#ebla mari

[gregor-samsung]

The Old Oak (Ken Loach, 2023)

[filmbook21]

[mauxpourdesmots]

[moviemosaics]

The Old Oak

directed by Ken Loach, 2023

[porquevi]

"O Último pub" (the old oak) - cinema.

Discretamente esse filme do Ken Loach chega na cidade. O diretor sempre trabalha com temas sociais, mas consegue fazer isso sem ser necessariamente panfletário. Quer dizer, isso tem se tornado cada vez mais raro, mas acho que o mundo não permite mais leveza. Aqui trata dos refugiados sírios.

depois de ver: em seus últimos trabalhos Loach vinha perdendo a esperança e o humor. aqui tem um pouco de humor e esperança. uma pena não existirem mais Loachs no mundo.

[milliondollarbaby87]

The Old Oak (2023) Review

The Old Oak is the last pub standing and one of the only remaining public spaces that people can meet, a once thriving mining community has fallen on very hard times after 30 years of a decline. The arrival of Syrian refugees placed within the village create a fight for territory with some of the locals. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Continue reading The Old Oak (2023) Review

[passion-of-arts]

THE OLD OAK | Trailer (German)

Lust mich zu einem besonderen Ort zu begleiten? "The Old Oak" ist nicht nur der letzte Pub 🍻, sondern auch der einzig verbliebene öffentliche Raum, in dem sich die Menschen einer einst blühenden, nordenglischen Bergbaugemeinde treffen. Taucht im #Trailer zu #TheOldOak gemeinsam mit mir in eine bewegende Geschichte ein. 🎥🎬📺

[robynsassenmyview]

Eat together, stick together

"Eat together, stick together", a review of 'The Old Oak' on the European Film Festival SA in Cape Town and Durban this evening.

STRUGGLING community in cohesion. Yara (Ebla Mari), centre, is instrumental in creating a dignified space for all, in The Old Oak, on the European Film Festival SA 2023. WAR PRESENTS CASUALTIES on levels far wider than the conventional battle fields. There is the horror of a lack of closure, relentless vulnerability and ripples of hatred spewed in so many directions, conjoined as it often is,…

[sixteenseveredhands]

The Lion of Mari, from Syria (Mesopotamia) c.1782-1759 BCE: this is one of two lion statues that once guarded the entrance to a temple in ancient Mari; the lions were partially crushed when Hammurabi laid waste to the city in 1759 BCE

That's a pretty fitting expression, given the circumstances

Together, the two lion statues that were found at the ruined temple are known as the "Lions of Mari." They were unearthed from the ruins at Tell Hariri, where the ancient city-state of Mari once stood; this site is located near the border between modern-day Syria and Iraq.

The lions were likely designed as protomes, given their lack of hindquarters. They were originally stationed on either side of the entrance to the temple, so they are often described as the "temple guardians."

This is the same statue that appears in the first three photos, just seen from a different angle

It's believed that the temple at this site was originally built in honor of a West Semitic deity known as Dagan. Dagan was the chief deity of the Mariote pantheon; he was a particularly prominent figure in the middle and upper regions of the Euphrates, with cult centers in Mari, Terqa, Tuttul, and Ebla, but he was known throughout many parts of the ancient Near East.

The lion is primarily made of copper, with limestone and shale inlay for the eyes, and it measures 53cm tall, 77.5cm long, and 43cm wide, weighing roughly 55kg (about 21in x 30.5in x 17in, with a weight of 121lbs)

The Lions of Mari were partially crushed when their temple was destroyed (along with the rest of Mari) by Hammurabi's forces in 1759 BCE, leaving the statues badly warped...which is why they look really upset.

It's hard to find high-quality photos of the second lion, but he does have a particularly distinctive appearance:

This second lion was most recently housed at the National Museum of Aleppo, in Syria, though its current location/status (in the aftermath of the Syrian Civil War) remains unclear.

These photographs were taken during the original excavations at the ruined temple; they depict the first lion statue as it was still being unearthed (top) and the second statue shortly after it was removed (bottom)

Sources & More Info:

The Louvre: Lion of Mari

Archeologie.culture.fr: Lion Protome

Archeologie.culture.fr: Detailed Information about Ancient Mari

Virtual Museum Syria: Lion Sculpture

[electronickingdomfox]

"Mindshadow" review

One of these days, Spock will do the logical thing and get an all-risk insurance for his brain...

Novel from 1986, by J. M. Dillard. Okay, this story is quite messy, as it tries to put together a pastiche of plot threads and themes that may or may not be that cohesive. It borrows heavily from TOS episodes, from The Enterprise Incident to Journey to Babel (even a bit from Wolf in the Fold). There are definitely a few plot holes and some silliness. The espionage/murder plot is sometimes too convoluted to follow. Also, some names look like typos: Transporter technician "Lyle"? (I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be Kyle), the penal colony of "Ebla Two"? (should have been Elba Two), "Chekhov"????... In terms of absurdity, it's similar to that other novel, "Black Fire" (and yes, there's even a pirate Spock in here too). But just as it happened with that book... I actually liked this one as well. It's a glorious mess, alright.

The most serious (and somber) thread is that of Spock receiving brain damage, and his struggles to recover his memories and Vulcan mental disciplines. The abuse he suffers from medical malpractice, his frustration with his impaired learning, his loving (and sometimes painful) relationship with his family, or Uhura's tender attempts to help him through music... Those elements have probably the greatest emotional impact in the novel, and are actually pretty good in themselves. This is also, at core, a "triumvirate" novel, with strong character drama between Kirk, Spock and McCoy, and a focus on their closeness.

On the other hand, there's another, more ridiculous drama: both Kirk and McCoy fall in love with the same Mary Sue, and hilarity tragedy ensues. For his part, Kirk seems pretty callous in his seduction of this woman, as he doesn't even like her all that much; at times, it almost looks as if he just wanted to piss McCoy off (isn't there really ANY other woman available for him!?). While McCoy, who truly loves the Mary Sue, ends up looking incredibly pitiful, desperate and, well, downright pathetic. However, out-of-character as it is, I ended up getting some guilty pleasure from all of it, as in "Let's see Kirk's next shitty move and what happens next..." Anyway, even though the woman likes the two of them, she ends up realizing they're both just too gay for Spock, to the surprise of nobody.

Spoilers under the cut:

The planet Aritani has suffered recent raids from cloaked vessels, so Kirk is negotiating with the natives to offer Federation help against the attacks, despite the natives’ reticence towards technology. They erect a shield around the planet to prevent the fighter ships entering the atmosphere, or trap below it those that may be cloaked right now. Then Spock goes alone to investigate the nearby mountains, since he found valuable minerals that could be the objective of the raiders. However, when Spock is late to report, Kirk goes after him… And finds out he has fallen off a cliff and has gravely injured his head. McCoy’s assessment is that Spock has suffered extensive damage to the left hemisphere, so his logic, language and memory will be impaired, and the doctor has many doubts about his eventual recovery; they’d need a neuropsychologist specialized on Vulcans.

Meanwhile, Kirk authorizes shore leave on the surface of Aritani, as several hours have passed without sighting any fighter (the reasoning being that, by now, they’d have run out of fuel to keep their cloaks up). Well, if you ask me, I don’t think it’s the most appropiate time and place for shore leave; and sure enough, a little while later a group of enemy vessels appears out of nowhere and starts attacking the crew on leave. Kirk and Scott can’t understand how that’s possible, and only see two options: either the fighters have an improved cloaking device that allows them to stay hidden for longer, or they somehow managed to penetrate the shields. Actually, there’s a third option, which they never even consider: they’ve been beaming people down to the planet for shore leave! That means they’ve been lowering the shields ALL THE TIME!! Duh… Kirk is having the worst day of his life, and on top of that, the Aritanians refuse further help from Starfleet, after their failure to protect them. Kirk’s orders, however, are to stay in the vicinity.

In sickbay, Uhura comes to visit an injured friend and starts singing for him. Then, upon hearing the music, Spock finally shows some reaction, and is capable of calling her name and asking for songs, as his right hemisphere (supposedly associated with emotions and art) is intact. During the following days, Spock will make some progress thanks to Uhura’s company. Apart from that, a new neuropsychologist is assigned to the Enterprise to study Spock’s case: Dr. Mary Sue Emma Saenz. Five minutes later, both McCoy and Kirk fall head over heels for her (to the point that McCoy is jealous even when Kirk says “Hello” to her). Emma also shows an unusual physical strength when she beats Kirk in their combat trainings. Nonetheless, it turns out that Emma… is actually Dr. Evil!Mary Sue!! She forces a mind-meld with Spock while alone with him, and extracts some important information about what he saw in Aritani, before erasing his memory of the meld. Her diagnostic is that Spock will probably recover in the areas of language and amnesia. But he has lost the Vulcan mind rules to shield himself away from others’ emotions, which he can now receive telepathically at all times. This could turn him into a violent individual, and Emma suggests restraints and an experimental medication: neodopazine.

In the bridge, Chekov manages to locate a decloaked enemy vessel, and they capture it with a tractor beam along one of the pirates. The raider turns out to be Romulan, but he denies the existence of any special device to penetrate shields, and Scotty doesn’t find anything of the like upon dismantling the fighter. Kirk was about to interrogate the prisoner, when they discover he’s been vaporized. Someone stunned the guard, then removed the brig force field and killed the prisoner, trying to make it look like a suicide. Security doesn’t have a clue about the killer (though the reader certainly can suspect who is it…). If this wasn’t enough, Spock is found in bed with his wrists sliced, as if he had also attempted suicide. Spock denies having done so, and says someone tried to murder him, but he doesn’t remember who. Emma is furious and gaslights Spock, saying he’s imagining murderers to cover up his suicide attempt. McCoy, however, takes Spock’s side and has a violent discussion with Emma, who ends up admitting she just wants to help Spock. Of course, the situation is very romantic, so they kiss. Later that night, Kirk is having trouble to sleep (no wonder) and goes to McCoy’s cabin for some pills (you see, he can’t go to sickbay, no; if he doesn’t sleep, then McCoy can’t either). Then Kirk finds out that McCoy is… sleeping with Emma!! Kirk doesn’t like that.

Since Spock believes his only option of recovering the mind rules is returning to Vulcan, he’s sent there in a shuttle with Scotty and Chapel. The shuttle has been sabotaged, and they crash land on Vulcan, though just with minor injuries. Spock is fine, so he leaves Scotty with Chapel at the hospital, and walks to his home town on foot. During the following weeks, he will stay at his parents’ home, trying to relearn the Vulcan disciplines with a Kolinahr master. His progress is really slow, though, and with mounting frustration, he realizes the neodopazine, far from helping, seems to be deteriorating his mind. Spock also meets T'Pala, a girl who's staying with his parents while she studies to enter the Vulcan Diplomatic Corps. T'Pala has many things in common with Spock: she's also half human, and has difficulty adapting to Vulcan life (even moreso than Spock, since she grew up in Earth). Sarek's disappointment with her is a mirror for Spock's own youth.

In the Enterprise, Scotty is put in the brig as the main suspect for the Romulan's murder (of course, he's later cleared of charges). For his part, Kirk hurts his shoulder while training with Emma. She takes him to her quarters to treat the injury, gives him an analgesic, and then they kiss. McCoy waits for Emma the whole evening, grows increasingly suspicious, and finally sees her leaving Kirk's cabin. After that, he mopes for a couple of days, until Kirk visits him with a bottle of moonshine ("here, I stole your girlfriend, but you can get drunk with this..."). Kirk, however, says he doesn't remember what he did with Emma. And Emma confirms that Kirk just passed out because of the analgesic; she's attracted to Kirk and kissed him, but nothing else happened. McCoy is happy with this (he doesn't ask for much, right?) and suddenly he's like "Hey, you slept with me a couple of times. Where's my wedding ring!? I'm a decent boy!". Emma says she'll leave soon, so no, no wedding...

After this, the Enterprise is tasked with bringing a bunch of ambassadors to Vulcan, to discuss the acceptance of Aritani into the Federation. This part is a bit dull and drags too much, in my opinion. During the journey, more suspicious incidents take place: one ambassador is killed, another is badly hurt, and an explosion leaves the Enterprise without warp drive. It seems someone doesn't want Aritani to join the Federation. Then, Kirk discovers that Emma has been making unauthorized transmissions, but she assures him she's been working for Starfleet Intelligence all this time. An Admiral confirms this point, so Kirk is satisfied.

Back in Vulcan, Spock has stopped taking the neodopazine, and experiments a clear improvement. Finally, he's able to recover the mind rules, and his memories from Aritani return to him in dreams. There was something really important he needed to tell Kirk, and now that the Enterprise is near Vulcan, Spock opens a transmission to the ship. But just before he can say anything, an assassin breaks into his house, injures Sarek, and tries to slice Spock's wrists again. He wants to make it look as Spock murdering Sarek, then killing himself. T'Pala intervenes at the last moment, vaporizing the assassin with a phaser. Then, she confesses that Romulans approached her to leak info about Spock, but she couldn't comply with their murderous plans. Having failed at entering the Diplomatic Corps, T'Pala doesn't have much more to live for, and she kills herself too.

Sarek and Spock recover in a hospital from the attack. And Kirk and McCoy band together against Emma to go visit him. Then Spock tells everything. What he saw at Aritani was some fighter vessels beaming up from below the earth, where the Romulans must have an underground base (that's why the atmospheric shield was useless). Knowing that they'd kill him, Spock decided to escape by jumping from the cliff, where he damaged his head. Much to McCoy's surprise, Spock also shows him a medical article written by Emma, explaining all the damaging effects of neodopazine in Vulcan brains. McCoy confronts Emma about the use of such dangerous drug on Spock, just when she was leaving for her next assignment. But she stuns him (and a bunch of other people) and escapes the ship, confirming their suspicions.

In the last part, the Enterprise returns to Aritani to destroy the Romulan base once and for all. Kirk gets again that surgery to look Romulan (as in The Enterprise Incident) and infiltrates the compound with Spock (who's dressed as a Romulan pirate, while McCoy wants to pierce his ear). However, they're captured by a Romulan officer, that Kirk recognizes as Emma. Her real name is Tanirius, and actually, she wasn't Evil!Mary Sue at all. She just carried out the Praetor's orders as a cover-up, all the while working for Starfleet and a group of Romulan rebels, to destroy the underground base. She gave Spock the neodopazine to avoid killing him, once she understood how important he was for McCoy and Kirk. This plot twist really took me by surprise, but that's in part because... well, it doesn't make much sense. You know, despite the novel trying to present Emma as eventually good, she's just not! Not only did she try to kill Spock SEVERAL times, but she was far more efficient at carrying out the Romulans' plans than what was strictly necessary!! (whatever, maybe she was just jealous of Spock). Emma helps them to deactivate the cloaking device of the base, and then stays behind to destroy it whole. Kirk and Spock beam up to the Enterprise in time, while an underground explosion shakes the planet. In the aftermath, Aritani accepts the Federation's help, now that they're free of Romulans. And Spock tries to console McCoy saying that some vessels fled the base in time, and Emma could be among the survivors. Kirk sees through his bullshit, though, and wonders if Spock is just lying because he also has affection for McCoy, much to Spock's indignation.

McSpirk Meter: 9/10*. The Kirk/Spock angle is more evident. When Spock is injured, Kirk just can't think about anything else. He goes constantly to sickbay to check his state, argues with McCoy, is irritable with everyone and everything... Kirk even tries to reach the catatonic Spock through a mind link, to no avail. And once he gets a replacement First Officer, Kirk is unreasonably hostile to him, just because he's not Spock. It's also said several times that Kirk is the person that knows Spock better in the entire world. Another remarkable scene happens when Spock is leaving for Vulcan. Spock can feel Jim's emotions and pain at his departure, and his repressed impulse to touch him, so Spock relents and takes his hand. As for McCoy, his care for Spock comes rather as medical concern, but Emma sees through him quite early. She says he's too emotionally involved with the patient to be of any help. And despite the fact they're in a relationship, it seems that all of McCoy and Emma's conversations revolve around Spock, which causes continous tensions between them. At one point, she states the facts clearly: "I have risked myself for your friend because you loved him". Effectively, the reason she gives for not killing Spock outright, is that McCoy and Kirk cared about him too much. The ending lines have Kirk reminding Spock of this fact, and wondering if Spock also returns McCoy's affections.

Apart from this, there's a certain tension between Kirk and McCoy. Before the whole problem with Emma begins, they're reminiscing their shore-leaves together, and McCoy is said to grin lasciviously at Jim. Also, when Emma tells Kirk that she and McCoy are having dinner together, McCoy starts blushing, and doesn't understand why such a simple statement embarrasses him so much. Later, Kirk comes to McCoy's cabin in the middle of the night, and finds him basically naked (wearing just a short tunic), which almost prompts a sarcastic whistle from him. He attempts to enter the cabin (you know, with naked Bones in there and all) and feels offended when the doctor doesn't let him come inside. At last, after they reconcile, McCoy comments that Kirk looks dashing in his Romulan pirate uniform. There's also something in Kirk's behavior about Emma, that almost seems like a disgruntled ex trying to ruin the doctor's new relationship. After all, Kirk doesn't even find Emma all that attractive at first.

[tsalmu]

Female Face of a Mariote Woman (Fragment from statue)

Mari, Syria

c. 2500 BCE

Eyes inlaid with shell and lapis lazuli. Hair, right eyebrow, and left pupil are lost.

Source:

Ebla to Damascus: Art and Archaeology of ancient Syria

Harvey Weiss (Editor)

Smithsonian Institute, 1985

[bronzegods]

Aset, goddess of magic and wisdom

A sharp intelligence has always come easy to Queen Aset. She was the first among her siblings to learn to shapeshift, the first to achieve competency in magic, and the first to challenge and rival Djehuty with her cunning. But it seems that despite the effort she puts in, it’s never been enough to earn the respect of the elder gods. All eyes were on on Usire, her husband, to lead Kemet and enable it to prosper. To them, she’s just an afterthought, the Deified Wife, and she’s determined to change that - for herself, for her sister, and for every young goddess who will be born in Kemet in the future.

But it’s not easy to shift this paradigm in a world steeped in centuries of misogyny. With her husband gone, it’s painfully obvious that Kemet refuses to envision a pantheon with a goddess at its head, even though she was the one drafting and executing all the agreements with surrounding foreign pantheons. The truth is, they don’t want to be ruled by a single queen. And that’s just too damn bad, because she’s not letting them crush her aspirations underfoot. A better future for Kemet will arise, whether they like it or not.

Tricking Ra into giving up his secret name was the first step. With Ra being the biggest source of the dismissive sexism leveled at her, controlling him was a key mission. But now she has a new challenge - her own brother, Sutekh, threatens her sovereignty after he kills her husband and makes a claim to the throne. Sutekh rivals her in magical prowess and exceeds her in raw strength, making him a formidable enemy. There are only two ways this can go if she wants to stay queen: either she marries Sutekh, as Ra has demanded, or she kills him.

The second is a far more attractive option.

Highlights in her life include:

Famously tricking Ra into revealing his secret name. The power of his secret name allows her to compel him when he’s in his powerful afternoon sun form, which prevents him from outright smiting her for defying him. She has been unsuccessful at doing the same to Atum, the evening sun, which complicates her plans - she can out-magic him, but his political power still makes him dangerous. Fortunately, Khepri, the morning sun, has proven himself to be little trouble.

Negotiating and executing a treaty with the underworld gods, who are headed by Khenti-Amentiu and his myriad of jackal god sons. Inviting Anpu to participate in Iunu’s royal court has given Kemet unprecedented peace with the Duat gods, a much needed change after a prolonged war between her father and previous king Geb and Khenti-Amentiu.

Securing the loyalty of Baalat of Gubla, in the Retjenu city of Gubla (modern Byblos), which has given Kemet access to communications and trade with pantheons as far east as Mari, Ebla, and the land between the two rivers itself (the Sumerian city-states, notably its biggest city, Ur).

Her relationship with her brother-husband Usire was all right, but she did resent that she put in all the political work and he got all the credit. Usire wasn’t a bad fellow, but he was far more interested in the natural landscape (the Nile inundations and vegetation, unsurprisingly, given his affinities) than playing politics. The two balanced each other out well, and Usire respected her, but he couldn’t quite grasp the frustration she dealt with at being a woman in a man’s world.

She does have some hope that Kemet can change, though. Of all the elder gods, one in particular supports her sovereignty strongly — Min, the god of Koptos. She never expected he of all deities would align with her political goals, but Min has always been full of surprises, and continues to be a valuable confidant and friend.

Commissioned Lineart by Argenemartwork

[sag-dab-sar]

Deity Dagan

Originally a god of West Semitic speakers from the Levant, but worshipped widely throughout the Near East, including Mesopotamia.

Deity of grain, as well as its cultivation and storage. Indeed, the common word for "grain" in Ugaritic and Hebrew is dagan. According to one Sumerian tradition and to the much later Philo of Byblos, Dagan invented the plow. In the north, he was sometimes identified with Adad. Thus, he may have had some of the characteristics of a storm god. In one tradition his wife was Ishara, in another Salas, usually wife of Adad. Salas was originally a goddess of the Hurrians. Dagan also had netherworld connections. According to an Assyrian composition, he was a judge of the dead in the lower world, serving with Nergal and Misa-ru(m), the god of justice. A tradition going back at least to the fourth century BCE identified Dagan as a fish god, but it is almost certainly incorrect, presumably having been based upon a false etymology that interpreted the element "Dag" in Dagan as deriving from the Hebrew word dag "fish."

The earliest mentions of him come from texts that indicate that, in Early Dynastic times, Dagan was worshipped at Ebla. Dagan was taken into the Sumerian pantheon quite early as a minor god in the circle of Enlil at Nip-pur. Kings of the Old Akkadian peri-od, including Sargon and Narām-Sin, credited much of their success as conquerors to Dagan. Sargon recorded that he "prostrated (himself in prayer before Dagan in Tutul [sic]" (Oppen-heim, ANET: 268). At the same time, he gave to the god a large area of the country he had just conquered, including Mari, Ebla, and larmuti in western Syria. A number of letters from the Mari archives, dated mainly to the reign of Zimri-Lim, record that Dagãn was a source of divine revela-tion. The letters reported prophetic dreams, a number of which came from Dagan, conveyed by his prophets and ecstatics. In his law code, Hammu-rapi credits Dagan with helping him subdue settlements along the Euphrates.

The Assyrian king Samsi-Adad I commissioned a temple for him at Terqa, upstream from Mari, where funeral rites for the Mari Dynasty took place.

In the Old Babylonian period, kings of the Amorites erected temples for Dagan at Isin and Ur. In the Anzû(m) myth, Dagan was favorably coupled with Anu(m). At Ugarit Dagan was closely associated with, if not equated to, the supreme god El/I(u). Although he is mentioned in the mythic compositions of Ugarit as the father of the storm god Ba'lu/ Had(d)ad, Dagan plays only a very minor role. His popularity is indicated by his importance in offering and god lists, one of which places him third, after the two chief gods and before the active and powerful god Ba'lu/ Had(d)ad. Dagan is attested in Ugaritic theophoric names. In Ugaritic texts the god is often referred to as "Dagan of Tuttul." It might also be the case that one of the two major temples of the city of Ugarit was dedicated to him, and he might there have been identified with the chief god I(u) / El.

Festivals for Dagãn took place at Ter-ga and Tuttul, both of which were cult centers of the god. He was certainly worshipped at Ebla and also at Mari.

At Mari, in Old Babylonian times, he appears as fourth deity on a god list; that is, he was very important. He was venerated also at Emar. There a "Sacred Marriage" ritual between Dagan and the goddess Nin-kur was celebrated.

At the same city, a festival was held in honor of "Dagan-Lord-of-the-Cattle," at which the herds of cattle and prob. ably sheep were blessed.

According to the Hebrew Bible, Dagan was the national god of the Philistines. I Samuel:5-6 tells of the capture of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines. It was customary in the Ancient Near East for the conquerors to carry off the deity statues of the conquered to mark the surrender not only of the people, but also of their deities.

So the Philistines took the Ark, the symbol of the god of the Israelites, into the temple of Dagan at Ashdod. Since the Israelites had no statues of their deity, the much revered Ark was an obvious substitute. In this way, the Philistines marked the submission of the Israelite god to Dagan. However, on the next day, the people of Ashdod found the statue of Dagan lying face down in front of the Ark. The following day the same thing happened except that the head and hands of Dagan's statue lay broken on the temple threshold. This biblical account seems to be an etiology for a practice of the priests of the temple of Dagan at Ashdod, for it states that for this reason it is the custom of the priests of Dagan not to tread on the threshold as they enter the temple of Dagan. The best-known of the biblical stories that mention Dagan is in Judges 16, the tale of Samson and Delilah. After Delilah arranged for the Philistines of Gaza to capture Samson, they blinded him, shackled him, and made him a slave at a mill. During a festival to Dagan, the Philistines took Samson to be exhibited in Dagan's temple, where thou sands of Philistines had gathered for the celebrations. After praying to the Israelite god, the now long haired Samson got back his old strength. By pushing against two central pillars, he brought the temple crashing down on himself and on more Philistines than he had killed in his whole lifetime of killing Philistines.

— From a Handbook to Ancient Near Eastern Gods & Goddesses by Frayne & Stuckey page 67-69

[yamayuandadu]

Going to combine the responses to these two asks since the topics overlap.

Attar probably had -some- role in Mari early on but good luck figuring what was it. Proposed even earlier Ebla attestations do not seem to be accepted today (as a side note, if anyone is willing to offer serious advice on whether the upcoming Ashtart wiki article rewrite should include the Ebla attestations I'd be grateful. I mean actual advice from people who know something about Ebla, though). The Ugaritic evidence, whether from Baal Cycle or elsewhere, is pretty consistent and paints the image of a warrior god of small to moderate relevance. The trilingual edition of the Weidner god list gives Attar = Ashtabi = Lugal-Marada and while the last one seems, pardon the informal wording, lolsorandom (though I guess he was a war god too), the Ashtabi connection runs deeper. There's a double deity Attar-wa-Attapar who Alfonso Archi linked to Ashtabi, and there's of course the slightly overestimated parallel between Attar's substitute king adventure in the Baal Cycle and Ashtabi filling in for Teshub after the latter fails. I feel like most treatments of this fail to acknowledge that the context is different because Ashtabi is a member of Teshub's circle pretty consistently but Attar isn't really too closely linked to Baal. Attar also appears in Marriage of Nikkal and Yarikh but I do not think there's any real agreement on what is he doing there. All bets are on table. He might have either a daughter or a sister, ybrdmy, who is one of the prospective brides of Yarikh, but she might also be Baal's daughter or just an epithet of Pidray who's also in the same passage. Despite cognate names he never appears in association with Ashtart, and that seems consistent everywhere where he appears. They do both share an association with lions but that's not much. There is no clear early evidence for Attar having an astral character, afaik, especially if you do not subscribe to the astral etymologies of his name. Mark Smith went as far recently as speculating it might have been a secondary development. There might be an astral Attar at Emar already, "Aštar of the Stars", but due to scarcity of attestations and the fact there are evidently female Aštars there in addition to the usual AštarTs makes the very identification with him uncertain. As a curiosity it's worth mentioning there were attempts early on (in... 1980s? 1990s?) to identify the city god of Emar as Attar because... Ashtabi can be written logographically as NIN.URTA and Attar and Ashtabi are related and similar or something? I do not think it's very convincing and it's been a while since I've seen anyone repeat it. Aramaic and Phoenician evidence is basically nonexistent save for the occasional theophoric name, and that offers little insight. Ugarit is basically unique in being a coastal location where he had any presence whatsoever, as he is also absent from Amarna letters, other Egyptian sources, the Bible and Philo of Byblos' Lore Olympus forerunner Phoenician History. From Moab comes the single "Ashtar-Chemosh" reference which seems to double the martial prowess of the local head god by combining him with similarly warlike Attar. First millennium BCE South Arabia offers a lot of evidence, and it seems Attar might have even been the pantheon head around these parts. Both his astral and warlike roles are mentioned in inscriptions. He also was associated with irrigation it would appear, though this is seemingly a secondary development and isn't attested elsewhere. The elusive Axumite evidence for Attar also points in the astral direction, judging from the title "the king of tranquility in heaven and earth" and a Ge'ez-Greek bilingual where in Greek he's called Ouranos (sic).

Bibliography:

1.  Alfonso Archi, Studies in the Ebla Pantheon II (1997) 2. Noga Ayali-Darshan, The Role of Aštabi in the Song of Ullikummi and the Eastern Mediterranean "Failed God" Stories (2014) 3.Mark S. Smith, The God Athtar in the Ancient Near East and His Place in KTU 1.6 I (1995) 4. Mark S. Smith, ‘Athtart in Late Bronze Age Syrian Texts (2014) 5. Aren M. Wilson-Wright, Athtart: the transmission and transformation of a goddess in the Late Bronze Age (doctoral dissertation, 2016) +the usual selection of Smith's Baal Cycle commentary, Pardee's Ritual and Cult, Rahmouni's Epithets, etc which you can find in the bibliography of every Ugarit article I wrote.

[filmdiagnostic]

The Old Oak ★★★★

In "The Old Oak," a cinematic masterpiece helmed by the venerable Ken Loach, the narrative unfolds as a poignant social-realist drama within the confines of a declining northern English mining town in 2016. In this cinematic gem, Loach deftly navigates the intricacies of societal upheaval when a wave of Syrian refugees becomes a catalyst for both unity and discord among the residents. Dave Turner's portrayal of TJ Ballantyne serves as a compelling lens through which Loach delves into the multifaceted emotions, presenting a rich tapestry of compassion, resistance, and the nuanced complexities of community dynamics in the face of profound change.

Crafted from a screenplay by Loach's longtime collaborator Paul Laverty, the film weaves a touching and rough-edged portrait of working-class individuals grappling with the relentless challenges of an unyielding world. The narrative revolves around TJ, an aging, financially burdened proprietor of the titular pub, caught in the crossfire of differing opinions within his community regarding the newly arrived refugees. The film not only captures the palpable tensions surrounding the refugees but also delves into the moral quandaries faced by a man who, despite his community's resistance, engages in volunteer work for the local aid agency as a delivery driver.

"The Old Oak" ingeniously explores the dichotomy between those who perceive the refugees as innocent seekers of a new life and those who view them as opportunistic interlopers, bringing stress and cultural dissonance to a town already grappling with its decline. The film artfully addresses the complexities of this clash through TJ's unlikely friendship with Yara, portrayed with nuance by Ebla Mari, a spirited young Syrian girl drawn to the town's history depicted in photographs lining the pub's disused room.

As TJ and Yara embark on the endeavor to revitalize this forgotten space into an open kitchen, offering free food and fostering communal gatherings, the film becomes a poignant allegory for bridging divides and finding common ground. However, the room itself becomes a source of contention, revealing the stark contrast between TJ's altruistic intentions and the resistance from those who seek to mobilize against the refugees.

The film, potentially Loach's final work at 87, showcases his commitment to human stories over political messages. Through the character TJ, it explores the complexities of community reactions to change, offering a timeless portrayal of the working class and human rights. Loach's cinematic legacy endures in these deeply human narratives that go beyond political divides.