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Bucranium = Uterus

 A bucranium is a bull's head and horns.  Bucrania have been found in shrines at Catalhoyuk, one the oldest cities ever to be excavated.  Dorothy Cameron interpreted the bucrania at Catalhoyuk as a "symbol of life and regeneration--essentially a female symbol, representing the divine power of the female reproductive system."

Bucranium = Uterus
Bucranium = Uterus original painting, prints, and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America.  Layout of bucrania based on a drawing of a reconstruction of Shrine E VI at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in a 2007 article by Joan Relke (below).  

Source

Marija Gimbutas writes, "the key to understanding Neolithic renditions of the bull's head and horns (bucranium in archaeological literature) comes through their resemblance to the female uterus and fallopian tubes."  Besides the bucrania from Shine E VI, other images at Catalhoyuk show female torsos with bucranium in the position of the uterus and fallopian tubes.  Gimbutas writes that the bull represents new life reborn or the Goddess herself.

Diagram by Marija Gimbutas of bucrania in the position of the uterus in artwork from Catalhoyuk.  Source:  The Living Goddesses

Yesterday, I read an analysis of the ancient Hebrew word for god. It is made up of the symbols lam and aleph, a shepherds staff and a bucranium.  The author, Janet Rudolph argues that this is most likely a feminine glyph. ❤️❤️

And Wikipedia's uterus diagram labels the horns.

Clearly god is a woman.

Similarly,

In order to create a patriarchal monotheism, the Goddess had to be killed.  Recasting and demonizing Goddess symbology was one strategy employed by church fathers. (image source)


Comments

  1. Ben HellmanMay 26, 2021 at 2:53 PM

    This post made my day. I was aware of A as the ox head, but I don't recall ever having seen the ancient images of the bull's head over the uterus. I also love the juxtaposition of Judeo Christian tradition with the Near East religions that were contemporary with (and predated) the formation of the Jewish texts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LauraMay 27, 2021 at 4:23 AM

      Thanks! I love when different things I'm reading converge.

      Delete

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