to represent the moon. The Babylonian hymn Ishtar also mentions sacrificial cakes (kamanu). If the Hebrew word kawwan (pie) actually goes back to the Babylonian-Assyrian word kamanu, then it is possible that the Queen of Heaven, who was worshiped in Jerusalem, is the same Babylonian-Assyrian Ishtar, who is addressed as the Queen of Heaven, Sharrat Shame, and so on 53.

Recent archaeological excavations suggest a different explanation. During excavations carried out in Nahariya (in Israel, north of Acre), at bamah (height), a stone trough was found, dating from no earlier than the 17th century. BC e. This trough was intended for making small figurines of the goddess Astarte - this is obvious, since she has two horns, which are sloped to the right and left above the ears. This is "Astarte the Horned", she is naked, only she has a high conical dress on her head, she looks at her protruding belly and smiles mysteriously54. Is it possible that the same troughs were used to bake pies in the form of Astarte, which were either eaten by priests (perhaps as the predecessors of the sacred community, eating a host, which is believed to symbolize the flesh of Christ), or burned on the altar? More items like this are needed before answering this question, but the possibility that this was the purpose of the Queen of Heaven patties is quite interesting.

If it is true that the Queen of Heaven is Anat-Astarte, as we suppose, then we can assert that the period of the Jews' stay in Egypt was the time of their worship of Astarte. As mentioned above, the ministry of Astarte was forcibly terminated by King Josiah56. Josiah began to carry out his reforms in the eighteenth year of his reign57, that is, after 621 BC. e. The controversy between Jeremiah and the people about the Queen of Heaven probably took place for a year or two after the return of the Jews from Egypt, say, in the year 585 BC. e. The elderly Jews who returned from Egypt probably well remembered the rituals dedicated to Astarte, forbidden by Josiah just thirty-six years earlier. Since Jeremiah began his prophetic activity in the thirteenth year of the reign of King Josiah, 58 that is, in 626 BC. BC, his description of how the Queen of Heaven was worshiped in Jerusalem and other cities of Judea must be dated to five years between 626 and 621. BC e., that is, the time of the reforms of Josiah.

The fact that the Jewish exiles knew well what Jeremiah spoke of was proved in the next two centuries. In the Jewish military colony at Hermopolis in Egypt, the worship of the Queen of Heaven continued in the 5th century BC. e. Her temple, which stood next to the temples of other gods, is mentioned in the Aramaic papyrus from Hermopolis. 59

The last mention of the name of the old goddess in the Jewish context happened one hundred and seventy-five years after the decision of the Jews in Egypt to return to worship the Queen of Heaven. In one of the letters of a member of the Upper Egyptian Jewish military colony on the island of Elephantine, which dates from 419-400. BC e., it is said that Yedonia, the son of Gemaria, who was a priest and head of the Jewish community, collected donations: for Yaho (that is, Yahweh) 12 karashes and 6 shekels, for Ishumbetel 7 karashes; for Anatbetel 12 karashes 60. Since each gave two shekels, and one karash had twenty shekels, it is easy to count that, in addition to the one hundred twenty-three donors who gave "money to God Yaho", whose names are imprinted in the Aramaic document, there were also seventy who gave their two shekels to Ishumbetel , and one hundred and twenty, which gave Anatbetel money. Ishumbetel is a male deity, Anatbetel is an Aramaic female deity. The name Anatbetel consists of two parts - Anat and Bethel. It was believed that these two deities were worshiped by non-Jewish Arameans who lived on the island of Elephantine and for whom Yedonia was like a treasurer or banker61. There are two objections to this opinion. First, it is impossible for members of rival religious sects to place their donations into the hands of the person in charge of the rival sect. The sharp religious contradictions that were part of Elephantine's life are well known, and they would not allow it62. Secondly, in at least one letter written by one Elephantine Jew, one can read blessings in the name of not only Yaho, but also of another god, 63 and this proves that the Islanders Jews could and did not only worship Yahweh.

Once upon a time there was a pagan goddess who was responsible mainly for fertility in agricultural cultures. The Sumerians had it, the Phoenicians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, then the ancient Greeks. Everywhere she was called differently, but with some it was consonant: Astarte, Ishtar, Inana, Isis, etc. And they associated the planet Venus with it, especially the Phoenicians paid a lot of attention to this "star". (In Rome, in general, this goddess was later called that, Venus).

Private property appeared, the paternal principle of inheritance gradually developed, this continued for many millennia, not all of a sudden. Now the main pantheon of pagan gods were male gods, and women played a secondary role. Moreover, in different areas, they valued one god more and often even quarreled among themselves because of this. And then the scattered communities gradually began to be replaced by unified states and the time came for monotheism. This was also related to the economy, of course. And with politics. But since the economic, social and cultural processes are always the same, it was also connected with the recognition of the primacy of the spirit over the flesh.

Plato was the first to start this. Especially in the "State". There he writes how important it is for a person to subordinate sensuality to reason. But even in the "Feast" he already divided Venus into Uranos and Pandemos, into spiritual love and carnal love, recognizing one as divine and the other as demonic, that is, as if he separated the spirit from the flesh and suggested that the first be considered the main one. Before Plato, the Greeks thought differently, but no one thought better than the Greeks at that time.

In short, ever since then God has gradually become one. First one of the pantheon, and then generally one for all, at least for all the "faithful". Allah for Muslims, Christ for Christians and so on. And all the other gods from the pagan pantheon and even more so the goddesses were gradually turned into demons.

So from the heavenly mother of all living things, Astarte became first the goddess of lust, and then a terrible demon named Astaroth. With a poisonous viper in his hand.

Why am I telling this instructive story?

This is important to understand the topic of resources, because resources are the pantheon of gods.

While Love (Astarte) is one of the pantheon of resources (12 gods) - it is divine, that is, nutritious for the body and soul, and as soon as Love replaces the One God, it turns into a demon (Astaroth), which not only does not feed a person, but and eats himself.

One God is not a resource (!), It is the highest integration principle, a symbol of the integration of the human ego and transformation into spirit. 12 resources are personal support. External resources give a person energy, he feeds his ego with them, forms it. While pumping, external resources turn into internal ones. By this point, the ego is already strong and strong and the integration process is even more alive. God is an abstract principle, non-utilitarian, towards which the evolution of reason is directed. A certain spiritual ideal. The human mind cannot comprehend God, but, having a dim presentiment of Him, creates the image of God as something the most perfect of all that is accessible to his imagination. This is such a distant point on the horizon, towards which a person should strive in his development. That's what God means (atheists also have it, they just call it differently, no matter what they call it). And mankind had to grow up to such spiritual monotheism.

A demon is any addiction. What is addiction? Love, food, play, any? This is when a resource, that is, something that is not God, which is one of the supports of man, one of the sources of energy on earth, turns into the only source of life and the meaning of this life. While there are twelve resources, a whole pantheon, while their equal importance is obvious (well, some may be more loved, more accessible, more understandable, but the equal importance of all 12 needs to be realized) - this is something like a pagan deity that can give energy if serve, work for him, love him (it's not for nothing that a pagan god stands behind every resource). But you can't make a cult out of food ("Don't make a cult out of food" (c) remember Ilf and Petrov?), "Don't make yourself an idol." When what should only be food becomes a target, a demon appears.

(Pentacle for summoning the demon Astaroth)

A demon is any resource that has taken the place of God, the meaning and motive of Being.

Not only Love turns into a demon, but also any resource in addiction (addiction is deification and transformation into a cult). All 12 pagan gods can become demons, but not at the same time. If you serve a little bit of everyone (or rather, not serve, but work under their leadership) and respect everyone (or at least part of it), they will be gods (angels, more precisely, in paganism those phenomena of existence were considered gods, which later theosophists began to call angels), but if someone is alone and with all his soul, then he will become a demon.

The love resource addict is pathetic and ugly, the health resource addict is no better, it is also ugly, they are all ugly like demons, they all harm themselves and others because they chose the wrong goal. The goal for them was what should be just a means (!)

Do not be afraid of Astaroth (who devours everyone who has fallen far into the red in love), you just need to stop serving him alone, recognize others too (and the goal is to recognize the spirit) and he will turn into the beautiful goddess Astarte, fertility and love, from which he can to eat and creativity, and work, and study, and beauty. If you just try to close the demon in prison (block the resource), the goddess will be inaccessible, and the demon at any moment can break out (as soon as the block weakens) and devour the person.

Is this analogy clear? Moreover, this is not an analogy, but the very concept of resources as it is.

If you read Homer and other ancient authors describing the pantheon of gods, you will see that a person, Odysseus or Telemachus or some other hero, could enjoy the protection of one goddess to a greater extent, love some goddess more than others, but woe to him if he did not respect other gods, if he considered his goddess the only one and could not serve others on occasion. This was the essence of the harmony in the vision of the ancient man: the world consists of different spheres, for balance you need to serve many, not one. When a person with an already monotheistic consciousness (fanatic, adept) begins to serve some pagan god (or just some sphere of life), he turns him into a demon, because he feeds himself everything, and having eaten up his blood and meat is a useful pagan deity becomes a bloodthirsty monster, growing right before our eyes and covering the entire sky above a person's head.

A terrible picture, isn't it?

(C) Marina Komissarova

) personified the hostile forces of nature that expose people to calamity and death and must be propitiated by terrible sacrifices and self-torture. Virgin Astarte, "the goddess of the castle", the stern mistress of Sidon, holding in her hand a raised spear, depicted with the horns of a bull, like Moloch, and related to him, the sun god, goddess of the moon, demanded service to herself by chastity, renunciation of sensuality. There are reports that sometimes virgin girls were sacrificed to her; but if this was done, it was very rare. Usually, the goddess was content with the fact that the priestesses, who kept the sacred fire in her temples, took a vow of eternal virginity. Just as the good goddess Ashera was the female complement of the good Baal, so Astarte “complemented” Moloch. Since the concept of Astarte was related to the concept of Asher, these two goddesses often merged into one.

Statuette of Astarte with the sign of the crescent moon on his head. III century. BC - III century. according to R. Kh.

But the fanatic Phoenicians, if they did not sacrifice people to Astarte, then introduced another madness into her cult. To mortify bodily lust in the priests and servants of their temples, the chaste goddess demanded that they be castrated with their own hands, that they themselves make themselves like women. At her temples there were thousands of castrated priests and ministers, called gauls; they walked in fantastic processions across the country. At the big festivals of the "Syrian goddess", with the thunder of cymbals, tambourines and double flutes, with the wild voluptuous dance of the crowd of priests, religious enthusiasm reached ecstasy, and the youths, in madness, castrated themselves with the sword of the goddess, devoting themselves to serving her.

When Greek tales of gods and heroes and the myths of different tribes that the Phoenicians met in their colonies were added to the Phoenician myths and beliefs, the legends of Astarte, the goddess of the moon, riding a lion or a bull, grew into an extensive cycle of myths. The stories of her distant wanderings, confusing the original legends about her with the Hellenic myths about And about, Europe, Cadme, with the Carthaginian legend about Dido etc., symbolize the history of Phoenician colonization. Goddess of the disappearing moon, she disappears from Tyra, founds cities in his wandering and finally unites with the god of Tyrus, Melqart, who was looking for her. As the founder of the colonies, she is the patron goddess of Carthage; there they honored her under the name Dido Astarte, and in a magnificent grove a great temple was built to her.

Astarta

The number of castrated themselves on the feast days of Astarte to serve her gauls with time it became so great that whole crowds of them with noisy music walked in fantastic processions across the country, collecting alms. In the middle of the procession, a donkey was led, on which was a veiled symbol of Astarte and a beggar's bag. Memories of a similar cult formed the basis of the plot of the famous novel by Apuleius "The Golden Donkey".

"They are dressed in colorful, dirty women's dresses," says an ancient writer about the Gauls. Lucian... - Their heads, also like women, are entwined with yellow linen or silk bandages; others in white clothing, decorated in front with flying stripes of red cloth. Their hands are open to the very shoulder; in their hands are large swords, axes, whips, rattles, flutes, tambourines, tympans; they walk along the road with thunder of wild music, dancing. Having reached the village, they begin to dress up their absurdities. The scene begins with a howl. After that, they whirl and run one past the other, bowing their heads low to the ground, so that their loose hair drags along the mud; at the same time, they first bite their own hands, and then cut them with the swords that they carry with them. After that, a new scene begins. One of them, surpassing everyone with madness, starts to prophesy with groans and cries (like the priests of Baal, 1 Kings, XVIII, 29): he confesses his sins in front of everyone, takes a whip with knots, - the Gauls carry such whips with them, - he hits himself on the back until he bleeds, cuts himself with swords, so that blood flows from the wounded body. The end, alms collection. Some throw copper coins on the dress they are putting on, some of them silver; others bring them wine, milk, cheese, flour; they greedily grab it all, put it in the bag assigned for that, load it next to the goddess on the back of a donkey, and go to the next village; the whole ceremony is repeated there. In the evening, arriving at the hotel, they reward themselves with a feast for the bloody self-torture of that day. " Gauls live with women, Lucian notes, and these women have a strong affection for them.

Holy prophet Zephaniah - one of the 12 minor prophets who wrote the Book of the Prophet Zephaniah, the ninth among the books of the "minor prophets".

The name Zephaniah (in Hebrew, sounds like "Sefania") means the one whom Jehovah protects.

No information about the personality, life and activities of the prophet Zephaniah has been preserved in the historical and modern prophetic writing of the Old Testament. We only know about him that he was the son of Husiah, the grandson of Godolia, the great-grandson of Amoria and the great-grandson of Hezekiah (Soph. 1: 1), according to legend, from the tribe of Simeon, from the mountainous country of Sarawaf (Palestine). As you can see, the genealogy of the prophet is given four generations ago before Hezekiah, which is not found in any other prophetic book. This suggests that he was a man of noble, even royal, lineage. A number of researchers consider Zephanius to be the great-great-grandson of the Jewish king Hezekiah, therefore, he was a distant relative of King Josiah, during whose reign (640-609 BC) Zephaniah preached.

It is known that during the long 55-year reign of the son of the Jewish king Hezekiah king Manasseh assyrian cultural, political, and religious influences penetrated Judea, and the Jewish religion declined. Then Assyria reached the highest power, even the Egyptian pharaohs were just her vassals, and even more so Phenicia and Judea, standing an order of magnitude lower in cultural and other respects. They were simple Assyrian provinces.

Manasseh indulged in the practice of idolatry in every possible way (thereby he departed from the principles of faith in one God), was carried away by the culture of Assyria and Babylon. Manasseh reversed the religious reforms of his father Hezekiah and introduced pagan elements into the temple service (2 Kings 21: 2-7). Under him, altars to Baal were erected everywhere, worship of the sun, moon and stars flourished, witchcraft and sorcery flourished. Even in the Jerusalem temple, Manasseh installed the idol of Astarte. He sacrificed children in honor of Moloch in the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) in the heights of Tophet (2 Kings 21: 6, Jer. 32:35).

A few words about the essence of these pagan cults, so that it would be easier to understand why God, through the mouth of the prophet Zephaniah (and not only him), subsequently pronounces formidable sentences.

Baal - "lord" - the Phoenician god, at first was the personification of nature as a whole, then it was divided into a male deity - an active principle - (actually Baal), and into a female deity - a passive principle - Astarte. Since the sun has always been considered a creative force,

Cult of Baal and Astarte united with the deification of the sun. But the sun can be both good and bad. Hence, the deity began to be worshiped under various forms: beneficial to man and bringing harm and destruction. But more often the principle of nature, beneficial to man, was revered under the names of Baal and Ashera, the hostile one - Moloch and Astarte.

Baal and Asherah cult accompanied by merriment, reaching unbridledness, at the temples of Ashera a special female class appeared, serving the deity with debauchery.

Cult of Moloch - the personification of the harmful effects of the heat of the sun, an angry deity - demanded heavy sacrifices to propitiate - human, and not slaves, not captives, but beloved children.

Cult of Astarte - the goddess of death and destruction. The best victim was considered to be self-sacrifice.

All these cults were common among the Jews.

Also "Manasseh worshiped all the host of heaven and served him." The Heavenly Host is the Assyrian-Babylonian cult of worship of the heavenly bodies, led by the sun and the moon, the planets were lower in the hierarchy, and then the zodiac signs. The sun among the Phoenicians was revered as a world divine power, and other luminaries - as minor gods. The will of the supreme deity (sun) can, as they believed, be read by the location and movement of the luminaries. This is how Chaldean astrology arose. The worship of the heavenly bodies did not require the existence of temples, was carried out directly on the roofs of houses and consisted only in worship, smoking and libation, blood sacrifices were not brought.

Manasseh perverted the true religion, placing Jehovah among the "host of heaven", "he divined, and bewitched, and brought the summoners of the dead and wizards ...". Although, according to the Law, necromancy was punished among the Jews.

And the people of God have forgotten that Jehovah is the only true God, therefore it has already become the norm to swear, for example, by the name of Jehovah and immediately by the name of Moloch; and after leaving Baal, immediately thereafter offer prayers to Jehovah. People, naturally, in the end, lost interest in the religion of the fathers or completely lost all faith, saying "the Lord does neither good nor evil."

Despite the fact that Manasseh repented in Babylonian captivity, and God, hearing the king's prayer, returned him to the kingdom, the Bible considers Manasseh as an apostate, and his reign is interpreted as an example of the sin of idolatry, which, according to Jeremiah, was one of the reasons for the destruction of the Temple ...

Son of Manasseh, Amon , followed in the footsteps of his father, but he ruled for only 2 years and was killed as a result of a conspiracy organized by his relatives.

The reigns of Manasseh and Amun were the darkest era in the history of Judea.

After the murder of Amun, his 8-year-old son Josiah ascended the throne. In fact, the rulers were a group of courtiers who did not want to continue the previous policy.

Reign of Josiah was marked by spiritual and religious revival and religious reforms aimed at eradicating paganism and idolatry among the people of God - the heritage of Father Josiah Amun and his grandfather Manasseh.

Josiah the reformer

Josiah restored to its former glory the temple of Solomon, which had fallen into complete decay, destroyed the pagan altars, killed the idolatrous priests and ordered everyone to strictly observe the law of Moses. But, despite such zeal of the king for the restoration of the true faith, the attempt to turn the people to the One God failed, since it was preceded by 70 years of a completely different life. The Jews, out of fear of the king's power, stopped openly serving idols, but in their hearts they concealed a commitment to pagan wickedness.

Schnorr von Karolsfeld. King Josiah listens to the reading of the scroll.

Researchers believe that during the period of Josiah's reforms, the prophet Jeremiah preached in Judea, and Zephaniah preached during the pre-reform period of Josiah's reign.

God chose Zephaniah as His prophet and commanded him to announce to the Jews the terrible punishment that awaits them for their wickedness and serving false gods. Fulfilling the command of the Lord, Zephaniah went through the cities and villages of Judah, everywhere urging the people to correction and repentance. His preaching was not extensive, but in power and depth it reminded the fiery speeches of the great prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah.

“This is what the Lord says,- this is how Zephaniah began his prophecy, - I will destroy everything from the face of the earth: I will destroy men and cattle, I will destroy the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, and temptations along with the wicked; I will destroy people from the face of the earth, says the Lord. And I will stretch out My hand on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: I will destroy from this place the remnants of Baal, the name of the priests and the priests, and I will destroy those who depart from the Lord and do not seek Him. Therefore, all fear before the face of the Lord, He is preparing a sacrifice, and its day is already near. It will be a day of anger, a day of sorrow and lamentation, a day of confusion and excitement, a day of darkness and gloom. Then people will walk like blind people because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be shed like sand, and their corpses shall be like dung " (Sof. 1: 2-4; Sof. 1: 14-18).

Proclaiming such a punishment to the Jews, Zephaniah, at the same time, predicted the imminent death of pagan nations - the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Ethiopians, Assyrians for their majesty and exaltation over the people of God (Soph. Ch. 2).

These prophecies were fulfilled during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, who conquered, along with the Jews, the Maobites, the Ammonites, and the Philistines. Assyria perished under Nebuchadnezzar's father, Nabopalasar.

Turning then again to his native Jerusalem, the prophet Zephaniah sees with sorrow that he is not enlightened by the examples of punishment of wicked pagan peoples and remains stubborn in his delusion. For this, says the prophet, the wicked city (Jerusalem) will be destroyed, and with it the land of Judah will perish.

Punishment, indeed, did not hesitate to overtake the wicked. Even during the reign of King Josiah, the then powerful enemies of the Egyptians invaded. Their king, Pharaoh Necho, defeated the Jews at the Battle of Meggedon (Palestine). Godly King Josiah fell in this battle. From this unfortunate day began the punishment of the Jews and the fulfillment of prophetic threats. Soon after the death of Josiah, the Jews were enslaved by the Egyptians and imposed a heavy tribute, and then the Babylonians began to invade Judea. In 607 BC, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem, destroyed it, and took the Jewish people into captivity, where he stayed for 70 years. Thus, the prophecies about the punishment of the Jews for wickedness were fulfilled.

Prophet Zephaniah learned about the day of his death by revelation from above, he died in the hope of a general resurrection and, according to legend, was buried in his home.

Book of the prophet Zephaniah

The Holy Prophet Zephaniah left behind the book of his prophecies, consisting of 3 chapters.

According to its content, the book of the prophet Zephaniah can be divided into three parts, which generally coincide with the division of the book into three chapters.

Chapter one depicts the judgment of God awaiting Judah for the idolatry and wickedness of its inhabitants. The prophet portrays the world of his day in the darkest colors. Anger, violence, impiety, brutality of the peoples brought them to the brink of destruction. The state of affairs that once preceded the Flood was created. The line has been crossed where the longsuffering of God ends. People will reap what they have sown. In vain they think that the Lord is powerless. The moral world order is violated, and this entails a global retaliation similar to the Flood. The book practically there are no exhortations to repentance, because the Jews are no longer able to accept them , God's people are finally ripe to “be burnt with the fire of Jehovah's wrath” (Seph. 1: 17-18).

Chapter two foreshadows the destruction of other, pagan peoples (Soph. 2: 4-15); the main point of the second chapter is that the fate of all is in the hands of the Lord He will punish the offenders of His people.

Chapter three - after re-depicting the punishment of Judah and other nations (Soph. 3: 1-8), it gives a majestic image of the coming new form of life - the salvation of Jews and pagans.

Those. coming the judgment of the Lord will be punitive, but also cleansing ... Everyone, the whole world, will appear on trial. AND this judgment will be the means and path to the goal of common salvation , the beginnings of which will be “humble lands, fulfilling the laws of Jehovah” (Seph. 2: 3), the remnants of Israel that do not do wrong (Seph. 3:13), from which a new theocratic community will arise. It will not be like the modern society of the prophet (Seph. 3: 11-13).

Jehovah's attitude towards the people will also change. He will cease to be only a Judge, but will become a King, Protector, Protector, will treat the people as a bridegroom to a bride (Soph. 3: 14-17). Other nations will also take part in salvation, and their gods will be destroyed (Zph. 2:11).

In the midst of the general chaos, only "the poor of God", "the humble lands" will survive.

In conclusion, Zephaniah announces salvation, that God has canceled His judgment on Jerusalem. “Rejoice, daughter of Zion! Triumph Israel! Rejoice and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! "meeting your true King - the Lord. But not only the Old Testament Church will be pardoned. All nations will reject idols and turn to the true God.

The Holy Church sees in these words of Zephaniah a clear indication of the blessed messianic times in general, and in particular of the solemn entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, when the whole of Zion, with vayas in their hands, with enthusiastic cries of "Hosanna, to the son of David," met Him as king, having to be in the midst of His people. Therefore, on Palm Sunday, it is supposed to read the paremia from the book of the prophet Zephaniah, exactly the place where the prophet speaks of the joyful day awaiting Zion.

Material prepared by Svetlana Finogenova

Troparion, voice 2
Memory of Thy Prophet Zephaniah, Lord, celebrating, so we pray to Thee: save our souls.

Kontakion, voice 4:
Thou didst appear radiant with a divine spirit, prophesying Zephaniah, exclaiming God's manifestation: Revenge exceedingly the daughter of Zion, Jerusalem, and preach: behold, your King comes to save you.

Αστάρτη , Astártē) - Greek version of the name goddess of love and the authorities Ishtarborrowed by the Greeks from the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon through the culture of the Phoenicians. Identical to the Sumerian the goddess of love and fertility Inanna - the mother of heaven.

This is how she was portrayed by D.G. Rossetti in 1877.

Her planet is Venus

Astarte is the same fundamental Goddess - the Mother of the World for all peoples, as well as the main God of all peoples - the Sun.
In Russia, it corresponds to the Goddess Makosh, who is the image of the most ancient mother goddess, who is known as Venus. The oldest goddess was the giver of life. Planet venus - the patroness of women, female nature, helps with childbirth, etc. Day - Friday, it is forbidden to work. So dear men, Women's Day is not a Jewish holiday on March 8, but FRIDAY! ;)

The great Russian artist N.K. Roerich portrayed the Mother of the World in 1924. like this:

But my opinion is that THIS is the most correct image

N.K. Roerich

"On the territory of Phenicia, she was revered as the main female deity. As a" Divine mother "giving life, Mother Nature, which has ten thousand names, was associated with fertility among different peoples, hence the veneration of Astarte as a life-giving one. The Phoenicians was associated with the moon and Venus (and this is correct, how Venus acts on women, I do not know, but the fact that the moon is a faithful companion of the female body is true.) Under the name of Astarte, they represented a woman with horns (there is a photo taken at the beginning of the 20th century in Siberia with women with symbolic "horns" -months, in the form of a decoration on their heads), symbolizing the crescent during the autumn equinox, after the defeat of her husband (the Sun - cf. Samson), defeated by the prince of darkness, and descended into Hades through the seven gates, to which she descended on outstretched wings. " (from Wiki)
Interestingly, "among the Syrians, Astaroth of Hieropolis was completely identified with the sparkling planet and was depicted as a majestic woman holding a torch in one hand, and in the other - a curved rod in the shape of an ansata (ankh) cross, corresponding to the attribute of Egyptian Isis." is an accurate description of the Statue of Liberty in America.
"Earlier than the Phoenicians, the Babylonians worship Ishtar, linking her cult to Venus, which was the third in the astral triad Sun - Moon - Venus."

The abused goddess Ishtar.

The Sumerian period of history covered about one and a half thousand years and ended by the beginning of the second millennium BC. e .. Goddess Ishtar during this time transformed from a mother goddess into a Goddess of love and war.
An even more interesting role in the desecration of the Goddess Ishtar was played, of course, by the ubiquitous Jews. They not only distorted her role in their texts, depicting her as "the patroness of prostitutes and gays," but in their Jewish kingdom they outraged the Goddess, making priestesses into temple prostitutes. " During the formation of Jewish monotheism the fight against the pantheon of old gods is underway. The act of direct anthropomorphization left a rough imprint on the form of the cult of Astarte (Ishtar), which subsequently led to the overthrow of the image of the goddess to a purely physiological role. As a result, the divine marriage of the king and the high priestess in the Sumerian-Akkadian cities, and later in the Canaanite, led to temple prostitution. . The image of the goddess who gives life and love is transformed into the image of the patroness of carnal pleasures. As a result, King Yoshiyahu destroys the altars of Astarte, erected by Solomon, and forbids cult events. The translation of the Septuagint also distorted figurative concepts through incorrect sound interpretations of texts written in Hebrew. "(C) You see no parallels with today's reality when instead of the image of a woman-motherimposed from everywhere image of a woman whore?
Now let's take a closer look at the Jewish religion. What is the role of a woman there? She, as in Islam, is not recognized as a person, she is not allowed to go to the Temple of God and pray next to men. Watch the video from Uman, where in an interview one elderly Jewess says: "Am I praying with PEOPLE? No! I can't!" This is how they relate to the Jews. And what do they call non-Jewish women? Shiksa! That is a whore! In Russian, these are the words of CHIKSA. Do you know what these non-humans call non-Jewish girls? Shiksalki! Pidophiles are disgusting!