Nadene Goldfoot
Abraham and the Hebrews had come from the East, supposedly around the Euphrates River in modern day Syria and Iraq.
Let's really go to the East and see what was going on. Abraham was born in the 2nd millennium BCE, a time referred to as Late Archaeic. It covers the years from 2,000 BCE to 1,000 BCE or at least 4,000 years ago. This was the Middle to Late Bronze Age. Abraham came to believe in one power in the universe; one G-d at a period of time when all the other Middle Easterners believed in a pantheon of gods. That's because he spoke to G-d. There were gods for every situation in Canaan. How did other people view their world at this time? We will look at the Aryans who covered this section of land.
The Vedic Religion: This was the ancient religion of the Aryan people who entered
India from Persia c2000-1200 BCE. It was the precursor of Hinduism, and its beliefs and practices
are Vedas. It seemed to at first be centered on one god, Verethraghna.
There is nothing in the story of ethical behaviors being taught. In early religious texts, Indra plays a variety of roles. As king, he leads cattle raids against the dasas, or dasyus, native inhabitants of the lands over which his people range. In later Hinduism, Indra is no longer worshipped but plays the important mythological roles of god of rain, regent of the heavens, and guardian of the east.
Example of good against evil
Then he does some good. He brings rain as god of the thunderbolt, and he is the great warrior who conquers the anti-gods (asuras). He also defeats innumerable human and superhuman enemies, most famously the dragon Vritra, a leader of the dasas and a demon of drought. Vritra is accused as a dragon of hoarding the waters and the rains, as a dasa of stealing cows, and as an anti-god of hiding the Sun.
"Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might/victory, Verethraghna, were transferred to the adopted god Indra, who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture. Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the Rig Veda. He was associated more than any other deity with Soma, a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from Ephedra) probably borrowed from the BMAC religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers.
Scholars consider the Vedic religion to have been a composite of the religions of the Indo-Aryans, "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements"] which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices" from the Bactria–Margiana culture, and the remnants of the Harappan culture of the Indus Valley.
The mode of worship was worship of the elements like fire and rivers, worship of heroic gods like Indra, chanting of hymns and performance of sacrifices. The priests performed the solemn rituals for the noblemen (Kshatriyas) and wealthy commoners Vaishyas. People prayed for abundance of children, rain, cattle (wealth), long life and an afterlife in the heavenly world of the ancestors. This mode of worship has been preserved even today in Hinduism, which involves recitations from the Vedas by a purohita (priest), for prosperity, wealth and general well-being. However, the primacy of Vedic deities has been seconded to the deities of Puranic literature.
So much writing was going on at an early date. The first introduction of writing to the Indian Subcontinent apart from the Bronze Age Indus script, which is undeciphered and may not be an actual script, is mostly identified as the Edicts of Ashoka from c. 250 BCE.
Sanskrit was used from the 2nd millennium BCE to 600 BCE in the Vedic Sanskrit. "The earliest traces of epigraphy (the study of inscriptions) in the Indian Subcontinent are found in the undeciphered inscriptions of the Indus Valley Civilization (Indus script), which date back to the early 3rd millennium BC" . ... Then the Middle Indo-Aryan languages came into being. It continues to be used as a liturgical language, and is called Classical Sanskrit. Writing in Sanskrit (Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit, EHS) appears only later, in the first to fourth centuries CE.
Religion is carried to other places usually with the help of writing. Much of this waits until the Hindu religion has developed, along with the more universal writing style.
Resource: http://www.ancient.eu/article/230/ Religious Development
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_human_prehistory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_millennium_BC
http://www.ancient.eu/image/322/
http://www.ancient.eu/Aryan/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan
https://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/HIST101-Subunit-3.1.2-Aryan-Society-and-Religion-Final.pdf
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/sanskrit.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Indian_epigraphy
https://www.gamespot.com/forums/system-wars-314159282/what-gods-should-be-in-the-next-gow-31145758/
http://piereligion.org/sanskrit.html
 |
| Clearly the Hindu religion conserves a very old, though unwritten tradition which it shares with the other Indo-European languages. The religion as known from Sanskrit and later Hindu sources has a common ancestry with the Proto-Indo-European religion. The ancient religions in all of these languages share a common set of Gods, a set of myths, and a common set of rituals which are general throughout the Indo-European speaking regions. |
Let's really go to the East and see what was going on. Abraham was born in the 2nd millennium BCE, a time referred to as Late Archaeic. It covers the years from 2,000 BCE to 1,000 BCE or at least 4,000 years ago. This was the Middle to Late Bronze Age. Abraham came to believe in one power in the universe; one G-d at a period of time when all the other Middle Easterners believed in a pantheon of gods. That's because he spoke to G-d. There were gods for every situation in Canaan. How did other people view their world at this time? We will look at the Aryans who covered this section of land.
The Vedic Religion: This was the ancient religion of the Aryan people who entered
India from Persia c2000-1200 BCE. It was the precursor of Hinduism, and its beliefs and practices
are Vedas. It seemed to at first be centered on one god, Verethraghna.
Here we meet another pantheon of gods with a king of all the other gods.
Indra, in Hindu mythology, the king of the gods. He is one of the main gods of the Rigveda and is the Indo-European cousin of the German Wotan, Norse Odin, Greek Zeus, and Roman Jupiter. Indra gets to drink Soma. "drinks of the elixir of immortality, the soma, which priests offer to him in a sacrifice.There is nothing in the story of ethical behaviors being taught. In early religious texts, Indra plays a variety of roles. As king, he leads cattle raids against the dasas, or dasyus, native inhabitants of the lands over which his people range. In later Hinduism, Indra is no longer worshipped but plays the important mythological roles of god of rain, regent of the heavens, and guardian of the east.
Example of good against evil
Then he does some good. He brings rain as god of the thunderbolt, and he is the great warrior who conquers the anti-gods (asuras). He also defeats innumerable human and superhuman enemies, most famously the dragon Vritra, a leader of the dasas and a demon of drought. Vritra is accused as a dragon of hoarding the waters and the rains, as a dasa of stealing cows, and as an anti-god of hiding the Sun.
 |
| Indra (/ˈɪndrə/, Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is a Vedic deity in Hinduism, a guardian deity in Buddhism, and the king of first heaven called Saudharmakalpa in Jainism. ... He is the god of lightning, thunder, storms, rains and river flows. Indra is the most referred to deity in the Rigveda. |
"Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might/victory, Verethraghna, were transferred to the adopted god Indra, who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture. Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the Rig Veda. He was associated more than any other deity with Soma, a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from Ephedra) probably borrowed from the BMAC religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers.
Scholars consider the Vedic religion to have been a composite of the religions of the Indo-Aryans, "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements"] which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices" from the Bactria–Margiana culture, and the remnants of the Harappan culture of the Indus Valley.
The mode of worship was worship of the elements like fire and rivers, worship of heroic gods like Indra, chanting of hymns and performance of sacrifices. The priests performed the solemn rituals for the noblemen (Kshatriyas) and wealthy commoners Vaishyas. People prayed for abundance of children, rain, cattle (wealth), long life and an afterlife in the heavenly world of the ancestors. This mode of worship has been preserved even today in Hinduism, which involves recitations from the Vedas by a purohita (priest), for prosperity, wealth and general well-being. However, the primacy of Vedic deities has been seconded to the deities of Puranic literature.
Though a large number of devatas (gods) are named in the Rig Veda, only 33 devas are counted, eleven each of earth, space and heaven The Vedic pantheon knows two classes, Devas and Asuras. The Devas (Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman, Bhaga, Amsa, etc.) are deities of cosmic and social order, from the universe and kingdoms down to the individual. The Rigveda is a collection of hymns to various deities, most notably heroic Indra, Agni the sacrificial fire and messenger of the gods, and Soma, the deified sacred drink of the Indo-Iranians. Also prominent is Varuna (often paired with Mitra) and the group of "All-gods", the Vishvadevas.
Archaeologists and historians suggest that humans were living in Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities of the region were among the earliest in the world. Urbanized culture has existed in the land from between 3000 and 2000 BC. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron ages have been found inside Afghanistan. Between 2000–1200 BCE, a branch of Indo-European-speaking tribes known as the Aryans began migrating into the region, just like they entered India. By 1500 BCE the Aryans migrated into the Indian subcontinent. Coming from central Asia, this large group of nomadic cattle herders crossed the Hindu Kush Mountains and came in contact with the Indus Valley Civilization.
Aryans introduced the caste system. Their religion is Vedic.
Aryan religious beliefs and practices were profusely described in their religious literature,
particularly their Vedas. Vedas (“knowledge”) are ancient texts written in Sanskrit. There are
four Indo-Aryan Vedas:
1. The Rig Veda: contains hymns about their mythology.
2. The Sama Veda: consists mainly of hymns about religious rituals.
3. The Yajur Veda: contains instructions for religious rituals.
4. The Atharva Veda: consists of spells against enemies, sorcerers, and diseases.
So much writing was going on at an early date. The first introduction of writing to the Indian Subcontinent apart from the Bronze Age Indus script, which is undeciphered and may not be an actual script, is mostly identified as the Edicts of Ashoka from c. 250 BCE.
Sanskrit was used from the 2nd millennium BCE to 600 BCE in the Vedic Sanskrit. "The earliest traces of epigraphy (the study of inscriptions) in the Indian Subcontinent are found in the undeciphered inscriptions of the Indus Valley Civilization (Indus script), which date back to the early 3rd millennium BC" . ... Then the Middle Indo-Aryan languages came into being. It continues to be used as a liturgical language, and is called Classical Sanskrit. Writing in Sanskrit (Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit, EHS) appears only later, in the first to fourth centuries CE.
Religion is carried to other places usually with the help of writing. Much of this waits until the Hindu religion has developed, along with the more universal writing style.
Resource: http://www.ancient.eu/article/230/ Religious Development
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_human_prehistory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_millennium_BC
http://www.ancient.eu/image/322/
http://www.ancient.eu/Aryan/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan
https://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/HIST101-Subunit-3.1.2-Aryan-Society-and-Religion-Final.pdf
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/sanskrit.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Indian_epigraphy
https://www.gamespot.com/forums/system-wars-314159282/what-gods-should-be-in-the-next-gow-31145758/
http://piereligion.org/sanskrit.html
in Afghanistan south and Khyber Pakhtoon khawa was khoshani people areas after 725 BCE starts spreading from Zabul and Ghore etc Pashtuns captures the land of Khoshani people and reached to Khber Pakhoon khawa by time to time . Khoshani people still among us in modern days , In Peshawar city people is khoshani and in every Khber pakhtoon city settlers are Khoshani people they speaks Hindko and Sariki language ,
ReplyDeletein Afghanistan south and Khyber Pakhtoon khawa was khoshani people areas after 725 BCE Pashtuns starts spreading from Zabul and Ghore etc Pashtuns captures the land of Khoshani people and reached to Khber Pakhoon khawa by time to time . Khoshani people still among us in modern days , In Peshawar city people is khoshani and in every Khber pakhtoon city settlers are Khoshani people they speaks Hindko and Sariki language ,
ReplyDeletesorry date is 725 CE the Pashtuns were starts growing from Zabul Ghor etc towns of Afghanistan and reached to K.P areas. KP all old citizens are Koshani people they speaks HINDKO and Sariki Languages ,
ReplyDeleteHi Khan, thank you for your 3 comments. I could not find any information about Khoshani people in Pakistan with that spelling. I did find this in the encyclopedia Wikipedia: "Pakistan has one of the world's fastest growing populations. As the country is located in South Asia, Pakistani people are a mixture of various indigenous ethnic groups.
ReplyDeletePakistani people belong predominantly to seven main ethno-linguistic groups: Punjabi, Sindhi, Saraiki, Pashtun, Mohajir, Baloch, and Kashmiri, with substantial numbers of Brahui, Hindkowan, Pahari, Shin, Burusho, Wakhi, Balti, Chitrali and other minority ethnic groups in the remote north of the country.
The Punjabi people, the largest ethnic group in Pakistan, reside predominantly in Central and some Northern regions as well. Punjabis have been the primary inhabitants of the historical Punjab region which derives its name from the Persian Panj meaning five (5) and Ab meaning water(s); hence the land of five rivers or Panjab/Punjab. Considerable population of Punjabis live in Karachi as well. The Baloch people inhabit the southwest of the country. The Sindhi people, on the other hand have been settled in the southeast of the country and gave their name to the mighty Indus/Sindhu river, while regional groups such as the Saraiki people have inhabited the regions between Punjab and Sindh.[11] The Kashmiri people are an important ethnic group of the Kashmir region in the north. There are other important indigenous people like the Balti, Hunzakots, and Gilgiti people(s) of the northern territories of Gilgit through whose territory ran the ancient Silk Route connecting Asia and Europe. The Chitrali people are another indigenous people who live high in the mountains in the northwest. Along with these main groups, there are smaller communities of Sheedi's who are descendants of African sailors and warriors who are believed to have arrived from the horn of Africa, as well as Muhajir people who came as refugees from India when Pakistan attained its independence from Britain in 1947. There are countless other ethnic groups that make up part of Pakistani's mosaic such as the Bengalis, Burmese, Hazara, Tajik and Hakka; the last are an ethnic group that traces its origin to China.[11]
My article was centering on the time of Abraham which was 4,000 years ago or 2,000 BCE. I was not talking about anything in CE. So evidently all the information about Pashtuns, who many are of the 10 tribes of Israel and were taken from Israel in 721 BCE, happened at the end of my time that I wrote about. They must have gotten away from the Assyrians who had taken them away to capture the land of Khoshani people who were in the land they were taken to. That sounds logical. Most interesting! Thanks!