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Title: Matriarchal Societies of the Past and the Rise of Patriarchy

Matriarchal Societies of the Past and the Rise of Patriarchy

West Asia and Europe

by Heide Goettner-Abendroth (Author)
©2023 Monographs XXVIII, 514 Pages
History & Political Science

Summary

This book is about re-writing the history of cultures from a non-patriarchal perspective, bringing the forgotten matriarchal epoch to light again. It is based on Heide Goettner-Abendroth’s pioneering anthropological research on still extant matriarchal societies worldwide, which provided her with a new definition of "matriarchy" as true gender-egalitarian societies. According to modern Matriarchal Studies, matriarchies have never needed patriarchy’s hierarchical structures of domination, as they are socially egalitarian, economically balanced, and politically based on consensus decisions.
This is the author’s background for re-examining the history of cultures. She criticizes the patriarchal prejudices which abound in archaeological interpretations, and their blindness to the great variety of human social forms. By going deeper into this material she is able to develop a completely different picture of the earliest cultural epochs, which were decisively formed by women, motherhood and maternal values. Additionally, she gives a logical and detailed explanation for the rise of patriarchy, which is based on archaeological finds and not on speculation and, therefore, has a high degree of validity.
The range of the book includes the development in West Asia and Europe from the Palaeolithic via the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. In this wide field, the author creates revolutionary new insights, which are relevant for all social and historical sciences.
"Dr. Heide Goettner-Abendroth, mother of the discipline of Modern Matriarchal Studies, has produced a long-awaited, groundbreaking study which not only addresses the origins of patriarchy, but more importantly, the long period of human history which preceded it. Covering the period from the Paleolithic to the Iron Age, she takes us on a journey from the earliest mother-centered societies of the Paleolithic, to the matriarchal societies of the Neolithic, and finally to the period when all that remains are matriarchal elements within patriarchal surroundings. Along the way she debunks many cultural myths, including the myth of eternal warfare."
—Dr. Joan Cichon, Independent Scholar, Author and Co-director of the Association of Women and Mythology
"In this time of planetary crisis that many of us believe has been caused by the toxic mix of Patriarchy and Capitalism, this book is an answer to the urgent question, 'Where did Patriarchy come from?' Dr. Goettner-Abendroth's profound research and deep alternative perspective bring to light the roots of our present dis-ease and give hope that by knowing the truth of the past we can find a way to heal the future. This book should be required reading for feminists and social change activists everywhere."
—Genevieve Vaughan, Philosopher, Author of Many Books and Founder of International Feminists for a Gift Economy

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • About the author
  • About the book
  • This eBook can be cited
  • Contents
  • List of Illustrations
  • Acknowledgments
  • Foreword
  • Introduction: The Development of Modern Matriarchal Studies and Its Relevance for the History of Cultures
  • A Clarification of the Concept
  • The Definition and Its Logic
  • Modern Matriarchal Studies and Its Relevance for History of Cultures
  • 1 The New Ideology of “Eternal War.” Critical Reflections on Early History
  • Preliminary Remarks on the Concept of History
  • The Discourse of “Eternal War” among Theoreticians
  • The Discourse of “Eternal War” among Archaeologists
  • The Discourse about “Peaceful Societies”
  • 2 Palaeolithic in West Asia, the Mediterranean, and Europe: The Development of Mother-Centered Societies
  • Origins from Africa and the Adventures of Peopling the World
  • Palaeolithic Economy: More than just Hunting
  • Palaeolithic Social Order: More than just the Horde
  • Palaeolithic Culture and Religion: More than just “Hunting Magic”
  • Middle Palaeolithic: Religious Thoughts of the Neanderthal People
  • Upper Palaeolithic: Cave Art and Portable Art
  • The Theme of “Women”
  • The Theme of “Animals”
  • Abstract Signs and the Calendar
  • 3 Neolithic in West Asia: The Invention of Agriculture and the Origin of Matriarchal Societies
  • Mesolithic: The Great Thaw
  • Neolithic Economy in West Asia: Revolutionary Inventions
  • Pre-Neolithic Epoch: The First Settlements
  • Lower Pre-Pottery Neolithic: The First Temples and Grain Fields
  • Upper Pre-Pottery Neolithic: Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Mysterious Walls
  • Late Neolithic Epoch: Pottery, Copper, and New Crafts
  • Neolithic Social Order in West Asia: New Complexity
  • Complex Societies: Elites or Equality?
  • The Evolution of Matrilineality
  • Neolithic Culture and Religion in West Asia: Early Religious Wealth
  • Symbolism of Life and Death
  • The Polarity of Female and Male
  • Female and Male Ancestors
  • Goddesses: Yes or No?
  • 4 Neolithic in the Mediterranean and Europe: The Development of Matriarchal Societies
  • Encounters between Mesolithic and Neolithic Peoples
  • Neolithic Economy in Europe: Unity of Economy and Culture
  • Southeast Europe: The First European High Culture
  • Central Europe: Longhouses and Giant Circles
  • South Europe: Temples and “fairy houses”
  • Atlantic and Continental West Europe: Megaliths in All Forms
  • North Europe: Longhouses for the Dead
  • Neolithic Social Order in Europe: Patrilocal Nuclear Families or Matriarchal Clans?
  • The Hunt for “elites and hierarchy,” “trade and property”
  • In Search of the “nuclear family” and “father line”
  • Evidence for the Mother Line
  • Egalitarian Burial Culture
  • Neolithic Culture and Religion in Europe: Primordial Mothers and Goddesses
  • The Symbolism of Tombs, Temples and Megaliths
  • The Sacred Landscape
  • Domestic Ancestress Worship
  • The Issue of Goddesses
  • Primordial Mothers, Earth, Moon and Sun
  • Figurines and the Triple Goddess
  • 6 Bronze Age and Iron Age in West Asia: The Rise of State and Empire
  • Bronze Age Economy and Politics in West Asia: Organization of the Precious Water
  • New Spaces: The First Settlement of the Mesopotamian Plains
  • Crowding into “paradise”: The Formation of City States
  • The Power of Weapons: Regional States and the First Empire
  • Centralization Pushed to the Extreme: The Path to “World Empire”
  • Bronze Age Social Order and Religion in West Asia: From Thea-Cracy to the Abolition of the Goddess
  • Late Matriarchal Thea-Cracy
  • Breaking with Matriarchal Religion
  • Class Society and the Diminishing Status of Women
  • The Fate of the Goddesses
  • In the Land of Canaan: Trading Cities, “democracy” and the One-God Religion
  • 7 Bronze Age and Iron Age in South Europe: Late Matriarchal Societies and Increasing Patriarchalization
  • The Waves of Patriarchalization from the Steppes
  • Limited Destruction, Far-Reaching Consequences and Constantly Improved Weapons
  • The Indo-Europeanization of Europe and the Glaring Facts of DNA Analyses
  • Late Matriarchal Societies and Patriarchalization in South Europe
  • The Minoan Culture of Crete: Sailors and Priestesses
  • Social Order in Crete: Consensus Politics and Matriarchal Clans
  • Mycenae and Sparta: War as the Measure of Everything
  • Athens and Ionia: Maritime Trade, Money, and the Ambivalent Situation of Women
  • The Etruscans: Joy of Life in This World and the Otherworld
  • Rhaetians, Sardinians, Basques: Forgotten Peoples to This Day
  • 8 Bronze Age and Iron Age in Europe North of the Alps: Matriarchal Elements in Patriarchal Surroundings
  • Precarious Domination in the Bronze Age
  • The Celtic Peoples and the Question of Matriarchy
  • The Iron Age Empires of the Celts
  • Matriarchal Picts and Patriarchal Celts: The Problematic Position of Women
  • Celtic Gods and Goddesses: A Split Religion
  • The Germanic Peoples and the Question of Matriarchy
  • The Migration Routes of the Germanic Peoples
  • On the Social Order of the Germanic Peoples: Brave Women But without Rights
  • Matriarchal “Nerthus culture” and Germanic Gods
  • A Concluding Critique of Concepts
  • Bibliography
  • Index

←x | xi→

List of Illustrations

Chapter 2

Fig. 1: The ring-cross, engraved on a polished stone, Middle Palaeolithic (Hungary) (in: Marie König, Unsere Vergangenheit ist älter, 41)

Fig. 2: Lions moving dynamically, Chauvet Cave, Upper Palaeolithic, Aurignacien (France) (Wikimedia Commons, author: Claude Valette)

Fig. 3: Female figurine from Hohle Fels, Upper Palaeolithic, Aurignacien (Germany) (in: Catalog, Eiszeit, 270)

Fig. 4: Triangles as vulva symbols, cave in the “Dame Jouante” Mountain near Larchant, Middle Palaeolithic (France) (in: Marie König, Am Anfang der Kultur, 158)

Fig. 5: The Woman of Laussel, Upper Palaeolithic, Gravettien (France) (in: Catalog Eiszeit, 276)

Fig. 6: Three female figures above an image of a bull or cow, Upper Palaeolithic, Magdalénien (France) (in: Marie König, Unsere Vergangenheit ist älter, 206)←xi | xii→

Fig. 7 a: Female figures, engraved on plates of slate, Upper Palaeolithic, Magdalénien (Germany)

Fig. 7 b: Increasing schematization, leading from abstract figure to cipher (both in: Catalog Eiszeit, 300)

Fig. 8: Pebbles with signs, Upper Palaeolithic, Azilien (France) (in: Marie König, Unsere Vergangenheit ist älter, 114)

Fig. 9 a, b: Paintings in the Great Hall of the Lascaux Cave, Upper Palaeolithic, Magdalénien (France) (in: Georges Bataille, Prehistoric Painting: Lascaux or the Birth of Art, 46–47)

Fig. 10 a: Rock engraving, Oasis Tiout, Sahara (Algeria) (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann after Leo Frobenius)

Fig. 10 b: Rock engraving, Ignatievka Cave, South Ural Mountains (Russia) (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann after Ščelinskij, Širokov)

Fig. 11: Head of a bull combined with abstract signs, Great Hall of the Lascaux Cave (France) (in: Georges Bataille, Prehistoric Painting: Lascaux or the Birth of Art, 54)

Fig. 12: Image of a bull with “turned” horns in the shape of crescents, Upper Palaeolithic, Magdalénien (France) (in: Marie König, Unsere Vergangenheit ist älter, 55)

Fig. 13: Three quadrangles, each with nine squares, under and behind the legs of a pregnant cow, Lascaux Cave (France) (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann after Georges Bataille)

Fig. 14: Three out of five vulva signs combined with a plant motif, “El Castillo” Cave (Spain) (in: Marie König, Unsere Vergangenheit ist älter, 203)

Fig. 15: Ascending and descending plant motifs, cave in the mountains of Nanteau (France) (in: Marie König, Unsere Vergangenheit ist älter, 242)

Chapter 3

Fig. 1: Temple D of Göbekli Tepe (Southeast Turkey) (in: Die ältesten Monumente der Menschheit, 82)

Series A, Fig. a: Large and small examples of two-headed female figurines (Άin Ghazal)←xii | xiii→

Fig. b: Two-headed female figure with two sets of breasts (Çatal Höyük)

Fig. c: Two-headed abstract disk-like female figure (Kültepe)

Fig. d: Two-headed female figure with only one pair of breasts (Vinça-Kultur)

Fig. e: Miniature of two identical women (Alaca Höyük)

Fig. f: Fresco with three double figures in birthing posture (Çatal Höyük)

Fig. g: Fresco with grand lady, two daughters, and two leopards (Çatal Höyük)

Fig. h: Three eye figurines (Tell Brak)

Fig. i: Smaller female figure with a larger female, side view and front view (Cyclades)

Fig. j: Engravings on megalithic stone, Gavrinis tomb (Brittany)

Fig. k: Engravings on megalithic stone, tomb of New Grange (Ireland)

(Series A, Fig. a, b, c, f, g, h, i, drawings by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann after Vicki Noble, Eve Kimberley; Fig. d, drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann after Gimbutas; Fig. e, drawing by the author after Gimbutas; Abb. j, k in: Marija Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess, 225, 238)

Fig. 2: Religious room with paintings of vultures, northern and eastern walls of the house VII, 8 (Çatal Höyük) (in: James Mellaart, Çatal Hüyük, 198)

Series B, Fig. a: Seated female figure with two leopard cubs (Çatal Höyük)

Fig. b: Female figure on a leopard throne (Çatal Höyük)

Fig. c: Female figure meditating in a leopard skin (Çatal Höyük)

Fig. d: Female figure holding a child (Hacılar)

Fig. e: Seated female figure holding a child (Hacılar)

Fig. f: Female figure on two leopards presenting her breasts (Hacılar)

Fig. g: Female figure on a leopard holding a leopard cub (Hacılar)

(Series B, Fig. a, b, c in: James Mellaart, Çatal Hüyük, 216, 234, 233; Fig. d-g (in: James Mellaart, The Neolithic of the Near East, 115)

Fig. 3: Sculpture with vulture and two women, so-called “totem pole,” side view and front view (Nevalı Çori) (in: Die ältesten Monumente, 68)←xiii | xiv→

Fig. 4: Male sculpture from Urfa (Southeast Turkey) (in: Die ältesten Monumente, 288)

Fig. 5: Ritual of Sacred Marriage associated with rain magic, painted ceiling of Izikada Cave, Latmos Mountains (West Turkey) (in: Die ältesten Monumente, 164)

Fig. 6: Symbols on the central pair of pillars of temple D (Göbekli Tepe) (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann)

Fig. 7 a: T-pillar from the temple of Nevalı Çori, side view and front view (Southeast Turkey) (in: Die ältesten Monumente, 80)

Fig. 7 b: Sculpture in human shape of Kilisik, side view and front view (Southeast Turkey) (in: Die ältesten Monumente, 81)

Fig. 8: Relief of a bull with “turned” head, on the eastern central pillar of temple A (Göbekli Tepe) (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann)

Fig. 9: Engraving of a woman in birthing posture, on a pillar of Göbekli Tepe (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann)

Series C, Fig. a: Two relief figures in birthing posture, one has female breasts, religious room (Çatal Höyük)

Fig. b: Relief figure with long flowing hair, religious room (Çatal Höyük)

Fig. c: Large relief figure giving birth to a ram’s head, below it three large bulls’ heads, religious room (Çatal Höyük)

(Series C, Fig. a, b, c in: James Mellaart, Çatal Hüyük, 115, 140, 152)

Fig. 10: Painting of two female figures giving birth to bulls and stags (section from the image), religious room, shrine EV 3 (Çatal Höyük) (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann after James Mellaart)

Fig. 11 a, b: So-called hunting scenes with stags and a bull, religious rooms (Çatal Höyük) (in: James Mellaart, Çatal Hüyük, 166–168)

Fig. 12: The goddess Cybele on a lion throne, Roman sculpture (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples)

Fig. 13: The goddess Lilith as giver of death, painted plate of baked clay (Sumer, 2nd mill. BCE) (Wikimedia Commons, author: BabelStone)←xiv | xv→

Chapter 4

Fig. 1: Clay model of a temple in the shape of a goddess (Macedonia, about 6.000 BCE) (in: Marija Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess, 257)

Fig. 2 a, b: Cities of the Neolithic Cucuteni-Tripolje culture (Ukraine) (in: Marija Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess, 104)

Fig. 3 a, b: Rows of posts of long houses, and schematic model of a longhouse, LBK culture (in: Marija Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess, 40)

Fig. 4: Longhouse with circular earthwork enclosure, the latter having a grave mound at the center, LBK culture (Germany) (in: Jens Lüning, Die Bandkeramiker, 284)

Fig. 5: The circular earthwork enclosure of Künzing-Unternberg in Bavaria, reconstruction (Germany) (in: Ernst Probst, Deutschland in der Steinzeit, 280)

Fig. 6: Pile-dwellings in Unteruhldingen, Lake Constance (Germany) (Photo by the author)

Fig. 7 a: Plan view of the Ġgantija temples on the island of Gozo (Malta)

Fig. 7 b: Plan view of the Mnajdra temples (Malta) (both in: Marija Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess, 177, 179)

Fig. 8: Temple Mnajdra: entrance to a holy chamber (Photo by Ine Guckert)

Fig. 9: So-called “giant’s grave,” central stele with false door and hole to slip through (Sardinia) (Photo by Eva-Maria Farin)

Fig. 10: Women cultivating the fields, rock painting (eastern coast of Spain, 6th mill. BCE) (in: Die ältesten Monumente der Menschheit, 174, drawing by Jean Guilaine)

Fig. 11 a: Aerial photo of the long barrow/tumulus of Barnenez (Brittany) (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann)

Fig. 11 b: Plan view of the long barrow/tumulus of Barnenez with passage graves (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann)

Fig. 12 a: Reconstructed round burial mound of the New Grange tomb (Ireland) (in: Marija Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess, 212)←xv | xvi→

Fig. 12 b: Interior of the New Grange tomb with rock engraving (Ireland) (in: Jean-Pierre Mohen, The world of megaliths, 95)

Fig. 13: Engravings on megalithic stones in the passage grave of Gavrinis (Brittany) (in: Jean-Pierre Mohen, The world of megaliths, 117)

Fig. 14 a: Menhirs in front of the long barrow tomb of “Wayland’s Smithy” (South England) (in: Jean-Pierre Mohen, The world of megaliths, 113)

Fig. 14 b: Women at the menhir of Kerloas, 10 m high (Brittany) (Photo by Karin Kastner)

Fig. 15 a: Parallel stone rows at Carnac (Brittany) (in: John Green, Carnac et les monuments mégalithic du Morbihan, 17)

Fig. 15 b: Plan view of the stone avenue “Le Menec” with stone circles, Carnac (Brittany) (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann)

Fig. 16: Stone circle of Callanish in the Hebrides (Scotland) (in: Jean-Pierre Mohen, The world of megaliths, 136)

Fig. 17 a: Part of the outer stone circle of Avebury Henge (South England) (Wikimedia Commons, author: JimChampion)

Fig. 17 b: Reconstruction of the complete arrangement of Avebury Henge by William Stukeley (Wikimedia Commons, Houghton Library, Harvard University)

Fig. 18 a: One of the trilithon gates in the interior of Stonehenge (South England) (in: Jean-Pierre Mohen, The world of megaliths, 128)

Fig. 18 b: Reconstruction of the temple of Stonehenge (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann)

Fig. 19 a: Female figure from a Neolithic mural, Pfyner culture, Lake Constance (Germany)

Fig. 19 b: Part of mural with female figures; abstract forms can be seen between them, Pfyner culture (both in: Helmut Schlichtherle, in: 4.000 Jahre Pfahlbauten, 178–179, 180)

Fig. 20 a: Symbol of the pregnant belly of Mother Earth in a passage grave (Brittany) (in: Marija Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess, 297)

Fig. 20 b: Pairs of breasts in the tomb of Kergüntuil (Brittany) (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann)

Fig. 21 a: Plan view of the five chambers of the long barrow tomb of West Kennet (South England) (in: Marija Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess, 217)←xvi | xvii→

Fig. 21 b: The religious house of Skara Brae in the Orkneys (Scotland)

Fig. 21 c: Plan view of Silbury Hill, its flat basin filled with water (South England) (both in: Michael Dames, The Silbury Treasure, 42, 63)

Fig. 22: Female ancestor stones “Pédras Marmúradas” (Sardinia) (Photo by Karin Kastner)

Fig. 23: Steles of female figures (1–5) and steles of male figures (6–9) (in: Helmut Schlichtherle, in: Ich Mann. Du Frau, 131)

Fig. 24 a: Example of the diamond-shaped, female stones of Avebury Henge (South England).

Fig. 24 b: The inner stone circles of Avebury Henge with their central stone settings

Fig. 24 c: Male stone and female stone in the center of the northern inner circle of Avebury Henge

Fig. 24 d: Landscape image of the “Earth Goddess” formed by 27 Neolithic places of worship (South England) (24 a and c in: Aubrey Burl, Prehistoric Avebury, 21, 157; 24 b and d in: Michael Dames, The Avebury Cycle, 115, 190)

Fig. 25 a: Enthroned figurine wearing a mask, Vinča culture (Serbia) (in: Marija Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess, 27)

Fig. 25 b: Enthroned figurine holding a bowl, side view and front view, LBK culture (West Hungary) (in: Jens Lüning, in: Die ältesten Monumente, 186)

Fig. 26: Symbol of the double-ax between the horns of a bull’s head; this double-ax also represents a schematized butterfly, Minoan culture (Crete) (in: Marija Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess, 247)

Chapter 5

Fig. 1: Horse heads at the point of clubs, so-called “horse head scepters,” Volga (Russia) (in: D.W. Anthony, The Horse, the Wheel, and Language, 235)

Fig. 2: Reconstruction of a chieftain’s head of Sredni Stog, Early Indo-European type (in: Marija Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess, 360)←xvii | xviii→

Fig. 3: Plan view of the fortified steppe settlements Sintašta (above) and Arkaim (below), with cross-sectional view of the defenses (above left), Ural Mountains (Russia) (Drawings by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann)

Fig. 4: Grave of a warrior with his chariot and two horse heads (Russia) (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann)

Fig. 5: Burial with human sacrifices, 1st example: An old man was buried at the center, women and children were grouped around him in a circle (South Poland) (in: Marija Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess, 375)

Fig. 6: Burial with human sacrifices, 2nd example: The lower half of an old man’s skeleton can be seen at the center, flanked by two women, each one with two children, aged 1–8, at his feet two adolescents, a male aged 15 and a female aged 17, in the outer chamber a younger man. (Wolynia, Ukraine) (in: Marija Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess, 382)

Fig. 7: Amazons as founders of cities depicted on coins of Asia Minor; on this example the Amazon Kyme and her horse, City of Kyme (Asia Minor, 2nd century BCE) (in: Catalog Amazonen, 77)

Fig. 8: Mounted Amazons with weapons and their typical, crescent-shaped “Pelta” shield. Attic vase painting (Greece, about 540–500 BCE) (in: Catalog Starke Frauen, 83)

Fig. 9: Three Amazons (left) fighting three warriors (right). The Amazons are wearing their traditional costume: a long slit-skirt, richly adorned, leaving room for the legs. Corinthian drawing on a vessel (Greece, about 600 BCE) (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann)

Fig. 10: Amazons are depicted as beautiful women, here armed with bows and the typical Amazon battle-axes. Attic vase painting (Greece, about 460 BCE) (in: Catalog Starke Frauen, 159)

Fig. 11: Amazons in Greek costume and arming, preparing for a battle. Attic vase painting (Greece, about 540–500 BCE) (in: Catalog Starke Frauen, 120)←xviii | xix→

Fig. 12: Amazon in Scythian costume drawing her bow. Attic vase painting (Greece, about 430 BCE) (in: Catalog Starke Frauen, 100)

Chapter 6

Fig. 1: Eye figurines from Tell Brak symbolizing the mother-line (North Mesopotamia) (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann)

Fig. 2: The canal system of Sumer (South Mesopotamia) (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann)

Fig. 3: Male and female statues of so-called “prayers,” temple of Tell Asmar (South Mesopotamia) (in: Seton Lloyd, The Archaeology of Mesopotamia, 141)

Fig. 4: Bronze head of an Akkadian ruler, probably Sargon of Akkad, Ishtar temple of Ninive (Assyria) (in: Seton Lloyd, The Archaeology of Mesopotamia, 174)

Fig. 5: Reconstruction of a step pyramid with temple, here: Ziggurat of Ur (South Mesopotamia) (in: Seton Lloyd, The Archaeology of Mesopotamia, 194)

Fig. 6: Assyrian king on a chariot drawn by three horses (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann after a stone relief from Nimrud)

Fig. 7: Guesthouse made of reeds by contemporary people of the marshland (Iraq). The earliest temple of Inanna was constructed using the same traditional reed architecture. (in: Helen and Richard Leacroft, The Buildings of Ancient Mesopotamia, Leicester 1974, Brockhampton Press, 3)

Fig. 8: A king dedicates his daughter, who is half-veiled, to the moon god. The god is sitting on a throne, above him Venus as an eight-pointed star, the crescent, and the sun. (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann after a stone relief from Susa)

Fig. 9: The goddess Inanna with the triple horn crown and wings; she is wearing a seven-layered robe, and has one foot on her holy animal, the lion. Above her radiates Venus as an eight-pointed star, the planet (Drawing by Gudrun Frank-Wissmann after a roll-seal from Sumer)←xix | xx→

Chapter 7

Fig. 1: Burial of a man with his widow and his team of oxen (Hungary) (in: Marija Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess, 374)

Fig. 2: Warrior of the Archer culture drawing his bow, and with arrows in his quiver, so-called “Bell Beaker culture” (in: Ernst Probst, Deutschland in der Steinzeit, 408)

Fig. 3: Warrior of the Battle-ax culture with battle-ax and a flint dagger in his waistbelt, so-called “Corded Ware culture” (in: Ernst Probst, Deutschland in der Steinzeit, 401)

Fig. 4 a: The temple palace of Knossos, reconstruction of the south porch (Minoan Crete)

Details

Pages
XXVIII, 514
Publication Year
2023
ISBN (PDF)
9781433191183
ISBN (ePUB)
9781433191190
ISBN (MOBI)
9781433191206
ISBN (Hardcover)
9781433191176
DOI
10.3726/b18740
Language
English
Publication date
2022 (December)
Keywords
Modern Matriarchal Studies matriarchy rise of patriarchy Palaeolithic Neolithic Bronze Age Eurasian Steppe Mesopotamia Amazons Old Europe Minoan Crete Celtic peoples Germanic peoples Matriarchal Societies of the Past and the Rise of Patriarchy West Asia and Europe Heide Goettner-Abendroth
Published
New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Oxford, Wien, 2023. XXVIII, 514 pp., 167 b/w ill.

Biographical notes

Heide Goettner-Abendroth (Author)

Dr. Heide Goettner-Abendroth is a German philosopher and founder of modern Matriarchal Studies. Her first magnum opus is Matriarchal Societies: Studies on Indigenous Cultures across the Globe (2013). She was visiting professor at the universities of Montreal, Canada, and Innsbruck, Austria, and is director of the independent "Academy HAGIA for Matriarchal Studies." She has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2005 by a Swiss and in 2007 by a Finnish initiative.

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Title: Matriarchal Societies of the Past and the Rise of Patriarchy