Which is the oldest religion in the world? We simply don´t know and probably never will. Some kind of shamanism? Bear ceremonialism? Another interesting question is which deities currently worshipped are the oldest. A tantalizing possibility are Shiva and Shakti.
There is apparently a 10,000 year old (Mesolithic) rock painting from the Bhimbetka caves in India. The figure has been nicknamed "Nataraja" (Lord of the Dance) by prominent Indian archeologist Wakankar. It may show a dancing figure with horns and a trident. And Shiva is associated with dance, carries a trident and has a bull companion named Nandi. While the interpretation is somewhat speculative, the trident-like object in particular is intriguing! Also, there is a "Proto-Shiva" nicknamed Pashupati from the Indus Valley Civilization (about 4,000 years ago) which has horns.
As for the Goddess, there is an archeological site known as Baghor I in India, where a mysterious triangular stone with yellow pigment has been excavated. It´s also believed to be about 10,000 years old. The fascinating thing about this piece of rock is that apparently the local tribals worship a mother goddess in the form of - wait for it - triangular rocks with color applied to them. It´s also worth noting that a triangle pointing downwards is a Tantric symbol for Shakti!
Make of these facts or factoids whatever you wish.
Totemism i någon form måste ha funnit i alla fall ca 50.000 BP eftersom de australiska urinvånarna då isolerade sig och kunde renodla och bevara sin totemism - samtidigt som varianter av denna också återfinns i stort sett i hela världen. Märkligt eftersom totemism kan te sig som en mycket speciell och för oss lite konstig religion, men så verkar det faktiskt vara.
ReplyDeleteChatGPT håller med dig. Jag fick ett närmast akademiskt svar när jag frågade. Kommer eventuellt lägga ut svaret här på bloggen.
ReplyDeleteVi har ju mitt fantastiska inlägg i frågan också.
ReplyDeletehttps://ashtarbookblog.blogspot.com/2025/10/an-ingenious-proposal.html