As a stark reminder of what has been lost to the world – this time through apparent natural calamity as opposed to religious fanaticism – archaeologists have pulled a piece of an ancient temple to the Egyptian goddess Isis from the harbor of Alexandria, Egypt. A divine symbol of motherhood and salvation, Isis was one of the most popular deities of all time, especially throughout the Roman Empire during the centuries surrounding the beginning of the common era.
It is beyond a shame that the world’s long period of goddess worshipping, which essentially culminated with the widespread reverence of the highly beloved Isis, has been all but forgotten, and overrun by the veneration of an angry, vengeful desert god as depicted in the Bible and Koran. The Christ character of the New Testament – designed to have greater appeal for women than various dominant male gods of the day such as Mithra and Yahweh – incorporated a number of aspects from Isis, including her role as loving Savior and Healer. Isis worship was subsequently driven into oblivion largely by Christian mobs, who slaughtered her priests and destroyed her temples.
With this archaeological effort and the possible building of an underwater museum honoring both the goddess and one of her most famous devotees and another highly powerful female, Cleopatra, perhaps more of the divine feminine will find its way into the mass human psyche, which is currently besieged by male, warrior archetypes that are contributing to the destruction of the planet.
Sources & Further Reading
Egyptians lift pieces of a temple from Alexandria harbor
Egyptian Archaeologists Salvage Monument from Cleopatra’s Underwater City
Ancient Greek Artifact Pulled Out of Mediterranean Sea (w/video)