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Minoan Snake Goddess, Knossos.
Faience figurine of the Minoan Snake Goddess - her dominion was over nature and fertility. New-Palace period (1600 BCE). Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete.
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Warriors Fight a Wolf & Giant Snake
"Warriors Fight a Wolf and Giant Snake" by Ernst Alpers. The modern relief depicts the Norse god Thor battling the wolf Fenrir and Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent. Hannover, Germany. 1867 CE.
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Coyolxauhqui
Coyolxauhqui (pron. Koy-ol-shauw-kee) was the Aztec goddess of the Moon or Milky Way who was famously butchered by her brother Huitzilopochtli, the god of war, in Aztec mythology. This story was commemorated in a celebrated large relief stone...
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Coatlicue
Coatlicue (pron. Co-at-li-cu-e) or 'Serpent Skirt' was a major deity in the Aztec pantheon and regarded as the earth-mother goddess. Coatlicue is represented as an old woman to symbolise the antiquity of earth worship. Coatlicue was the patron...
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Palenque
Located in the foothills of the Chiapas altiplano of modern Mexico, Palenque was an important Maya city which flourished between c. 600 and 750 CE. The name Palenque derives from the Spanish, meaning 'fortified place', but the original Maya...
Definition
Xipe Totec
Xipe Totec (pron. Xi-pe To-tec) or 'Flayed One' in Nahuatl, was a major god in ancient Mesoamerican culture and particularly important for the Toltecs and Aztecs. He was considered the god of spring, the patron god of seeds and planting...
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Games, Sports & Recreation in Ancient Egypt
Although the ancient Egyptians are often depicted as death-obsessed and dour, they actually had a great appreciation for life and their culture reflected their belief in existence as an eternal journey imbued with magic. Life was a gift from...
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Nagaraja, Ajanta
The Nagaraja - or Snake King - possibly represents either a mythical figure from Buddhist mythology, a figure from the Jataka Tales of Buddhist literature, or the headman of the local snake-worshiping tribe that lived in the same region as...
Definition
Nehushtan
According to the Bible, Nehushtan was a metal serpent mounted on a staff that Moses had made, by God's command, to cure the Israelites of snake bites while wandering in the desert. The symbol of snakes on a staff or pole is a motif that is...
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Bjorn Ironside: the Legendary Viking Warrior From the Historical Sagas
You may know him from the TV series Vikings, but Bjorn Ironside is a legendary Viking known from the medieval stories and historical sagas of raiding alongside his father Ragnar Lothbrok and his brothers, with the most well known being Ivar...