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Around 8000 B.C., there was a sudden upheaval in the art and religion of pre-agricultural societies: the gods begin to take shape in the image of humans. From Lebanon to the plains of the Tigris and the Euphrates, mother goddesses appear as symbols of fertility in the Near East at the dawn of agriculture and stock breeding. In the fourth millennium B.C., the religious system of ancient Mesopotamia, which is the earliest religion of which we have explicit knowledge, was exclusively polytheistic and anthropomorphic. The ancient inhabitants of the Fertile Crescent believed in a multiplicity of gods and goddesses, more intelligent and more powerful than humans, but certainly created in our image. |
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Ornament known as the "Jade Crescent" Pendant (?) of hard green stone Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age (ca. 2200 B.C.) Excavated by M. de Galbert and Dr. Charvet, around 1841 Grotte de Fontabert, La Buisse (Isère) Collection of the Musée Dauphinois, held at the Municlpal Library of Grenoble The first prehistoric jewelry discovered in Isère in the 19th century. Its unusual shape and fine polish make it an exceptional piece. Nicknamed the "Jade Crescent", it was originally thought to have originated in the Near East or the Orient, but none of the current evidence supports this theory. We cannot ascertain its precise function (possibly a pendant) or provenance, as no other site has provided a similar object. |
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