What does zoroastrianism have to do with Gilgamesh?
Inanna is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess associated with love, beauty, sex, desire, fertility, war, justice, and political power. She was originally worshipped in Sumer and was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians under the name Ishtar.[wiki]
Astarte (Greek: Ἀστάρτη, Astártē) is the Hellenized form of the Middle Eastern goddess Astoreth (Northwest Semitic), a form of Ishtar (East Semitic), worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. The name is particularly associated with her worship in the ancient Levant among the Canaanites and Phoenicians. She was also celebrated in Egypt following the importation of Levantine cults there. The name Astarte is sometimes also applied to her cults in Mesopotamian cultures like Assyria and Babylonia.[wiki]
Ishtar is a god of fertility, love, sex, and beauty. Brash and proud, she is enraged when
Gilgamesh rejects her marriage proposal. She threatens to release the dead into the world of the living if her father Anu does not release the Bull of Heaven—an event that ultimately leads to Enkidu’s death.[
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Kali, (Sanskrit: “She Who Is Black” or “She Who Is Death”) in Hinduism, goddess of time, doomsday, and death, or the black goddess (the feminine form of Sanskrit kala, “time-doomsday-death” or “black”). Kali’s origins can be traced to the deities of the village, tribal, and mountain cultures of South Asia who were gradually appropriated and transformed, if never quite tamed, by the Sanskritic traditions. She makes her first major appearance in Sanskrit culture in the Devi Mahatmya (“The Glorifications of the Goddess,” c. 6th century CE). Kali’s iconography, cult, and mythology commonly associate her not only with
death but also with sexuality, violence, and, paradoxically, in some later traditions, with motherly love.[
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Kali is worshiped by Hindus throughout India especially in West Bengal.[wiki]
You make a good point. No direct link to the Zoroastrian religion, but there seems to be an indirect link to Hinduism (modern day worshipers).
Interestingly, the descriptions of the early Sumerian gods do seem to correlate with the familiar Greek and Roman pantheon.[
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Or are you trying to point out that there are people who still practice a really old religion? Because if you are trying to do the later, no one disputes that people practice really old religions.
Yes, basically. You say "Gilgamesh doesn't have a surviving church" - However, Zoroastrianism (nearly as ancient) DOES have a surviving church.
Do you believe that a church surviving from ancient times makes their beliefs more credible?????????????????????????????????????
Ok, so, what is your position? If Christianity is not the oldest, are you saying it's the most popular? Because if popularity is your favorite data point, all Christian denominations should join the
most popular denomination and quit squabbling over doctrine.
