THE FERTILITY GODDESSES OF THE ANCIENT TIME CIVILIZATION OF ANATOLIA, GREEK AND ASIA MINOR
ANTİK ÇAĞ ANADOLU, YUNAN VE ÖN ASYA MEDENİYETLERİNİN BEREKET TANRIÇALARI

Author : Gülser AKTAN
Number of pages : 213-223

Abstract

The ancient civilizations had belief systems based on the power of life-giving nature. They tried to make the life and the natural events meaningful by symbolizing each power of nature as a god. Soil is one of the most important powers like agriculture, water and livestock that enable people to feed. The Soil, which provides fertility, is symbolized with female characters and respected as a fertility goddess with different names in various civilizations. The characteristics of the gods of belief systems have changed when the agricultural society develops and transforms from the city states into the kingdoms. Mother goddess evolves to the fertility goddess at city-states. Fertility goddess have been dealt within the context of Ancient Greek, Anatolian, Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations; and the goddesses like Demeter, Aphrodite, Cybele, Hepat, Ishtar and Isis have stood out as a fertility cult. The relationship among the goddesses under study has been clarified through examining mythological stories and the visual materials such as low relief, wall painting, and idol belonging to their own era. Moreover, the exploration that the fertility goddesses have planetary symbols originating from celestial beliefs is significant and the relationship with the soils has been tried to uncover. As a result, great similarities are found in the visual descriptions and the mythological stories of the fertility goddesses of different geographical civilizations. These similarities are linked to cultural interactions because of trade, migration and war.

Keywords

Demeter, Kybele, Hepatu, Inanna, Isis

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