Kevin Ashman - Mortuus Virgo

‘Why?’ interrupted Brandon.

‘The far east was far further advanced than the middle east and had been farming for heaven knows how long, but wherever he came from, he had the secret of agriculture with him. Well, you can imagine, all of a sudden word must have spread like wildfire throughout the populace that there was a tribe near the lake that never went hungry without any need to hunt. It must have sounded like heaven and tribes flooded to join him. He must have been quite a charismatic man but with luck and climate on his side, he managed to spread the word and quickly became a great leader. The story goes that he had a brother called Set and one day while he was out on a journey in the desert, in a fit of jealousy Set murdered him and took his place as leader but though he was gone, his legacy was solid and over hundreds of years the Black Sea basin was cleared to become a fertile haven of agricultural excellence. Society flourished and Assur became legendary as a God, the father of civilisation.’

‘Interesting,’ said Brandon, ‘I had no idea. How come this isn’t taught in schools?’

‘Don’t forget, until recently the creation theory was the only authorised version of history and this would have been seen as heresy, besides, a lot of this is still only theory but Middle East archaeology is one of the hottest areas of discovery at the moment with new findings happening on an almost daily basis.’

‘So how is this relevant to us then?’ he asked.

‘Well, this is where it takes an interesting turn,’ she said, ‘Assur was long dead and it would seem that for thousands of years the area thrived and was at peace as everyone farmed and traded. However, like most eras, times changed and there appears to have been an extended period of conflict between the tribes surrounding the lake. No doubt leaders rose and fell with none making much of an impact until one day; perhaps thousands of years after the death of Assur, a woman arrived on the scene. She was apparently a very clever woman and was known as twice wise. Her name was Aset or Isis to you and me.’

‘And I suppose she bonded them back together?’ suggested Brandon.

‘Not at first as though the mother figure was revered in most civilisations she was still a woman and any self respecting male leader couldn’t allow any woman to just walk in and take control. He would simply challenge her to a duel and take her role no matter how wise she may be.’

‘So what happened?’

‘Well, that’s where her genius shines through. There was no way she could win a fight so she had to win the people’s support by other means. In addition there was another problem, she was pregnant so needed an ally, someone who would demand instant respect from all the warring tribes and she knew exactly who to call on.’

‘Who?’

‘Assur.’

‘But he was dead.’

‘That’s right, and by now he was known as a God amongst the peoples of the basin but she needed his influence and the respect that the people held for him so what she did was she made an astonishing claim. She claimed that she had searched the land, found the individual parts of his body and resurrected him. Not only this, she also claimed she was still a Virgin and that the God Assur had fathered her baby.’

‘And they bought it?’

‘Well, let’s not forget this was a mystical time when people believed in gods, demons and magic, all that sort of mumbo jumbo.’

‘It seems some things never change,’ he murmured.

‘Anyway,’ she continued, ‘Whatever the reason the people believed her and she became the epitome of the mother figure and the good times returned once more to the area. She gave birth to Horus, a son and he was proclaimed a saviour who would save the world. Her name was revered across the area and the population flourished.’

‘Wait a minute,’ said Brandon, ‘This is an awful lot of information for something that has no evidence.’

‘Oh the evidence is there if you look hard enough,’ she said, ‘In the legends and the stories that abound throughout the world. Just take the story of Assur. The whole area of the Middle East is touched by his legacy. Modern day Syria is named after him. The lands centred on Iraq were once called Mesopotamia which in itself covered the area once known as Assyria, a derivation of Assur. There were cities called Assur, Gods named Assur, everywhere you turn the name is riddled throughout ancient history but I accept that rumour and hearsay alone not enough. However, when you apply the same rational to Isis, there is evidence aplenty.’

‘Where?’

‘Written on in the tombs, temples and pyramids of Egypt for a start,’ she said. ‘Her name and symbols are referred to throughout the Egyptian Empire from its earliest days to modern day Pagan cults. She had temples built to her throughout history including Rome, Greece, Turkey, you name a place and she has probably been worshipped there in some way shape or form. Even Christianity has been touched by her.’

‘How?’

‘The Virgin Mary.’

‘Oh for heaven’s sake,’ he said.

‘You can believe me or not, the choice is yours but if you look at the image of Isis nursing her infant, she usually has the orb of the sun depicted behind her. Look at the famous pictures of the Madonna and child and she has a radiant halo behind her head. Put them together and they are almost exactly the same, yet Isis lived thousands of years before Mary of Nazareth. I’m not saying that Mary never existed, just that those who chronicled the events hundreds of years later may have been influenced by the stories of Isis. Remember, this was the era in which they were living their everyday lives. Paganism was everywhere and every role in life had a different God to pray to. Is it any wonder that they were influenced by what they knew, but that’s not all, think about it, Virgin birth, fathered by a God, or in Mary’s case, God. Gives birth to a saviour who will save the Earth, Who am I talking about, Mary, Isis, both, or are the stories basically based on the same versions of history altered by peoples perception over hundreds of years. Even the bad guy Set has a modern day equivalent in Satan!’

‘Fascinating,’ said Brandon, ‘But I’m not sure I buy it.’

‘No matter,’ said India, ‘We're getting ahead of ourselves, let’s go back a few steps. Forget about the Christianity similarities; let’s go back to the times of Isis and Assur. At least you can accept there is reasonable evidence that they existed, yes?’

‘Okay I’ll run with it.’

‘Good, as I said Isis was very successful and the area flourished. She became bigger than Assur ever was and over the centuries was deified as the Goddess of purity and fertility, a reference to the success of the harvest and the Virgin conception of her child. But as great as she was, her name was known only to those in the valley of the Black Sea.’

‘But you said the cult was huge.’

‘It was, but to these people the Black Sea basin was the centre of their universe. Let’s not forget this area was more than twice the size of modern day Britain and proportionately was probably the most advanced and populated areas of that time. There would have been hundreds of thousands of people living around the lake. Remember, this was before the pyramids of Egypt were built, before Rome existed and even the islands of Greece were still inhabited by hunter gatherers. The Mediterranean Sea was much lower, as indeed were all the sea levels as a lot of water was being held encapsulated in the ice caps of the north. The people of Isis were probably one of the most advanced peoples of the world at this time and had things worked out differently would have become the epicentre of a great civilisation.’

‘Would have? Why what happened, a war of some sort?’