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The Queen of Heaven. a New Interpretation of the Goddess in Ancient Near Eastern Art
'The Queen of Heaven' is a step-by-step guide to the symbolism of the so-called 'fertility religions' of the antique worlds. With over 150 illustrations, it is the indispensable guide to the nature and meaning of many of the major symbols found in ancient art and mythology.
190 pages, Paperback
First published October 27, 2013
230 people want to read
About the author
Gavin White
4 books27 followersI developed an interest in myth, magic and symbolism in my late teens and have continued exploring these themes in later life. I have become especially interested in ancient Near Eastern art and through my own writings I have tried to find the meanings of ancient artistic icons.
At times I am happy to review books by budding authors but please be aware my interests are limited to non-fiction works on myth, symbolism and ancient art.
At times I am happy to review books by budding authors but please be aware my interests are limited to non-fiction works on myth, symbolism and ancient art.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 30, 2013
I got this book today in the afternoon (it was accidentally delivered to my husband's workplace) and I finished it just a few hours after I began reading it. It reads like a bestselling thriller with the added advantage that it's all real. This thorough study of the iconography of the ancient Middle East reveals a secret about humankind that any seeker of truth ought to examine seriously. Every chapter reveals a new startling secret about the real origins of our belief systems. By the time you read the last chapter, you will be persuaded to reconsider all your previous assumptions about ancient man.
Gavin White examines the true nature of the ancient Mesopotamian goddess more popularly known as Inanna in her various pre-literate roles, and how her disappearance from the sacred literature affected the course of civilization. Few people in the world know anything about the Sumerian pantheon and its influence on Judeo-Christian religions, and fewer still know about it with any accuracy, as much of what is known about Sumer blurs and merges with the Semitic-Akkadian culture which adapted and reconfigured much of the old Sumerian mythology when Akkadians became dominant in the third millennium BCE. Of the surviving myths and hymns attributed to Sumer, dating is dubious and makes it difficult to extract the original from the altered version, and therefore, also difficult to reconstruct with any accuracy a sensible chronology of the shifts in power. But Gavin White approaches his study by focusing on iconography, painfully extracting meaning from image after image of tablets, temple steles, seals, vases and plates gathered from a multitude of ancient sources, building his case with increasingly convincing arguments and giving his readers a crash course in deciphering ancient texts. It is nothing short of brilliant, and, in spite of its complexity, an easy and enjoyable read.
While others have written about the matriarchy-based religions of neolithic times, none to my knowledge have written about the shift between the matriarchy and the patriarchy that occurred approximately 6,000 years ago, none, at least, as clearly and as cleanly as Gavin White does in this thorough study. It's a who-dun-it set six thousand years ago, and the conclusions are eye-opening and thought-provoking.
I thought I knew a lot about Gilgamesh and Inanna, having read innumerable versions of the myths, and a considerable number of Sumerian and Akkadian mythologies besides, but as it turns out, I didn't go far enough in time to understand: what I didn't know is a lot. If discovering the Sumerian epics was once shocking, reading Gavin's book is all the more so. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the origin of religion, in the essence of spirituality and in the history of our belief system. Everything in this book is more relevant now than it has ever been. Read it!!!
Gavin White examines the true nature of the ancient Mesopotamian goddess more popularly known as Inanna in her various pre-literate roles, and how her disappearance from the sacred literature affected the course of civilization. Few people in the world know anything about the Sumerian pantheon and its influence on Judeo-Christian religions, and fewer still know about it with any accuracy, as much of what is known about Sumer blurs and merges with the Semitic-Akkadian culture which adapted and reconfigured much of the old Sumerian mythology when Akkadians became dominant in the third millennium BCE. Of the surviving myths and hymns attributed to Sumer, dating is dubious and makes it difficult to extract the original from the altered version, and therefore, also difficult to reconstruct with any accuracy a sensible chronology of the shifts in power. But Gavin White approaches his study by focusing on iconography, painfully extracting meaning from image after image of tablets, temple steles, seals, vases and plates gathered from a multitude of ancient sources, building his case with increasingly convincing arguments and giving his readers a crash course in deciphering ancient texts. It is nothing short of brilliant, and, in spite of its complexity, an easy and enjoyable read.
While others have written about the matriarchy-based religions of neolithic times, none to my knowledge have written about the shift between the matriarchy and the patriarchy that occurred approximately 6,000 years ago, none, at least, as clearly and as cleanly as Gavin White does in this thorough study. It's a who-dun-it set six thousand years ago, and the conclusions are eye-opening and thought-provoking.
I thought I knew a lot about Gilgamesh and Inanna, having read innumerable versions of the myths, and a considerable number of Sumerian and Akkadian mythologies besides, but as it turns out, I didn't go far enough in time to understand: what I didn't know is a lot. If discovering the Sumerian epics was once shocking, reading Gavin's book is all the more so. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the origin of religion, in the essence of spirituality and in the history of our belief system. Everything in this book is more relevant now than it has ever been. Read it!!!
September 8, 2016
Interesting read. It gave good references in art to details that I otherwise would have missed. Over all, a good book.
February 21, 2014
The Queen of Heaven was an interesting book that gave me a completely new perspective on ancient history and artifacts.I learned a lot from this book.
October 15, 2022
This is the second of three books from 2013 and 2014 by independent researcher Gavin White, who has written in an illuminating and innovative way about possible ancient world views expressed in images and texts from the ancient Near East.
He takes us on a fascinating journey, aiming to reconstruct lost ‘perennial wisdom’ behind a wide range of visual symbols, centred on the starry sky. These are illustrated and explained as linked pieces of a puzzle, with roots deep back into prehistory. At its heart, White suggests, lies the divine goddess of the heavens (Inanna in Mesopotamia), whose realm spans the wind and rain in the atmosphere right up to the exalted heights of the sun, moon, planets and stars. Giver of all life, and mediator of rebirth, she guides our journey from the skies down to earth and back again.
The resulting picture offers a profound and moving account of the early spiritual heritage of humankind with its integrated and hopeful system. With the later ousting of the queen of heaven by new male gods, it is argued, came severing of the once intimate ties between ‘above’ and ‘below’, and the introduction of bleaker religious thinking.
His work is clear and accessible to ordinary readers, but also includes a range of summaries, indexes (of symbols and of words) references and so forth, helpful for those interested in following up ideas in academic sources.
He takes us on a fascinating journey, aiming to reconstruct lost ‘perennial wisdom’ behind a wide range of visual symbols, centred on the starry sky. These are illustrated and explained as linked pieces of a puzzle, with roots deep back into prehistory. At its heart, White suggests, lies the divine goddess of the heavens (Inanna in Mesopotamia), whose realm spans the wind and rain in the atmosphere right up to the exalted heights of the sun, moon, planets and stars. Giver of all life, and mediator of rebirth, she guides our journey from the skies down to earth and back again.
The resulting picture offers a profound and moving account of the early spiritual heritage of humankind with its integrated and hopeful system. With the later ousting of the queen of heaven by new male gods, it is argued, came severing of the once intimate ties between ‘above’ and ‘below’, and the introduction of bleaker religious thinking.
His work is clear and accessible to ordinary readers, but also includes a range of summaries, indexes (of symbols and of words) references and so forth, helpful for those interested in following up ideas in academic sources.
March 9, 2014
Author Gavin White tackles the unenviable job of interpreting art figures from the ancient Near East in THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN. The motifs of divinity, fertility, childbirth and others reoccur amongst several civilizations over a thousand year span from approximately 2000-1000 BCE.
And White's reproduction of over 150 line drawings purportedly support the book's claim to "crack the code of this symbol system." The meanings of some drawings are unmistakable. Many others, however, are dubious. In the earliest pages it is clear that assumption, with its "possible" or "probable" outcomes, along with an arbitrary reassigning of a symbol's meaning, buries the "system" deeper into its historic tomb.
In fairness to this author, or any, the interpretation of antiquities is a guessing game at best. The likelihood of anyone from the 21st Century accurately identifying the thought processes of a pot maker working in a field of damp clay, or a sculptor/painter decorating a city wall 4000 years ago, is nonexistent.
Desert-dry wording in QUEEN holds minimal interest. Yet some of the detailed drawings do entice further study.
Whether the presumptive inferences in this book are ever qualifiable, may take a queen of Heaven to unravel. Or a degree in archaeology might help. Otherwise, coming to solid conclusions could take you another thousand years.
And White's reproduction of over 150 line drawings purportedly support the book's claim to "crack the code of this symbol system." The meanings of some drawings are unmistakable. Many others, however, are dubious. In the earliest pages it is clear that assumption, with its "possible" or "probable" outcomes, along with an arbitrary reassigning of a symbol's meaning, buries the "system" deeper into its historic tomb.
In fairness to this author, or any, the interpretation of antiquities is a guessing game at best. The likelihood of anyone from the 21st Century accurately identifying the thought processes of a pot maker working in a field of damp clay, or a sculptor/painter decorating a city wall 4000 years ago, is nonexistent.
Desert-dry wording in QUEEN holds minimal interest. Yet some of the detailed drawings do entice further study.
Whether the presumptive inferences in this book are ever qualifiable, may take a queen of Heaven to unravel. Or a degree in archaeology might help. Otherwise, coming to solid conclusions could take you another thousand years.
May 1, 2014
'The Queen of Heaven' is a wonderfully absorbing and thought provoking read. It is a beautifully illustrated book that explores the symbolism of fertility, the celestial waters, animals and children. The author examines and dissects these varied images and offers new interpretations of them, combining a thorough technical analysis with a refreshing readability. It opened up a new landscape of meaning for me, helping me to understand the past and its inhabitants.
I found it particularly useful to refer to the symbol index and the lists of Sumerian signs at the end of the book. Anyone who, like myself, is new to this subject will find this reference material invaluable. This really helped to make the subject, which is usually the unique preserve of scholarly academics, accessible to me. Brilliant!
TB
I found it particularly useful to refer to the symbol index and the lists of Sumerian signs at the end of the book. Anyone who, like myself, is new to this subject will find this reference material invaluable. This really helped to make the subject, which is usually the unique preserve of scholarly academics, accessible to me. Brilliant!
TB
February 21, 2014
I won this book on goodreads first reads
this book was very informative about old cultures i.e Babylon
and the symbols they would draw and some theory's on some of the symbols
I honestly did not know much about symbolism when I first started reading this book but have always
enjoyed finding out more info on gods and goddesses this book was a very interesting and informative
read thanks
this book was very informative about old cultures i.e Babylon
and the symbols they would draw and some theory's on some of the symbols
I honestly did not know much about symbolism when I first started reading this book but have always
enjoyed finding out more info on gods and goddesses this book was a very interesting and informative
read thanks
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews