A Compendium of the Ancient Gods

Themes

Childbirth

39 gods of childbirth, across eight rooms, in the order the rooms are walked.

The Cradle of Cities

9 works

Bau, plate
Bau bau The Lady of the Sheepfold — Healer-Goddess of Lagash
Belet-Ili, plate
Belet-Ili be-let--i-li The Lady of the Gods — Mother Who Pinched Mankind from Clay
Hannahanna, plate
Hannahanna han-na-han-na The Grandmother — Mother-Goddess of the Hittite Pantheon
Hutena and Hutellura, plate
Hutena and Hutellura hu-te-na and hu-tel-lu-ra The Hurrian Fates — Determiners of the Newborn's Destiny
Lamashtu, plate
Lamashtu la-mash-tu The Devourer — demoness of childbirth
Lilitu, plate
Lilitu li-li-tu The Night-Hag — demoness of the wind
Men, plate
Men men The Phrygian Moon-God — Standing on His Bull
Ninhursag, plate
Ninhursag nin-hur-sag Lady of the Foothills — Mother of the Gods
Sarpanit, plate
Sarpanit sar-pa-nit The Silvery One — Queen of Babylon, Consort of Marduk

The Gift of the Nile

7 works

Bastet, plate
Bastet bas-tet The Cat of Bubastis
Bes, plate
Bes bes The Household Protector — apotropaic dwarf-god
Heqet, plate
Heqet he-qet The Frog Goddess — patroness of childbirth
Meskhenet, plate
Meskhenet mes-khe-net Goddess of the birth-brick — fixer of destinies at the moment of birth
Nut, plate
Nut nut The Sky — mother of the gods
Renenutet, plate
Renenutet re-ne-nu-tet The Cobra of the Harvest
Taweret, plate
Taweret ta-we-ret The Hippopotamus Goddess — protector of the pregnant

The Olympian Order

5 works

Artemis, plate
Artemis ar-tuh-mis The Huntress — virgin of the wilderness
Eileithyia, plate
Eileithyia eye-lye-thy-uh Goddess of Childbirth
Hera, plate
Hera heer-ah Queen of the Gods — wife of Zeus, patroness of marriage
Leto, plate
Leto lee-toh Mother of Apollo and Artemis
Rhea, plate
Rhea ree-uh Mother of the Olympians

The Persian World

2 works

Anahita, plate
Anahita ah-nah-hee-tah Lady of the Waters — Aredvi Sura Anahita, Mother of Rivers
Spenta Armaiti, plate
Spenta Armaiti spen-ta ar-mai-ti Holy Devotion — patroness of the earth, daughter of Ahura Mazda

The Edges of Empire

1 work

Endovelicus, plate
Endovelicus en-do-ve-li-cus Oracular Healing-God of Lusitania — patron of dream incubation

The Etruscan World

3 works

Menrva, plate
Menrva men-rvah The Etruscan Wise Maiden — warrior, craftswoman, prophetess
Thesan, plate
Thesan the-san Goddess of the Dawn — sister of the morning
Uni, plate
Uni u-ni The Etruscan Queen of Heaven — consort of Tinia, identified with Phoenician Astarte

The Roman Inheritance

4 works

Carmenta, plate
Carmenta car-men-ta Goddess of Childbirth and Prophetic Song — mother of Evander
Mater Matuta, plate
Mater Matuta ma-ter ma-tu-ta The Mother of the Morning — patroness of childbirth and dawn
Spes, plate
Spes spes Goddess of Hope — particularly hope for political and personal success
The Indigitamenta, plate
The Indigitamenta the in-di-gi-ta-men-ta The Lists of the Named Specialist Powers

The Northern Inheritance

8 works

Arianrhod, plate
Arianrhod a-rianr-hod Welsh Goddess of the Silver Wheel — Mother of Lleu
Frigg, plate
Frigg frigg Queen of the Aesir — Wife of Odin
Awaiting its plate
Ilmatar il-ma-tar Air-Spirit — Mother of Väinämöinen — Finnic
Laima, plate
Laima lai-ma Goddess of Fate — Determiner of Destinies
Norns, plate
Norns norns The Three Fates of the Norse Cosmos
Rhiannon, plate
Rhiannon rhian-non Welsh Goddess of Sovereignty — Lady of Horses
Rod, plate
Rod rod The Slavic Creator God — eldest power, fount of generation
The Rozhanitsy, plate
The Rozhanitsy the roz-ha-nit-sy The Slavic Birth-Givers — fate-spinning sisters, like the Norns

Floor plan

The rooms follow one another in the order their peoples first appear in the written record.

  1. The Cradle of Citiesc. 3400 BCE to 395 CE. 115 works
  2. The Gift of the Nilec. 4000 BCE to 395 CE. 73 works
  3. The Olympian Orderc. 1600 BCE to 750 CE. 152 works
  4. The Persian Worldc. 2000 BCE to 1010 CE. 30 works
  5. The Levantine Borderlandsc. 1200 BCE to 500 CE. 20 works
  6. The Edges of Empirec. 2000 BCE to 1500 CE. 33 works
  7. The Etruscan Worldc. 900 BCE to 750 CE. 22 works
  8. The Roman Inheritancec. 1200 BCE to 500 CE. 58 works
  9. The Northern Inheritancec. 2000 BCE to 1600 CE. 131 works