Post by Tamahu on Jun 9, 2009 12:23:01 GMT -5
In Tibetan and Zhang-Zhung history, there is mention of...:
The Appearance of the Little Black-headed Man
...which I believe has to do with their Creation story(unfortunately I don't have the above book anymore).
"The Little Black Headed Man" reminds me of the Nubian/Khemetian God Bes or Basu:
wysinger.homestead.com/bes.html
And:
www.bayelsa.org.uk/main/what-is-egbesu/
...Going Back to Ancient Egypt (Ancient Africa) we can see that as far back as the Old Kingdom Egbesu was one of the spiritual intelligences (deity, force of nature or genii) that were called upon by society to protect it against evil forces and guide it in war. Egyptologists have translated the term EGBESU in the form of BES, BESU, BASU or BISU, dropping the EG at the beginning. This is understandable as they derived the spellings from approximate translations based on educated guesswork.
According to EAW Budge – (The Gods of the Egyptians – Studies in Egyptian Mythology Volume 2, 1904, 1969, pp284-289) the author elaborates on EGBESU, which he translates as BES or BASU:
“…Among the foreign gods known to the Egyptians is usually mentioned BES, who according to some is of Semetic, and according to others of African origin; we may note, however that the name of the god appears to be Egyptian, and it seems to have been bestowed upon him in very early times because of the animal’s skin which he wore; the animal itself was called “Besa” or “Basu.”……as a god of war and slaughter and as a destroying force of nature he carries two knives in his hands; as a warrior he appears in a short military tunic, which is fastened round his body by a belt, and he holds in his left hand a shield and a short sword in his right… he seems to have been regarded as a protector of children and youths…….In the Heliopolitan and Theban Recensions of the Book of the Dead the name Bes does not occur, but in one of the vignettes to the cxlvth chapter xxi of the Saite Recension this god is seen guarding one of the pylons of the house of Osiris in the underworld. At some period under the New Empire the original attributes of Bes were modified, and he assumed the character of a solar god and became identified with Horus the child, or Harpocrates; little by little he was merged in other forms of the Sun-God, until at length he absorbed the characteristics of Horus, Ra, and Temu……he only exhibited his terror and ferocity to the wicked, while to the good in the underworld he was a true friend and merry companion….The figure of Bes suggests that his home was a place where the dwarf and pygmy were held in esteem, whilst his head-dress resembles those head-dresses which were, and still are worn by the tribes of Equatorial Africa, and this would lead us to place his home in that portion of it which lies a few degrees to the north of the equator. The knowledge of the god, and perhaps figures of him, were brought from this region, which the Egyptians called the “Land of the Spirits”… The earthly kinsmen of the god who lived to the south of Egypt were, no doubt, well known even to the predynastic Egyptians….In his original conception Bes is certainly African, and his cult in Egypt is coeval with dynastic civilisation…”
“…BES….Originally a deity of protection of the pharaoh, he became a popular god of the every day Egyptian people, and was often depicted on household items such as beds, headrests, chairs, mirrors and ointment pots and even painted on the walls of the house. He was also depicted on various weapons, such as daggers, due to his fighter aspect. He was also often depicted of ‘magic wands’ that the Egyptian magicians used for their spells or on an amulet to ward off evil. His use as a god of protection for the daily people came to be a sign of joy and good humor, because he drove away ill humor and evil. He was thought to also be able to protect people from dangerous creatures of all types, especially when he was connected with the child Horus in the story of his growing up in the Delta area of Egypt……He also became a god of childbirth, frightening away all of the evil spirits that could kill of the baby of newborn child. If problems arose during labor, a clay statue of Bes was often placed at the head of the expectant mother while spells were recited to the god, asking for his help……..Despite his fun-loving nature, he was also regarded as a god of war from early times. He used his lion-like, ferocious nature to destroy or scare the enemies of pharaoh, as well as the evil spirits that were thought to plague the people of Egypt (including sickness, dangerous creatures and other such troubles). He was thought to be especially protective of women and children…..” Egyptian Gods Index
Thus it is clear that BES (EGBESU) is connected to inner Africa, and since the ancestors of the Ancient Egyptians originated from inner Africa it would be natural for them to venerate the same deities. In order to understand the above extract let us clear up some points. The term Sun-God is the Egyptology translation for the CREATOR or SUPREME BEING, of which the terms RA means Creative Energy, HORUS means Deity, and TEMU means THE CREATOR. Thus it is clear from the statement above that BES was one of the forms of the CREATOR which It assumed as a force of nature. The animals closely associated with Egbesu (Bes) were the lion, leopard and panther. They were used as symbols to represent the divine aggressive force needed in warfare and combat situations. We are now in a position to elaborate on Egbesu...
According to EAW Budge – (The Gods of the Egyptians – Studies in Egyptian Mythology Volume 2, 1904, 1969, pp284-289) the author elaborates on EGBESU, which he translates as BES or BASU:
“…Among the foreign gods known to the Egyptians is usually mentioned BES, who according to some is of Semetic, and according to others of African origin; we may note, however that the name of the god appears to be Egyptian, and it seems to have been bestowed upon him in very early times because of the animal’s skin which he wore; the animal itself was called “Besa” or “Basu.”……as a god of war and slaughter and as a destroying force of nature he carries two knives in his hands; as a warrior he appears in a short military tunic, which is fastened round his body by a belt, and he holds in his left hand a shield and a short sword in his right… he seems to have been regarded as a protector of children and youths…….In the Heliopolitan and Theban Recensions of the Book of the Dead the name Bes does not occur, but in one of the vignettes to the cxlvth chapter xxi of the Saite Recension this god is seen guarding one of the pylons of the house of Osiris in the underworld. At some period under the New Empire the original attributes of Bes were modified, and he assumed the character of a solar god and became identified with Horus the child, or Harpocrates; little by little he was merged in other forms of the Sun-God, until at length he absorbed the characteristics of Horus, Ra, and Temu……he only exhibited his terror and ferocity to the wicked, while to the good in the underworld he was a true friend and merry companion….The figure of Bes suggests that his home was a place where the dwarf and pygmy were held in esteem, whilst his head-dress resembles those head-dresses which were, and still are worn by the tribes of Equatorial Africa, and this would lead us to place his home in that portion of it which lies a few degrees to the north of the equator. The knowledge of the god, and perhaps figures of him, were brought from this region, which the Egyptians called the “Land of the Spirits”… The earthly kinsmen of the god who lived to the south of Egypt were, no doubt, well known even to the predynastic Egyptians….In his original conception Bes is certainly African, and his cult in Egypt is coeval with dynastic civilisation…”
“…BES….Originally a deity of protection of the pharaoh, he became a popular god of the every day Egyptian people, and was often depicted on household items such as beds, headrests, chairs, mirrors and ointment pots and even painted on the walls of the house. He was also depicted on various weapons, such as daggers, due to his fighter aspect. He was also often depicted of ‘magic wands’ that the Egyptian magicians used for their spells or on an amulet to ward off evil. His use as a god of protection for the daily people came to be a sign of joy and good humor, because he drove away ill humor and evil. He was thought to also be able to protect people from dangerous creatures of all types, especially when he was connected with the child Horus in the story of his growing up in the Delta area of Egypt……He also became a god of childbirth, frightening away all of the evil spirits that could kill of the baby of newborn child. If problems arose during labor, a clay statue of Bes was often placed at the head of the expectant mother while spells were recited to the god, asking for his help……..Despite his fun-loving nature, he was also regarded as a god of war from early times. He used his lion-like, ferocious nature to destroy or scare the enemies of pharaoh, as well as the evil spirits that were thought to plague the people of Egypt (including sickness, dangerous creatures and other such troubles). He was thought to be especially protective of women and children…..” Egyptian Gods Index
Thus it is clear that BES (EGBESU) is connected to inner Africa, and since the ancestors of the Ancient Egyptians originated from inner Africa it would be natural for them to venerate the same deities. In order to understand the above extract let us clear up some points. The term Sun-God is the Egyptology translation for the CREATOR or SUPREME BEING, of which the terms RA means Creative Energy, HORUS means Deity, and TEMU means THE CREATOR. Thus it is clear from the statement above that BES was one of the forms of the CREATOR which It assumed as a force of nature. The animals closely associated with Egbesu (Bes) were the lion, leopard and panther. They were used as symbols to represent the divine aggressive force needed in warfare and combat situations. We are now in a position to elaborate on Egbesu...
Of course the Sumerians weren't necessarily small people, although it's an interesting correlation to the "Little Black Headed Man" of Tibet:
www.amazeingart.com/seven-wonders/ziggurat.html
"The Sumerians called themselves Sag-gi-ga, which meant "the Black-headed Ones" and their country Ken-gi-r, "the Civilized Land." By 2000 BC Sumerians living in cities such as Ur and Uruk in southern Iraq had developed paved roads, the arch and vault, writing, schools, epic literature, law codes, banking, and even joint-stock corporations."
