A Compendium of the Ancient Gods

Themes

Fertility and harvest

119 gods of fertility and harvest, across nine rooms, in the order the rooms are walked.

The Cradle of Cities

26 works

Adad, plate
Adad a-dad The Storm — Akkadian Hadad; Lord of the Thunder
Adonis, plate
Adonis a-do-nis The Lord — Phoenician Lover of Astarte, Mourned in Annual Rite
Agdistis, plate
Agdistis ag-dis-tis The Hermaphroditic Mother — Origin of Attis from the Almond
Artemis of Ephesus, plate
Artemis of Ephesus ar-te-mis of e-phe-sus The Many-Breasted Mother of Ephesus
Asherah, plate
Asherah a-she-rah Lady of the Sea — wife of El, mother of the gods
Astarte, plate
Astarte as-tar-te The Phoenician Queen of Heaven
Attis, plate
Attis at-tis Beloved of the Mother — Phrygian shepherd-god
Baal, plate
Baal baal The Rider on the Clouds — Hadad of Ugarit
Belet-Ili, plate
Belet-Ili be-let--i-li The Lady of the Gods — Mother Who Pinched Mankind from Clay
Cybele, plate
Cybele cy-be-le The Mother of the Mountain — Phrygian Magna Mater
Dagon, plate
Dagon da-gon The Grain — Father of Baal
Dumuzi, plate
Dumuzi du-mu-zi The Faithful Son — shepherd-king, beloved of Inanna
Enlil, plate
Enlil en-lil Lord Wind — King of the Gods, Lord of Nippur
Geshtinanna, plate
Geshtinanna gesh-ti-nan-na Lady of the Vine — sister of Dumuzi
Hannahanna, plate
Hannahanna han-na-han-na The Grandmother — Mother-Goddess of the Hittite Pantheon
Kuvava, plate
Kuvava ku-va-va Mother-Goddess of Carchemish — Ancestress of Cybele
Maliya, plate
Maliya ma-liya Goddess of Gardens and Gentle Waters
Ningishzida, plate
Ningishzida nin-gish-zi-da Lord of the True Tree — chthonic god of vegetation
Ninhursag, plate
Ninhursag nin-hur-sag Lady of the Foothills — Mother of the Gods
Ninkasi, plate
Ninkasi nin-ka-si The Lady Who Fills the Mouth — Goddess of Beer and Brewing
Ninlil, plate
Ninlil nin-lil Lady of the Open Field — wife of Enlil
Ninurta, plate
Ninurta ni-nur-ta The Warrior — son of Enlil, slayer of the Asag
Nisaba, plate
Nisaba ni-sa-ba Lady of the Reeds — goddess of grain and writing
Sabazius, plate
Sabazius sa-ba-zius The Thraco-Phrygian Sky-Father — Whose Bronze Hand Bore Cult-Symbols
Tanit, plate
Tanit ta-nit The Face of Baal — Supreme Goddess of Carthage
Telepinu, plate
Telepinu te-le-pi-nu The Vanishing God — Hittite god of agriculture

The Gift of the Nile

11 works

Anuket, plate
Anuket a-nu-ket Lady of the First Cataract — gazelle-goddess of the inundation
Geb, plate
Geb geb The Earth — father of the Osirian generation
Hapi, plate
Hapi ha-pi God of the Inundation — the river itself
Hatmehit, plate
Hatmehit hat-me-hit First of the Fishes — fish-goddess of Mendes
Heqet, plate
Heqet he-qet The Frog Goddess — patroness of childbirth
Khnum, plate
Khnum khnum The Ram — Lord of the First Cataract
Min, plate
Min min The Fertility God of Coptos
Osiris, plate
Osiris oh-sye-ris Lord of the Dead — slain king and judge of souls
Renenutet, plate
Renenutet re-ne-nu-tet The Cobra of the Harvest
Sobek, plate
Sobek so-bek The Crocodile God of the Fayyum
Sopdet, plate
Sopdet sop-det The Sharp One — goddess of Sirius and herald of the inundation

The Olympian Order

14 works

Adonis, plate
Adonis a-do-nis The Beloved of Aphrodite, slain by the boar — the Greek mystery of the dying youth
Aphrodite, plate
Aphrodite af-roh-dye-tee Foam-Born — goddess of love
Ariadne, plate
Ariadne air-ee-ad-nee Cretan princess, who gave Theseus the thread — and was abandoned at Naxos
Cronus, plate
Cronus kroh-nus King of the Titans — father of Zeus
Demeter, plate
Demeter dee-mee-ter Earth Mother — goddess of grain and the Eleusinian Mysteries
Dionysus, plate
Dionysus dye-oh-nye-sus The Twice-Born — god of wine and ecstasy
Eros (Primordial), plate
Eros (Primordial) air-oss (primordial) The Original Love — primordial unifying power
Gaia, plate
Gaia gay-uh The Earth — mother of all
Hyacinthus, plate
Hyacinthus high-uh-sin-thus The Spartan youth beloved of Apollo, slain by the discus
Narcissus, plate
Narcissus nar-siss-us The Boeotian youth who loved his own reflection
Pan, plate
Pan pan God of the Wild — pastoral piper of Arcadia
Persephone, plate
Persephone per-sef-oh-nee Queen of the Underworld — daughter of Demeter
Rhea, plate
Rhea ree-uh Mother of the Olympians
The Horae, plate
The Horae the hor-eye The Seasons — Eunomia, Dike, Eirene

The Persian World

7 works

Ameretat, plate
Ameretat a-me-re-tat Immortality — patroness of plants, sister of Haurvatat
Anahita, plate
Anahita ah-nah-hee-tah Lady of the Waters — Aredvi Sura Anahita, Mother of Rivers
Ashi, plate
Ashi a-shi Reward — yazata of the recompense for righteous living
Haoma, plate
Haoma hao-ma The Sacred Plant — and the yazata of the priestly drink
Spenta Armaiti, plate
Spenta Armaiti spen-ta ar-mai-ti Holy Devotion — patroness of the earth, daughter of Ahura Mazda
Tishtrya, plate
Tishtrya tisht-rya The Star Sirius — bringer of rain, slayer of the drought-demon
Yima, plate
Yima yi-ma The First King — Jamshid in the later tradition; ruler of the golden age

The Levantine Borderlands

5 works

Al-Lat, plate
Al-Lat al--lat The Nabataean Mother-Goddess — al-Lat, the goddess
Allat (the Aramaean goddess), plate
Allat (the Aramaean goddess) al-lat (the aramaean goddess) Sky-Mother of the Aramaeans and Northern Arabs — see also Book II below
Atargatis, plate
Atargatis ah-tar-gah-tis The Great Goddess of Syria — fish-tailed mother of Hierapolis
Hadad, plate
Hadad ha-dad The Aramaean Storm-God — Iuppiter Heliopolitanus of Baalbek
Malakbel, plate
Malakbel ma-lak-bel Solar Spring-Aspect of Bel — the morning sun and vegetation

The Edges of Empire

6 works

Anzar, plate
Anzar an-zar The Berber Rain-God — invoked in the drought ceremonies
Ataecina, plate
Ataecina a-tae-ci-na Chthonic Goddess of Lusitania — receiver of curse-tablets
Derzelas, plate
Derzelas der-ze-las The Great God of Odessos — Thracian deity of life-force and fertility
Eia, plate
Eia eia The Histrian Goddess — local protectress of Pula
Kviria, plate
Kviria kvi-ria The Mediator-God — intermediary between Ghmerti and humankind
Nabia, plate
Nabia na-bia Goddess of Springs and Rivers — patroness of the Atlantic waters

The Etruscan World

4 works

Cel, plate
Cel cel The Etruscan Earth-Mother — patroness of the soil
Fufluns, plate
Fufluns fuf-luns The Etruscan Wine-God — equivalent to Dionysus, with chthonic associations
Turan, plate
Turan tu-ran The Etruscan Goddess of Love — equivalent to Aphrodite, mistress of vital force
Voltumna, plate
Voltumna vol-tum-na Chief God of the Etruscan League — at whose sanctuary the Twelve Cities met

The Roman Inheritance

18 works

Consus, plate
Consus con-sus God of the Stored Harvest — whose altar was kept underground
Faunus, plate
Faunus fau-nus Italian Woodland God — Prophet of the Wild
Flora, plate
Flora flo-ra Goddess of Flowering Plants
Liber and Libera, plate
Liber and Libera li-ber and li-be-ra Italic Wine-and-Vine Deities — Companions of Ceres
Mater Matuta, plate
Mater Matuta ma-ter ma-tu-ta The Mother of the Morning — patroness of childbirth and dawn
Ops, plate
Ops ops The Goddess of Plenty — wife of Saturn and mother of the Olympians
Awaiting its plate
Pales pa-les Shepherd's Deity — Patron of Flocks
Pax, plate
Pax pax Goddess of Peace — particularly the Augustan Pax Romana
Penates, plate
Penates pe-na-tes Spirits of the Pantry — Guardians of Provisions
Pomona, plate
Pomona po-mo-na Goddess of Orchard Fruit
Proserpina, plate
Proserpina pro-ser-pi-na Roman queen of the underworld — daughter of Ceres, wife of Dis Pater
Robigus, plate
Robigus ro-bi-gus The God of Mildew, propitiated to spare the standing grain
Saturn, plate
Saturn sa-turn Italic God of Sowing — King of the Golden Age
Serapis, plate
Serapis se-ra-pis Hellenistic Egyptian-Greek God — see also Apis (Volume II)
Silvanus, plate
Silvanus sil-va-nus God of Forests, Fields, and Boundaries
Tellus, plate
Tellus tel-lus Earth-Mother of Italy — Tellus Mater, also called Terra Mater
The Indigitamenta, plate
The Indigitamenta the in-di-gi-ta-men-ta The Lists of the Named Specialist Powers
Vertumnus, plate
Vertumnus ver-tum-nus God of Changing Seasons and Transformations

The Northern Inheritance

28 works

Awaiting its plate
Ahti ah-ti Lord of the Sea — Master of Waters — Finnic
Airmed, plate
Airmed air-med Daughter of Dian Cécht — keeper of the herb-knowledge
Awaiting its plate
Akka ak-ka The Old Woman — Earth-Mother and Female Counterpart — Finnic
Audhumla, plate
Audhumla aud-hum-la The Primal Cow — who licked the first god from the ice
Bannik and Polevik, plate
Bannik and Polevik ban-nik and po-le-vik The Bath-Spirit and the Field-Spirit — guardians of two Russian thresholds
Brigid, plate
Brigid bri-gid Goddess of Smithcraft, Healing, and Poetry — Triple Goddess
Cernunnos, plate
Cernunnos cer-nun-nos The Horned God — Lord of Animals
Dagda, plate
Dagda dag-da The Good God — Father of the Tuatha Dé
Dazhbog, plate
Dazhbog dazh-bog Solar God — Giver of Wealth
Epona, plate
Epona e-po-na Continental Celtic Horse-Goddess
Freyr, plate
Freyr frayr Lord of the Vanir — God of Plenty and Peace
Gefjon, plate
Gefjon gef-jon The Goddess Who Plowed Zealand from Sweden — patroness of virgins
Grannus and Sirona, plate
Grannus and Sirona gran-nus and si-ro-na Gallo-Roman Apollo and his consort — healers of the eastern Gallic provinces
Idunn, plate
Idunn i-dunn Keeper of the Apples of Youth
Jānis, plate
Jānis jā-nis The Latvian Midsummer Spirit — patron of the great solstice festival
Jarilo, plate
Jarilo ja-ri-lo Spring God — Fertility, Vegetation, Harvest
Jumis, plate
Jumis ju-mis Latvian Spirit of the Double Ear — bringer of plenty
Lada, plate
Lada la-da Goddess of Spring, Love, and Marriage
Mokosh, plate
Mokosh mo-kosh Mother Earth — Spinner of Fates
Morana, plate
Morana mo-ra-na Goddess of Winter and Death
Nantosuelta and Sucellus, plate
Nantosuelta and Sucellus nan-to-suel-ta and su-cel-lus The Gallic Pair — the Goddess of the Winding Stream and the God of the Mallet
Nerthus, plate
Nerthus ner-thus The Germanic Earth-Mother — whose chariot crossed the fields in spring
Njord, plate
Njord njord God of the Sea and Wealth
Sif, plate
Sif sif Goddess with Golden Hair — Wife of Thor
Simargl, plate
Simargl si-margl The Winged Hound — sole survivor of an Iranian dream
Sucellus, plate
Sucellus su-cel-lus The Good Striker — Hammer-Bearing Father-God
Svetovid, plate
Svetovid sve-to-vid Western Slavic God of War — Of the Four-Faced Image
Žemyna, plate
Žemyna že-my-na Mother Earth — Goddess of the Soil

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