A Compendium of the Ancient Gods

Themes

Oracle and divination

55 gods of oracle and divination, across nine rooms, in the order the rooms are walked.

The Cradle of Cities

5 works

Geshtinanna, plate
Geshtinanna gesh-ti-nan-na Lady of the Vine — sister of Dumuzi
Ishtar of Nineveh, plate
Ishtar of Nineveh ish-tar of ni-ne-veh The Lady of Nineveh — Assyrian Ishtar
Ma, plate
Ma ma The War-Goddess of Comana — Brought to Rome as Bellona
Mullissu, plate
Mullissu mul-lis-su Queen of the Assyrian Pantheon — Consort of Ashur
Nanshe, plate
Nanshe nan-she Lady of the Marshes — goddess of dreams, fish, and social justice

The Gift of the Nile

3 works

Amun, plate
Amun ah-moon The Hidden God — Lord of Thebes
Imhotep, plate
Imhotep im-ho-tep The Deified Sage — Old Kingdom architect, god of medicine
Sia, plate
Sia sia The perceiving mind — divine intelligence made manifest

The Olympian Order

17 works

Apollo, plate
Apollo uh-pol-oh The Far-Shooter — god of music, prophecy, and plague
Asclepius, plate
Asclepius uh-sklee-pee-us Divine Physician — son of Apollo
Cassandra, plate
Cassandra kuh-san-druh Daughter of Priam — prophetess whom no one believed
Gaia, plate
Gaia gay-uh The Earth — mother of all
Glaucus, plate
Glaucus glaw-kus The Sea-Green — fisherman become sea-god
Hypnos, plate
Hypnos hip-nos Sleep — twin brother of Death
Morpheus and the Oneiroi, plate
Morpheus and the Oneiroi mor-fee-us and the oh-nye-roy The Shapers of Dreams — Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantasos
Nereus, plate
Nereus neer-ee-us Old Man of the Sea — prophetic shape-shifter
Nyx, plate
Nyx niks Night — mother of the dark powers
Oedipus, plate
Oedipus ed-ih-pus King of Thebes, who slew his father and married his mother in ignorance
Orpheus, plate
Orpheus or-fee-us Singer of the Underworld — patron of the Mysteries
Phoebe, plate
Phoebe fee-bee Bright Titaness — Delphic prophetess
Proteus, plate
Proteus proh-tee-us Shepherd of the Seals — shape-shifting prophet
Python, plate
Python pie-thon The Earth-Serpent of Delphi, slain by Apollo at the navel of the world
Themis, plate
Themis thee-mis Divine Order — counselor of the gods
Tiresias, plate
Tiresias tie-ree-see-us The Blind Theban Seer
Zeus, plate
Zeus zoos King of the Gods — Lord of Olympus

The Persian World

1 work

Nairyosanha, plate
Nairyosanha nai-ryo-san-ha The Manly Utterance — messenger between gods and men

The Levantine Borderlands

4 works

Hadad, plate
Hadad ha-dad The Aramaean Storm-God — Iuppiter Heliopolitanus of Baalbek
Hubal, plate
Hubal hu-bal The Oracular God of Mecca — divination by arrows at the Ka'ba
Manat, plate
Manat ma-nat Goddess of Fate — the third of the Arabian triad
Simios, plate
Simios si-mios Sun-God of Hierapolis — kingly companion of Atargatis

The Edges of Empire

4 works

Cariocecus, plate
Cariocecus ca-rio-ce-cus Lusitanian War-God — equivalent of Roman Mars
Endovelicus, plate
Endovelicus en-do-ve-li-cus Oracular Healing-God of Lusitania — patron of dream incubation
Ifri, plate
Ifri if-ri The Berber Cave-Goddess — patroness of the sanctuary-cave
Satana, plate
Satana sa-ta-na The Mother of the Narts — wise counselor of the heroic clan

The Etruscan World

4 works

Aplu, plate
Aplu ap-lu The Etruscan Apollo — god of prophecy and music, brought from the Greeks of Cumae
Laran, plate
Laran la-ran The Etruscan War-God — youthful warrior of the battlefield
Menrva, plate
Menrva men-rvah The Etruscan Wise Maiden — warrior, craftswoman, prophetess
Usil, plate
Usil u-sil The Etruscan Sun God — the masculine sun, kin of the Greek Helios

The Roman Inheritance

5 works

Carmenta, plate
Carmenta car-men-ta Goddess of Childbirth and Prophetic Song — mother of Evander
Egeria, plate
Egeria e-ge-ria The Water-Nymph and Counselor of King Numa Pompilius
Faunus, plate
Faunus fau-nus Italian Woodland God — Prophet of the Wild
Fortuna, plate
Fortuna for-tu-na Goddess of Chance — bringer of fortune both good and ill
The Camenae, plate
The Camenae the ca-me-nae The Italic Muses — water-nymphs of the spring at the Porta Capena

The Northern Inheritance

12 works

Domovoi, plate
Domovoi do-mo-voi Household Spirit — The Old Man of the House
Freyja, plate
Freyja fray-yah Lady of the Vanir — Goddess of Love, Magic, and the Slain
Frigg, plate
Frigg frigg Queen of the Aesir — Wife of Odin
Gullveig, plate
Gullveig gull-veig The Witch Thrice Burnt — whose murder began the war of the gods
Mimir, plate
Mimir mi-mir The Wisest of Beings — whose head spoke from the well of wisdom
Morrígan, plate
Morrígan mor-rí-gan The Phantom Queen — Goddess of Battle and Sovereignty
Norns, plate
Norns norns The Three Fates of the Norse Cosmos
Scáthach, plate
Scáthach scá-thach The Warrior-Woman of the Isle of Skye — instructress of Cú Chulainn
Svetovid, plate
Svetovid sve-to-vid Western Slavic God of War — Of the Four-Faced Image
Taliesin, plate
Taliesin ta-lie-sin The Welsh Bard — twice born, once mortal and once divine
Awaiting its plate
Turul tu-rul The Mythical Bird — Founder of the Magyar Royal House — Hungarian
Awaiting its plate
Väinämöinen väi-nä-möi-nen The Eternal Sage — Hero of the Kalevala — Finnic

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