Time Frames and Taboo Data Blog

The first millennium BCE, mainly the first half, was an oddly productive period in which there was being produced across the world insightful expressions and explanations of spiritual nature in the affairs of man.  Little acknowledged in history, religion, or the science of astronomy, this particular period of time was overshadowed by the planet Mars.  The skies were troubled in those days, and during times of conjuctions the atmosphere of Mars stretched into a shape that appeared like a sword.  The ancients tended to classify comets according to their appearance, and in their ancient astrological texts the comets that were said to take the shape of a sword were acknowledged as related to the planet Mars.  This celestial turmoil undoubtedly played a part in the worldwide longing for a modicum of understanding.

In this era  the Vedas and Upanishads, ancient sacred literature of India, were among the earliest texts on spiritual linking with our cosmic environment, dating back perhaps even earlier than 1200 BCE.  And there was already in existence in Egypt in this general time a book known as The Wisdom of Amenhotep, mentioned here for its influence on texts that would be written later in Jerusalem.  Zoroastrianism was forming in Persia; Buddhism and Taoism began unfolding in the east; and the classical age of Greece was beginning to set its mark on history.  This flurry of philosophical and theological conjectures, emerging in the later part of the Age of Aries (c.2208-60 BCE), all of which labored with notorious inconsistencies, set down the foundation upon which would arise the burgeoning faith systems that were to dominate our Age of Pisces (c.60 BCE-2100CE).

There is a bounty of evidence that planet Earth experienced considerable buffeting through many centuries from interaction caused by the passage of a large object into the solar system.  The threat in the heavens would continue up to the seventh century BCE, and served as the basis for the “prophets” in that period who prophesied from study of the skies (astronomy).  This is disguised in O.T. accounts in which Isaiah, Hosea, Ezra and Ezekiel are featured.

In Greece c. 1000 BCE, the classic Olympian gods (Zeus, et al) were attaining dominance.  Ionians were driven from their homeland in Greece and founded twelve cities on the west coast of Asia Minor.  In Egypt the 20th dynasty was in decline, about the time of Rameses XI: civil war and leprosy raged in Egypt.  Leprosy was also rampant in India.  In India, Brahmanism and Atmanism developed.  We should note that the Indian lunar-year calendar of 360 days was adjusted in this general time to coincide with the solar year.  In China the height of the sun was measured in relation to the incline of Earth’s polar axis; events in the heavens made it urgent to keep track of Earth’s motion and relationship with neighboring planets.

This time frame, c. 1000 BCE, marks the beginning  of the true Iron Age in Palestine and Syria.  In the north mass migrations of Germanic peoples were taking place.  The Assyrian empire was fortifying against migrating people from the north, and moved to capture Babylon.  In Nineveh, capital of ancient Assyria, the Ishtar temple (to Venus) and the royal palace was being rebuilt after planet-wide earthquakes.  A winged celestial object—commonly and erroneously interpreted as the sun—was revered in most eastern Mediterranean cultures.

In Mesoamerica the Olmecs were actively at work on Teotihuacan, and had developed hieroglyphs, a calendar, and a system of religious and societal leadership that would endure through all succeeding Mesoamerican cultures.

And in the Near-East, c. 1000 BCE, writings were being collected by migrant Hebrews that would eventually be edited in Jerusalem c. 850 BCE—in which there would be included almost verbatim portions of the aforementioned Egyptian book The Wisdom of Amenhotep.  The plagiarized portions are known to us as Proverbs 22:17 through 23:11, and are attributed to Solomon by the priest-authors.  In this  time frame, c. 1000 BCE, spiritual texts (composed and edited c. 850 BCE) assert that the principal characters of Jewish faith—the alleged “historical” characters Saul, David and Solomon—had founded the kingdom of Israel.  These scriptural characters would become firmly installed as testimony of a Hebrew cult’s alleged especial link with god.  Unfortunately, archaeological research does not support such persons or events.  But the Age of Judges is said to have followed, and the earliest Hebrew sky-watching “prophets” would come upon the scene c. 900 BCE.

This entry was posted on August 5, 2009 at 8:36 pm and is filed under Astronomy, Atheist, belief, Bible, faith, history, prehistory, random, religion with tags Age of Aries, Age of Pisces, biblical prophets, Brahmanism, Buddhism, China, Iron Age, Ishtar, Mars, Olmecs, Olympian gods, Rameses, Taoism, Upanishads, Vedas, Zoroastrianism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.