Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

viii Introduction to the First Editionsteered by great invisible forces. If every object innature has a spiritual identity, which may be consideredto act as its protector or guardian, logicdictates that mankind’s activities affect the objectnot only in its physical state but also in its spiritualdimension. Thus the approval of the relevant spiritmust be obtained before the slaughter of game,the felling of a tree, the commencement of a journey,the building of a house. Responsibility for ouractions is taken from us and given into the handsof an all-powerful, if unseen being.The need to expiate our activities has persisteddown the millennia: the prime role of gods is stillto protect, to steer, to govern the order of life andto provide answers to conundrums which scienceand the modern temporal world cannot resolve.This encyclopedia contains more than 2,500entries of deities derived from both ancient andcontemporary cultures. It does not generallyinclude personalities regarded as demigods,demons or mythical heroes. A demigod is definedhere as a personality who was once mortal but hasbeen elevated to the celestial ranks. Generallyspeaking, and it is certainly true of the occidentalreligions, gods are iconic figures whose “pedigree”belongs exclusively in the heavens. They are distinctand separate from humankind. In some religions,however, most notably Buddhism, all deitiesare perceived as having once been mortal beingswhose pursuit of excellence and enlightenment haselevated them ever higher through a series ofspheres or planes toward perfection. In themythologies of other cultures, often of a tribalnature, there exist significant ancestral personalitieswho have clearly been deified and are treatedentirely as gods and goddesses e.g. the Sumeriangod Dumuzi or the Norse god Balder. In suchinstances, personalities that might correctly beregarded as demigods have an entry here. It shouldbe noted, therefore, that while Gautama Buddha isincluded, there are no entries for Jesus Christ orthe prophet Muhammad.Although certain cultures, such as those ofGreece and Rome, will be well known to mostreaders, others will be less familiar, and some historicalbackground may be useful.The Sumerians were the first high civilization toinhabit Mesopotamia. Their style of cuneiformwriting was only deciphered a few years ago andmuch of their history and circumstance is still notproperly known. In the twenty-fourth century BCthey were taken over by the Akkadians under Sargonand the style of writing changed to a Semiticcuneiform. The names of many deities changed atthe same time. The Old Babylonian era began atabout the end of the second millennium BC andwas marked largely by the influence of the lawmakingking Hammurabi. With some interruptions,the influence of Babylon continued throughthe neo-Babylonian period of biblical notoriety,until roughly two hundred years before the birth ofChrist. The Hittite Empire arose in the mountainousregion of what is now Turkey and its periodof influence was comparatively short-lived. TheHurrians, closely linked with the Hittite Empire,were less a compact culture than a loose-knit andwidely traveled people who shared a common language.They influenced much cross-fertilizationof culture in the ancient Near East.The demise of these ancient orders came in 539BC when the Persians under Cyrus conqueredBabylon. Their hegemony was brief and wasreplaced by the Greek influences of Alexander theGreat and his Macedonian Empire in the fourthcentury BC. The Romans under Pompey came inthe first century BC. Muslim expansionism tookover key areas of Syrio-Palestine and Persia in theseventh century AD, introducing the new religionof Islam to an area which had seen strong, if shortlived,influence from Zoroastrianism.In parallel with the Mesopotamian cultures, thatof Egypt survived more or less intact from sometimebefore 3000 BC until the end of the RomanEmpire period, though from the first century AD,