There seems to have been a gradual change, in many cultures, across the Stone Age, from communal burial spaces to individual graves. My own work has been in Ancient Egypt, but I did a broader anthropological study of burial practices at the beginning of my PhD. I came away with the notion that these stories carry in them that change in humanity's attitude, not just to death, but to the self.
If you take Osiris, his death is followed by corruption, decay and, in extreme versions of the story, dismemberment. It's a fate akin to ancient burial traditions that saw the deceased placed with many others. Such rites saw their identity fractured and dissolved, absorbed into a universal category of 'the Dead.' But Osiris emerges from this. His identity is not allowed to break apart and disappear.
He is reanimated, but the most important part of that reanimation is the denial of decay and the processes that threaten his personhood. His identity, distinct from the ubiquitous 'dead' is protected and preserved. I don't think it is a coincidence that his cult comes to prominence in Egypt at the same time as we start to see individuals keeping records of their lifetime's achievements in their tombs. At some point it became important to humanity to hold on to the uniqueness of members of their community.
I’d imagine many of the foot and handprint in caves were of children and I recall a study was done at 3 prominent European paleolithic caves whereby it was estimated that 75% of the handprints were female due to ring finger proportions
And as we find in many resurrection myths, there is always a woman necessary to resurrect the dead male, but perhaps the oldest written story of this trope is in the descent of Inanna
That was fascinating thanks! I’ve just discovered your work and it’s amazing! I reckon you might like this piece narrated by a ten thousand year old ghost. Give it a listen :)
There seems to have been a gradual change, in many cultures, across the Stone Age, from communal burial spaces to individual graves. My own work has been in Ancient Egypt, but I did a broader anthropological study of burial practices at the beginning of my PhD. I came away with the notion that these stories carry in them that change in humanity's attitude, not just to death, but to the self.
If you take Osiris, his death is followed by corruption, decay and, in extreme versions of the story, dismemberment. It's a fate akin to ancient burial traditions that saw the deceased placed with many others. Such rites saw their identity fractured and dissolved, absorbed into a universal category of 'the Dead.' But Osiris emerges from this. His identity is not allowed to break apart and disappear.
He is reanimated, but the most important part of that reanimation is the denial of decay and the processes that threaten his personhood. His identity, distinct from the ubiquitous 'dead' is protected and preserved. I don't think it is a coincidence that his cult comes to prominence in Egypt at the same time as we start to see individuals keeping records of their lifetime's achievements in their tombs. At some point it became important to humanity to hold on to the uniqueness of members of their community.
This was a fascinating read, thank you for your input!
Thank you!
The "dark and light halves of the year" are literally just the frost and frost free time periods for a gardener.
Yup 🌱
Brilliantly expressed!
I’d imagine many of the foot and handprint in caves were of children and I recall a study was done at 3 prominent European paleolithic caves whereby it was estimated that 75% of the handprints were female due to ring finger proportions
And as we find in many resurrection myths, there is always a woman necessary to resurrect the dead male, but perhaps the oldest written story of this trope is in the descent of Inanna
Interesting! Yes, symbolic birth is just as feminine as physical birth. A tale and process as old as time.
Thank you for reading.
That was fascinating thanks! I’ve just discovered your work and it’s amazing! I reckon you might like this piece narrated by a ten thousand year old ghost. Give it a listen :)
https://open.substack.com/pub/jonathanfostersthecrow/p/the-shimmering-ghost?r=17bi96&utm_medium=ios