Iraq Olympics
Olympic Games began in Mesopotamia (Iraq)
22nd August, 2008
Well, the Olympic Games, as the name shows, is a Hellenic thing, originating in
Greece in 776 BCE and continuing till 393 AD/CE.
But, however, nevertheless, notwithstanding (though sitting at the computer is
what gives me a pain in the bottom) be prepared to be amazed at the discovery
that has been made by David Chibo (in Victoria, Australia). This is not one of
Ripley's "Believe it or not" pieces, but a case of "You had better believe it or
else". It all began in ancient Iraq, with the Gilgamesh Games.
http://www.gilgameshgames.org
The model for the Greek games was the funerary games conducted to remember the
celebrated King Gilgamesh of Uruk. The festival took place annually in the month
named Abu, which is Ab or Av on the Hebrew calendar still used by Jews; my
personal diary has all the Hebrew dates for 2008, which is the year 5768/9, and
Av corresponds to August, which is the month in which the Olympic Games happen.
Originally the Olympiad was held every year, but was changed to a fourth yearly
event.
The focal point of the games in Mesopotamia was a statue of Gilgamesh (as divine
judge of the netherworld) in a temple; and in Greece it was the statue of Zeus
in the temple at Olympia.
A feature of the Gilgamesh celebration was the lighting of torches (because of
the underworld connections, presumably), and of course the Olympiad was
associated with a torch.
On a summary table, eleven compelling comparisons are shown.
http://www.gilgameshgames.org/ggamestable.html
I will have more to say on the Epic of Gilgamesh ....
There is a website named ANCIENT OLYMPICS which will answer all your questions
in English, Dutch, Chinese, and Arabic.
You can download a nice little book, which will tell you about the ancient
history of the Olympics, in words and pictures.
http://olympics.bib-arch.org/ebook.asp
Posted by Brian Colless at 4:53 AM 0 comments
Source:
http://bonzoz.blogspot.com/
