# The Ancient Origin and Myths of Israel and Judaism

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ancient-origin-and-myths-of-israel-and-judaism/840235
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 14, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ancient-origin-and-myths-of-israel-and-judaism/840235 "2019-09-14T21:49:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 6

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### Author: ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2019, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ancient-origin-and-myths-of-israel-and-judaism/840235/6 "2019-12-30T05:44:56Z")

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The thread title is Judaism, but let’s talk of other ancient religions instead!

> [@GreenWyvern](#):
>
> > [@septimus](#):
> >
> > The ancient Irish religion, BTW, also traces back to the same place and time — and there are huge affinities between the religions of the Druids and of the Brahmin.
> 
> :rolleyes:
> 
> Like to post a cite for that?

One reason that I post at SDMB is: I avoid the need for bookmarks! I just Search for my old posts:

> [@septimus](#):
>
> The most ancient Indo-European cultures divide society into three castes. Their rituals involved the sacrifice of three animals: typically a ram for the priestly caste (Brahmin, Druids, etc.), a stallion or bull (or rarely a human) for the warrior caste, and a he-goat (or boar) for the third caste.

> [@What do we know about pre-Christian religious rites?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-know-about-pre-christian-religious-rites/735680/12):
>
> There were very strong similarities between the early religious rituals of the Hindu Brahmin and the Old Irish Druids. This [article is about new Irish Kings bathing with a sacrificed horse](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:G8ZK_PicYkwJ:openjournals.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/SSR/article/download/660/640+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk) and compares it with [the traditional Vedic Hindu royal inauguration.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashvamedha) And there are other similarities between ancient Indic and Irish religions; as well as relationships to Greek, Roman and Norse religions.
> 
> This connection seems odd — Ireland is a long distance from India; the Irish and Indic languages separated about 5500 years ago; the two populations have different Y-chromosome haplogroups. I think these religious parallels may suggest the great dominance of the early Indo-European culture.

> [@What do we know about pre-Christian religious rites?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-know-about-pre-christian-religious-rites/735680/16):
>
> … strong parallels among Indo-European religions.
> 
> Of course the details vary. In the ancient Irish royal anointment, [the King fornicates with a sacrificial white mare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_sacrifice). In the ancient Hindu ritual it is the Queen who fornicates with a white stallion.
> 
> The royal Celtic name Epomeduos (\< ek’wo-medhu = “horse + mead”) reflects the ceremony, mead being the fermented honey imbibed during the ritual. Was it coincidental parallel development that the Vedic ritual is called _Ashvamedha_ (अश्वमेध), cognate with the Irish name (although AFAIK no fermented honey is involved in the Vedic ritual)?
> 
> There are other specific parallels between the functions and rituals of Druids and ancient Brahmins, down to the ceremonial clothing color (white — also in each society the warrior caste wore red).

The cognacy of _Epomeduos_ and _Ashvamedha_ (अश्वमेध) seems especially convincing. Mallory’s _In Search of the Indo-Europeans_ discusses other Druidism-Hinduism similarities.

ETA: Re-reading the above, I see another similarity I overlooked was Druid and Brahmin priests both chanting while circling a fire (or some such?. I won’t try to find a cite for that in the 5-minute Edit window.

Emphasis on father-son inheritance of clan or caste was also strong both in Ireland and India.

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