22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

The source for the name Beelzebub is in the Books of Kings (2 Kings 1:2–3, 6, 16), written Baʿal zəvuv, referring to a deity worshipped by the Philistines in the city of Ekron.[2]

This passage notes that King Ahaziah of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, after seriously injuring himself in a fall, sent messengers to inquire of Baʿal-zəvuv, the god of the Philistine city of Ekron, to learn if he would recover.

Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber at Samaria and was injured. So he sent messengers, whom he instructed: "Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury."

— "II Kings 1:2".

The title Baal "Lord", is a Ugaritic and Cananitic term used in conjunction with a descriptive name of a specific god. Opinions differ on what the name means. In one understanding, Baʿal zəvuv is translated literally as "lord of (the) flies".[3][4][5][6] It was long ago suggested that there was a relationship between the Philistine god, and cults of flies—referring to a view of them as pests, feasting on excrement—appearing in the Hellenic world, such as Zeus Apomyios or Myiagros.[7] This is confirmed by the Ugaritic text which depicts Ba'al expelling flies, which are the cause of a person's sickness.[7]

According to Francesco Saracino (1982), this series of elements may be inconclusive as evidence, but the fact that in relationship to Baʿal zəvuv, the two constituent terms are here linked, joined by a function (ndy) that is typical of some divinities attested to in the Mediterranean world, is a strong argument in favor of the authenticity of the name of the god of Ekron, and of his possible therapeutic activities, which are implicit in 2 Kings 1:2–3, etc.[8]

Alternatively, the deity's actual name could have been Baʿal zəvul, "lord of the (heavenly) dwelling", and Baʿal zəvuv could have been a derogatory pun used by the Israelites.[9][10][11]

The Septuagint renders the name as Baalzebub (Βααλζεβούβ) and as Baal muian (Βααλ μυῗαν, "Baal of flies"). However, Symmachus may have reflected a tradition of its offensive ancient name when he rendered it as Beelzeboul.

Beelzebub is also identified in the New Testament as the Devil, "the prince of demons".[16][17] Biblical scholar Thomas Kelly Cheyne suggested that it might be a derogatory corruption of Ba'al-zəbûl, "Lord of the High Place" (i.e., Heaven) or "High Lord".[18]

In Arabic translations, the name is rendered as Baʿl-zabūl (بعلزبول).

Zababa (Sumerian: 𒀭𒍝𒂷𒂷) was the tutelary deity of the city of Kish in ancient Mesopotamia. He was a war god.[1] While he was regarded as similar to Ninurta and Nergal, he was never fully conflated with them. His worship is attested from between the Early Dynastic to the Achaemenid periods, with the Old Babylonian kings being particularly devoted to him. Starting with the Old Babylonian period, he was regarded as married to the goddess Bau.

Zababa and Ninurta shared many epithets, and references to the former using weapons normally associated with the latter or fighting his mythical enemies can be found in various texts.[6] Late lexical texts sometimes apply the names Shulshaga and Igalim to the weapons of Zababa.[22] In sources from the Early Dynastic period, these names instead belonged to the sons of Ningirsu (Ninurta) and Bau, at the time regarded as his wife.[23] A reference to Zababa as "Nergal of Kish" is known too,[6] though this title also could designate a different deity worshiped in the same city, Luhusha ("angry man").[24] Despite the associations between them, no full equation of Ninurta, Nergal and Zababa occurred, and the same texts, for example hymns and laments, could refer to all three of them as distinct from each other.[6]

Nērgal; (Aramaic: ܢܸܪܓܲܠ; , Sumerian: 𒀭𒄊𒀕𒃲,  Hebrew: נֵרְגַ) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations indicating that his cult survived into the period of Achaemenid domination. He was primarily associated with war, death, and disease, and has been described as the "god of inflicted death".[4] He reigned over Kur, the Mesopotamian underworld, depending on the myth either on behalf of his parents Enlil and Ninlil, or in later periods as a result of his marriage with the goddess Ereshkigal. Originally either Mammitum, a goddess possibly connected to frost, or Laṣ, sometimes assumed to be a minor medicine goddess, were regarded as his wife, though other traditions existed, too. His primary cult center was Kutha, located in the north of historical Babylonia. His main temple bore the ceremonial name E-Meslam and he was also known by the name Meslamtaea, "he who comes out of Meslam". Initially he was only worshiped in the north, with a notable exception being Girsu during the reign of Gudea of Lagash, but starting with the Ur III period he became a major deity in the south too. He remained prominent in both Babylonia and Assyria in later periods, and in the Neo-Babylonian state pantheon he was regarded as the third most important god, after Marduk and Nabu.

A first millennium BCE god list identifies Zababa as "Marduk of the war."[25]

Zababa's name has no plausible Sumerian or Semitic etymologies, similar to these of deities such as Alala, Bunene and Bau.[2] His two primary roles were these of a war god and a tutelary deity of Kish. He was already worshiped there in the Early Dynastic period, and references to him as the "king" of that city can be found in texts from Ebla from the third millennium BCE.[3] His status was particularly high during the reign of Hammurabi, when according to Walther it was seemingly Zababa, rather than Ninurta, who should be understood as the primary warrior god in the state pantheon.[4]

Zababa's symbol was an eagle, and he was depicted in symbolic form as a standard with this bird on top.[5]

Zababa's main temple was Edubba, located in Kish.[3] Emeteursag, commonly referenced in texts, was a cella dedicated to him rather than a separate temple.[6] A text from the reign of Artaxerxes I mentions the existence of a temple meant for an akitu festival connected to Zababa in Kish as well.[7]

Outside Kish, Zababa temples are attested in Ur (built by Warad-Sin of Larsa), in Tabira, a town near Babylon, and in Assur.[5] He was also among the gods said to "arrive" in Babylon during the city's akitu, alongside deities such as Nabu, Bau, Nergal, Mammitum and Las.[8]

A number of texts praising Hammurabi mention Zababa. In a hymn, he is one of the deities enumerated as responsible for his success, following Anu, Enlil, Shamash, Adad and Marduk, and preceding Inanna. In another hymn, Zababa is referred to as the king's helper. A text from the reign of his successor Samsu-Iluna credits the king with rebuilding the walls of Kish with the help of Zababa and Ishtar, and states that these two deities helped him defeat his enemies. Wilfred G. Lambert notes that these sources are significant as evidence proving "there is no hint of any supremacy of Marduk within the pantheon" in the Old Babylonian period.[9]

A boundary stone (kudurru) of Nebuchadnezzar I mentions Zababa in a sequence of gods, alongside Anu, Enlil, Marduk, Nabu, Ishtar, Ninurta, Gula, Nergal, Papsukkal, Ishara and "Anu Rabu" (Ishtaran).[10]

Mesopotamian kings named in honor of Zababa include Ur-Zababa ("man of Zababa") of Kish, famous due to his role in the so-called "Sumerian Sargon legend,"[11] and Zababa-shuma-iddin, a twelfth century BCE Kassite king of Babylon deposed after a single year on the throne by the Elamite king Shutruk-Nahhunte.[12]

In Kish, Zababa was a popular deity in theophoric names well into Achaemenid times.[13] It has been argued that similar names from other cities can be assumed to indicate emigration of the inhabitants of Kish to other parts to Mesopotamia, similar to Lagamal names pointing at origin of the families of persons bearing them in Dilbat.

https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/brdup/brhad_II-05.html

So, this is the interesting story behind the Vidyā called Madhu-Vidyā. But whatever the story is behind this enunciation of the Vidyā, it is a magnificent statement of the Upaniṣhad, where it tells us that everything is organically related to everything. When you touch anything, you are touching everything. If I touch a table, I am touching the sun at once. Nobody can understand the mystery behind this thing. Everything is vitally connected, not merely artificially related, so that when I see anything, I am seeing everything. When I speak to anyone, I am speaking to everybody. When I touch anything, I touch all things, and when I know one thing, I know everything. This point is really a magnificent theme in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣhad. No wonder Indra was very fond of it and did not want others to know it.

There is an interesting story behind this knowledge. It is a very secret knowledge which cannot be imparted to all people. And Indra got this knowledge from Sage Dadhyaṅṅ. Greedy that he was, he did not want others to know this. He wanted to have this knowledge only for himself. He had told his Guru, "If you tell this to anybody else, I will cut off your head." He was a very strange disciple, and the Guru said nothing. He kept quiet. Indra desired to be the only knower of it. Such a great secret it is! Then two other gods known as the Aśvinis – they are the twin celestial physicians – wanted to have this knowledge. They knew that this Guru knows this – the Madhu-Vidyā. So they came and said: "Will you teach us Madhu-Vidyā?" The Guru Dadhyaṅṅ ātharvaṇa Rishi said: "You know the danger behind my telling what I know? I will lose my head." "Why?" they asked. He told them: "This is what happened. That foolish Indra, I taught him something, and this threat is the gratitude he gave me. He says, if I tell this to anybody else, he will sever my head. So, if I tell you, my head will go." "Oh, you do not bother about it," the twins said, "We shall look to it. We shall take care of this matter. You do not be afraid of losing your head." "How are you going to save me?" "You start teaching. Then, we cut off your head. Then, we will bring the head of a horse and place it on the trunk of your body, and you speak through the horse's mouth. Then Indra will get angry and cut off your head. But what he will cut off is the horse's head only. Afterwards he will go away and we will replace your real head and join it so that you become all right. Thereby you will not have lost anything." That was a very good idea. Then Sage Dadhyaṅṅ began to speak and the Aśvinis cut off his head and kept it safe somewhere, in secret. They brought the head of a horse from somewhere, fixed it on the sage's trunk and gave it life. Immediately the horse started speaking the Madhu-Vidyā, and through the mouth of the horse it is that this wisdom has come. Indra got enraged on seeing that the sage had started imparting the Madhu-Vidyā. He went and cut off that head he found on the sage's neck – the horse's head. Then the Aśvinis came and put back the original head on the sage and made him whole again.

The Ashvins (Sanskrit: अश्विन्, lit. 'horse possessors', IAST: Aśvin), also known as the Ashvini Kumaras and Asvinau,[3] are Hindu twin gods associated with medicine, health, dawn, and the sciences.[4] In the Rigveda, they are described as youthful divine twin horsemen, travelling in a chariot drawn by horses that are never weary, and portrayed as guardian deities that safeguard and rescue people by aiding them in various situations.[2][5] The Ashvins are an instance of the Indo-European divine horse twins.[12][13][5] Reflexes in other Indo-European religions include the Lithuanian Ašvieniai, the Latvian Dieva Dēli, the Greek Castor and Pollux; and possibly the English Hengist and Horsa, and the Welsh Bran and Manawydan.[12][7] The first mention of the Nasatya twins is from a Mitanni treaty (c.1350 BCE), between Suppiluliuma and Shattiwaza, respectively kings of the Hittites and the Mitanni.[14]

There are varying accounts, but Ashvins are generally mentioned as the sons of the sun god Surya and his wife Sanjna. In the epic Mahabharata, the Pandava twins Nakula and Sahadeva were the children of the Ashvins.

The Sanskrit name Aśvín (अश्विन्) derives from the Indo-Iranian stem *Haćwa- (cf. Avestan aspā), itself from the Indo-European word for the horse, *H1éḱwos, from which also descends the Lithuanian name Ašvieniai.[6]

In the Rigveda, the Ashvins are always referred to in the dual, without individual names,[5] although Vedic texts differentiate between the two Ashvins: "one of you is respected as the victorious lord of Sumakha, and the other as the fortunate son of heaven" (RV 1.181.4). They are called several times divó nápātā, that is 'grandsons of Dyaús (the sky-god)'. This formula is comparable with the Lithuanian Dievo sūneliai, 'sons of Dievas (the sky-god'), attached to the Ašvieniai; the Latvian Dieva Dēli, the 'sons of Dievs (the sky-god)'; and the Greek Diós-kouroi, the 'boys of Zeus', designating Castor and Pollux.[7][8]

The twin gods are also referred to as Nā́satyā (possibly 'saviours'; a derivative of nasatí, 'safe return home'), a name that appears 99 times in the Rigveda.[8] The epithet probably derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *nes- ('to return home [safely]'), with cognates in the Avestan Nā̊ŋhaiθya, the name of a demon – as a result of a Zoroastrian religious reformation that changed the status of prior deities –, and also in the Greek hero Nestor and in the Gothic verb nasjan ('save, heal').[9][10]

In the later Mahabharata, the Ashvins are often called the Nasatyas or Dasras. Sometimes one of them is referred to as Nasatya and one as Dasra.[11]

The Ashvins are often associated with rescuing mortals and bringing them back to life.[30] The Rigveda also describes the Ashvins as "bringing light": they gave "light-bringing help" (svàrvatīr…ūtī́r, 1.119. to Bhujyu, and "raised (Rebha) up to see the sun" (úd…aírayataṃ svàr dṛśé, 1.112.5).[31][5]

The Ashvins are associated with honey, which was likely offered to them in a sacrifice. They are the chief deities in the Pravargya rite, in which they are offered hot milk. They are also associated with the morning pressing of Soma, because they are dual deities, along with Indra-Vāyu and Mitra-Varuṇa. They also are the last deities to receive Soma in the Atirātra, or Overnight Soma Ritual.[32]

The Ashvins are invoked at dawn, the time of their principal sacrifice, and have a close connection with the dawn goddess, Uṣas: she is bidden to awaken them (8.9.17), they follow her in their chariot (8.5.2), she is born when they hitch their steeds (10.39.12), and their chariot is once said to arrive before her (1.34.10). They are consequently associated with the "return from darkness": the twins are called “darkness slayers” (tamohánā, 3.39.3), they are invoked with the formula "you who have made light for mankind" (yā́v…jyótir jánāya cakráthuḥ, 1.92.17), and their horses and chariot are described as "uncovering the covered darkness" (aporṇuvántas táma ā́ párīvṛtam, 4.45.2).[33]

The chariot of the Ashvins is repeatedly mentioned in the Rigveda. Their chariot has three chariot-boxes, three wheels, three turnings, and three wheel rims. The emphasis on the number 3 is symbolized in the sacrifice with its three soma pressings. The chariot is pulled by bulls, buffaloes, horses, birds, geese, and falcons. The chariot allows the Ashvins to be quick and mobile and travel to a number of places, which is necessary to fulfill their role of rescuing people. Sūryā, the daughter of the Sun, is sometimes mentioned as the wife of the Ashvins, and she rides with them in their chariot.[2]

It is also believed that the Ashvins were the first one to prepare the chayavanprasham formulation for Sage Chyavana believed in local tradition to be located at his ashram on Dhosi Hill near Narnaul, Haryana, India, the etymology behind the modern rendering of chyavanprash.[34]

The Queen Mother of the West, known by various local names, is a mother goddess in Chinese religion and mythology, also worshipped in neighbouring Asian countries, and attested from ancient times. From her name alone some of her most important characteristics are revealed: she is royal, female, and is associated with the west.[1]

The first historical information on her can be traced back to Shang dynasty oracle bone inscriptions that record sacrifices to a "Western Mother".[2] Even though these inscriptions illustrate that she predates organized Taoism, she is most often associated with Taoism. The growing popularity of the Queen Mother of the West, as well as the beliefs that she was the dispenser of prosperity, longevity, and eternal bliss, took place during Han dynasty, in the 2nd century BCE, when the northern and western parts of China were able to be better known because of the opening of the Silk Road.

The first mentions of the Queen Mother date back to the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang dynasty (1766 – 1122 BCE).

One inscription reads:

Crack-making on day IX (9th day), we divined. If we make offering to the eastern mother and the western mother, there will be approval.

Western Mother refers to an archaic divinity residing in the west. The exact nature of the Mother divinities in the Shang dynasty is unclear, but they were seen as powerful forces deserving of ritual by the people of the Shang dynasty.

Originally, from the earliest known depictions of her in accounts like the Classic of Mountains and Seas during the Zhou dynasty, she was a ferocious goddess of death with the teeth of a tiger, who rules over wild beasts and sends down heavenly punishments such as pestilences. She was also mentioned as an authority ruling over other divinities such as Jiutian Xuannü, a goddess of war and sex.

Other stories hold that she is a mountain goddess or a divine tigress.[13] She is also popularly thought to have blessed the Eight Immortals with their supernatural abilities.[14]


Queen Mother of the West is a calque of Xiwangmu in Chinese sources, Seiōbo in Japan, Seowangmo in Korea, and Tây Vương Mẫu in Vietnam. She has numerous titles, one being Yaochi Jinmu (瑤池金母), the "Golden Mother of the Jade Pond (瑤池)" [5] (also translated "Turquoise Pond"[6][7]). She is also known in contemporary sources as the Lady Queen Mother.

In Chinese salvationist religions, she is believed to be the same being as their main deity, Wusheng Laomu (Chinese: 無生老母; lit. 'birthless old mother'), also known as Wujimu (無極母; lit. 'infinite mother').[8] The title, Wujimu, signifies the absolute principle of reality, or the creational origin of all things.[9]

Tang writers called her "Golden Mother the First Ruler", the "Golden Mother of Tortoise Mountain", "She of the Nine Numina and the Grand Marvel", and the "Perfected Marvel of the Western Florescence and Ultimate Worthy of the Cavernous Darkness". Commoners and poets of the era referred to her more simply as the "Queen Mother", the "Divine Mother", or simply "Nanny" (Amah).

The Queen Mother of the West is most often depicted holding court within her palace on the mythological Mount Kunlun, usually supposed to be in western China (a modern Mount Kunlun is named after this). Her palace is believed to be a perfect and complete paradise, where it was used as a meeting place for the deities and a cosmic pillar where communications between deities and humans were possible.[10] At her palace she was surrounded by a female retinue of prominent goddesses and spiritual attendants. One of her symbols is the Big Dipper.[11][12]


Although not definite there are many beliefs that her garden had a special orchard of longevity peaches which would ripen once every three thousand years,[10] others believe though that her court on Mount Kunlun was nearby to the orchard of the Peaches of Immortality. No matter where the peaches were located, the Queen Mother of the West is widely known for serving peaches to her guests, which would then make them immortal. She normally wears a distinctive headdress with the Peaches of Immortality suspended from it.

Flourishing parasols, we reach the chronograms' extremity;
Riding on the mist, I wander to Lofty Whirlwind Peak.
The Lady of the Supreme Primordial descends through jade interior doors;
The Queen Mother opens her Blue-gem Palace.
Celestial people—What a Crowd!
A lofty meeting inside the Cyan Audience Hall.
Arrayed Attendants perform Cloud Songs;
Realized intonations fill the Grand Empty Space.
Every thousand years, her purple crabapple ripens;
Every four kalpas, her numinous melon produces abundantly.
This music differs from that at the feast in the wilderness—
So convivial, and certainly infinite.

— Wu Yun (Complete Tang Poems 1967, line 4942)

The Tarim mummies are a series of mummies discovered in the Tarim Basin in present-day Xinjiang, China, which date from 1800 BCE to the first centuries BCE,[1][2][3] with a new group of individuals recently dated to between c. 2100 and 1700 BCE.[4][5] The Tarim population to which the earliest mummies belonged was agropastoral, and they lived circa 2000 BCE in what was formerly a freshwater environment, which has now become desertified.[6]

A genomic study published in 2021 found that these early mummies (dating from 2,135 to 1,623 BCE) had high levels of Ancient North Eurasian ancestry (ANE, about 72%), with smaller admixture from Ancient Northeast Asians (ANA, about 28%), but no detectable Western Steppe-related ancestry.[7][8] They formed a genetically isolated local population that "adopted neighbouring pastoralist and agriculturalist practices, which allowed them to settle and thrive along the shifting riverine oases of the Taklamakan Desert."[9] These mummified individuals were long suspected to have been "Proto-Tocharian-speaking pastoralists", ancestors of the Tocharians, but this has now been largely discredited by their absence of a genetic connection with Indo-European-speaking migrants, particularly the Afanasievo or BMAC cultures.



The Cucuteni–Trypillia culture, also known as the Cucuteni culture or the Trypillia culture, is a Neolithic–Chalcolithic archaeological culture (c. 5500 to 2750 BC) of Southeast Europe. It extended from the Carpathian Mountains to the Dniester and Dnieper regions, centered on modern-day Moldova and covering substantial parts of western Ukraine and northeastern Romania, encompassing an area of 350,000 km2 (140,000 sq mi), with a diameter of 500 km (300 mi; roughly from Kyiv in the northeast to Brașov in the southwest).[1][2]

The majority of Cucuteni–Trypillia settlements were of small size, high density (spaced 3 to 4 kilometres apart), concentrated mainly in the Siret, Prut and Dniester river valleys.[3] During its middle phase (c. 4000 to 3500 BC), populations belonging to the Cucuteni–Trypillia culture built the largest settlements in Neolithic Europe, some of which contained as many as three thousand structures and were possibly inhabited by 20,000 to 46,000 people


Most of the settlements were located close to rivers, with fewer settlements located on the plateaus. Most early dwellings took the form of pit-houses, though they were accompanied by an ever-increasing incidence of above-ground clay houses.[22] The floors and hearths of these structures were made of clay, and the walls of clay-plastered wood or reeds. Roofing was made of thatched straw or reeds.

The inhabitants were involved with animal husbandry, agriculture, fishing and gathering. Wheat, rye and peas were grown. Tools included ploughs made of antler, stone, bone and sharpened sticks. The harvest was collected with scythes made of flint-inlaid blades. The grain was milled into flour by quern-stones. Women were involved in pottery, textile- and garment-making, and played a leading role in community life. Men hunted, herded the livestock, made tools from flint, bone and stone.[citation needed] Of their livestock, cattle were the most important, with swine, sheep and goats playing lesser roles. The question of whether or not the horse was domesticated during this time of the Cucuteni–Trypillia culture is disputed among historians; horse remains have been found in some of their settlements, but it is unclear whether these remains were from wild horses or domesticated ones.

Clay statues of females and amulets have been found dating to this period. Copper items, primarily bracelets, rings and hooks, are occasionally found as well. A hoard of a large number of copper items was discovered in the village of Cărbuna, Moldova, consisting primarily of items of jewelry, which were dated back to the beginning of the fifth millennium BC. Some historians have used this evidence to support the theory that a social stratification was present in early Cucuteni culture, but this is disputed by others.[7]

Pottery remains from this early period are very rarely discovered; the remains that have been found indicate that the ceramics were used after being fired in a kiln. The outer colour of the pottery is a smoky grey, with raised and sunken relief decorations. Toward the end of this early Cucuteni–Trypillia period, the pottery begins to be painted before firing. The white-painting technique found on some of the pottery from this period was imported from the earlier and contemporary (5th millennium) Gumelnița–Karanovo culture. Historians point to this transition to kiln-fired, white-painted pottery as the turning point for when the Pre-Cucuteni culture ended and Cucuteni Phase (or Cucuteni–Trypillia culture) began.[7]

Cucuteni and the neighbouring Gumelnița–Karanovo cultures seem to be largely contemporary; the "Cucuteni A phase seems to be very long (4600–4050) and covers the entire evolution of the Gumelnița–Karanovo A1, A2, B2 phases (maybe 4650–4050)."[23]