HOVHANNES APKALLU ADAPA
հով զուգօրութեան equinoctial gale.
Adapa was an important figure in Mesopotamian religion. His name would be used to invoke power in exorcism rituals. He also became an archetype for a wise ruler. In that context, his name would be invoked to evoke favorable comparisons.
Some scholars conflate Adapa and the Apkallu known as Uanna. There is some evidence for that connection, but the name "adapa" may have also been used as an epithet, meaning "wise".
The following is a Summary based on translations in (Rogers 1912), (Izre'el 2001), (Pritchard 1969)
Adapa was a mortal man, a sage or priest of the temple of Ea in the city of Eridu. Ea (sometimes considered his father) had given Adapa the gift of great wisdom but not eternal life.
While carrying out his duties, he was fishing at the river Tigris. The sea became rough by the strong wind, and his boat was capsized. Angry, Adapa "broke the wings of the south wind" preventing it from blowing for seven days. The god Anu called Adapa to account for his action, but Ea aided him by instructing Adapa to gain the sympathy of Tammuz and Gishzida, who guard the gates of heaven and not to eat or drink there, as such food might kill him. When offered garments and oil, he should put the clothes on and anoint himself.
Adapa puts on mourning garments, tells Tammuz and Gishzida to be in mourning because they have disappeared from the land. Adapa is then offered the "food of life" and "water of life" but will not eat or drink. Then garments and oil are offered, and he does what he had been told. He is brought before Anu, who asks why he will not eat or drink. Adapa replies that Ea told him not to. Anu laughs at Ea's actions, and passes judgment on Adapa by asking rhetorically, "What ill has he [Adapa] brought on mankind?" He adds that men will suffer disease as a consequence, which Ninkarrak may allay. Adapa is then sent back down to earth. The ending of the text is missing.
The name of Adapa became pervasive in some rituals of the Mesopotamian religion. According to (Sanders 2017) exorcists would state "I am Adapa!" in their rituals.[5] Rituals from Nippur dating to as early as around 1800 BC use Adapa's name in their incantations.[6] Derivatives of the text remained in use until at least the 1st century AD.
The name Adapa has also been used for the first Apkallu, sometimes known as Uanna (in the Greek work by Berossus called Oannes). The accounts of the two are different, and (Uanna) the Apkallu is half-fish, while Adapa is a fisherman. However, there may be a connection. One potential explanation for the occurrence of the two names together is that the cuneiform for 'adapa' was also used as an appellative for "wise" (the Apkallu being wisdom giving beings).
Alternative viewpoints exist as to whether 'adapa' should be considered an epithet for 'uanna' or the other way around. Both occur together in compound as the name of the first apkullu.[9]
If identified as the first Apkallu, Adapa would have been the adviser of the mythical first (antediluvian) king of Eridu, Alulim. That connection is found in some texts, with King Alulu (Ref STT 176+185, lines 14–15).[10] Elsewhere, he is associated with the much-later King Enmerkar.[4]
When the story of Adapa was first rediscovered some scholars saw a resemblance with the story of the biblical Adam,[9] such as Albert Tobias Clay.[11] Later scholars such as Alexander Heidel ("The Adapa legend and the Biblical story (of Adam) are fundamentally as far apart as antipodes") rejected this connection; however, potential connections are still (1981) considered worthy of analysis. Possible parallels and connections include similarity in names, including the possible connection of both to the same word root; both accounts include a test involving the eating of purportedly deadly food; and both are summoned before god to answer for their transgressions.
Apkallu (Akkadian) and Abgal (Sumerian:𒉣𒈨 ) are terms found in cuneiform inscriptions that in general mean either "wise" or "sage".
In several contexts the Apkallu are seven demi-gods, sometimes described as part man and part fish, associated with human wisdom; these creatures are often referred to in scholarly literature as the Seven Sages. Sometimes the sages are associated with a specific primeval king. After the deluge (see Epic of Gilgamesh), further sages and kings are listed. Post-deluge, the sages are considered human, and in some texts are distinguished by being referred to as Ummanu, not Apkallu.
The terms Apkallu (as well as Abgal) is also used as an epithet for kings and gods as a mark of wisdom or knowledge.
A further use of the term Apkallu is when referring to figurines used in apotropaic rituals; these figurines include fish-man hybrids representing the seven sages, but also include bird-headed and other figures.
In a later work by Berossus describing Babylonia, the Apkallu appear again, also described as fish-men who are sent by the gods to impart knowledge to people. In Berossus, the first one, Oannes (a variant of Uanna), is said to have taught people the creation myth the Enuma Elis.The term apkallu has multiple uses, but usually refers to some form of wisdom; translations of the term generally equate to English language uses of the terms "the wise", "sage" or "expert".
As an epithet, prefix, or adjective it can mean "the wise"; it has been used as an epithet for the gods Ea and Marduk, simply interpreted as "wise one amongst gods" or similar forms. It has also been applied to Enlil, Ninurta, and Adad.[3]
The term also refers to the "seven sages",[4] especially the sage Adapa,[5] and also to apotropaic figures, which are often figurines of the 'seven sages' themselves.[6]
A collation of the names and "titles" of theses seven sages in order can be given as:[7]
Uanna, "who finished the plans for heaven and earth",
Uannedugga, "who was endowed with comprehensive intelligence",
Enmedugga, "who was allotted a good fate",
Enmegalamma, "who was born in a house",
Enmebulugga, "who grew up on pasture land",
An-Enlilda, "the conjurer of the city of Eridu",
Utuabzu, "who ascended to heaven".
Additionally, the term is used when referring to human "priests" (also "exorcists", "diviners").[8] However, Mesopotamian human sages also used the term ummianu (ummânù).[9][10]
The term "apkallu" is Akkadian, it is thought to derive from the Sumerian abgal.[11]
Uanna (Oannes)(HovHannes) or Adapa
The first of these legendary fish-man sages is known as Oan/Oannes (Sumerian) or Hovhannes (Armenian) or Uanna/U-An (Akkadian); on a few cuneiform inscriptions this first sage has "adapa" appended to his name. Both Adapa and the Apkallu have legends that place them halfway between the world of men and gods; but additionally just as Oannes in the Greek version passes all the knowledge of civilization to people, so Adapa is described as having been "[made] perfect with broad understanding to reveal the plans of the land."
Adam and Adapa : two anthropological characters Niels-Erik Andreasen Andrews University, neaa@andrews.ed. This Article dated January 1981 is a must read for greater clarity on the question before analysis of the most probable meaning which will unfold as I bring to light the internal etymology of the Armenian name Hovhannes, is brought to you for free and open access by the Old Testament at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact repository@andrews.edu.
հանել verb active To bring, to cause to get out, to take out, to remove, to extricate, to pull off, to draw, to displace, to pull out, to extract, to lift up, to bring, to bring to light.
հանելուկ noun Riddle, enigma, puzzle.հանուր adjective All, whole, general, universal.
հանուրց [classic genitive plural of հանուր] adjective of all; compare with ընդհանուր
հանագին noun Par value
հանուրց [classic genitive plural of հանուր] adjective of all; compare with ընդհանուր
հանագին noun Par value
Translation by James R Getz Jr. © 2008 of “Adapa and the South Wind”
Let his speech be… like the speech of Anu!”1 [Ea]2 perfected understanding perfect in [Adapa], To disclose the cultural order of the earth. To him he gave wisdom, but did not give him eternal life. At that time, in those years, he was a sage, son of Eridu. Ea created him as his follower among humankind. The sage’s speech ---nobody repudiated. Clever, foremost in understanding, he was one of the Anunnaki,3 Holy, pure of hands, anointed priest, who always observed the divine rites: With the cooks he performs the duty of a cook; With the cooks of Eridu, the same. He prepares the food and water of Eridu every day. With his pure hands, he sets up the offerings table; Without him the offerings table is not cleared away. He steers the boat out and does the fishing for Eridu. At that time Adapa, the son of Eridu, — Ea dozing, lingering in his bed — Would open the gate-bolt of Eridu every day. At the holy harbor, the Cresent Harbor, he embarked in a sailing boat and without even a rudder his boat would drift (upstream); Without a punting pole he would steer his boat. … in the wide sea. … fish(?) Large gap in which the South Wind apparently capsizes Adapa’s boat. … “O South Wind… …By the house of my lord! “O South Wind, call the other wind your brothers against me, however many there are, (yet) I shall break your wing!” As soon as he uttered these words, 1 Anu is the god of heaven (Sumerian AN = “heaven”), similar to Zeus in Greek mythology. The standard Mesopotamian understanding of the universe was that the world was broken into three zones: 1) the heavens, 2) the earth, and 3) the sweet waters below the earth. Anu was ruler over all the heavens; Enlil was ruler over all the earth; and Ea was ruler of the sweet waters below the earth (aka the Abzu). While the dead also reside below the earth, they seem to inhabit a different region of space than the Abzu. 2 Ea is the god of the Abzu and worshipped in the city Eridu. Ea functions as a wise counselor deity, associated with both wisdom and magic. 3 The Annunaki is the Mesopotamian council of the gods. The term is similar to the gods of Mount Olympus in Greek thought. 1 The South Wind's wing was broken. For seven days The South Wind did not blow towards the land. Anu called out to his vizier Ilabrat: “Why hasn't South Wind blown towards the land for seven days?” His vizier Ilabrat answered him: “My lord, Adapa, the son of Ea, has broken South Wind's wing.” When Anu heard this word, He cried “Help!", and rose up from this throne. “Send someone to bring him here!” Ea, aware of heaven's ways, touched Adapa, made him wear his hair unkempt, dressed him in mourning garment, and gave him instructions: “Adapa, you are to go before King Anu, you will ascend to heaven. When you have ascended to heaven, when you have approached the Gate of Anu, Dumuzi and Gizzida4 will be standing at the Gate of Anu. They will see you and question you: ‘Young man, for whom are dressed this way? Adapa, for whom do you wear a mourning garment?’ (And you must answer:) ‘Two gods have vanished from our land, and so I have done this.’ (They will ask:) ‘Who are the two gods that have vanished from the land?’ (And you must answer:) ‘Dumuzi and Gizzida.’ They will look at each other and smile; they will speak a word in your favor to Anu; they will present you to Anu when he is in a good mood. When you stand before Anu, you will be offered the bread of death; do not eat! You will be offered the water of death; do not drink! You will be offered a garment; dress! You will be offered oil; anoint! Do not neglect the instructions I have given you; keep to the words that I have told you.” The messenger of Anu arrived (and said): “Send to me Adapa, Who broke South Wind's wing.” He put him on the road to heaven, and he ascended to heaven. When he ascended to heaven, when he approached the Gate of Anu, Dumuzi and Gizzida were standing at the Gate of Anu. They saw Adapa and cried “Help! Young man, for whom are dressed this way? Adapa, for whom do you wear a mourning garment?” (And Adapa answered:) “Two gods have vanished from our land, and so I have done this.” (They asked:) “Who are the two gods that have vanished from the land?” (And Adapa answered:) “Dumuzi and Gizzida.” They looked at each other and smiled. When Adapa approached the presence of King Anu, Anu saw him and cried: “Come! Adapa, why did you break South Wind's wing?” Adapa answered Anu: “My lord, for my lord Ea’s house I was catching fish 4 Dumudia and Gizzida are two “dying and rising gods” who apparently are spending part of the year in heaven (when dead). 2 in the middle of the sea. He cut the sea in half, the South wind blew and drowned me! I was plunged into my lord’s house. In my fury I cursed her.” Dumuzi and Gizzida responded from beside him. They spoke a word in his favor to Anu. Anu’s heart was calmed, he grew quiet. (Then Anu said:) “Why did Ea disclose to wretched humankind The ways of heaven and earth! Why did he give them a heavy heart? He is the one who has done this; what can we do for him? Bring him the food of life, that he may eat!” Adapa was brought the food of life; he did not eat. He was brought the water of life; he did not drink. He was brought a garment; he dressed. He was brought oil; he anointed himself. Anu watched him and laughed: “Come, Adapa, why didn't you eat or drink? Didn't you want to be immortal? Alas for inferior humanity!” Adapa responded: “But Ea my lord told me: ‘Do not eat, do not drink!’” Anu responded: “Take him and send him back to his earth.”
Wikipedia tells us that Adapa was a Mesopotamian mythical figure who unknowingly refused the gift of immortality. The story, commonly known as "Adapa and the South Wind", is known from fragmentary tablets from Tell el-Amarna in Egypt (around 14th century BC) and from finds from the Library of Ashurbanipal, Assyria (around 7th century BC).Adapa was an important figure in Mesopotamian religion. His name would be used to invoke power in exorcism rituals. He also became an archetype for a wise ruler. In that context, his name would be invoked to evoke favorable comparisons.
Some scholars conflate Adapa and the Apkallu known as Uanna. There is some evidence for that connection, but the name "adapa" may have also been used as an epithet, meaning "wise".
The following is a Summary based on translations in (Rogers 1912), (Izre'el 2001), (Pritchard 1969)
Adapa was a mortal man, a sage or priest of the temple of Ea in the city of Eridu. Ea (sometimes considered his father) had given Adapa the gift of great wisdom but not eternal life.
While carrying out his duties, he was fishing at the river Tigris. The sea became rough by the strong wind, and his boat was capsized. Angry, Adapa "broke the wings of the south wind" preventing it from blowing for seven days. The god Anu called Adapa to account for his action, but Ea aided him by instructing Adapa to gain the sympathy of Tammuz and Gishzida, who guard the gates of heaven and not to eat or drink there, as such food might kill him. When offered garments and oil, he should put the clothes on and anoint himself.
Adapa puts on mourning garments, tells Tammuz and Gishzida to be in mourning because they have disappeared from the land. Adapa is then offered the "food of life" and "water of life" but will not eat or drink. Then garments and oil are offered, and he does what he had been told. He is brought before Anu, who asks why he will not eat or drink. Adapa replies that Ea told him not to. Anu laughs at Ea's actions, and passes judgment on Adapa by asking rhetorically, "What ill has he [Adapa] brought on mankind?" He adds that men will suffer disease as a consequence, which Ninkarrak may allay. Adapa is then sent back down to earth. The ending of the text is missing.
The name of Adapa became pervasive in some rituals of the Mesopotamian religion. According to (Sanders 2017) exorcists would state "I am Adapa!" in their rituals.[5] Rituals from Nippur dating to as early as around 1800 BC use Adapa's name in their incantations.[6] Derivatives of the text remained in use until at least the 1st century AD.
The name Adapa has also been used for the first Apkallu, sometimes known as Uanna (in the Greek work by Berossus called Oannes). The accounts of the two are different, and (Uanna) the Apkallu is half-fish, while Adapa is a fisherman. However, there may be a connection. One potential explanation for the occurrence of the two names together is that the cuneiform for 'adapa' was also used as an appellative for "wise" (the Apkallu being wisdom giving beings).
Alternative viewpoints exist as to whether 'adapa' should be considered an epithet for 'uanna' or the other way around. Both occur together in compound as the name of the first apkullu.[9]
If identified as the first Apkallu, Adapa would have been the adviser of the mythical first (antediluvian) king of Eridu, Alulim. That connection is found in some texts, with King Alulu (Ref STT 176+185, lines 14–15).[10] Elsewhere, he is associated with the much-later King Enmerkar.[4]
When the story of Adapa was first rediscovered some scholars saw a resemblance with the story of the biblical Adam,[9] such as Albert Tobias Clay.[11] Later scholars such as Alexander Heidel ("The Adapa legend and the Biblical story (of Adam) are fundamentally as far apart as antipodes") rejected this connection; however, potential connections are still (1981) considered worthy of analysis. Possible parallels and connections include similarity in names, including the possible connection of both to the same word root; both accounts include a test involving the eating of purportedly deadly food; and both are summoned before god to answer for their transgressions.
Apkallu (Akkadian) and Abgal (Sumerian:𒉣𒈨 ) are terms found in cuneiform inscriptions that in general mean either "wise" or "sage".
In several contexts the Apkallu are seven demi-gods, sometimes described as part man and part fish, associated with human wisdom; these creatures are often referred to in scholarly literature as the Seven Sages. Sometimes the sages are associated with a specific primeval king. After the deluge (see Epic of Gilgamesh), further sages and kings are listed. Post-deluge, the sages are considered human, and in some texts are distinguished by being referred to as Ummanu, not Apkallu.
The terms Apkallu (as well as Abgal) is also used as an epithet for kings and gods as a mark of wisdom or knowledge.
A further use of the term Apkallu is when referring to figurines used in apotropaic rituals; these figurines include fish-man hybrids representing the seven sages, but also include bird-headed and other figures.
In a later work by Berossus describing Babylonia, the Apkallu appear again, also described as fish-men who are sent by the gods to impart knowledge to people. In Berossus, the first one, Oannes (a variant of Uanna), is said to have taught people the creation myth the Enuma Elis.The term apkallu has multiple uses, but usually refers to some form of wisdom; translations of the term generally equate to English language uses of the terms "the wise", "sage" or "expert".
As an epithet, prefix, or adjective it can mean "the wise"; it has been used as an epithet for the gods Ea and Marduk, simply interpreted as "wise one amongst gods" or similar forms. It has also been applied to Enlil, Ninurta, and Adad.[3]
The term also refers to the "seven sages",[4] especially the sage Adapa,[5] and also to apotropaic figures, which are often figurines of the 'seven sages' themselves.[6]
A collation of the names and "titles" of theses seven sages in order can be given as:[7]
Uanna, "who finished the plans for heaven and earth",
Uannedugga, "who was endowed with comprehensive intelligence",
Enmedugga, "who was allotted a good fate",
Enmegalamma, "who was born in a house",
Enmebulugga, "who grew up on pasture land",
An-Enlilda, "the conjurer of the city of Eridu",
Utuabzu, "who ascended to heaven".
Additionally, the term is used when referring to human "priests" (also "exorcists", "diviners").[8] However, Mesopotamian human sages also used the term ummianu (ummânù).[9][10]
The term "apkallu" is Akkadian, it is thought to derive from the Sumerian abgal.[11]
Uanna (Oannes)(HovHannes) or Adapa
The first of these legendary fish-man sages is known as Oan/Oannes (Sumerian) or Hovhannes (Armenian) or Uanna/U-An (Akkadian); on a few cuneiform inscriptions this first sage has "adapa" appended to his name. Both Adapa and the Apkallu have legends that place them halfway between the world of men and gods; but additionally just as Oannes in the Greek version passes all the knowledge of civilization to people, so Adapa is described as having been "[made] perfect with broad understanding to reveal the plans of the land."
Adam and Adapa : two anthropological characters Niels-Erik Andreasen Andrews University, neaa@andrews.ed. This Article dated January 1981 is a must read for greater clarity on the question before analysis of the most probable meaning which will unfold as I bring to light the internal etymology of the Armenian name Hovhannes, is brought to you for free and open access by the Old Testament at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact repository@andrews.edu.
So does
Adapa represent a parallel to the biblical Adam, or should Adam
and Adapa rather be contrasted? The suggestion of this essay is that
in Adam and Adapa we have the representation of two different
anthropological characters, perhaps capable of being illustrated by
an actor who plays two distinct roles, but who is clearly recognizable in each.
The Adapa character assigned to this actor is suitable for its
cultural milieu. It is that of a wise man. The epithet apkallu
supports it, and his identification with Berossos' Oannes confirms
it. His wisdom is ordained by his god Ea, and it comes to
expression in the devotion and obedience with which he conducts
his affairs. Adapa is not a "sinner," but a "perfect man." He is
therefore a model man, arising from the sea, like Oannes, to
instruct mankind. He is a human archetype who compares best to
such biblical personalities as Noah, Joseph, Moses, Job, and
Daniel, who are also models of wisdom, devotion, and obedience,
and who represent ideals to be imitated.57 Naturally, inasmuch as
Adapa lives in a polytheistic world, so he must contend with all its
conflicting interests. These are not unlike the conflicting interests
with which biblical man is confronted, except that the perpetrators
in the latter case are humans. For man to survive in such a world
takes wisdom, integrity, reliability, devotion, and humility before
the unalterable superiority of the divine powers. But the ideal
human character can succeed in this. He may not achieve all that
57~f. Foster, p. 353; Speiser, p. 310. According to Buccellati, p. 65, Adapa is
characterized as a man of faith, and hence he can be compared to such biblical
personages as Noah and Abraham. The notion of faith emerges in Adapa's total
commitment to his god's counsel. See also Xella, p. 260.
ADAM AND ADAPA 193
he desires; he remains mortal and shares in the suffering to which
humanity is liable, but he does stand to gain real satisfactions from
his life and can attain to a noble status and enjoy divine
recognition. Here is a clear parallel between Adapa and certain OT
ideals, particularly in the wisdom literature.
The Adam role, however, is that of the first man, who is
sinless and destined to immortality-of one who, even though a
created being, is in the image of God and who enjoys his presence
continually. We very much suspect that the same actor is indeed
playing, because of the similarity of the names of our characters,
because of their primary position among the antediluvians, and
because of certain distinct experiences they had in common (e.g., a
summons before divinity, and a test involving food). But the
precise role which Adam plays is foreign to the Mesopotamian
literature. Unlike Adapa, Adam, though made of clay, originally
has the potential for immortality and is totally free before God.
Further, Adam seryes the earth, rather than temple. Moreover,
although he possesses enormous wisdom (so as to name the
animals, Gen 2:20), he is not portrayed as a teacher of civilization
to mankind. Rather, he exists above and before civilization, in a
pristine state of purity, nobility, and complete harmony. Furthermore, his confrontation with God is not in sorrow or mourning,
comparable to the experience of Adapa; he is subsequently brought
low while blaming his misadventures upon a woman. In this,
Adam 'is clearly not an ideal to be followed, but a warning to all-a
failing individual, rather than a noble, heroic one. Here a clear
contrast emerges between our two characters.
According to an old proposal,58 recently resurrected," the actor
who played these two characters-the noble Adapa and the ignoble
Adam-was brought to the ancient Near East by west Semitic
peoples. On the scene staged by the Mesopotamian artists he
characterized man as the noble, wise, reliable, and devoted, but
humble, hero who is resigned to live responsibly before his god.
However, in the biblical tradition, the characterization came
through in quite a different way, which has put its lasting mark
5$y A. T. Clay, The Empire of the Amorites, Yale Oriental Series 6
(New Haven, Conn., 1919); also, The Origin of Biblical Traditions.
59See the recent suggestions by Shea, pp. 39-41; Dahood, pp. 271-276.
194 NIELS-ERIK ANDREASEN
upon the concept of man in the Judeo-Christian tradition-namely,
that before God, man is (or rather has become) basically sinful,
failing, ignoble and untrustworthy, bent upon usurping the place
of his God. This portrayal, to be sure, is not meant to reduce the
spirit of man to pessimism and despair, but to remind him that
despite all the wisdom, cunning, reliability, and devotion of which
he is capable and is duty-bound to exercise, he is also always a
sinner whose unpredictability, untrustworthiness, and irresponsibility can never be totally ignored nor denied.'jO
Does the Adapa myth then present us with a parallel or a
contrast to the story of Adam? The best answer to this question
may well be that Adam and Adapa represent two distinct characterizations of human nature. The parallels we have noted in the
accounts may suggest that the two characterizations have a common
origin, whereas the contrasts between them may indicate that
two branches of Near Eastern civilization took clearly distinguishable sides in the dialogue over human nature. Yet these lines are
not so different that the resulting two characterizations of man are
unable to dialogue.
After the many references above to the BHP I know you are wondering what could be meant by the term BHP. I did a lot of searching that led me to a dead end until I decided to think laterally and look into the word black headed as a reference to the state of mind of the people who in a very short time invented and created the foundation of our civilization. So I went for the synonyms, metaphor of black in the English language that would make my intuition relevant.
Let us start by replacing the word head with mood. A mindset influences how you think which influences ones mood as black or dark mood. A mindset is a set of beliefs that shape how you make sense of the world and yourself. It influences how you think, feel, and behave in any given situation.
Let us start by replacing the word head with mood. A mindset influences how you think which influences ones mood as black or dark mood. A mindset is a set of beliefs that shape how you make sense of the world and yourself. It influences how you think, feel, and behave in any given situation.
A dark mood, dark as adjective offers (figurative) abstruse, arcane, concealing, cryptic, deep, Delphic (deliberately obscure or ambiguous), enigmatic, mysterious, mystic, obscure, occult, puzzling, recondite, secretive, as well as bleak, cheerless, dismal, doleful, drab, gloomy, grim, joyless, morbid, morose, mournful, sombre and solemn. A black mood, black as adjective again offers (figurative) depressing, dismal, distressing, doleful, foreboding, funereal and adds gloomy, hopeless, lugubrious, mournful, ominous, sad, sombre, solemn, sullen.
My choice is solemn, sombre, cryptic, enigmatic, mysterious, doleful
Solemnity and the solemnity of the Black Headed People.
He wore a very solemn expression on his face. He recited the poem in a solemn voice. A solemn crowd gathered around the grave. They made a solemn promise to love each other forever.
Solemnness is a quality or state of being very serious and formal. The solemnness in the eyes of the BHP's eyes as they entered the holy places and spoke the sacred words must have made the congregation pay very close attention.
The words solemnity and solemnness mean the same thing - a trait of dignified seriousness. We mostly use "solemnity", whereas we hardly ever use the "solemness/solemnness". Some synonyms offered are sedateness, solemnity, staidness. A type of earnestness, serious-mindedness, seriousness, sincerity. the trait of being serious.
The adjective solemn comes from the Latin sollemnis, which means formal or ceremonial. You can still use it to describe a ceremony or event, but it's best when talking about someone who's serious and sincere. In Middle English also "famous, important; imposing, grand," hence Chaucer's friar, a ful solempne man. Also meaning "marked by seriousness or earnestness" is from late 14c.; sense of "fitted to inspire devout reflection" and "performed with due religious ceremony or reverence, sacred, devoted to religious observances," also, of a vow, etc., "made under religious sanction, binding," from Old French solempne (12c., Modern French solennel) and directly from Latin sollemnis "annual, established, religiously fixed, formal, ceremonial, traditional,"
Feasting in Mesopotamia
SUMERIAN SOLEMNITIES AND HOLIDAYS.
The concept of holidays originated in connection with religious rites, observances all historically associated with traditions. The intention of a holiday was typically to allow individuals to tend to religious duties associated with important 'holy' dates on the calendar.
Solemnity is a formal or ceremonious observance of an occasion or event, or a solemn event or occasion or a solemn face, mood, atmosphere, condition, the solemnity of the music and words. If the day is a Solemnity, then the Gloria is said, as well as the Creed at Mass, and there are two scriptural readings, not one, before the Gospel. Also, there will sometimes be processional and recessional hymns, and use of incense.
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint.
The word "feast" in this context does not mean "a large meal, typically a celebratory one", but instead "an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint".
The liturgical year, also known as the church year or Christian year, as well as the kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which portions of Scripture are to be read either in an annual cycle or in a cycle of several years.
For example the solemnities of the Nativity of the Lord, the Epiphany, the Ascension, and Pentecost are all outranked only by the Paschal Triduum. Solemnities inscribed in particular calendars yield not only to these, but also to the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed.Among solemnities inscribed in particular calendars (proper solemnities) the order of precedence is:
The solemnity of the principal patron of the place, city or state
The solemnity of the dedication or anniversary of the dedication of one's own church
The solemnity of the title of one's own church (the mystery or saint to which it is dedicated)
The solemnity of either the title or the founder of a religious institute
The word comes from postclassical Latin sollemnitas, meaning a solemnity, festival, a feast day, celebration of a day.
Luxurious feasts and banquets had been a part of Mesopotamian culture from the time of the Sumerians, the ones who started it all.
The Greek historian Herodotus said that when the city of Babylon fell to the Persians in 539 BC, what King Cyrus and his armies found behind its walls were Babylonians feasting. The Bible says the same about the event, which served to peg the very name of that great city to excessive luxury.
Excessive yes luxurious yes but I believe the feasts were Solemnities in the sense the churches today interpret the word feast today. As in a solemn religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular special day.
In the liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite, a solemnity is a feast day of the highest rank celebrating a mystery of faith such as the Trinity, an event in the life of Jesus, his mother Mary, his legal father Joseph, or another important saint, commemorating each martyr annually on the date of their death, or birth into heaven, a date therefore referred to in Latin as the martyr's dies natalis ('day of birth'). In the Eastern Orthodox Church, a calendar of saints is called a Menologion. "Menologion" may also mean a set of icons on which saints are depicted in the order of the dates of their feasts, often made in two panels.
Historically starting with the Sumerians we must realize the fact that as the number of events and recognized saints increased during as in Late Antiquity and the first half of the Middle Ages, eventually every day of the year had at least one saint who was commemorated on that date, thus the reputation of the Sumerians and the Mesopotamians for excessive celebration, feasting and luxury.
We feast today to celebrate all things religious. Mesopotamia could not have been different. they must have had harvest festivals, marked like those of other people by rejoicings and thanksgivings to the gods, but as yet we have not unearthed all their rites and ceremonies. We know a good deal about the festival that formed a complement to their new year’s celebration. The famous Standard of Ur contains a rather detailed Sumerian banquet scene in which servants bring food and drink to seated figures, one of them higher and larger than the rest, with musicians performing. There are also cattle being led in to be prepared for the feast. At these banquets there were local as well as foreign dignitaries and workers. Most importantly the gods were also considered the main guests and that meant that part of the food was designated for the gods. On the stele we read, for the goddess Ishtar alone Ashurnasirpal II designated some 200 heads of cattle. They also had a lot to drink, Mesopotamians served beer and wine at their feasts and performed toasts in honor of the gods and their host.
The Sumerian introduced the conception of time as an entity and devised the calendar that introduced the our seven day week, corresponding to the four waning and waxing periods of the lunar cycle, all with 12 months of 30 days. One of the most important aspects of the calendar in Mesopotamia was marking spring and autumn, which in turn marked the beginning and end of the agricultural year. Like Easter, spring and new year were marked by the first new moon after the spring equinox, around the end of March or beginning of April. Autumn was marked at the first new moon after the autumn equinox. In Mesopotamia, autumn marked the beginning of the planting season and spring was a time of harvest as the summer was too dry and hot to grow crops all occasions of solemnity, all occasions of feast days, of the highest rank celebrating the mystery of faith, such as the tri-unity. Generally, fallow land was followed flooded and leached in spring and summer, and ploughed and sowed in the autumn and winter, while cultivated fields were harvested and threshed in the dry and hot spring and summer, following the relatively wet fall and winter. The Spring Equinox marked the beginning of the season when fallow land was washed to cleanse the soil of salt and impurities. The Autumn Equinox marked the beginning of harvest. For cultivated fields, the Spring Equinox marked the beginning of harvest, whereas the Autumn Equinox marked the fallowing season.The earliest known New Year's festival was celebrated in Babylon around 2000 B.C. in March during the vernal equinox. The celebration, as recorded on cuneiform tablets, lasted for 111 days and featured ritual bathing and hymn singing by priests, parying to Marduk for plentiful crops, parades with costumed dancers, seed-sowing ceremonies, and rubbing a beheaded ram against a shrine. The festival was called “Kuppura” ("Day of Atonement"). The Jewish holiday Yom Kippur also means "Day of Atonement."
I wish to think in terms of the number three, not a Trinity or even a triple deity that appears in three forms, sometimes referred to as threefold, tripled, triplicate, tripartite, triune or triadic, or as a trinity, it is simply the idea of three deities that are worshipped as one. Such deities are common throughout world mythology and the number three has a long history of mythical associations. Carl Jung considered the arrangement of deities into triplets an archetype in the history of religion
Anciently the concept of TRI-UNITY could have been celebrated at any point on the annual cycle but for the sake of simlicity let us attempt to make sence of the statement " I am the Alfa Omega" suggesting that the person who utters the words is declairing that they are the all. If the idea of a triplet is the minimum possible way to express the all in abstract language/logos then I offer the following ancient observation of the ecliptic, the cyclical nature of sun and moon and life in general as the backdrop to our idea that it takes the minimum of three points in space and time to define the all. Starting with the point we have named the winter solstice where we mark 9in space and time). the birth of the sun, which we name the first day, this day which is connected to the last day of the year which we name the death of the sun and the point where the sun appears to stand still, connecting the first and last days, connecting the A/Z which stand on either side of the day of the Dolman. This day we can call the liminal day, the threshold, the in-between life and death of a two dimensional view offered by sacred geometry and all religeon, the day when we are asked to make a leap of faith, where stands the Yoni "from the womb to the tomb". These three points, which are strictly speaking everywhere and nowhere in the spiral flow of time can be placed on the cross that devided the cycle into four seasons or eight. in three dimensional space I offer as the first the origin, the cause of all that has been said and recorded on the subject of metaphysical existence. An early example is the Trimūrti "three forms" of supreme divinity in Hinduism, in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified as a triad of deities. Typically, the designations are that of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. The Om symbol of Hinduism is considered to have an allusion to Trimurti, where the A, U, and M phonemes of the word are considered to indicate creation, preservation and destruction, adding up to represent Brahman the all. The Tridevi is the trinity of goddess consorts for the Trimūrti..
The Eblaite calendar affixed a different name to every year that commemorated a great event. The year 2480 B.C., for example, is referred to as “ Dis mu til Mari ki” (the Year of the defeat of Mari). This is this is exactly 14 years after the said departure of Armenian Hayk from Babylon, the year 2494 B.C..
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