Manichaeism and Mesopotamia?

[ikhet_sekhmet]

I came across a recent paper which sought to trace possible links between Manichaeism, a form of Gnosticism, and Mesopotamian religion. The parallels the author found weren't compelling, IMHO - what struck me was the huge difference between the two belief systems (I talked about this a bit in a recent posting about the Gospel of Judas). For the Gnostics, the spirit is trapped in an evil world of the flesh, from which it seeks release; sex and even eating were unpleasant necessities. By contrast, the Mesopotamians (and their neighbours the Egyptians) celebrated life, as do Neo-Pagans like myself. Ataç notes:

"There is a further, more conspicuous, difference, however, between the nether realms of the Mesopotamian and Manichaean systems, and that is, whereas the Manichaean Realm of Darkness is the home of matter, procreation, and brutish copulation, the ancient Mesopotamian netherworld is characterized by a complete absence of procreation and sexual intercourse, since it is conceived of as the diametric antithesis of life. As for Manichaeism, it is the Realm of Light that abhors procreation, as human reproduction only further disperses the divine light imprisoned in matter and indefinitely delays the process of complete salvation."

Ataç goes on to point out that the absence of intercourse and children in the Underworld makes it "abhorrent" to the Mesopotamians; when Inanna/Ishtar the goddess of sex is trapped there, sex or procreation cease in the living world. He makes an interesting suggestion when he says that Inanna's threat to release the dead from hell, so that they outnumber the living, expresses her power as a sexual goddess. He also points to the sexual ambiguity of the creatures sent to rescue Inanna/Ishtar, which may be important to their ability to enter the Underworld - more about this in a posting to follow.
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Ataç, Mehmet-Ali. Manichaeism and Ancient Mesopotamian "Gnosticism". Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions, Volume 5, Number 1, 2005, pp. 1-39(39).

Comments

[shaktipat.livejournal.com]

Chapters 5 and 13 of Peter Kingsley's _Ancient Philosophy, Mystery, and Magic: Empedocles and Pythagorean Tradition_ (Oxford U. Press, 1995) and his later work _Reality_ will shed some light on the matter of the Goddess of the Underworld, which matter is of the uttermost importance, far, far more than it appears.

[ikhet-sekhmet.livejournal.com]

I neglected to thank you for this reference! Turns out the library where I work has the book, so I've added it to my list of intended borrowings.