Semiramis

The Romans had Venus, the Greeks had Aphrodite, the Babylonians worshiped a goddess named Ishtar who was also called Astarte by the Phoenicians and she was the goddess of love and reproduction, and all of these goddesses are thought to be derived from Semiramis, who was also known as the whore of Babylon.  She is holding an egg in her left hand because she was a fertility goddess responsible for all life, but she was also the goddess of war, so she is holding a sword in her right hand.  For my second book, I started piecing together some of the ancient Babylonian myths and I am not sure if any of this is true, but it does make a great story.  Nimrod was a great grandson of Noah, and his mother and wife, Semiramis, was also known as Ishtar and Isis.  Nimrod thought of himself as a god in a new religion that he created, and he led the world into an open rebellion against God.  Shem was a son of Noah, and he watched his great nephew Nimrod organizing the human race into a world government centered on idolatry worship and human sacrifice.  Shem decided to do something about this tyranny and prove that Nimrod was not a god.  Shem saw the hold that evil had over Nimrod, so he went to his house, and he managed to gouge out one of his eyes and then he beat him to death.  Shem had Nimrod’s body cut up into 14 little pieces, which were distributed to all the cities under Nimrod’s rule, as a warning against people practicing the pagan religion of sun worship and using sorcery to control people.

When Nimrod died, Semiramis had to maintain her grip & power over the people in Babylon, so she gathered all of the parts, except she was not able to locate his reproductive organ.  Semiramis claimed that Nimrod could not come back to life without it and told the people of Babylon that Nimrod had ascended to the sun and was now to be called Baal, the sun god.  Queen Semiramis also proclaimed that Baal would be present on earth in the form of a flame, whether it be a candle or lamp, when it was used in worship.  Semiramis further developed this new and mysterious religion, and with the help of Satan, she set herself up as a goddess.  Semiramis claimed that she was immaculately conceived.  She eventually became pregnant, while still asserting that she was a virgin and she claimed that it was the rays of the sun-god Baal that caused her to conceive.  Semiramis demanded worship for both her husband and her son as well as herself.

Here is where this story gets confusing, as Semiramis married her son called Tammuz who was Nimrod reincarnated, which is why some people incorrectly say that the story has Nimrod marrying his mother.  Both versions of this story with Nimrod marrying his mother and Semiramis marrying her son are told.  Some stories say that Semiramis was the wife of Cush a grandson of Noah.  It is often said that Nimrod built the tower of Babel, but that is not mentioned in the Bible.  Myths and legends surrounding Nimrod and Semiramis make discerning factual data about them difficult to know what actually happened.  Nimrod was involved in the spirit world and one legend says that he opened his third eye by marrying his mother, which has fascinated spiritual seekers for centuries as a gateway to higher consciousness and the inner realms of intuition and wisdom.  After Nimrod opened up his third eye, he turned against God by establishing state-worship and paganism, which included human sacrifice.  The third eye symbolizes the eye of intuition and insight.  The third eye looks inward, unlike the physical eyes that perceive the external world, granting the beholder a profound understanding of the self and the universe.

Written for Reena’s Xploration Challenge #328 where today she gave us a photo prompt.